Happy Birthday!

Ellen and Sophie are FOUR! They had a great day at school on their birthday, followed by a picnic lunch at the park with friends and cousins. We went out to dinner after a tour of the girls' fantastic new elementary school (where Corinne will be going beginning next year). And then we ended their special day with red popsicles! It's hard to believe we don't have "little" girls anymore. They are growing up! 

Muffins with Moms

On Ellen and Sophie's birthday their pre-school held a special "Muffins with Moms" celebration. They sang some sweet songs about moms and then we got a special muffin and lemonade "brunch" in their classroom. It was a nice morning and I was so happy to be there with them. They also made us some Mother's Day gifts and special Mother's Day cards. I cannot believe their first year of pre-school is already coming to an end. It's been a great year!

Early Morning Fun

Recently Ellen and Sophie were up early (this is happening a lot these days with the sun coming up so much earlier) and they decided to wait at the window for the garbage trucks. While they waited they began playing a game of "I Spy" together. By the time I started taking video they were winding down. But listen carefully and you'll hear Sophie say, "I spy with my little eye...I spy with my little eye something white, again". And Ellen responds "This is going to be a tough one!" I just had to laugh...!

The View

This is the view from Corinne's window. Amazing! Since this picture was taken one baby bird has hatched and we are now awaiting the arrival of the other two. It has been a constant source of anticipation and joy and awe for all of us. Truly. Corinne tells me that sometimes she stands at the window after we tuck her in at bedtime (we'll let that go for now) and she reports that she saw the mother bird bring a worm back to the baby! I thought that sounded pretty cool. Then I saw it happen myself and it was INCREDIBLE. To see that baby bird sit up and open it's beak as wide as it could go and to watch that mother bird drop that worm right in was downright amazing. It was really quite miraculous. One of the coolest things I've seen. It just reminded me how God provides miracles like this for us to see everyday, right there in His creation. We just have to notice the view. It's not lost on Sophie, she gets up everyday to check on that mother bird and her nest. Priceless!

Soccer

Corinne is playing spring soccer this year for the first time. I'm proud of her for embracing it and thankfully she is having fun! However, I'm not sure it will be her thing. She runs hard and fast, but not really near the ball. We've been working hard to keep it positive and have tried to let it be what it is for her. (Very hard for Brett and I since we both played for many many years...) A good learning experience for all of us!

Spring Break

We had a nice week when the girls were off for spring break. Nothing terribly noteworthy, things were just a little more relaxed and slow paced that week. We stayed in our pj's all morning, went to the park with friends, did arts and crafts collages and projects and baked a bunch of bunny sugar cookies at the girls' request. Of course we also went downtown to meet Brett one day for lunch, always a fun outing!

Ouch!

Bright pink splint. All taped up. One broken nose. Ouch! It's a crazy story if you'd like to know it. Two weeks back our family was taken down...by the stomach bug. It was a terrible week: first Corinne, then two days later E & S. And finally me (Brett was the last man standing and never did get it). The night I was up puking I fainted in the bathroom between several such trips to get sick. I'm not sure what got my nose as I went down, but we think it must have been the slightly ajar shower door. A gash on my nose and a broken bone on one side. It all led up to surgery yesterday to repair it. All went well and I'm actually doing really well--no pain at all. Just a "Miss Piggy" nose, as the girls call it. 10 days of this and you might recognize me again!

Crazy Sock Day

Ellen and Sophie had "Crazy Sock Day" at pre-school last week. I was so glad that these fuzzy red too big reindeer socks finally had a legitimate use!!!

Love Note

Corinne loves to write little love notes to us. One night recently I was headed out for an evening and told the girls goodnight as they were getting ready for bed. Brett put them to bed and later when I came home to a quiet house I was getting ready for bed myself and found this sweet little note on my bathroom sink. Corinne left it for me to find. Gosh, she is the sweetest. I love her little notes.

The Missing Puzzle Piece

Sophie loves for me to re-tell the story of when she snuck off with a puzzle piece...So here it is:
One day about 2 weeks ago Ellen, Sophie and I were working on a Barbie puzzle together (thank you, CT cousins) while Corinne was at school. Ellen and I were hard at work on it when Sophie wandered off. I assumed she was going to get something and would be back, but as Ellen and I finished the puzzle there was still no sign of Sophie. And we put together our entire puzzle but there was one little puzzle piece that was missing! Ellen and I looked under couches, tables, and between cushions but no puzzle piece. We gave up and decided instead to go on a hunt for Sophie--she had never come back! Our hunt led us upstairs to the girls' room where we found her asleep on her bed. Soundly. With the missing puzzle piece tucked into her hand. That stinker. Ellen so sweetly tried to wake Sophie up by poking at her eye...nice!