Feeling the force or in need of a pinata?

Drama Queen

Sarah's drama class performed their play today on Johnny Appleseed. She did a fantastic job as did her classmates. Our only glitch was finding a pot that fit her head. Luckily a neighbor had bigger pots then us.

Treats all around

We recently got our standardized test results back covering our school year learning. The children did wonderful so when the ice cream truck came around, we had a special treat.

He's come a long way

Mr. Doug made sure we got a picture of Sean with a snake. At the beginning of the year Sean wouldn't touch any of Mr. Doug's many creatures, and now he'll touch anything and even hold a snake. Mr. Doug was very proud!

Open your ears

Overheard while a preschooler was struggling get a book out of the library basket in the living room: "The basket isn't listening!"

Cleveland's bad rap

Mom, "Why do you think a snow leopard might have a big furry coat? Where do you think he might live?"

Sean: "I know, he lives in Cleveland!"

We had a rainy day about a week ago. Living in Florida, you'd think we'd have more of those, but we are in a drought. It was one of those all day rains with gray skies and occasional thunder. Upon going outside in the late afternoon, Sarah took in a big breath, looked at me and said, "It smells just like Cleveland!"

1001 uses for a sharpie marker

A black sharpie comes in real handy when you shave your black dog's hair too short. Just color in the bald spots. Seriously. I could post a picture, but you don't want me to.

Holy Week

Our family had a very holy Holy Week as we went on a family retreat in Orlando. I believe it will become our new Easter tradition regardless of where we live. As my husband who is neither a "small group discussion" lover or a touchy-feely witness story liker said, "This has the potential to change our lives, if we the courage to do it!" Pray for us as we digest all we did and learned.

On the move

Here he is. Now he is even faster. Which is proving somewhat problematic for some children and their toys.

Quiet time

When you are three and tired of a day of play quiet time can turn into nap time.

The Bees

One evening we saw tons of bees swarming outside in our front yard. Upon inspection later, I thought I saw a bee hive in our tree. As it turns out, one of our neighbors was a bee keeper at some time past. (All of life's "problems" can be solved by someone on my block!) He came and got the bees out of the tree. Actually, it wasn't a hive. It was a swarm of bees looking to make a new hive. What we saw in the tree was a queen surrounded by 6000 bees hanging on our tree. Our 70-something neighbor climbed a huge extension ladder held by another elderly neighbor...and all went well for which I am thankful! He shook the bees into a box, and then set up a beekeeper hive in our yard until all the bees made their way inside (about a week). It was such a fun science lesson to go and "visit" our bees. We watched them pollinate our fruit trees and make honeycomb. Now they have been transported to a bee farm somewhere.

update

Yes, we've been absent for quite awhile. But life is good, we've just been growing, and inspired by a friend, I've been sewing! We've been learning and playing. The days here are now hot, so we've been enjoying time outside everyday. The children love to be barefooted, so we are back into the daily routine of foot scrubbing. Max is crawling, and learning to stand. Sean completed a gymnastics class. Sarah is busy with dance. And Luke is back to flag football, which he loves. We are in the last quarter of school, and beginning to think about packing up the house and leaving Florida. We plan on taking time for a big trip to see family!

Wanna Play?

Let me know...because I am still trying to figure out how it works, exactly.