Easter Break

This year for Easter, we went up to visit with Nana and Papa. Their house just happens to be about equidistant for all of us, so we lovingly refer to it as “The Halfway House.” It was so much fun because all of my siblings were able to come, and so all of the cousins could play together. We really fill their house to capacity now, and there will be two more baby girls in July! They were all so cute, and Hunter and Emma loved having the little ones come looking for them to play.

The day before Easter was the final performance of “Savior of the World,” a play that my Dad has been rehearsing for months. He played the apostle Phillip and surprised all of us with his long hair and mustache when we arrived at the house. He had an awesome beard in the play too, and it was hard to find him on stage because he looked so different. I couldn’t even find him until my grandma pointed him out to me. I guess mothers have that radar. The play was so nice; with beautiful sets, costumes, and music. It was really impressive to see how well a bunch of amateurs can do when they all come together and work at it. Of course, we all think that Papa stole the show in spite of his strong, silent character. “He ate?!” was one of my favorite lines he had. The pictures I took are in the gallery, but they just didn’t turn out all that well, so you’ll need to use your imagination a little.

Sunday was Easter and the kids all had an egg hunt in the house. Everyone had a blast looking for eggs, and there were plenty for all of the kids! This is the first year that I have done the whole Easter Outfit thing. The girls all had special dresses that I bought off of Ebay, and then made hair bows to match. Hunter has his very first real suit which was also an Ebay find. I have done a lot of online shopping lately because going to the stores is just so exhausting. Again, there are photos in the gallery!

Monday was my birthday, and it has been a long time since I have had the whole family to celebrate with. In fact, maybe ten years!? Nana made Rouladen, a German stuffed beef dish that I never prepare myself, but just love. And for dessert we had an Apple Cherry Cobbler A-la-mode that was fantastic! I got some very thoughtful gifts, cards, and a sweet message on my machine. It was a great day, thanks to everyone!

The rest of the visit was spent enjoying each other’s company and just hanging out. Although, before I left I did take some pictures of Matt and Ashley for their wedding announcements. The beauty of this digital camera is that I could take a ton of pictures without worrying about the price of the film or developing. So, I really took advantage of it and took 198 photos! Lucky for you all, I only posted 36 of my favorites in the gallery!

Rob flew home on Tuesday so he could get back for work. So the kids and I drove the 8 hours home on our own on Friday. Thank goodness for DVD players! The kids watched 3 movies on the way home. I was so tired when I got home that I gave Rob a big hug and kiss, helped unload the car and put the kids to bed, and then put myself to bed too. I guess I’m not a drive all day kind of girl. It’s good to be home, and back in the groove: School, activities, scouts, classes, playdates, laundry, dishes… You know all of that fun stuff.

The Time Machine

A little while back, I won a bid on eBay for a box full of illustrated classic books for kids. I’ve been working my way through them with Hunter and Emma, reading a chapter or two to them each night as part of their “bedtime routine.” We just finished reading The Time Machine and the kids really got into it. When we were done, I figured it would be fun to go rent the old Time Machine movie they made back in the 60’s and watch it with the kids. We had this movie when I was a kid and I probably watched it a dozen times at least. I had all these memories of the cool effects and of how scary the morlocks were.

We had a fun time watching it with the kids who remembered parts from the book and thought it was all fun but let’s just say, this is one of those movies that the years have not been kind to. Amy and I had a hard time not laughing at all the cheezy effects. The best part, I think, was one scene showing a city being destroyed that was clearly some kid’s train set with matchbox cars being set on fire. Hilarious! There were other problems too. It seemed like the time traveler just spent the whole movie yelling at people for being from the future. Plus, the morlocks all looked like they came straight out of a John Goodman look-a-like contest (that they didn’t win for being too fat. Zing!).

It’s kind of sad, actually. I had such good memories of that movie. There are other movies I liked when I was younger that I avoid watching again just because I don’t want to be let down like that. Does anyone else do that?

By the way, I know Uncle Rico’s time machine has nothing to do with The Time Machine movie, but I just couldn’t resist (Oh, it kills, it kills! Turn it off! Turn it off!).

Gotcha??!!

Ok, so Banna, Heidi and Heather called our bluff. April Fools!

We saw Melanie’s post late last night and were totally fooled. We did the math and talked about how close together the two babies would be, etc. Then this morning I woke up to Hunter and Emma plotting some April Fools pranks, and thought, “Hey, wait a minute! I bet that Mark and Melanie are pulling a joke.” As soon as Rob woke up I revealed my suspicions to him. We said, hey, why don’t we play along? So we got the kids that were awake in on it too, and staged the photo. And yes, it is a digital thermometer. I didn’t think the photo would be so closely scrutinized. (And you’re right, I am not the tink touching kind, but, because I am a mother, I have touched it all before.) Because there has been a “procedure,” it is nearly impossible for me to get pregnant again, so I don’t have pregnancy tests lying around the house!

So if we got you, sorry! But you have to admit, that is the perfect picture.

Jog A Thon ’07

This morning was the Jog-A-Thon fundraiser at the elementary school. Hunter and Emma did such a great job running! It reminded me that they need to do it more often on their own. They went to their classrooms to take roll, and 15 minutes later the whole school came out to the back field. There were two tracks, one for the upper grades, and one for the lower. Everybody ran for 45 minutes, and the kids seemed to have a lot of fun as some volunteer parents counted their laps. I took a ton of photos, but only posted the best ones. There are some fun pictures with great action in the gallery!

Vacation to Mars – The Movie

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HYz9uEeRK4

Rob got a clip of Hunter’s play up on YouTube after lots of fiddling! The good news is that the next time we want to post a video, it should be pretty straightforward. Hunter is the one in the orange ball cap. I was pushing for no hat so we could see his face better, but I can’t win them all! This is the first song in the play where Hunter announces to the family the plans for their family vacation. He came up with the choreography himself, and is such a cutie manly “Dad.”

Vacation to Mars

Hunter’s third grade class combined with another one and put on the play “Vacation to Mars.” It’s all about the solar system and mixes a lot of information into cute songs and a story about a family going on vacation to Mars. Hunter is the Dad in the play and did a super job on his lines and his solo in the first song! There were also little songs for all of the planets, and he knew all of the words for those too. His classes worked so hard, practicing every day for weeks. His teachers were also very impressed with how quickly he memorized the lines, and how well he did on stage. We have been trying to get the video we took online, but have run into some snags. Hopefully that will come later.