Class Pet

A frog.

And Alida asks me whether it is bad that she hopes her friend, who has diabetes, is sick tomorrow and has to stay home from school, because she is the next in line to feed the frog.

 

I think it is completely normal to feel that way.  That you recognize that it isn't a great feeling to have, well that is admirable.

Art Impact Award

And so it was off to another award ceremony for this guy.

 

Impact Crater Art Competition, in the bag.

 

In not too many years, you'll be pleased to be surrounded by so many ladies.

Pop Up Party

In my honor!  How sweet.

When Alida told me that they wanted to do something because of the lecture about helping, I said that was great.  So,  you decided to throw a party instead of helping?

Alida: "Yeah!  Isn't that so much more fun!"

Me: Yes girl, yes indeed.

 

Banner, Easy Bake Cupcakes, a disco light on the tablet and pop music while we danced. 

The best party ever.

 

And then instead of dancing Nicholas kind of decided to be a leg-less zombie and chase us back and forth across the room.

 

I got in my steps that day; and I put them to bed without asking for help cleaning up.

 

Slumber Party

At our house that is what happens when you each have .5 friends over to spend the night....

 

And then there is a bit of basketball, until there is some injury.

At least it was one of mine, although the odds are in my favor there.

 

And the .5 friend of the boys says he'd like lemon bars for dessert.

Sure, let me just whip some of those up after not finding the box mix at the store...

Easter Weekend

Family

Traditional Bunny cake, with colored layer twist this year.

 

Closest game of Wahoo ever.

 

Easter dinner.

 

Popcorn balls.

 

And this guy.

UP a Tree

What do you have up the tree that you won't stop barking at during my meeting?

 

Oh, whatever that is.  yikes.

 

Oh, you got it.

But when it disappeared, where did it go? 

Am I going to run across this somewhere soon?

Easter 2017

Easter Weekend

Welcome grandma and grandpa!

We're glad you're coming to play and celebrate with us.

 

Hey mom, let's not dress alike on Sunday, though.

 

It's Friday morning, but Sunday's a comin'. 

 

Sisters

Saturday morning while the boys were at camp, and I had coffee on the front porch.

The girls played some hoops together.

I inevitably had to go in to do some task or another long before they were done.

 

When I walked out again, I discovered why there had been an end to the game that morning.

Apparently Alida had been hogging the ball a bit...

Basketball apologies in rose petals.  I love little girls.

The Theater

Sherlock Holmes.

Where I was able to get four front row balcony seats, not five.

Alas. I told them I did that on purpose and I had my eye on all of their cute little heads.

My Dream Kitchen

Beautiful.

Food Prep separate from washing dishes.  Double ovens.  Gas cooktop.  Farm sink.  Countertop height island.  Storage.

It will remain a dream, and I will create here while we're in Chicago. 

But it does have a double ovens!

 

And it's pretty dang cute.

Aggravating Things: That Knocking I Hear

This female cardinal was pretty at first.

 

Then she started flinging herself against the kitchen window.

 

When I chased her off, she went around to another side window of the house.

 

And then came back here.  And then went to the front door.  And then came back here.

 

And what started out amusing me became quite creepy over ten days of doing this.

All.Day.Long. while I work from home.

 

But, I have a house to sell, and she is pooping on my rocking chairs and my front door, and she's pecking at the foot plate. And it's starting to make me mad instead of creeped out now. We went away for Spring Break, and then on the first Saturday after returning, she started at the front door at 5:00 am. 

 

I'm sorry that the bird feeder broke in two and fell over during a storm, really.  But I have a few things going on right now.

Return to Reality

And then we left in the early morning in the rain for the 11 hour drive home.

During which my car decided to tell me that my tires had lost all pressure as we tooled down the interstate.  I chose to ignore this quirk.

Exploring

With the boring task of house hunting out of the way, we took on public transportation.

 

In many fashions.  And we joked that the kids ride half-rate, he rides half-rate or free because he is in the military. And they would likely just charge me double instead of full price because I'm always carrying all the stuff and wind up taking two seats...

Ferris Wheel and Navy Pier--check.

 

City Scape--Check

Millennium Park--check

Whatever this is--check

Man surrounded by pink--check.

 

Art museum--check

 

Original Chicago deep dish pizza--check

 

 

 

Unanimous

And in a rare, unanimous vote after a full day of seeing some real losers, we found a new, temporary home for the next year.

Minimalism

Single man about town.

With a matching, sparsely furnished apartment (we brought our own beach chairs).  

Back to being daddy.

 

And so he took us out to the movies, where we relaxed and watched King Kong.