Maybe Spring is here

Although it is 41 degrees outside and is supposed to get really cold tonight with a hard freeze, today the flowers look nice. Every time I look at the fence I am glad we put it in. (And I'm glad for the extra push from Catherine to get us going on the project!)
I've put a styrofoam rose cone over the bleeding heart bush to protect it, but the other spring flowers are just going to have to fend for themselves. If I put a tarp or blanket over them to protect from the frost, they will break off.

This cold year just doesn't want to let go.

And MORE uses for tables...

We humans use the table as a work surface, but the dog LOVES to clean up any fallen crumbs underneath. And when there are little children around, there are lots of crumbs!Nothing beats the food Great-grandma Bailey serves up around her table. And she usually doesn't even sit down with us!
Actually, there isn't a table here, but every chair from around the table was used for the blanket tent.
And tables are great for leaning on as the extended family solves the problems of the world!

Uses for Tables, Part II

As I combed through family photos, I was struck with how many family activities center around the table. Sometimes those activities are a little out-of-the-ordinary, like...

...snacking between mealtimes.

( What is it about a wooden table that makes the girls in our family feel voracious???)

Or part of a yearly tradition like dying Easter Eggs.
Or visiting with new friends.
Where would we be without a table?

Uses for tables

Tables can be used in such a variety of ways...

...to play under (at Christmas, at Great-grandma Bailey's house.)

...to keep adult eyes from seeing how much Easter candy is being eaten.
..to hold laptops as dads work at their business, even though both were on vacation.
And this is only the beginning!

Music, music, music

To our surprise, since it is still cool outside (and actually snowing this morning), it is the season for the All-City musical events. For three Mondays in a row, we get to go to the high school gym, with the All-City Orchestra being the first. All-City Chorus is next, followed by All-City Band. Alice, bless her heart, is in all three this year.

Why were we surprised? Because it is usually stifling hot at these events, so we just thought it was still sometime in the future.

Then on Thursday evening, our family, along with 3 other families from the ward, went to the nearby rest home and provided some entertainment. Alice played "I've Got No Strings" (from Pinocchio). Lots of the residents tapped their toes--they recognized it.

Then it was Elly's turn. Right after Kevin took this picture, there was a bright flash of light outside and an loud peal of thunder, and the lights blinked off! Elly was playing "Orange Blossom Special" and kept right on playing. The lights flickered back on (along with several alarms from patients' rooms) and the show went on!

It was a fun service project, and the stake presidency had asked us to do some service as a family before stake conference. Along with turning off the TV (no problem there!)

I was glad one of the other moms suggested this activity.

One Set of Missionaries Down...

Yesterday was transfer day. We're getting in the rhythm of missionary life. This is Sister Norton (from Show Low, AZ) and Sister Howell (from Gilbert, AZ). Sister Norton is going home, and we assumed Sis. Howell would stay here (she has one month left), but she was also transferred, to a Spanish branch (she is actually Hermana Howell).
We were all sad to see them go.

They had been very kind and integrated well into our home.

They kept all the mission rules.

At 9 AM sharp--the beginning of companion study time--the sounds of a hymn sung in harmony would come floating up the stairs. (They had nice voices, too).

Alice particularly is missing them.

For her, it was like having a couple of older sisters in the bedroom across from hers.

The rest of us appreciated all the desserts that ward members showered them with, and which the missionaries freely shared with us. Ymmm!

Now we have a new set of sisters, and we can't wait to get acquainted!

Experimenting with paper-whites

A few weeks ago, a friend gave me several bulbs of paperwhites, ready to plant and bloom indoors. I've never done that before--a new project for grandma flowers!

We had enough for a glass vase, a dirt-filled pot, and another pot that went to Catherine's house at Easter.

Watching the roots grow down and fresh green grow upwards was exciting. Especially since it was still winter outside.

Then the first blooms appeared.

Their smell isn't delicious. But they do smell like other spring flowers.

The only downside--literally--is a funny trait these have. One moment they are standing up straight and tall, and ten minutes later they look like this:
So we patiently stand them up again and prop them against the wall, and after a few hours they are straight and tall again, on their own. Until it happens again.

This morning, we came out to find that it had flopped over the wrong way

and landed on the floor! Dirt and broken blossoms everywhere!

So we cut several blooms for vases and

moved the plant to a floor spot .

Next time, I won't put so many bulbs in one pot.

At the museum, I found a long lost friend--I think he's related to the traveling gnome. The adults put together a couple of puzzles, and Brenna did hers. She even put in some pieces in our 750-piece puzzle. It was in the sky section, and I was stumped. She came over and within a minute had put in two. Pretty good for a 3-year-old. And it's fun to see clothes on her that Elizabeth and Alice wore, like this French sweater.
Kevin and Aaron traded jabs, hits, strikes, birdies and aces as they played with the Wii. Alice and Connor spent a lot of time with the Legos--building land speeders, x-wing fighters, etc. Some of this was spurred on by playing Legos Star Wars on Aaron's PS3.

We found that Elly and Alice have a difficult time working together. It took them 2 hours to go through the first episode.
And although it was just before Easter, the snow was actually quite beautiful. Perfect for a December or January day!