May

GARAGES

This summer, one of our house projects was to finish work on the garages.  This is the last project we needed to appease our insurance company.  We decided to have the back half of the Carriage House torn down, as it was rather unstable. We got new automatic garage doors in the Carriage House and for the Four Stall Garage.  Those old doors weighed almost as much as the Titanic, so I was excited for these updates. 

The Carriage House was covered in vinyl shakes, which turned out really nice. On the inside, QB reinforced the roof joists.  So all that's left to do here are gutters, some roof work, and cute shutters for the little windows.  And I'm thinking a little flower box would be dreamy.  Sooner or later, we may rebuild a little awning shelter behind the carriage house to put a picnic table and grill under, but that's not urgent.  

I don't have a picture of the Four Stall Garage.  That still needs a little work, including a new window, patching a bit of siding and a fresh coat of paint to match the Carriage House, but certainly within reach. 

MYSTERY GUEST

Every year Claire's school does "Mystery Guests" where the kids dress up as a historical figure and give a speech about their person of interest.  The kids in class try to guess who they are.  This year, Claire was Sacajawea, the young Native American woman who served as a guide and interpreter for Lewis and Clarke as they explored the West.   

Last minute preparations


She's ready!


She did a great job.  Was informed and articulate.

BIRTHDAY BOY


Henry turned 6!

This year for the kids' birthdays, we are completing their bedrooms.  Since moving in, their bedrooms have been blank canvases, so this was a great opportunity to add some finishing touches.

Checking out his "new" room.

And an extra special gift from Claire.  She wanted to give him a trophy for being a great lego builder. She filled it with candy as a bonus.  

Celebrating with his Buddy.

Henry's new room included a new bedspread, some new art that he helped pick out at the craft fair, a new display shelf for his little lego creations, and some fabric for me to help him sew some new curtains and a Zelda pillow.  

Celebrating his birthday with friends and ice cream.

And one more gift - a set of Alpha-Bots.  

Letters that can be transformed into little robots.  

Eager to sew his Zelda pillow!

TULIP TIME

Watching the Parade

George was really into it.

Comfort over authenticity

George and Ruby

Kissing Cousins

I couldn't get George to pose like this if I tried.  

Sometimes you just get lucky and find him playing in the dirt.

March & April

March is special because we get to celebrate Joe's birthday.

This year, the kids and I bought him a new Toaster Oven.  He uses it every day to toast his sandwich for lunch, but only half the burners worked in our old one, so this one will be much better.

We also picked out some special sandwich fixings for him, including his favorite - spinach.

Fun with my new laminator.  It's the simple things.

The kids spent four consecutive nights sleeping on 

Henry's floor, just for the fun of it.

Passing on the Mall Madness legacy to our daughters.

Dress up as a Book Character Day.

Claire and Alaina dressed as Pinkalicious.

An Easter Egg hunt at Alaina's house.  

Henry's teacher is Alaina's neighbor, so despite his serious 

expression, he was excited to have her there.

Their stash

EASTER SUNDAY

Joe and I went with a group of our former neighbors to tour this historic home in our old neighborhood.  We saw it every day for nine years when we lived in Riverside Gardens, and Joe was always curious about it.  So he finally made it happen, and we had a blast.  We learned some interesting things, but more importantly, we laughed a lot with our friends.  

Henry has this thing where instead of changing his shirt, he'll just layer them on top of each other. After lunch one day I said, "Okay Henry, time to get your uniform shirt on."  He said,  "Actually I have one on already!"  Fourth one from the top...and it wasn't even the bottom shirt.

A sweet selfie.  Love that smile.

The kids had their school concert.  I tried to upload the videos, 

but they were way too long to include.  But everyone did a great job, 

including George who was doing the motions in the stands.

February

Another special milestone, Claire turned 8 years old.


To celebrate, we treated ourselves to a mother-daughter trip
to a hair salon and then a little thrift store shopping.

Very much a party planner, Claire enjoyed decorating
her Shopkin - themed birthday party.

Yogurt Parfaits, Cinnamon Rolls and Fruit

Playing Shopkin Bingo with the grandparents

"Cookie Cookie" Birthday Dessert

For her birthday gift, we added a few finishing touches to her bedroom.  To make this happen, she spent the night in Henry's bedroom while Joe and I got everything in place.  Then in the morning, she opened her "present".  

Her gift included:

A new comforter, pillow and reading light.  

The supplies needed to make some art to hang above her bed.  She found something she liked on Pinterest, so I thought this would be fun to do together.  

The curtains are set to be hung, but we still need to paint the hardware.  A project for another day.

Also, we did move her desk in, but will wait till the weather warms to paint it.  

And last, but not least, Joe hung her marker/magnet board.  

Some details to finish yet, but overall, she seemed happy with how her room is coming along.

After "opening her gift" and going to church, we picked up her best friend, Alaina, and took a trip to the Children's Museum.

Fun with mirrors at the Museum:

Later that evening, a surprise birthday visit from four deer, a first for us here.

The following weekend, we continued the fun.

Joe and his buddies, Casey and John, participated in 

a Ping Pong  Table Tennis Tournament at a local elementary school.  

After the tournament, we headed to Grand Haven for 

a shared birthday party for Claire and Gracie.

Grandpa and Grandma's gift, an interesting game called "Water, Fire, Trees", 

kind of a mix between Checkers and Rock, Paper, Scissors.   

Grandpa teaches the girls some strategy.

Party Poopers

Moving on from Claire's birthday, another 

fun day in our house - Valentine's Day.

On the left, Henry's pencil arrow Valentines for his class.

On the bottom right, Claire's button Valentines for her class.                                          

On the top right, George's Cafe Vienna mix Valentines for his speech teachers

Treats for class parties - Cupid's Arrows Cheese Sticks and Popcorn Bags.

On a side note, when Henry asked about Cupid's Arrows, I explained that it is just a story about a small angel who shoots arrows at people to help them fall in love. He looked at me very seriously and said, "Well, that's dumb."  Yeah, I guess so.

And to wrap up our month, I just couldn't help myself with this gem of a picture. 

George has been basking in the freedom of taking his clothes off lately.  Time to get this kid potty trained.  Sigh.  

Well, that was our February!  Thanks for reading.