Lydia's Medieval Festival

In May Lydia's school held their Medieval Festival. The kids prepared all year for this exciting event. They had to become Lord or Lady be performing acts of service, making hats, shields, crafts, and even a castle. Lydia got to wear her special dress that Wes made and Wes and I even got off work to volunteer. The kids went to various different stations. This first station was learning how to handle a sword. Wes helped with the catapult station where the kids got to take turns catapulting marshmallows at a castle with army men.

I'm not entirely sure what Lydia was doing at this station. It looks like the game where you have to close your eyes and squeeze each others hands until someone is out. Yep, that is the technical name.

I helped at the checkers and chess station. Violet was with me so I was glad my station didn't require too much work. Lydia was sweet enough to let Violet play with her. Several of the other kids were quite taken with my little girl and Violet was quite happy to see another face besides mine. Makes you feel loved.

There was even a Wii station with some Medieval games. The Wii is medieval right? Honestly most of the kids seemed bored with the Wii. They were much happier with the jousting station. Who doesn't like to ride on a scooter with a PVC pipe, while wearing a mask and trying to hit a target. The girls were much more subdued than the boys and seemed a bit embarrased at times, but secretly they were enjoying it.

The last station Lydia went to they played hot potato, but with a rubber rat and whenever someone was left holding the rubber rut they'd say "Bring out your dead" and drag the loser off to the side. It was pretty hilarious!

By this time the kids headed off to lunch and Wes and I headed home with our little, tired Violet. After lunch the kids had a feast of fruit, cheese and bread. Lydia then headed over to her friend's house after school. By the time she made it back home to us she was very worn out, suffering from a headache, and then got sick. My poor girl. She was better the next morning though which we were grateful for.

Renaissance Costume for Lydia

The 6th grade has a Renaissance Festival every year. Lydia wanted Wes to make her a very special costume. She helped Wes design the dress and helped with the color selection. The final dress is so beautiful. There is a pink underdess and a green overdress. The green overdress is trimmed with velvet and gold. It ended up being a pretty substantial dress as far as weight goes. Lydia looks absolutely breathtaking in it. I think Wes will probably enter this dress in the State Fair later this year.

Even with the cut outs in the sleeve, Lydia did end up getting pretty warm. In fact I think she overheated a little. I guess it will be perfect for Halloween when it is much cooler.

I am always amazed how well Wes can sew. I will probably never be able to match his skill level. He is a perfectionist as well. So sometimes he will undo and redo parts of the dress over and over. I think there comes a point where he lets go and just finishes. There was a little bit of a time crunch when the Renaissance Festival got moved up a week, but he did finish in time. Lydia looked so regal and I know she felt so very special wearing this gown at school!

My Marvelous Mother's Day

I am so blessed to be a mom to three of the most wonderful and beautiful girls in the world. They are always super sweet to me each Mother's day. This year was no exception. Lydia and Adelle woke up early and prepared our kitchen table for a breakfast feast. They even got out the tablecloth.

I loved all their sweet smiles!

They made me toast and scrambled eggs. Adelle made me a coupon book including one for a massage. Lydia also made me coupons. I need to start redeeming them soon :)

The girls also made me paper flowers and butterflies that I love. They have a special place in my kitchen window sill.

We then went to church where all of the girls over 12 were given M&M's. We came home, ate lunch and put Violet down for a nap. It was raining pretty hard. I almost went to my mother's grave because I was missing her. I pulled out a handwritten letter that she had given me when I was about 15 years old. I then remembered that my aunt and uncle had transferred old family gathering videos to DVD. I set up the portable DVD player in the bedroom and snuggled in to watch hours of video. It made me so happy to see so many people that are no longer with us. To see my Mom, Dad, Grandma, an aunt and uncles that have all passed away, was like stepping into heaven for just a day. It was funny to see myself as a little girl, but mostly it was wonderful to hear voices, laughter, see smiles and silliness of those I love so much.

