Lucky!

Kathryn finally found a four-leaf clover!  She's been looking for years and earlier today she actually tried to trick me (jokingly) into thinking she'd found one by splitting one of the leaves on a regular three-leaf clover.  When she yelled that she'd found one a while later, I didn't believe her. 

She told me she's not the boy who cried wolf, she's the girl who cried four-leaf clover.  :) 



Doc

Check it out.

Years of yearning, followed by years of hard work and dogged study, and she now has her MD.

I'm so proud it borders on ridiculous.

We went to Burlington, Vermont, for the graduation weekend and had a great time doing this:

Cousins and Assad playing "telephone"

Pre-graduation lunch at Katie and Ethan's apartment.

My lemon curd cake

Lining up before graduation - right before I started to cry and made Katie start to cry.

Hooding ceremony

Where Annie saw most of the graduation - in the doorway of the overflow.

University of Vermont College of Medicine Class of 2012

A fireplace in the library where the after-grad reception was held

Gorgeous ladies at the reception

Congratulations, Katie.  Have fun healing all the sick people in Philadelphia!

Spa Day

The girls have been sort of obsessed with  "mani-pedis" as they love to call them.  I don't think they really know exactly what they are, but they have the idea that they are "girly" and involve nail polish.  Sold!  They've been saving their coins for a mani-pedi (or, rather, to buy nail polish) and have been coming up with all sorts of ideas to raise money.  They have made lots of batches of "perfume" (sticks, leaves, flowers, peppermint candies) and sold them (Curtis and I bought a lot of 5 cent bottles of perfume), little hors d'ouvres (they call them "recipes" and usually consist of something like a little piece of cheese on a cucumber slice skewered by a pretzel stick, or a cheerio with a raisin squished onto it - 2 cents a pop!).

Anyway,  they also have the idea that a foot bath is really super - sort of practice for the pedicure portion of the mani-pedi.  So, I let them have foot baths today after school, and, of course, Dex and Betty wanted in on that action.  A little sprinkle of bath salts, some scented oil, a rose-petal shaped soap floating in the bowl, and they were thrilled.

Viv has learned how to "pose."  Ugh.

Then, as their little feet soaked, I let them watch TWO EPISODES of their favorite TV show involving fairies and magic and sparkly outfits.

I know.  I'm the best mom EVER.

How we roll

There's no denying it.

We're a minivan kind of family.

And we're cool with that.

(Note that I didn't say that we are cool - just cool with it.)

For baby E

My friend Rachael had a sweet, sweet, sweet (ADORABLE) baby girl a few months back and so - YAY! - I had an excuse to make a baby quilt.  I love making baby quilts.  They're not exactly instant gratification, but they're relatively quick to make.  Smaller, you know.

This quilt was made from leftover scraps from so many projects I've made over the years - lots of quilts, summer sundresses, Christmas pajamas, failed crib bumpers, etc.  At the same time I cut the little squares for this quilt, I cut larger squares so I could make a quilt for our family.  Lots of memories.  :)

And because I couldn't resist, a pillowcase, too.

Welcome to the world, baby E!  Enjoy snuggling!

Go ahead and say it

Oh I know.

She's adorable.

You can say it.  I don't mind.

Because we don't know how long we'll be here...

Well, yeah.  I fell off the blogging wagon AGAIN.  I guess I wouldn't worry about it so much if it was just for the approximately 14 people who read this on a regular basis (xoxo to you guys!) but this blog isn't just for my massive readership.  It's for my KIDS, who will someday read all these posts in book form (did you know you can have your blog printed into a book?  Awesome, right?) and hopefully be reminded of bits of their childhood that would otherwise be lost to the ether.

Two events in the last few weeks have reminded me just how precious life is and how quickly things can change, things we have absolutely no control over.  First, my mother's dearest friend for the last 36 years, someone whose presence was woven throughout my life, was killed in a car crash on May 1.  Suddenly she was gone from this earth.  No goodbyes, no last hugs, no tidy and anticipated end.

Then, less than a week later, Curtis's dad was hospitalized with a shockingly sudden aortic rupture that very seriously threatened his life.  Curtis and I waited by the phone that first night, anticipating the phone call that would tell us if the surgery was successful and if he would stay here for a while longer or if Heavenly Father had other plans for him.  I pray (not as often or as fervently as I should) but that night I spent more time on my knees than I have in a long time.  He is still in the hospital but has been making good progress and expects to be released soon(ish) with a good recovery, for which we are so grateful.

Both of these events, with all the tears, accompanying phone calls between loved family and friends, conversations into the night, memorial service for dear Gracia and hours of reflection have reminded me of how much I love my family.  My husband and my little ones are above value to me, and I know that, really, I only have so much control over how much time I have here on this earth with them. 

SO.  So so so.  I am RECOMMITTED to this blog, not for the fame and fortune that it brings me (haha!) but as family journal, as a record of our time together, and as a reminder of all the fun things we're doing.  Yay!  Family!


I'll kick it off with a few photos taken over April vacation at Nain and Taid's house.  It was warm and they spent a lot of time at the stream getting wet and messy.  Same thing I used to do with my siblings when I was a kid!



Dexteriffic!
 



Ice cream bar stick



Add caption

Dex making "chocolate soup" with his ice cream stick and muddy water.

p.s.  I hate Blogger SO MUCH when it comes to photos.  This dumb program does not allow for easy or intuitive placement of photos, so sorry they look sort of weird.