Since I can't seem to get myself to bed at a respectable hour- I'm partly blaming Ivy for that-she's up several times a night still. Of course, the other part is that I'm stealing some of that coveted ME time while she sleeps. I'm not rising at a very early hour and certainly am not up early enough to make a decent breakfast. Didn't seem to bother Noah, he just helps himself.
Ahh, spring break, sleeping in and generally doing whatever we please. A nice break for all of us. It's basically been a party since last Thursday when the NCAA tourney started. We had BBQ's with family and friends Thursday and Friday, the weather was so warm. Chloe cried yesterday when she saw it had snowed. It's hard to take after a weekend in shorts riding your bike, of course, it's melted. My kids just get spring fever so badly every year it seems. Spring break is a sort of gearing up for me, remembering how the summer will be- more mayhem, mess, fighting, food prep, just more with two more kids here. And really I'm glad, they're fun to have around and great helps with Noah and Ivy. We miss them when they head to school everyday, so here's to another lazy spring break day- they'll be gone too soon!
no mice here...
lil' miss Ivy
Just two reasons Ivy is a lucky girl:
1. She has two sisters who adore, spoil and love to read to her.
2. She dug deep into the gene pool and managed to get Grandma's blue eyes. I love these photos! I love all the fabulous ladies in my life!
time waster...
Maybe not a complete waste of time...for you Mom...what's your style? It's been a while, but I think I was mainly Nantucket/beach. While I'd probably not do that theme in my home, I do love the beach.
Or here's one from IKEA. I was country /natural. It is based off their product line, so you might be out of luck if you love Southwest rugs or something like that :) Have fun!
bits and pieces...
Just a few more pictures, I'm thinking I need to take more of Ivy with the other kids, pictures are something I often forget to take in the daily ins and outs of life. I can't say my kids have ever been huge vegetable lovers, but they're pretty good about eating most of them. Lately Noah has been on a "brocky soup" jag. Can a two year old have a broccoli soup jag? Anyway, he loves it, must be the tons of cheddar cheese, we seem to go through a lot of that at our house. Today he pulled out the broccoli from the fridge and requested we make some for lunch. I had to capture him pretending they were trees and taking a bite, even though most of those raw bites ended up in the trash. And since Ivy was actually taking a morning nap I indulged him, because the truth is I love it too. Some batches are better than others since it always seems to be different each time I make it. I'll be sad when soup-making weather is over, but was actually glad to look out the window and see the mud of the garden and last year's spinach which never got tended to. But our yard spells one word- work- all of the crabapples and leaves from two trees rotting and damp on the grass. Mmm spring, mud everywhere, I'm so glad it's here, really truly I am. I think having a baby and the cold really made me hole up more than usual and it was fabulous to take a walk outside on Saturday. I needed pictures of that since it was Ivy's first stroller excursion and she seemed to love it. What kid doesn't love the stroller outside? None of mine, hooray for melting snow!
projects...
It's that time of the night when all the kids are asleep, which is nearing 10:30 these days at our home, Ivy being the holdout. My body says, yes it's definitely time for bed, maybe an hour ago, and my mind starts racing with all the things I could-sans kids playing, yelling, nursing, whatever. I'm a selfish Mom in that regard, I love my children, but also love my alone time. Lately, against my better judgment I've been indulging and sewing at night. I've wanted to make an I spy bag for the longest time for the kids to use at church, we'll give it a trial run on Sunday and see if it was all I thought it would be. It was so fun collecting all the little gadgets I couldn't stop at one- see more here.
Then there are the dresses for Shay's wedding, the pictures don't really do it justice, the colors are much better in real life I think. I'd never made anything quite so fancy. Chloe said she felt like a princess, I figured that was a good thing. It always rejuvenates me to create something fun, even I feel super tired the next day. It's early to bed tonight!
play day...
Two years ago when I had piano students in festival, Lauren and Chloe asked if I could get them a ribbon. my response was, no you have to earn those ribbons. Well, yesterday they did. They both completed their first festival which included playing two memorized pieces with scales and cadences.
I think it's fair to say they were a bit nervous. "Mom, what if I get a zero?!" You receive a score- up to 100 and comments from a judge. I really like it since it challenges students, but you're only competing against yourself. I assured them they were well-prepared and would do awesome, and awesome they did. They both got perfect 100s! Much thanks to their wonderful teacher, Rachel Stanley. It was so exciting to see Chloe running into the house telling Lauren her score, and jumping up and down in excitement. Chloe's teacher called later with her score since she had played later in the day.
Of course I love the piano but don't wish to force it on anyone. But it does teach so many good skills- mental and physical. It gives confidence to work so hard for several months and see the efforts pay off, a great boost to the ole self esteem. Even though I liked their pieces, it will be nice to finally hear some new music floating through the house. It was funny to hear Noah singing the pieces by the end, he knew them well :) GREAT job girls, here's to more happy festivals!
before and after...
It was almost a year ago that we got the crazy idea to remodel the basement. It's not a great picture, but the saddest part of this story is that last night I discovered that in the process of getting a new computer, I didn't back up the demolition photos- this is the extent of them. My favorites were of Cody swinging his hammer and piles of debris up to the windows- you get the idea. For some reason I took great satisfaction at looking how far we've come. Anyway, this was the tiny bathroom before and now. Although it's nearly just as tiny, it is a bit easier on the eyes. Something about improving areas of your home that make the unimproved ones look much worse than before. Guess we'll be hitting the upstairs bathroom and kitchen next year. I haven't missed that yellow sink and nasty wallpaper for a nanosecond!
