Concert!

Miss M loves concerts.  Loves going to Mama's concerts and any other concert she can.

Quite often, she goes to her own concerts.  She sets up a stage, selects her music, and performs.  Sometimes it's on the steps, sometimes it's in the living room.  This time, it was outside.  

Miss M collects empty walnuts that the squirrels have broken open.  She's got a pitcher full of them.  What do broken, empty walnuts have to do with a concert? Decorations, of course!

This particular day, she was conducting AND performing.  Wow.  She does it all!

Miss M, Conductor

Miss M, Performer

Yes, music is a big part of our lives.  There is always something musical happening at home.  We have waaayyyy tooo much fun!!!

Miss M's First Dance Recital

Wow did she have fun!  Miss M's first dance recital was Saturday evening.  She had a blast! 

 

Dance classes were offered through our Parks & Rec department.  The instructors did a wonderful job with the kids.  Miss M and I both made new friends.  :) 

 

Getting a costume fitting!

 

Their recital was Saturday night, so they held dress rehearsal Saturday morning.  The whole morning, before we went to dress rehearsal (which was a FULL dress rehearsal with costumes, makeup, "dance hairdos", etc.), Miss M was literally bouncing all over the house and exclaiming "I get to dance on the high school stage! I get to dance on the high school stage!!"  For many kids, this might be terrifying.  Not Miss M.  She has been to concerts, musicals, and other events in that HS auditorium so many times.  Mama has her choir concerts there.  Miss E has the band concerts there.  The musicals are presented there.  Miss Y has had concerts there.  And FINALLY!!!  It's Miss M's turn!!!

 

 

Having a blast on the stage at dress rehearsal!

 

The dress rehearsal went very well, and I had to corral a very wired, hyped up, wound up, excited little girl into the car so I could feed her lunch and try to get a nap in before dinner.  Praise God, she napped!  Whew! 

 

Then after nap... "I get to dance on the high school stage! I get to dance on the high school stage!!"  She was so excited to be having a performance of her own! 

 

The recital was wonderful.  Our little cutie was quite the silly girl on that stage, doing a great job and loving every minute!  They danced to "You're the One That I Want" and another song from Grease.  Their costumes were "Pink Lady" jackets (soooo cute!) and black pants. 

 

 

After the recital with one of her teachers.  

 

 

After the recital, we gave her a bouquet and so did my parents and another dance mom.  She carried those flowers everywhere! 

 

 

 

Then we went to a favorite frozen custard place to celebrate.  Miss M was smiling ear to ear from the time she finished the recital until she fell asleep that night!  I'm surprised she got ANY sleep.

 

 

Well done, Miss M!  We are so proud of you!

 

 



 

Easter

Happy Easter!  Praise the Lord - Jesus is risen!

Our precious two daughters are learning more and more about Jesus every day.  They ask insightful questions and think deep and long about Jesus, God, and what they should do in their own lives.

I am so blessed to be their Mama.  They work very hard to understand the Lord and Jesus' teachings.  They want others to follow Jesus, too.  As Miss M puts it when she sees or hears something that doesn't seem right to her, "Why don't they listen to Jesus?  They should listen to Jesus." 

We had a wonderful Easter with family and food and GOOD discussion about Jesus resurrection.  I am amazed at what my girls can grasp, especially Miss Y.  She has not yet been home a year, and wants to go back to China one day to tell the people there about Jesus.  (Wow!)

Of course, there was lots of yummy food, delicious jelly beans, and many other treats.  Miss M and Miss Y had fun finding their Easter baskets and discovering what was inside. 

But we also made "Resurrection Rolls".  I found a pretty easy recipe that the kids could accomplish, with some help.  First you dip a marshmallow in melted butter, then roll it in cinnamon-sugar, then put it in a crescent roll and completely cover the marshmallow with the dough.  You're done!  Bake!  When the rolls are done, the marshmallow is gone!  They are called "Resurrection Rolls" because the marshmallow represents Jesus, who was covered in oils (the melted butter) and spices (the cinnamon-sugar), wrapped in cloths (the crescents), and laid in the tomb.  The marshmallow melts in the oven, symbolizing Jesus is no longer in the tomb!  I wish I had pictures of the rolls, but you can find them online. 

Happy Easter!  Praise the Lord!  Jesus is risen!

 

 

Miss Y's first Easter.  Notice that Faith is patiently waiting to inspect the basket...

Miss M, with Faith, inspecting another basket.

 

 

Posing for the camera!

 

 

Miss Y: "Seriously Mama?  How many of these do I have to sit here for?"

Miss M: "I'm ready!  Take my picture!"

 





 

 

Spring Project!

It's Spring Break!  Yay!  The kids can go outside and play, have fun, enjoy the fresh air...

