St. Patrick's Day Feast

Once in a while we like to experiment for dinner. Last Sunday we decided to be adventurous. With St. Patrick's Day right around the corner we decided to try Corned Beef and Cabbage. The girls decorated the table with place cards, green plates, and menus. Lydia even made green punch. I cooked the corned beef in the crock pot for most of the day and put the cabbage in for the last 4 hours. The results? We all loved the corned beef and potatos. Wes and I liked the cabbage, but the girls sure didn't. I think it was slightly overcooked so the texture was a bit too soft. The girls ended up sitting at the table for a while until they decided it wasn't worth dessert to finish their dinner. Adelle at one point said she thought she was going the throw up. I think we will have to try it again sometime, but I will just cook the cabbage less. Besides, everyone loved the corned beef so much that there wasn't any left!

Dress Up

What would girlhood be without dress up days? Last week the girls decided to be fairies. They danced around the house for hours to Enya. Lydia wore an Arwen costume that Wes had made for Lydia about 2 or 3 years ago. It didn't quite fit the same. She couldn't lift her arms all the way. Adelle wore her ballerina outfit that she got for her birthday last year. I can't believe she is actually going to be 5 next month! It was cute to see the girls jumping and twirling around. Adelle really wanted to make up a story with drama. Lydia was more content to pretend she was flying through the air with beautiful wings! You have to love girls!

Adelle's New Hair Style

We've decided to grow Adelle's bangs out and well...let's just say it is difficult to manage her hair. Inspired by some great hair style blogs I decided to try something new. It has been great to be able to see her eyes again!

Lydia - Lord of Division

Well, Lydia would preferred to be called Lady of Division. At the end of February Lydia was Knighted in Division. It is the highest honor you can receive in Math. She was quite excited. She even got a long licorice rope. It ended up being pretty hard though so it ended up going in the garbage. Poor Lydia.

Dusting Off The Bikes

A few weeks back, when the weather was starting to warm up the girls got out their bikes. It was such a lovely day we couldn't resist. Lydia does pretty well on her bike and can zip around the park without any problems. Adelle's little bike has training wheels and she is slowly getting better. Hopefully she will get a lot of practice this summer. It is great to see the weather progressively changing. We love outdoor activities!

Planning our Vacation

Our family has been planning what we would like to do for the summer. I have really felt like we should get away. This past year has been very stressful and we could use some relaxation and quality family time. We looked at several different options from Disneyland to the Grand Canyon, but we have decided to go to the Oregon Coast.

About 3 years ago we ventured with Wes' family to the Oregon Coast and absolutely loved it. It is beautiful and there is just something magical about standing in front of the ocean. You feel like you are on the edge of the world. I started researching options to see where to stay. Wes remarked the other day how much time I put into "researching" a vacation. It is HOURS and HOURS, but you have to understand that I get so few vacations I want it to be as perfect as possible.

I finally decided on a rental in Oceanside, Oregon right near the beach. We will be staying in the guest quarters of this beach house.

We will have our own little unit complete with kitchen and everything else we may need!
Ahh, I can almost smell the sea air and feel the wind on my face. Don't you just love this porch swing with the ocean view!

This is the ocean view!
Our whole family is SUPER EXCITED! I even took the girls to Costco this past weekend to buy giant, nylon kites to fly on the beach. I can't wait. We will be staying for a whole week at the end of June. Netart's Bay is very close to Oceanside. You can go crab fishing in Netart's Bay by just renting a little boat. We took the girls 3 years ago and we had the time of our lives. We actually caught 13 crabs and they were delicious! We are planning on going crabbing again. It was a riot!

Now the test will be waiting 3 1/2 months until we go. Oh, guess what I found on the fabulous Internet as well. A live surf cam of the beach that we will be staying on. Check it out!

http://www.oceanview-realty.com/surf_cam.asp

I think I'll have to open it up while I'm working and watch the waves roll in. I can't wait!!!

Yes, I'm still here :)

I have to apologize to all of my readers. I can't believe it has been two weeks since I have last updated the blog. I got sick a few days after my last post and didn't start feeling better until Monday. Silly colds! They wipe me out forever. Wes only had it for a day or two and then he was 100% again.

Speaking of Wes he has been super busy trying to deal with a crazy client which is involving a lot of preparation and court time. Everything seems to be going well thus far and I pray that it will continue to go well. With how lovely everything has been in the legal field Wes is possibly thinking of looking into teaching. Wouldn't that be fun? I think he would make a great teacher. We will have to see how that goes.

The girls are doing great. Lydia was recently knighted for division. I will need to post pictures soon. She also got an award last week (to our surprise) for being the highest reader in the school for the week. She read over 400 minutes in one week. She has really been taken with the Lemony Snickett books and they have kept her busy. She has also been busy with rehearsals for Cinderella. It sounds like she is going to get a lot of time on the stage and she is just having the best time!

Adelle is growing all the time. In fact we are registering her for Kindergarten today. I can't believe my little girl is growing up.

I will have to post pictures of the girls once I get them uploaded to the computer. I just wanted to let you know that I am still here!