The Band

We enjoyed the band concert a few weeks ago.  Evan plays the trombone. 

It's been a fun experience for him!

Hope x 4

Okay.  I've never linked to another of my posts before, but I know many of you do it all the time so it must not be that difficult? 

Remember last fall when I had a post called "Hope" ? 

Well, I fussed over that beauty all winter and loved every minute of it.  It kept me in touch with another season....

And it's still alive! 

So, the past few weeks I've had such a grand time taking stem cuttings from some of my plants and making new ones in preparations for warmer days ahead, with visions of full, lush flowerbeds filling my dreams....

A little thought formed....  could I have MORE of these lovely Gerbera Daisies?????

A little research done.

A little indecision.

A little courage.

Today I divided my Gerbera Daisy.  Before I divided it, it looked like this. 

I won't show you yet what it looks like now because 3 of my 4 transplants look sadly droopy....

BUT!!!  There is HOPE!  It has always looked droopy after I've transplanted it.  I think it will be fine!

And I'll have Hope x 4!!!

I hope!

Happy Birthday to my little brother!

If you visit Mountain Memories, you'll see that my little brother has the CUTEST kids!!!  Now you see where they get half of their cuteness.  Ryan was a very cute little fella and such a good boy. 

This is one of the two pictures I could find of the two of us when we were little.  I know it's not real fancy, but it's very REAL!!  And oh, how I remember when Ryan lost that beloved blankie....

Hope you have a good day, Ryan!  We love you!

Turning Ten

This thank-you collage shows you what we did last Saturday!  We had a super-fun sewing party for Lana's birthday!  Lana and I cut the fabric and did a little pre-work before the party, and then the girls each sewed their own pillowcase.  They are all natural-born seamstresses!!!  I was so impressed! 

And we had rainbow cupcakes.  Thanks, Andrea for the link to ourbestbites.com.  We couldn't resist trying these!  We even made the homemade frosting.  Yummmmm... 

We did some other fun crafty stuff too while each girl was sewing. 

 Would you believe Lana got these socks for a gift from one of her friends that day?!  A perfect match to what she was wearing....  AND these are no ordinary socks.  They are scented!  (And not like feet either!)  They smell wonderful!  And they have cute little grips on the bottom which are very handy for little girls who love to run on the slippery laminate floor!! 

So, that was Saturday.  Then on Sunday we had special meeting and Grandma and Grandpa took us out afterwards for a birthday supper. 

Then on Monday evening Lana got to open a few presents.  The first one she opened was a box of new hangers from American Girl.  She's been asking for these.  The second box she opened was a strong hint of delights of the coming day...  a doll stand!

So, by Tuesday morning, she could barely contain herself!  She was up early and waiting for me....  And she got to open Kanani before breakfast!

 I had always thought one American Girl doll was enough, and we'd agreed on this together many times in the past.  However, as I started looking through the catalog awhile back, I realized that a matching doll/girl outfit costs almost or just as much as a new doll!  So, I thought I'd surprise her and get Kanani!  She is a beautiful doll.  I think I got her as much for me as for Lana....

So, here she is with her two girls on her actual birthday.  Ready to have cupcakes again!  I guess we forgot to frost the doll-sized cupcakes, but you can see them better this way anyway. 

 Wow!  What a fun birthday!

A variety of accomplishments

Lana's March book report was on a biography, the book being chosen by her teacher.  She was required to read the book and then create the person out of an oatmeal can!  Inside the can she was to include three objects that help to describe the person as well as some facts to share.  Then she presented it to her class.  Lana's subject was Jane Goodall.  It was interesting for all of us to learn more about her and her life-work of studying chimpanzees and being good to the earth....

One of Evan's latest accomplishments was to dig a hole to China.  Well, almost.... 

We still seem to have plenty of snow for projects like this.  Although the past few days have helped a lot with our snow melt.   Little by little we're seeing some bare ground in our yard....  And we've had ROBINS!!!!  There is hope!!

Most of Mattie's accomplishments involve food - usually not to be bragged about.  She has a way of getting into stuff she shouldn't.  But, this incident was okay!  She didn't eat the whole carton of ice cream.  We just gave it to her to clean up after WE ate the whole carton!

Coming up this week....  A birthday celebration!

What do you do when...?

What do you do when your DH is gone on a business trip and you have a major winter storm?

Now, mind you, this storm could have been much worse.  They were predicting much worse, and just south of us they received 19 inches of heavy wet snow.  I'd guess we got 6 - 8 inches of heavy wet snow, with lots of east wind.

It seems crazy since we've had such a nasty winter, but TODAY was our first snow day!  So many of our storms this year have landed on weekends.  I was happy to have my kids home today.  Nice.

So, what would you do?

• First, you would enjoy the morning in the house in ignorance.  Then, after you were nourished from lunch and a quick nap, you would go out to assess the situation.

• And, right away, you would thank your husband in your heart because before he left on his trip the other day, he took two extra hours out of his work day to run for parts and repair the broken down snowblower...

• Next, you would decide the snowblower is your friend.  I've used it before and never really embraced it.  But, this time it was my friend.  We were a team as we blew out a 2 foot deep, 20 foot long drift.  It was plugging our driveway, and there's no way we could have gotten out (I guess with the snowmobile, maybe!)  So, here is a picture of my friend! 

• As you were running the snowblower, you would be thankful for your blog, because it gave you something to think about....  How would you share this?  What pictures would you take?

• Then you would gratefully hand your friend over to my very capable son while you took a quick break.  Boys love this kind of stuff.  He did a great job!

• Next, you would take a moment to snap a picture of your crazy dog, because she can make anything seem like a barrel of fun!

• Then you would ponder over your fortune of having a four-wheel drive vehicle in your garage to help in situations like this.  After 12 years in the country, it's about time we did this!  Sure, gas is expensive, but there are times when it's worth it.

• And then you stop to take a picture of the kids enjoying their snow day.  The sun is shining and the snow is perfect for packing!  (And you include the funny new hair-do on the house in your picture of the kids.)

• Then you do a little more snowblowing and a little more shoveling, and you make the decision that "That's enough."  (And you decide to take 2 advil with supper tonight.)  Even though the work's not all done, it's enough for now.

• So then you go in for a little snack and come back outside to sit in a camp chair and soak up some of that good March sunshine while you watch Evan build sandcastles... Oops.  I mean, a snow fort.  But, you can dream they are sandcastles if you want!



• And you'd give thanks that you can breath the pure fresh air.  That the earth is solid under your feet and that there are no earthquakes or tsunamis here today.  And you'd look forward to your DH coming home to join you.  And you'd be thankful, SO thankful!  that it's March.  The sun is shining brightly, and there is hope for better weather coming....

That's what you'd do if you were me today.  Happy Spring!

Matching Dresses

We finished Lana's dress in February, and while we wanted to share a post of her among a spring garden of posies, this will have to do for now!  We had lots of fun sewing this dress.  I think I mentioned in another post that I haven't sewn for Lana before, so this was a first for me.  I loved it, and she loved it!  We'll do this again!

Twirling...

So...  now we just need some spring weather so she can wear it!