Spring Break

Spring Break came and went in an awful big hurry.  I knew it was going to be that way, so I braced myself.  The term "break" is such a misnomer, really.  But a high powered week of total chaos at the beginning of spring does serve as a tiny reprieve from the daily routine, and that is always kind of fun.

We didn't travel anywhere, but Hannah got to come home.  I was so excited, I was counting the minutes.  I even went and got my hair done for the occasion.  I got it colored for the first time since November!  Ack!  I was starting to look pretty witchy with all the grey, and my hair dresser scolded me good.  I don't know why I look so very serious about my new highlights in this picture!

Anyway, the memorable thing about that particular trip to the salon was what happened at home while I was away.  Hayden decided, all on his own, to do an art project with Emma.  He got online and googled how to make paper plate puppets.  Then, he gathered all the supplies and managed to accomplish THIS while I was gone!!

I didn't know anything about it, but it was the best surprise in the world.  Emma was ELATED when I got home.  What little girl wouldn't be?  What a sweet big brother!  The best part was that there was not a single trace of mess.  He cleaned up every single thing before I got back.  She played and played with these.  What Hayden doesn't realize is that he totally blew his cover......I now know for a fact that he CAN research, implement, and complete a task; including cleaning up after himself.

Poor kid.  He was just trying to be nice, but he accidentally gave me ammunition that will certainly be held against him at some point in his future!  Ha!

On Emma's last day of school before break they studied "T" and had to take a Teeny Tiny Tell About.  This tickled me.  Totally.  What a clever idea.  She took a tiny lego horse, but she was COMPLETELY outdone by Eliot, who took a real, live baby TURTLE to school.  The turtle's name was Phoebe, and don't think for one second that I have not been sufficiently well educated on how incredibly cool it would be to own one!  To which I calmly explained that if Phoebe the Wonder Turtle could fix her own snacks, agree never to poop in her bowl, and throw in a load of laundry every now and again, she would be more than welcome to join our household.  ;-)

Look how cute!  I did some spring shopping in anticipation of the warmer weather, and I had to buy Emma TWO sizes bigger than what I purchased last March.  Two sizes!  She is so tall.

Hannah arrived late Friday night, after Emma was already in bed.  We told her there would be a surprise waiting for her when she woke up in the morning, but the REAL surprise came when Emma woke up at 1:00 in the morning, so incredibly excited that Sissy was home, that she talked and talked and talked and refused to go back to sleep!

Saturday we threw a party for Nana and Aunt Kaylyn.  I finished a scrapbook from the 50th anniversary to present to Nana.  This party will go down in infamy.......

Emma walked into a room full of Nana's friends and asked everyone to bow their heads for a little prayer.  When she was finished, she proceeded to pass around a piece of Tupperware to take up a collection!!!!  She walked into the dining room, where all the women were visiting, clutching a little bowl of cash.  I nearly fell right out of my chair.  I've never been so mortified.  We'll be talking about that one for years to come!!!

Our week wasn't really a succession of huge events, but rather bright little moments all strung together.  It was really nice.  Hannah and I took Emma to the park one day so Hannah could snap some pictures for her photography class.

We had family dinners with the D's and R's, of course!

We rolled right along........

Hannah and Emma had a tea party.

Hayden played lots of baseball.

Max and Hayden had sleep overs with their good friend T, who was also on break.

Preston and Hannah took Emma on a date for ice cream and shopping.

The Buzzard took a few days off to hang out with the family.

We met Nana and Aunt Kaylyn for lunch.

Morgan and Leslie came to watch Pride and Prejudice, during which we consumed an entire bag of Andes mints.  :-)

Buzzard and I watched Season Two of Downton Abbey late at night, and now are completely bummed that we don't own Season Three!

I met up with my high school girlfriends and we all got pedicures.

I went to the quilt show with Wendy!!!

We met up with Wendy and Joseph, who brought his high powered binoculars and amazing telescope, to view the comet in the night sky.  Despite a bit of cloud cover, Joseph was also able to find Jupiter and her four moons and the center of a star nebula for us to see.  Loved that!

And one of my favorite mornings was a trip to Starbucks with my girls.  Emmie and I did a little study on warm and cool colors while Hannah studied for a health assessment test.

I LOVE being with the two of them.

because in each and every little way

they bring color and beauty to my life!

Preston sent me this idea from Pinterest.  We made pepper prints for St. Patty's.  Little shamrocks!

A neighbor surprised us and left a box of donuts on our doorstep one morning.  So sweet!

It was a great week.  Busy with a side of crazy, just like we seem to like it around here.

Hannah left yesterday at 3:15 in the morning.  :-(

I'm still suffering from the goodbye.

Don't know why it's harder some visits than other.

I miss her so much.

Our neighbors got a new grill and heated their pool, so we went next store last night for hot dogs, s'mores, and a bottle of red.  It was a nice way to ease off of break and brace for Real Life starting again today.

Although nothing says VACATION OVER like that dreaded alarm on a Monday morning!