Wes was busy sewing a project for Lydia so I made a delicious meal including cheesy potatoes again. Funny enough I don't remember what the rest of the meal was. After dinner Wes gave me some cute new pajamas and then we all played Blockus together, which is a great board game. It was a wonderful Mother's Day, and I am so glad I have such an incredible family.

Family Gathering

Early in May we went to Murray Park to celebrate my sister-in-law's (Lexie) birthday and graduation from SLCC. Silly enough I didn't get really any pictures except of my kids. Sometimes I get a little wary to post pictures of others on the Internet. I should have just done it anyway :)

It was a very windy, chilly day, but we still had a fun time. Adelle loved the little stream by our picnic site.

Lydia LOVED walking Devin and Lexie's dogs.

Topaz had fun wrapping herself around Lydia's legs. Poor Lydia would LOVE a dog. We keep telling her when she is all grown up she can buy her own dog.

Violet loved hanging out with her Aunt Erica.

Erica introduced her to running down the hill. It was an instant hit!

She was all smiles and giggles. There is nothing like Aunt Erica!

Easter in All its Glory!

Adelle loves the Easter Bunny. We believe that Christ was resurrected and we celebrate it on Easter, but Adelle will never let you forget about the Easter Bunny and the Easter egg hunt. She is often the first one up peeking around corners to find eggs. Lydia and Adelle can be especially competitive, and at times you will hear bickering about who saw which egg first. Lydia is maturing though and kept chiding Adelle for taking the "easy" eggs that Violet could reach. In the end all of the eggs are opened and put in our family candy jar anyway, but there must be something glorious to the rattling, plastic eggs filling your very own Easter basket. Grandma Julie gave the girls beautiful and wonderfully colorful outfits again this year. I being the less than stellar daughter still haven't managed to snap a picture of all the girls in their glorious outfits. I did manage to catch this action shot of Adelle in her fashionable garb though. Granted her hair is still pretty slick in this picture.

Violet wandered around in her pajamas finding eggs. We had to keep an eye on her because she liked to pop open the eggs, which would then leak jelly beans everywhere. She has a unique talent for being able to stuff her mouth with oodles of food in a very short amount of time. The poor girl got quite upset that we wouldn't let her enjoy her sugary, colorful morsels.

Lydia was mortified that I was taking pictures of her in her pajamas. The mammoth egg she is carrying is actually from her super Aunt Erica. You can read more about her amazing Easter hunt for the girls here http://jollyrogerlove.blogspot.com/.

The Easter bunny brought peeps for each of the girls, personalized marshmallow eggs, sidewalk chalk for Adelle, an Easter themed rubber duck for Violet, and body wash for Lydia. In their Easter egg hunt the eggs were filled with jelly beans and a few were filled with money. Ahh the smell of sugar. It was a fun day. Later we enjoyed ham, veggies, and I made for the first time....cheesy funeral potatoes. In fact, I will be entering them in the Oates Funeral Potato cook off this Sunday. Wish me luck!

Eggcelent!

The Saturday before Easter the girls and I sat down together to dye eggs. We put down our Christmas tablecloth, got out our dyes, vinegar, boiled the eggs and had some fun!

Don't you just love the trick of coloring the eggs with crayon before dying them. We each enjoyed making our own little patterns and spring scenes.

Lyda recently asked for an early birthday present of a perm. I didn't realize how much it would set us back, but she looks beautiful! If you can believe it she will be turning 12 in June.

Adelle was quite sad when she dented the shell on this egg, but got the great idea to make it into a rocket ship. When she peeled it open there were all sorts of fun patterns on the actual egg.

She has such enthusiasm. Thank heavens the girls and I adore hard boiled eggs. Even Violet is a huge fan. If only they lasted longer in our house!

Musical Friends

Lydia enjoys listening to music on her I-Pod every so often, especially on weekends when we are doing chores. Lydia introduced Violet to her musical world and she was quite fascinated. She wants to listen as much as possible when Lydia has it on and follows her all around. It is pretty funny!