I'm Back!

I am still alive! I haven't been blogging for awhile since my camera was water-damaged. We just now got a new camera, and I feel like I am complete once again. :) The warranty did not cover water damage (hmmm...how did they know??) But Panasonic did graciously offer to repair the camera for about $600. Um, no thanks. Their second offer was to give us a nice discount on a new camera, so we took that offer. And now I'm back in business, re-enacting all the events of summer so I can capture them on camera. Not really.

The day our new camera came, Olivia had an inspiration. She has been wanting new sunglasses all summer, but we haven't found ones to her liking. So she decided to make her own!

Waaaaahhhhh!!!!!

My camera literally flew into a lake yesterday, where it sat for five minutes before we discovered it. We were visiting Paul's sister and fam on their vacation. We decided to go swimming, so I searched the area looking for a safe spot for my precious camera. It should be safe on the stroller, right? Little did I know that a huge gust of wind would send the stroller into the lake along with the camera. I wasn't actually there when it happened, so when I returned to the lake, we figured out what had happened and located the camera in three feet of water.

After a day of drying out, the camera does not seem to be working. It will actually turn on, but there is way too much sand in it and the lens is very spotty from water stains. So, I'm hoping we may be able to return it since it is less than a year old and is still on warranty. Wish me luck!

Of course, every moment of today was a photo opp. How will I survive???

Recent Happenings

Noah and Olivia completed another year in the Awana program at church. Noah finished his first book in Sparks, and Olivia finished her second year of Cubbies. They were so excited to receive their little awards!

Olivia discovered she had a twin.
My piano students entertained their families and friends at the annual spring piano recital. I had twenty students participating this year. I was so proud of them! They're such a cute bunch.
Our tree is in full blossom. Last year the tree didn't blossom. I wasn't quite sure why it didn't, but my sneaking suspicion was that some little hands picked off all the berries before they had a chance to flower. This year the rule was "The berries stay ON the tree!" And we were rewarded with this.

Happy spring!

A Lego Day

Today was our second snow day of the week for the kids. Combine that with Olivia's illness earlier this week, and what you get is a very long week for momma, who is coming down with a strong case of cabin fever. I have had to be quite creative trying to find things to occupy the kiddos. We've done Play-Doh, Moon Sand, baked cookies, had quite a few tea parties...I even tried to put a fun spin on cleaning - "Come on, kids, how fast can you wipe down all the walls???" No takers on that one - they're getting too savvy for me.

So today we had a "Lego Party". Noah's fascination with TinkerToys has morphed into an obsession with Legos, which he received quite a lot of for Christmas and his birthday.


I am usually quite useless when it comes to building cool things with Legos, claiming that Daddy is much better at it (which he is), but this time I can proudly say that I actually put some time and thought into the whole process and put together quite a fine two-story house complete with kitchen, living room, dining room, two bedrooms and a bathroom.
Had to get a close-up since this doesn't happen too often. :)
Eventually the Legos became money, and Noah became the shopkeeper who charged Olivia money just for entering and leaving his store. I'm thinking we got a fine math lesson in today with all the counting she had to do to pay his high fees!

Summer (Weather) Is Here!

And we're ready to swim!!!

Who minds 90 degrees when you're basking in the kiddie pool?

The Allure of Piles

There's just something about piles. Today as I was folding laundry on the floor I heard a little voice cry out "Look...a pile...let's JUMP in it!" And fun and frivolity ensued. There USED to be fun and frivolity after sweeping the kitchen floor. I have since put a firm stop to that! Now I can hear shouts of "salto!" (translated JUMP!) when they discover a freshly swept dirt pile in the kitchen awaiting removal to the trash can. You can see the influence of Dora and Diego on my children, as they practice their Spanish verbs on their beloved piles.

"Single" Dadhood

When I got home from teaching piano today, I noticed a few things were out of place in the garage...Paul had pulled Livi up and down the street on her little sled. "Awww, that's sweet!" I thought. Then I found out Noah enjoyed his sled ride up and down the street attached by a long rope to the riding lawn mower! Now that's taking it to a higher level - one which Mommy could never attain. :)

"Single" Momhood

So, I'm on evening number two of being a "single" mom. My dear hubby brought a group of kids from our church to MBBC for the Great Lakes Music Festival (I'll have more info on that coming soon...), and I couldn't go this year because I had some accompanying gigs this weekend. But, of course, being a woman, I had to know EVERYONE he spoke to and WHAT EXACTLY they talked about. So I had a lengthy conversation with him tonight on the phone as he was on his way back, and this is what I found when I was done...


I guess Noah and Livi wanted to make sure she wasn't bored!

So what do you do when you're on your own with the kids and you've come to that most precious time during the entire day when the kids are all in bed, the house is quiet, and all the chores are done (relatively speaking, of course)?

This is what I did.

Night number one: scrapbooking night. I haven't been doing much of it lately since I've been blogging more, but I find that I like to scrapbook when everyone's tucked away in their beds, and I can put on a good old movie and scrap until I can't see straight anymore. I've been thinking that maybe I would give up scrapbooking and just give the kids a CD with the blog archives on it as their family heirloom. :) But, alas, I found out last night that I do still like to scrapbook, so I won't be quitting that just yet.

Night number two: cooking night. I've been yearning to try some yummy soups, so I'm trying my hand at this tonight. Then I'll put it in the crock pot tomorrow and actually have a meal prepared for when we get home from church! I'd also like to try these, if I have enough time and energy.

So...what do you do with your alone time?