What I did on my spring break. . .

Well, at least the good parts of what I did on my spring break. I left out the huge laundry room project because it's ugly and is going to take over a month to get finished. Unless you really know construction, you would be scared by it, but since we seem to live in a constant state of construction, I'm immune. Brant's dad and mom came up and gave us a huge hand getting a start on this project. I'm so grateful and can't wait to have a real laundry room soon. The one draw back to this house is that you have to go out into the garage to do laundry. Yuck. But someday (hopefully not to far off) I'll be able to jot right in off the half bath to do laundry. Yeah!

The kids had spring break off all week, and the weather was great for most of it. We've been practicing up for softball and t-ball. Paige seems to really enjoy this sport. However, I'm afraid she might bite her tongue off from over-concentration.



We took a quick trip over to see a few Lincoln sites with my Dad. The kids were fascinated with Abraham Lincoln after studying him during President's Day. They couldn't believe you could actually go to his house. Brant and I were so used to it being in our backyard growing up that we forgot that is kind of impressive. The kid's liked the house the best, the tomb was too somber. It still makes them very sad that his three sons died so young.



We stalked one of Grandad's cows for a day waiting for it to calf, but we missed the window and it hid it's calf away. We missed the birth and couldn't even see the baby. Did you know mama cows hid the calves for a few days? I think that's sort of funny how protective they get. The kids were disappointed, but still loved naming all of the cows. I try not to burst their bubble by telling them the cows' real names are "Hamburger" and "Steak".

Home Tour -- Birdy's Room

So, let me remind you again, when we move, the kids are allowed to choose their own paint. Ava is in love with Pinkalicious. She wanted a pink room, with pink everything, and flowers. My mom found the pink bedspread at a yard sale. I brought home paint chips in that shade of pink, but my Little Bird was drawn to the bottom of the chip every time. No matter how I would persuade, she kept circling the same pinkalicious pink. It does give her great joy, and every little girl that comes over to play is seethingly jealous that Ava's mom allowed her to go that pink. (Note Holly's place of prominence while Ava is away at kindergarten.)
The other thing about Ava is that she is a collector. I try not to let this bother me, but on her beautiful yellow dresser she's crammed multiple collections: a soup can holding bottle caps, a glass jar full of rocks, a box full of shells, a bag full of marbles, and a jar full of feathers. I started a blue bird collection for her, but it's hidden by all of her , umm, crap.

Ava, our odd baby, is also the only kid that requires some alone time. She has a little table in her room with art supplies and a tea set. If we can't find her, usually she's upstairs with Holly having a tea party and creating some kind of art. She's unique, but we love her.

Birthday surprise!

A nice surprise and a sign that we are passing into a new phase -- the kids made my birthday cake this year. Really. Paige and Claire read the back of the box, and baked the cake. They all took turns frosting (yikes). Ike and Ava artfully sprinkled. It was one of the best cakes ever.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Suess!

Dr. Suess's birthday is such a huge event in kindergarten. I don't know why we can't recognize someone else besides the trippy, dippy Suess, but teachers love him. I think we need to have a Rosemary Wells's birthday party or maybe even Cynthia Rylant. Isaak and Ava are at one of my favorite points in parenting. They are beginning to read to me. I love this. It's such a fleeting phase. Once they have it downpat, it feels like work to read to Mom. I'll enjoy the showing-off while I can.