Easter

Grandma and Grandpa headed to South Dakota, and we headed to he Arboretum to check out the fairy gardens. The girls spent the better part of the morning checking out all the little treasures...

We had our annual slumber party with friends the Friday before Easter, leading up to their schools impressive Easter Egg Hunt. Unfortunately, because this year winter was determined not to end, we had to be inside, but we still had a blast!

After the Easter Egg Hunt, we came home to dye Easter Eggs and have dinner with Grandma Barb.

We had fun Easter Morning looking at what the Easter Bunny brought--all the makings for a Fairy Garden (Dad even got dirt)--before getting ready for church...

The girls were not to interested in taking the lovely Easter picture I had envisioned--but here is Annie decorating the cross and Siri, well, being Siri...

And, then, well...it was time for the Easter Egg Hunt at our house. The snow really didn't leave much for the imagination...

With our Easter Egg Tree...

March

Early March was fairly routine--the girls enjoyed school, dance class, Wednesday nights at church, and time with friends and family. The end of March meant Spring Break, a visit from Grandma and Grandpa, and--of course--Annie's 6th Birthday Celebrations.

Siri--getting ready for Annie's Birthday Party--Cowgirl Themed

Annie playing "Tape (quite insistent we weren't "pining" anything) the Tail on Bull's Eye"

Our activity for the party--assembling stick ponies and then:

Riding lessons!

Annie embracing the full cowgirl spirit

With her beautiful cowgirl cake (thanks, Emily) and friends

Playing with the horses - Siri's is Scrappy and Annie's is Buttercup at home

At Dance Class

Silly Sisters

Annie looking at cards on her birthday morning

Annie was very excited to receive a tool kit from Grandma and Grandpa and loved building a truck with Grandpa

This is March 27th. The snow that just wouldn't go away. 

At the Mall of America for birthday rides...What you don't see here is Annie on the Orange Streak...A "big kid" rollar coaster that she LOVED. She does NOT take after me in this regard. 

Siri and Granma on a ride more my speed...

...Waiting for Birthday Cake...

Making a Wish

 With Annie's Birthday celebrated, we moved onto the next celebration: Easter! We got to paint eggs twice this year--here is our first go around before Grandma and Grandpa had to leave...

 And, we enjoyed a trip to Macy's 8th Floor Flower Display!

picture by Annie, and definitely one of my favorite parts of the display...If I lived somewhere with ceilings high enough to decorate with parasols like this, I would in a heartbeat...

February

As soon as birthday

A quick look at the last four months through pictures. First, February continues with celebrating Valentines with girls and the arrival of snow, snow, and more snow...

Birthdays, Concerts, and Pirates

This past month was a good, but rather crazy one. We did our best to make some calm moments in the midst of it, but did enjoy some special events...like:

My 35th birthday

Eric's 38th Birthday: Here he is first thing on his birthday morning (okay, first thing he read the paper in the bed, while the girls and I got things ready...) looking at the Treasure Map Annie made for him--this led him to all of his presents.

Here are my pirates at the end of the treasure hunt, ready for breakfast...

 The morning after Eric's birthday, Anne came out of her bedroom and said that it was time to start getting ready for Valentine's. So, the last several weeks we've seen a LOT of hearts around our house, and Annie has spent hours at the table in the playroom working on Valentine's for people.

One exciting event this month was Annie's first concert. All of the kids at her school participated in a "Carnival of Cultures." The kindergartners were representing Germany, and sang and danced to three songs. Annie was very excited about the concert, and did a wonderful job!

Ready to go to the concert

Note Siri's leg up--she insisted that this should be her pose. She loves balancing.

Siri, waiting for the concert to begin

I know. It's nearly impossible to see Annie. We were sitting in the balcony. But she's there...amidst the kindergartners. If you really care, I can show you where.

Annie, very excited for the concert to start

Her class exiting the stage...

A big part of what made this month crazy was I was doing the play at church. It was a pirate play, which instigated a great deal of pirate play here at home. The performances were this weekend, and we all had fun time--me as one of the Lady Pirates, and Eric and the girls as ever-attentive audience members. I would bet that we'll be singing the songs around our house for a long time to come... 

As Captain Bree, convincing Madame Prescott to let my crew go free

Justifiably terrified during a big fight scene...:)