Ponderings

I love experiencing life through my daughter's eyes. We went to see Disney On Ice this weekend and we had a blast. It was amazing to see the show with her. She really saw the characters as real people, she was terrified of Sleeping Beauty's dragon and she thought the 7 Dwarfs and Ariel's friends were hilarious.

She is also playing T-Ball. She is on the Purple team as you can see, and she is really having fun making friends and learning skills. The first game, she hit the ball and then ran to pick it up. She also gets confused between 1st base and 3rd base and sometimes splits the middle and runs to the pitchers mound when she hits the ball. She enjoys cleaning off the bases and digging trenches around them. Who knows if she will stick with softball, or if she will find another passion to pursue; but I was given an oppurtunity to try anything I wanted when I was young and was able to discover my own talents and passions to succeed in. I want my children to have these same oppurtunities. I want them to know that it is OK to try something and fail, it is OK to not ALWAYS be the best in everything they do.

In other news, we are having a garage sale this weekend. It is the "Maple Creek Neighborhood Garage Sale." Hopefully having several houses will draw more people. We only have 6 more weeks of school left, but the kids are already on Summer Vacation. We joke at lunch that they have completely phased us out and are simply worn out. Patience (mine) is wearing then, attention is gone (students) and we are all ready for a break.

Easter

We really enjoyed our Easter. Because everyone was going separate ways on Sunday we decided to celebrate as a family on Thursday night. We went to mom's for a ham dinner and Paula made some adorable and precious Easter cupcakes. The kids got their Easter baskets from Dodi and Poppa, then we all went outside for an Easter Egg Hunt.
Friday was "Good Friday" so I was off of work, but Veronika had to go for a Snow Make-Up Day. We didn't have Veronika Easter Weekend, so on Saturday we worked hard ALL DAY LONG! We got the patio cleaned up except for Garage Sale Stuff and Steve got all of his boxes in the house and is currently unpacking them. Sunday we went to church, out to eat Chinese Food, and home for a nice nap. We didn't have service Sunday night so we rested all evening.
We have had a real cold snap, so I am hoping all of my plants don't die...it is funny, I used to make fun of mom for loving her plants, but now I understand:)

Only 7 1/2 Weeks until Summer Break!!!

Gardening

Tuesday night Mom came over to our houses and made a little garden for each of the grandkids. We were really surprised because Veronika dove right into the dirt and she even found a "pet" worm (pictured). She put it in her bike bag and took it home. She even put it to bed in HER bed, until we explained to her that the worm would be MUCH happier in the dirt. I am so glad that Dodi and Poppa get to spend so much time with all of the grandkids. We really appreciate how good they are to Veronika, she LOVES to spend time with them and all of her extended families!

Spring Break

These are pictures form our Spring Break Trip. We left for Branson right after Veronika's softball practice Friday night. I had made Chicken Salad Sandwiches and packed chips and drinks, so we only had to stop for gas. We got into Branson around 10:30. Saturday morning we were up bright and early and went and ate at Aunt Molly's inside of Silver Dollar City. We had a blast Saturday. Veronika was on her best behavior and we really enjoyed our day together. Veronika rode her first "real" rollercoaster which really surprised me; we spent most of the afternoon in the "family" section which has alot of rides more age-appropriate for Veronika. We left the park at closing and went back to the hotel for a quick rest. We bathed Veronika and then headed to the Olive Garden for some dinner and then to Andy's frozen custard for dessert. We were all exhausted and slept well.

Sunday morning we headed to McDonald's for breakfast and it was packed!! We were in line for 30 minutes. When we got up to the counter they announced that they were switching over to lunch, but luckily we got to order breakfast. After that we headed to the Butterfly Palace. We thought it was a little over-priced for what you got, but we still enjoyed it. Our favorite part was a mirror "rainforest." We got really lost and had a blast. Next, we headed down to Branson Landings to the Disney Store. Veronika has been saving up her allowance for this trip, so she bought her own purse with little knick-knacks. We really tried to get her to get something that she didn't already have; but we told her it was her money and she could make her own decision. We wrapped up the trip with lunch at Joe's Crab Shack. Veronika was out before we even got on the highway and slept most of the way home.

I had a very nice week off of school, I got alot of cleaning and organization done. I don't think I have ever relaxed that much on a break...it was wonderful; a nice energizer for the final 8 weeks of school.