The Princess and the Meatloaf

Emilee wrote a little book this morning  You can imagine my surprise when I asked he for the title and she said with confidence, "The Princess and the Meatloaf!"  Well then!  I present to you, The Princess and the Meatloaf.  Well done Emilee!

Violin Time!

Wednesday night we got to go to Aidan's violin concert!  WHAT A DIFFERENCE!  I haven't seen him play with the group since early October.  They were amazing!  And, we got to see the elementary orchestra play and I am hopeful that he will give that a try next year.  Looks like lots of fun!  Here is a little montage of his performance.  One thing we know for sure, Aidan has played twinkle twinkle at least 5,000 times this year!  They seem to use that for everything.  They mix up the rhythm and play different variations  but it is twinkle twinkle nonetheless!  I included one of those.  Our favorite was "Scotland's burning" at the end, as they got to do a little round, for orchestra practice.  Enjoy!

Trumpet Time

Tuesday night was Ethan's Festival of Bands.  It was at the high school and there were six bands.  Starting with the middle school beginning band, which Ethan is in, and going all the way to the High School concert band.  It was so much fun to see the improvement and work they've done!  It was also fun to look ahead at what a band can turn into.  Here is a little video montage of the night, and some just for fun playing that he does at home.  Great work Ethan!

Disneyland!

We have just returned from two magical days at the magic kingdom.  We had such a wonderful time!  I've been wanting for so long to bring the children down while they are all still children.  And, it was magical!  We had a few magical moments, such as when Emilee danced with Mary Poppins in her show, when the man at Luigi's flying tires stopped us at the door before getting in the 30 minute line and sent us to the directly to the exit to get on the ride without waiting, and just fun fun fun for two whole days!  And did you know it was my birthday!  I smiled so much my cheeks were sore all day!

A few of us felt very conflicted entering California Adventure the second day.  Could it possibly be as magical of a place?  I'm not sure it's got quite the sparkle that Disneyland does, but it was pretty fun.  Some highlights there included soaring over CA, the roller coaster for the boys, and the cars ride for EVERYONE!  Probably the best disney ride ever.

So here is a little video montage for your viewing pleasure. . .  From our first in and out burger upon arrival, to the sleepy ride home after day two.  Enjoy!

Thank you Grammy and Grampy for making this all possible!  It was a very Merry Christmas in March!

Mommy's Dolly!

Emilee got this cute doll crib for her birthday.  She was so excited!  Now if only we could convince Heidi that she's not a doll, maybe Emilee would get to play with it!

But really, she is my dolly.  I'll play dolly with you any day, Heidi!

Happy 5th Birthday Emilee!

Our sweet Emilee turned 5 years old yesterday!  I can't believe she's getting so big and it's a little bittersweet to see her cross the threshold from 4 to 5.  I feel like they change into big kids sometime around 5, and it's sad and sweet all at the same time to think she'll be skipping off to Kindergarten next year.

Here we are before the party.  It was a "Camping, PJ, Pancake Breakfast Party!"  Emilee  came up with the theme all on her own and I thought it was perfect!  We set up tents and a campfire in the basement and the girls had a wonderful morning at camp!

Breakfast around the camp fire shortly after everyone arrives. . . 

  Stringing beads for necklaces and bracelets. . .

 It was raining when it was pinata time and I was VERY impressed with what Gordon came up with.  It worked perfectly!

 For her treat Emilee wanted fresh strawberry pie, everyone loved it!

 Later, after her party, we opened gifts and she played and played with them all day.

Later last night we had one last hurrah with a rice krispee cake, and of course, wearing her new princess dress she recieved from one of the girls.

Happy Birthday little Em!  We sure love having you in our family!

it's Moving Day!

If you had told me we were going to be moving furniture Monday morning and changing bedrooms around, I wouldn't have believed you.  But somehow Gordon convinced me it was time to make the girls roommates and I found myself cleaning out dressers and laying out rooms.  Emilee is so pleased to be sharing a room with her sister, and to be upgraded to a full sized twin instead of her toddler bed!  They did great the first night and so far, so good!

Here is where we put Emilee's bed:

and the crib is across the room like so: 

And so if Emilee moved out, that means Chandler has his own room.  He is pretty excited!  There's just one catch.  It's half his room, and half the play room.  The kids like to keep their favorite play things upstairs instead of the basement, so he will be responsible for keeping that fairly neat, and sharing that space with the girls.  We'll see how it goes!

Both kids have promised me to make their beds every day, and we manged to arrange the rooms so the beds are pulled away from the walls for easy making.  I am HOPING that they will get the hang of it and improve their bed making skills quickly.  I have totally FAILED to teach the big boys how to do this daily, mostly because of the bunk bed situation.  IT is SO hard to make a bunk bed, especially a bunk bed up against the wall.  They don't know it yet but their room is next on my to do list.  Stay tuned for a slight makeover in there!