A Week With the Girls

Reece and I got to tend my cousin's little girls while my

cousin and her husband celebrated their 10 year anniversary

in Hawaii. These are the cutest girls ever and we had tons of fun.

It was fun to finally do some girly stuff as I have been tending

a lot of boys lately. But these girls are pretty tough and held

their own in our in all our adventures. It was interesting as

us, a childless couple, had to step up to the tasks of everyday

life in a little family. Homework, chores, getting ready for

school, practicing piano, bath time, church...And there was

work and finals on our part too. But we did alright and got in

plenty of fun in as well.

-Makeovers

-Tulip Festival

-Dinosaur museum

-Children's museum

-Planetarium

-California Pizza Kitchen

-Ratatouille

-Craft time

-Water fights

-Evening walks to Shop in Go for ice cream

-Card games

-Rock Band

-The Myan for dinner

-Bowling

-Making cookies

-Taking pictures

-Jumping on the tramp

-Picnics in the treehouse

-Mia trying on all the shoes in the house

-Dress up

-Reading books (which can be pretty risky according to lil Mia)

We got all the girls disposable cameras which they

decorated with stickers and then we all got to take pictures of

the blooms at the tulip festival at thanksgiving point.

Afterwards we went to costco for dinner (pizza and hotdogs)

while we got all their photos developed in one hour photo.

We all had a blast on the grass by the waterfalls, rolling,

running....getting our energy out so we will all go to sleep

when asked....lovely.

{Happy meals and playplaces make for happy afternoons}

{dont all makeovers consist of flower painted nails, fancy

hairdos, grown up make-up, and a fashion shoot at the end?

if not, they should.}

{Hanging around the house can be fun too, especially

when we get to do things that remind me of my childhood}

{Disco bowling...always an event. Bumpers and ramps

can really help too....but I didnt win using these....

I promise}

{little confession....we acctually went to all the museums

for me...I really like museums. But the girls seem to have

a good time too}

{We got the daily routine down pretty good, but

maybe with our own variations though...}

{Thanks girls, till next time}

Silver Lining

I was sad when I looked out my window

one day in April

to see that a couple inches of snow had

fallen and crushed my hopes of spring finally arriving,

I was even more sad to see all the aftermath

of such a spontaneous snow, when all had melted,

the ground was littered with broken branches

whose beautiful blossoms had caught more snow

then the branches could bare.

Then when stopped at a stop light I looked over to

see men filling a truck full of

branches that they were going feed through a chopper,

I wheeled around, parked, and ran to the truck

I asked it I could at least save a few of the flowered

branches from this fate...

They let me fill my arms full, brimming with pink.

As I was loading my car with my new acquisition

a few gals noticed and asked if they too could grab

an armful... I told them, nothing would make me happier!

I cant tell you how thrilled it made me to bring,

into my home, my favorite part of spring.

The branches made for an exquisite shoot.

{Sakura}