Happy Birthday Claire and Ethan!

For the kiddies party this year, we rescued the unicorn (the pinata) from the dragon (Dan).

THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Look at all those fake smiles!!! Both Ethan and Claire reported have a happy first day of school.

O Canada!

The children and I took a trip to Canada recently and had a great time. We met my parents and drove to Palmyra, New York where we saw some Church History sites and the Hill Cumorah Pagent. Ethan particularly enjoyed it and remarked a few times, "I can't believe I'm really here!" We drove up to Canada then and stopped at Niagara Falls. It was the first time the kiddies had been. We went behind the falls--that's when we're wearing our yellow rain ponchos! We also spent a great day at Wasaga Beach. The waves were great that day. We went to African Lion Safari and Jane has been talking about rhinos ever since. You take a bus tour (or your own car if you don't mind it being picked apart by monkeys) through 6 different wildlife sanctuaries, so you're actually driving right past the animals! It was really good. Then we saw a great (but sad) elephant show and spent a good part of the afternoon at the water park. Another great day. We visited a great playground close to Grandma's house. And I really enjoyed eating Canadian KitKats. When we got home it was time to pack, pack, pack for our move--so the children would "picnic" at their little red table w/ their plastic plates and forks, since everything else was packed. The goggles are a nice touch, yes?

A Sliver, The Tooth Fairy, and 6 Plastic Bags

Last night I took Ethan on a "date"to the toy store. Dan was home with the girls, who enjoyed a nice game of Princess Yahtzee. Claire got this huge sliver, just from running around the house--not the first time someone has been slivered in a big way!

Jane is having sympathy pains.

Claire came home from school today with one less tooth than she had this morning! This is her second tooth to go and she's excited for the Tooth Fairy's visit tonight.


I made this little pencil case/change purse tonight from old plastic shopping bags. Thanks to Carlee for teaching me the wonders of parchment paper, Target bags, and an iron.

On Saturday Ethan and Claire went to their Spring Fair at school. Ethan won an award for making 5 baskets. Here he is showing off his medal. Later this weekend, Jane the warrior knight was wreaking her havoc on woman and children at home.

Jane

Does this look comfortable? At bed time Jane has a big drink of milk, brushes her teeth, then loads up her bed with babies, animals, and books--just like her brother and sister do. There usually isn't much room left for Jane, so a lot of times part of her is hanging out of the bed and she's usually sleeping with a stack of books underneath her. How does she fall asleep like that? Apparently, without too much trouble!

I love this picture! Jane wears skirts or dresses everyday. This is a must--even if it means wearing it over pants and a sweat shirt on cooler days.

Tonight: A Visit From the Tooth Fairy!

Claire lost her first tooth today! She carefully wrapped it in a tissue, put it in an envelope, and put it under her pillow this afternoon. Tonight, as I was tucking her in she said how excited she was for the Tooth Fairy to come; and she really looked very excited! She was also very confident that she would get more than 50 cents for her tooth.