Spring and Weddings and funerals and things

Spring has really been lovely.
Oh, hey, I've got boots on! 😁

We had our last day of co-op, sad day.  I was tempted to wear all black for mourning, but decided that they probably already think I'm nuts and it probably wasn't necessary.  :D  This was a fun group of kids.  I had them fill out a 'course evaluation' type survey and the answers were... interesting.  😜

The girls found a few too many treasures at the town garage sales.  The microscope was maybe the one find I was ok with.  (We just have too much stuff already that they don't play with enough, and they refuse to get rid of anything willingly...)

The playhouse + water = a muddy mess.

We celebrated Miriel's 4th birthday a day early!  She wanted a flower cake, which was easy enough. :)

Presents!

And cake with lunch.  Such a goose. 

Then we loaded up and headed to Elgin for Kray and Heather's wedding.

We got there just in time to eat supper with Nathan and Michelle.

Hooray for pizza in hotel lobbies!

And after we explored our connecting rooms.... (we.have.a.lot.of.kids.)

we went to the pool.  And the littles spent almost as much time in the pool shower. 😂

So yeah.  Five kids is too many for a standard hotel room and there weren't any suites nearby that worked for this trip. Having two bathrooms was nice, but the price was not so nice! Ha. I need large(ish) family travel tips!
I hadn't been up to Elgin for church in a very long time, so it was good to be there again.  I don't think I'll ever get over how easily the girls go to other Sunday schools.... they just went.  All four of them.  The wedding was lovely, and K & H dismissed everyone from the sanctuary, so that wasn't too bad.  But then we had to wait in line at the fellowship hall for food... and it was a very long line... and the girls were just over it and Perrin was a mess.  Bleah.  It always sounds like a good idea to have the reception line at church, buuuutttt.... then you wait twice, and probably for longer total.  So, note to self girls, we're not doing this at your weddings.   

They were done.... and thankfully slept/ were quiet most of the way home. :)

Anyway, overall it was a lovely weekend and a lovely wedding. 

 

One evening we were treated to a performance of an original Ballet-Operetta.  There was much dancing, original songs, costume changes, and I'm still not sure what it was all about.  😁

My Great Aunt Lucille died and I was hoping to go to her visitation.  After Grandma died she kept tabs on us, and since she was pretty tech savvy that included emails!  She and Uncle Bill came to a YG grandparent supper with Shelly and me one time, and we took this picture with her digital camera (I didn't even have a digital camera yet!)   

Unfortunately, right before I needed to leave I started to feel dizzy and took a nap to see if that would help.  It did, sort of, but I woke up with pink eye.  Woot.  So I didn't go... so disappointing, but I guess God didn't want me giving everyone in Gridley pink eye.... 
I took some of the kids to the woods one afternoon for a wander.  Also to look for mushrooms, but we didn't get very far so we didn't find any. 

The clearing is turning into a meadow. 

Perrin really likes the woods and the backpack carrier.  I don't love wearing glasses... they make my nose sweaty. 

Another old friend died the same week... I've known Edna my whole life.  Some of my earliest church memories are of 'helping' my Grandma dry dishes over noon hour with the other 'older' (they really weren't very old, I'm starting to realize!) ladies.  I would sit on the counter by Grandma with a dish towel; Edna and her sisters would wash, and when I was tall enough I would help put dishes away.  She's just always been a constant pillar, and would remember me and would always say hello when we visited until she moved to the home. Miri and Perrin came with me to the visitation, then we stopped at Faire and shared a scone. 

Mr. Perrin is very busy.  Sometimes he cleans up after himself and it cracks me up.  He pulled out a bunch of napkins, made a pile in the kitchen, and then put them all back in the drawer.  :) 

We spent an evening at the grade school open house.  It was also their spring concert, so that was fun. 

And then Emmy turned 9!  She wanted a rodeo cake, with a barrel racer on it.  (I think they might have figured out that they can get an extra birthday present on their cakes... 😜)

So excited. 

After school there were presents, and she wanted Chinese take out for supper.  😄 

This sandbox is still too small.... haha.

The girls were somewhat helpful planting the garden. :) 

And Bob found a few mushrooms!  So there is hope that there are some in the woods... somewhere...

Spring flowers are my favorites. 

We went to the farm for birthdays.

Oh Miri-grillo.

She got a doll stroller as a gift that Perrin really, really likes to push around and she really, really doesn't like to let him. 

It was really windy one night, and the next door neighbors tree lost two big branches.  They glanced off of their roof and landed on our driveway taking out the power lines to both of our houses.  There was much excitement in the neighborhood.

The power lines took most of the force, and messsed up where the lines go into the neighbors house. 

We were without power for over 12 hours... woot... so this was a very welcome sight.

Of course, I'm married to a very resourceful engineer who often works from home so he had a solar panel to charge the battery that was running the modem and the refrigerator... 😂

 

Little buddy really likes to be outside and really likes to throw balls.

 

He did not, however, want to sit on the picnic blanket to eat his lunch. 

Such a big little helper.

Me to my parents: hypothetically speaking, if I bought a large antique that I would need to store for an indeterminate amount of time, can I put it in your shed?

Them:

It did not work for me to be at the farm to take delivery of this amazing built in china cabinet, all the way from Minneapolis. :D  But they watched the girls that Friday while Bob and I went to potluck, so we got to unwrap it then.  Eeee.  It's so cool.  And the shed is hilariously full of Michelle's household goods and now my china cabinet.  

There was some stilt walking.

Tree climbing.

And lawn mowing before Grandma got home from work. 😊

On Saturday, I made the girls spring clean their room.  They were not excited.

They were pretty helpful though, and we got everything wiped out, walls wiped down, books gone through... slightly painful process but it's done for another year.

If I'm being honest, I just don't love Mother's day.  It's a nice idea, and I appreciate the reminder to honor my mother, but the day itself... it's a hallmark holiday.  And the only thing I'd really want is a true break.  Getting five kids out the door (probably with food too) for any sort of gathering does not sound fun at all.  Although, staying home and watching Bob and girls cook is maybe equally stressful... 😁😂

They made ribs.  And even fried onion rings. 😜😁

Miri was so tired she couldn't quite make it to dessert.  😀

Cleanup took about as long as cooking did... ha.

She picks the oddest places to practice flute, and then doesn't like it when Perrin joins her.

I finished the tie quilt/wall hanging I made from Grandpa's ties.  It is amusing how monochromatic it is... mostly navy, black, and brown.  😁  I suppose Grandma didn't want him wearing anything too flashy up on the pulpit.  How many prayers have these ties heard...?

I used Spoonflower to print my own backing fabric... the farm reference and the grands sang All the Way My Savior Leads Me at the cemetery. 

I think I like it.  haha.  It's not quite the right size for a lap quilt, and I have no need for a wall hanging. Also, if it's on the wall you can't see the back.  And ties aren't really washable, which makes it impractical.  So.  I have an impractical sentimental Thing full of sentiment.  😁 But I did enjoy making it, and they aren't at goodwill. 

The end of the school year means Field days!  Woot woot.  Emmy's was first, but she'd spent the two previous days home from school sick with Strep, so she didn't do any races.  It was a lovely day though, not super hot, so we didn't mind hanging out for an hour or so and watching her do tug of war. 

And thankfully she was well for her very first field trip ever!!  She was so excited.  They went to Sommer park and learned all about pioneers and homesteading. 

The fairy garden got planted, even with Perrin trying to help.  :) 

Well, I'm a little closer to getting caught up.  😁  Blessings.