Memorial Day Parade

We enjoyed the Memorial Day Parade in our neighborhood this year. Corinne and Brett actually participated by walking with some of the other Sycamore youth soccer players in the parade. Ellen and Sophie and I waited and watched for them to walk by. We had a blast and will definitely do it again next year!

Curly Heads and Flip Flops

E on left, S on right. This photo says summer to me!

Birthday Fun

Just a few pictures from the birthday celebration we had with family. The girls picked out the Rainbow cake for me to make with gelatin layers. Not my favorite, but it was exciting for the girls to surprise everyone with the rainbow inside.

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!