The rest of Spring Break

While Noah only had a week off from school.  The other two had 3 more weeks.  While it was hard balancing school with play during this time the kids and I managed to have a little fun.  Here are some of the things we did.

Lily got some good news at the eye doctor.  She doesn't have to wear her patch anymore!!!  The Dr. was so impressed with he vision change.  She is now reading 20/25 out of her right eye instead of 20/40.  We were all so very happy.

We went bowling on a rainy day.  We went to the beach on a sunny day.  We went to the zoo on a beautiful day.

We met a peacock.

We ran into friends at the science museum and built a huge tower.  Then watched it fall down.

Lily, who is obsessed with Cupcake Wars finally got to go to Sprinkles.  She thought she had died and gone to heaven.  She couldn't believe she was at Candice's store.

Lily also decided to chop 6 inches off her hair.  It looks very grown up.

We finished spring break off today with a trip to the flower fields in Carlsbad.  It was cold and a little wet, but the flowers were still pretty.

 I call these two pictures "Bloom in Adversity" and "Dare to be Different" 

 Race you Out of the flowers.

 Mining for rocks.  The kids favorite part of the flower show.

 I had a fun time taking pictures of the flowers.  They are good test subjects because they don't move.

A funeral and a Reunion

I have a big family.  It's always been big and we've always been around each other.  I don't think I have ever lived anywhere where I haven't had some family member near me.  It's not a bad thing, but it's a rare thing.

My grandmother passed away on the 9th of April, which happens to be one of my cousin's birthday.  She passed away a long time ago so I'm sure she doesn't mind sharing that day with grandma.

With a funeral as major as this one we knew there would be a big turn out so it turned into a funeral/reunion.  All 7 siblings were there.  40 of the 43 grandchildren were there and to many great grand children, I think the number is 79 with 7 more on the way, to count were there.

I was excited to go to Phoenix and see my family, friends and my old haunts. My family all stayed in the same hotel in Scottsdale.  That was fun.  The kids were able to hang out, swim, eat breakfast together and go to grandma and grandpa's room to watch TV.

 The weekend went well.  We met over at my aunt's house in Paradise Valley on Friday.  It was fun seeing cousins I haven't seen in years.  It was just like when we were younger.  I didn't bring my camera.  Silly me.

The funeral was nice.  My dad spoke and did a wonderful job.  The luncheon afterwards was nice.  I spent most of the time talking to my cousins.  Grandma got a ride to the cemetery in style, in a Cadillac.

 The bicentennial babies.  There were 5 of us born in 1976.  They always called us the 76ers.  The chair is for our cousin Elizabeth (Betsy) who died back in 2003.

After the graveside service our family headed to our old house.  The street is still beautiful even though the new owners have done some weird things to the front of the house.  We then headed to our favorite ice cream place, Mary Coyles.

The night of the funeral we went to a church in Mesa to have a big family dinner and do more socializing. 

We drove back to Redlands on Sunday and had a big family dinner since Pookie and Jonathan came back with us.  The kids loved having Uncle Jonny in the car.  Or maybe it was his Ipad they loved.  It was a nice

Noah's 12!!

 Today Noah turned 12!.  Can't believe we have a 12 year old.  The first thought that went through my head this morning was, "Wow!  When did I become old enough to have a 12 year old?"  I quickly got over that and headed to the kitchen to make Noah his favorite breakfast, waffles.  Then he had to leave for school.  While he was gone I made cupcakes for his carpool.  The cupcakes were loved, but the pictures on them were not.  Apparently it is super easy to embarrass a 12 year old.  I was told thank you, but to never send pictures in again.  Oh well.

Our birthday celebrations weren't as fun as they were going to be because we had to leave for a funeral the next day, but we managed to have a little fun.  Noah enjoyed his presents. 

Noah has grown up so well.  He has a lot of responsibility on him as he is the oldest.  He is such a big help for us and takes great care of his siblings.  He loves to play Wii, play trumpet and read books.  He tolerates homework and swim team.  He hates having to get up early for school.

We love you Noah.  Happy Birthday!!

Easter Goodness

I need to stop eating candy.  Here is a glimpse on some of our Easter fun. 

Lily also got her American Girl Doll. She named it Emma.  She worked so hard to get it has has completely stopped wearing pullups at night and has been dry since Feb. 18th.  We are proud of her.