Easter Fun

We realized we had not been back to Iowa for Easter since I was pregnant, meaning that Lucy had never celebrated Easter in Iowa. So we were looking forward to heading to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Somebody was so excited, she packed her bag a week ahead of time.

It did not disappoint! My parents hosted the White side of the family on Saturday afternoon/eve. We also had a very special event - the debut of Baby June! Kristi and I have been excited for our girls to meet, and it finally happened! I'm looking forward to many more pictures like this in the future (I have others with everyone's eyes open, just thought this one was cute!)

Following a wonderful dinner, the kids headed outside for an Easter egg hunt. There were six little ones in all, and although the ground was still a little soggy, the weather was gorgeous and it was so nice to be out in the fresh air sans jackets. It was great to be around all of the excitement again. Reminded me of Easter egg hunts when I was little! Lucy had a lot of fun.

Saturday night, my brother and his family stayed overnight at Grandma and Grandpa's too, so Lucy, D, and E got some extra playtime together. They destroyed a couple of rooms and didn't get to sleep until 11:30, but after all, what is Grandma and Grandpa's house for?

Sunday morning we all got dressed up and went to church, then came back to the house to search for our buckets filled with goodies. The Easter Bunny knows the way to Grandma's house, too!

After lunch it was time to head back. We had a wonderful time, as always!

John Denver: A Rocky Mountain High Concert

First off, let me just say that this post in general runs the risk of making me sound like a total dork. To which I say...whatever. Been there, done that.

This past Sunday night I had the pleasure of attending "John Denver: A Rocky Mountain High Concert" at the State Theater in downtown Minneapolis. Husband gifted me with two tickets for Christmas, with the caveat that he was NOT going to attend. So, logically, I invited my mom!

We made an evening of it and ate dinner downtown before the show. I took her to Solera, described as "an upscale tapas place" (tapas are Spanish appetizers). We had wine and enjoyed bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with goat cheese (SO GOOD), prawns (for Mom), lamb stew (which we didn't care for ), and special paella croquetas (yum). At one point Mom said, "your dad wouldn't survive in a place like this." Which, I reminded her, was exactly the reason we were there together. :) The only disappointment besides the lamb stew was that my stomach was acting up a bit, so I couldn't enjoy the food as much as I was hoping. But still, good food, and definitely good company and conversation.

Then it was off to the concert. I'm sure you are thinking - what the hell? John Denver is dead. Why yes, he is. But it was really cool how they pulled this off. All of the songs performed, with the exception of maybe three, were indeed performed by John himself via video, accompanied by a live band. The musicians on stage were people who had actually played with John. In fact, in many of the videos we saw those band members 10-15 years ago, and then there they were standing on the stage (looking a bit older). Surreal! They told stories about John and it really was a delightful experience. The first notes of each song brought smiles of recognition and fond memories. After Annie's Song my mom said, "were you thinking of your wedding?" Why yes I was, and she was too. I just love me some John Denver. It was so wonderful, yet bittersweet to see him in video like that. It was almost like he was actually there. What a marvelous voice, and what a tragic loss.  I've had the pleasure of seeing him twice in concert, and would have loved to have seen him again - but this was the next best thing. It was lovely to sit there next to my mom and enjoy such a unique experience.

Thanks, Mom!

A Visit From Grandma and Grandpa

My parents came to visit over this long holiday weekend. They arrived Friday and left today, and while it certainly wasn't action-packed, we did manage to do a few things. Here are some photos to capture the weekend.

Lucy persuaded my mom to play dollhouse. A lot.

Getting ready for dance, Lucy accessorized in black and gold so she could "match Grandpa" and his Hawkeye shirt.

Grandma and Grandpa got to come to dance class and watch her!

Lovin' on Grandpa at lunch.

At dinner that night, our waiter gave Lucy a tip for helping clean off the table. Her first dollar earned!

Josh, Abbey, and Emersyn came over for lunch on Sunday. The girls had fun  playing dress-up.

Sunday night I took Mom to "Rocky Mountain High: A John Denver Tribute Concert" (more on that later).  It was great!

What it all came down to, was that Lucy got a lot of quality time with her grandparents in "her" environment (and we did too). We figured out that they hadn't been here since her birthday party last Memorial Day weekend! We have seen them lots of times since then, but they just haven't been up here. It was a great visit and we were so happy to have you, Grandma and Grandpa/Mom and Dad!

Things I Actually Made From Pinterest - Valentine's Day Edition

If you're anything like me, you're slightly addicted to Pinterest. All these wonderful recipes! All these cool crafts!

All these feelings of inadequacy!

I have probably pinned hundreds of things, and actually only attempted a few. Since I choose to view the glass as half full, I am going to start telling you about the things I have pinned and actually tried to make. This is not to act as a catalyst for your own feelings of inadequacy, oh no...this is all about me. I need to facilitate my own feeling of accomplishment. I've got to get it where I can.

Any holiday is a good excuse to look for some fun crafts or recipes. So for Valentine's Day, I looked for a couple of easy things that Lucy and I could do.

First, a craft project - heart "suncatchers." This turned out to be a little ambitious for a three-and-three-quarters-year-old, so I of course ended up doing most of the work. This wasn't a bad endeavor but for trying to peel the tissue paper off the waxed paper. I am convinced there is an easier way, but I followed the directions, and in the process created lots of holes which I then patched with tiny pieces of tissue paper. On the plus side, cutting all those heart frames results in an excess of paper hearts, which a certain preschooler kept busy coloring while I swore at the tissue paper under my breath.

Also, they look pretty, eh? (That's my niece presenting the close-up shot).

For the 2nd Pinterest adventure, school valentines. I don't think I actually pinned this idea, but I definitely saw something like it while browsing. I wanted to do something other than candy, but not anything that was too time or craft intensive, since Lucy had to bring 34 valentines for the toddlers and all the preschool rooms at her school. Solution - popcorn! I used Trader Joes 94% fat free popcorn, which is delicious and comes in small bags. It is also only $1.99 for 6, so while it's more expensive than buying a box of valentines at the store, I definitely felt good about giving something other than candy and still not breaking the bank. I took about 10 minutes to create a sheet of labels, Husband printed them, and voila - "Valentine, you make my heart pop!" Lucy signed her own name to most of them.

So that was our Valentine's Day Pinterest experience!



Dentist

I'm pretty sure I don't look this glam when I go to get my teeth cleaned.