Nope.  It's in the 30's and 40's here this week.  But I did find something fun to do anyway!  We made our own spring!  I haven't made tissue paper flowers since I was a kid, but I knew we would have fun!

 

Miss M carefully crafting her masterpiece.

 

Miss Y...just in case they do actually smell beautiful!

 

Look what I did!

 

Hiding in a "bed of peonies"!

Wish they would have enjoyed their afternoon!  ;)

 

 

We are planning on having the flowers around for Easter, since we host this year.  It should make the day beautiful!

 

 



Thank You

Thank you to all of you who have prayed for our dear, sweet Gracie.  We lost our precious girl to osteosarcoma (bone cancer) on March 1st. 

I apologize for not posting this sooner, but it has been too hard to type the words.  Gracie is no longer with us, but is still just as loved and cherished as she ever was.  Our hearts are broken and we miss her day after day.

Our Gracie went through a lot.  When she was young, she had both knees "done".  She had a degenerative eye condition that slowly ate away at her irises, but that didn't stop her eyesight!  She had allergies. She was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in August of 2011...and beat it.  Her sister, Faith, knew there was something wrong.  She saved Gracie's life.  And in November of 2012, we thought she had a form of anemia.  Unfortunately, it was the beginning of the bone cancer.  Eventually, the cancer in her little vertebrae would grow, and grow rapidly, taking its toll on Gracie's tiny body. 

To tell you just how tough she was, you need to know, as we learned, that bone cancer is among the most painful of cancers.  Gracie was in very much pain.  Our wonderful family veterinarians and an oncology veterinarian at UW Vet Hospital put her on multiple prescription pain pills, but we learned that even high levels of pain medication would not eliminate her discomfort. 

Gracie was not about to let the pain discourage her.  Even though the cancer eventually put pressure on her spinal cord, paralyzing her back legs, she was still the very hungry little girl we always had.  She was still happy.  She was still so loving.  And boy, was she tough.

Through all of this, we have had the two best veterinarians anywhere.  We praise God for them in our family's life.  They went above and beyond to help Gracie, and were incredibly supportive to us.  We are blessed!

Gracie was so funny. Her favorite toy the last few years was any yellow rubber ducky she could get her paws on! In fact, she was kind of OCD about it. She would take that ducky and bury it in her blanket. Then she'd move it to someone else's blanket and practice burying it there! When it was time for bed, she'd take that silly ducky with her. She was so obsessed with yellow duckies...never let her eyes off of them!

While we were waiting for Miss M to come home, Gracie would go lay in the nursery.  Sometimes we would find her in there sleeping on the floor.  She knew there was a baby coming, and she was waiting, too. 

If I wrote down all the wonderful stories about Gracie, I'd be typing for hours.  This post would never end!  Gracie was, and will always be, one of the most special blessings given to us by God.  We have said for years that we have been so blessed to be her mama and daddy.  I have always said she was beautiful on the inside and the outside.  She had a HUGE heart that filled her entire little self, an incredible sense of smelling your thoughts (she could smell you thinking about getting the cheese out of the fridge), very good knowledge of the system of drive-through frozen custard windows, fabulous eye to mouth coordination (including catching treats, other food, toys, and snowballs), she was a "hostess with the mostest" (everyone came to see her, of course), she loved Christmas and emptying her stocking and sleeping under the tree, loved everyone's birthdays and helped them open their gifts, and she loved.  Loved us.  Loved life.  Loved her sister Faith.  Loved to eat.  Loved to play.  Loved.

And is loved, forever.

 

 My beautiful, beautiful girl.

 

 

 

 

Please Pray for Gracie

Our little Gracie is sick.  Right now we are not sure what is making her ill, but we need your prayers.

Tuesday we take her to the University of Wisconsin Veterinary School for an evaluation and diagnostic tests.  They are fabulous - incredibly compassionate and knowledgeable.  This place is highly respected, and people bring their beloved furbabies here for treatment from all over the midwest. 

Please keep her in your prayers as we seek to help our little Gracie get better.  She is an amazing little girl; so loving, gentle, smart, and silly.  We love her with all our hearts!

There are no words for this one...only love.

 

 

 

 



Christmas Cookies!

Of course, Miss M is an old pro at Christmas cookies, but this was Miss Y's first year making and decorating Christmas cookies.  What fun!

First, you gather 'round Baba as he rolls out the dough.  He's not fast enough, of course, for two eager pastry chefs!

 

 

Then comes the decorating!  Waaayyyy too much fun!

 

 

 

 

 

Last, of course, is Quality Control.  This is a job we all take very seriously in this house!  What if the cookies don't taste right?  We need to be sure!

 

 

 

Miss Y was very excited to try her first Christmas cookie made by herself!

 

 

Miss M...being a ham.



 

Good thing we had our QC team to make sure our final product was acceptable!