Easter parties

Jack's teacher throws the best parties. She had games and delicious homemade food, and the Easter Bunny! Jack told me he thought it was someone in a costume.

I was so happy that third graders still hunt for Easter eggs!! They also let their siblings hunt for eggs.  Jack ended up with the most eggs of any child and he won the hot potato game in the class room. No one was bitter that a preschooler hijacked their party. My dad was able to come to Lilly's school party as well, which was very exciting for Lilly.

After all the school parties were over, our neighbor invited us to join in on their family hunt in the front yard. Thus, successfully avoiding all public egg hunts!!

And here are a few more collages...

The pictures inside were the first ones taken with my new camera.

Last of the hike pictures

SOOC (Straight out of the camera - no editing)

Last Friday I received the best surprise in the mail! A NEW camera AND lens! To replace my previously damaged camera and trashed lens.  Only, this camera is the next version up.  Jim claims he had no part in the surprise, but either way I'm thrilled to be able to take pictures again that will actually be in focus and in the frame.

Last Saturday, we went on a spring walk and I took over 400 pictures. It was SO happy. And since I took over 400 pictures, it's taking me a while to go through them all. SO here are some unedited, straight from the camera pics.

Jim believes we have dual ownership over the camera.

March 2015 update

March update from my phone - 

Lucy found a sharpie....this took a long time to wash off.

A few friends and their husbands got together to celebrate my birthday.

Jack was hit hardest this winter with communicable diseases.

We ventured to a different grocery store that had kiddie carts.  Super cute, right? Wrong. This was a huge mistake.  We ended up abandoning the carts midway through the grocery store with lots of hysterics.

Sick day with the girls.

This was a "take a picture of me!" moment.

During the month of March I had a chemo cream treatment on my forhead for some pre-cancerous lesions.  It's over now and my forehead is much better!

Lilly had her 3rd grade choral concert. Doesn't she look adorable? That's a joke, because the picture is so small and not helpful. No matter, it was a great concert!

When I went in for the final check of my forehead they asked if I had fallen in the last 6 months that required medical attention.  I said "well, I fell in the rain and broke my finger, is that what you mean?"  Yes, that is what they meant. Then they slapped this fall risk bracelet on my wrist and told me I had to wear it until I left the building. Moral of the story is to lie about previous falls.

I love when any super hero joins us for a meal. 

Side note - this is couscous. That is what Jack requested for breakfast,

Phone Update

Jim just arrived home from a conference in southern California.  He was gone for almost a week.  He's home now and I feel like maybe I can do something other than cooking, cleaning, or vegging. Sometimes at the end of the day the only energy I have left is to turn on netflix and watch.

Remember how winter is the worst? I won't show ALL the screen shots I took of the despicable weather, but my sister has them.  I sent them to her daily.  Because she is warm and in California.  However, she desparately misses winter, and I would miss winter too. If it ever left. Or didn't last 6-7 months here.

Lucy. My sweet, beautiful, fiercely independent baby. She can pull my laptop out of it's storage location, take it to a place of her choosing, open it, turn it on, and type away.  The storage location of my laptop has now been changed to a much higher position! Suffice it to say, I cannot use it during normal Lucy operating hours.  

She's here with a friend, Charlotte.  Lucy LOVES babies.

Lilly had a great cheer season this year.

She also had to get an expander put in her mouth to force her jaw to grow.  Each night for two weeks I had to put a little key in the middle part of the appliance and turn it each night to force her jaw to grow. It was horrifying. I did not sign up for that when I agreed to be a parent.

Ok, one more weather screen shot. Because this one had igloos.  IGLOO.

More cheer fun!

Lilly signed up for the completely optional science fair.  We tried to talk her out of it and then we told her she was completely on her own since the project had been pushed off until the night before the fair. I have no idea where she gets such procrastination skills (it's me, she gets it from me). This girl pulled out my paper supply and found all the coordinating paper and did the ENTIRE project by herself! We were very proud of her. Her project was how to self inlfate balloons using vinegar and baking soda.

There are no winners in optional science fairs. Unless you consider that they're all winners for participating in volumtary science. Or not.

Lucy and Jack had a rough couple of weeks at the end of February and beginning of March. Lots of sickness around here.  But we all have faith that spring will be here soon!!