Spring Happenings at our home

When we returned from a youth activity, A&E had a surprise for us! They had found a "free" air-hockey table and carried it home. At first we weren't sure it would fit anywhere, but if the pingpong table is folded up, there is a spot for it. I have a feeling that after a few months, it will lose its allure. But it is fun! And I have to show the magnolia tree at its height in bloom. And it continues to rain--a lot.
Alice had her birthday, with a "citrus" cake (lemon cake with some orange food coloring in one layer). In stead of going to a restaurant for her birthday dinner, we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire in the new fire pit. (Alice's choice!) We have plenty of wood in the little grove behind our house. And since our town now has a burn ban except for "recreational" fires, the old wood has been piling up.
Each morning, now matter how I am feeling, when I look out on this scene, my heart is uplifted and gladdened. The long, cool spring has kept the flowers blooming. We had a touch of frost yesterday morning, but nothing was hurt.
Happy Spring!

On Saturday, Elizabeth got to have her first paying gig, playing in a quartet for a University reception. They got lots of compliments, and $100 to split. For playing an hour. AND they got to eat lunch. Of course, they had to have practices together, and they have each been playing their instrument for at least 7 years. I guess if I were to count up all the $$ for lessons, this doesn't even pay for a single lesson. But a monetary return isn't why we do music in our family. We do it for the "fun" school concerts? (Probably not).
Or for the actually fun concerts in the extra-curricular junior orchestra? No, that's more of a reward than a motivation.
We do music in our family because--

1) it involves diligence and
responsibility;

2) it opens up another part of the
brain--musically-trained people tend to be smarter;

3) it brings association with other good
kids and good families;

4) it opens up opportunities for service
and to be involved in the community.

And that's a good way to raise kids!

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!

Butterflies everywhere...

The favorite place at the Milwaukee Public Museum?

Was it the dinosaur skeletons? The European Village (with houses representing each country in Europe)? The rooms of prehistoric animals? The dioramas of the Artic, Asia, Pacific Islands, South America, the Ocean, etc.? No, it was the butterfly room.

We saw new swallowtails just emerging from their cocoons. There were butterflies of various types and colors flying around our heads or landing on us.

Alice transferred one to Connor's hand.

This took a few shots to get as the butterfly kept closing its wings. I love digital cameras! We tried and tried to get a butterfly onto Brenna's hand, but it usually flew just over her head.

After walking for hours, eating a picnic lunch, and riding home in a sun-warmed car, Brenna just couldn't keep her eyes open. Even with a half-eaten banana in her lap.

And so, Justin, I can post something besides snow...

So long, farewell, and goodbye!

Each day the temperature climbs a bit higher--49, 50, 51, and the snow is going, going, and soon will be gone. Now, I'm not naive enough to think it is gone for good this spring, afterall, we've built snowmen on April First (a real April Fool joke on us) before. I can hardly believe the pile of snow once encompassed the tree. But Spring is really coming! My fingers are itching to pick up a rake and a broom to loosen that packed down grass and sweep up all the left-over sand (for which we were grateful when the streets were full of ice).
Where the snow drift melted away just a few days ago, now a hyacinth is poking its head up!
For those of you who live in warmer climates, you probably don't understand the ecstatic feeling I had as I walked through my yard and saw these first signs of life. For you, the world is green the year around.

After a long four months of just white,

new green is about the most wonderful color in the world!

To go along with the baby daffodils and tulips I saw, I heard a robin singing and the sky had little fluffy white clouds floating in the blue.

What a great feeling--Spring!

I'm dreaming of a white.... Easter?

As we looked out the window on Friday morning, a snowy blizzard greeted us. The snow and wind continued the entire day. The radio reported traffic gridlock in Milwaukee as snow plows couldn't keep the roads cleared off and many, many traffic accidents occurred. We were so glad we had made the choice to go to the museum in Milwaukee on Thursday!

Brenna walked around the house singing, "Deck the Halls".

By Saturday morning, this is what we saw as we looked out Catherine's back window... 12 inches of snow! And the Easter Bunny trying to make his way through.And this was the view from front window, as Kevin went out early to shovel the driveway and sidewalks. We had all helped shovel at various times during the day.
By Saturday afternoon, the warm sunshine enticed us outside.

With a hillside and gravity to help, it only took a short time to have a family of snowmen with a watch dog on the end, in the back yard.

I'm afraid one of the snowmen won't stay standing very long.When we left on Sunday afternoon, the snow was perfect for snowballs.

The sunshine made heavy coats unnecessary. Robins were singing.
And another visit to West Bend ended peacefully.

(Notice those flip flops on Elly's feet!)

Going, going, gone...

During our January thaw... (before the next two feet of snow fell). On March 12, the snow bridge is still holding on, despite temperatures in the 40's, and a lot of melting going on!
March 13--51 degrees! The first time we've been THAT warm since before Thanksgiving. And see, the ice is receding out of the street. About a week ago I was finally able to walk the dog all the way to the top of the street.

Of course I had to walk in the middle of the street--there was about a 3-foot wide area of concrete showing without any ice. Each day the glaciers at the roadsides have receded a few inches and our streets are getting wider! (In some places it is actually 2 lanes again).

However, the neighborhood sidewalks are still not traversible--some are cleared off, but it seems like the neighbors just gave up for the last couple of snow storms. I guess they figure that since it is March, sooner or later it will melt anyway.

And now the ice is gone...

And we couldn't be happier!

But it was only a week or so ago that we were dealing with icy "pot-holes" in the road--spots where the salt had accumulated and melted out a crater. It took several minutes to drive up our street at 5 mph, to avoid hitting the holes too hard, or hitting the bottom of the car on the high spots.

There were areas of town where you didn't have to steer your car at all--with twin parallel ruts all you had to do was apply gas or brake. In fact, it was like driving a car at an amusement park with the wheels on a track so you can't stray. The ones on our street weren't quite so kind. The worst part was that all of this could have been avoided if the snow plows would have come while the ice was soft (when it first fell), instead of waiting for it to freeze really hard.A purchase of a potted plant helped me hold on. Spring has to come sometime!