A monkey. A squirrel. One happy family.

Here is a little photo essay about all of the things that have happened in the past couple of months. Kiddos' schedules and conference planning and loan closing frenzies and whatnot have us a little busy, so our apologies for letting so much time pass! Ella wrote her first five-paragraph essay and chose the ocean's plastic vortex as her topic. She got a very good score and high praise from her teacher, particularly for her good examples. In the paragraph about how we can make sure less plastic gets into the environment by reusing things, she suggests keeping plastic shopping bags in the car, "in case you have to throw up. Just make sure the bag doesn't have a hole in it." Sage advice. Plastic Vortex = Disaster! Ella also got selected for fifth grade honors choir! We are so proud! Annie (last week she announced she wanted family to start using her nickname again) is reading entire books out loud to us. Our awesome readers. Swords add an element of d...

We've had a chocolate-fueled morning, and we are about to head to church to lift our voices in song. Happy Easter! Happy spring! I'm going to wash and put away the winter coats! (So if it snows in the next couple of weeks, you can blame me.)

When you tell a child, "You'll go to kindergarten when you turn 5," chances are she might interpret this to mean that the very first weekday after her birthday she will need to report to the classroom, sporting her backpack and shiny new lunch bag. We got Anna straightened out on this point, and she is a little disappointed not to be joining her sister at Russell Boulevard Elementary until this fall. She also thinks that they won't let you start kindergarten until you learn to tie your shoes, so she has been practicing. Yes, while we were on a spring break trip in Florida, our sweet Anna June turned 5. When she blew out her birthday candles, she wished to be a mermaid. She was a little disappointed when that wish didn't come true. She did, however, get to be princess for a day. Annie takes a break during a walk around The Villages, FL. Cookie monster cruises in the golf cart. Sweeties! Sillies. Don't feed the gulls!  Ready to take ...

Happy Valentine's Day from our sweet, funny, creative, spirited crew! XOXO

You may have heard that we are getting a bit of snow in Mid-Missouri. Schools AND the library were closed today, so we played Go Fish, Crazy 8s, and Mario Kart on the Wii. We watched "The Muppet Movie" and baked an apple spice cake. Some people in this house never got out of their pajamas. And of course, there was sledding. Nanook of the North. Annie catches snowflakes on her tongue. A trek to Westwinds Park.

Snitch cake pops in progress. Ella's birthday party at Flipz Gym went off today with very few hitches but plenty of snitches! For those of you unfamiliar with the Harry Potter series of books (shame on you - get to the library RIGHT NOW), Harry plays the wildly popular sport of Quidditch, which is sort of like lacrosse played on broomsticks. He is his team's seeker, his job being to find a special ball called a "golden snitch." When Ella said she wanted a Harry Potter birthday party, I began searching online for themed cakes. Most were so elaborate (giant Hogwarts Castles, sorting hats),  I knew that only a professional bakery could pull them off. But golden snitch cake pops? Maybe those I could handle. Annie's 3rd birthday. I don't know what it is about my kids' birthdays, but I suddenly turn into a slightly less maniacal Martha Stewart. It started with Annie's doll cake, which I topped last year with Ella's dragon cake . These cake pop...

I know, I know. I owe you a report and pictures about the holidays (they were lovely - family filled, relaxing, nary a plumbing disaster, and a surprise overnight trip to St. Louis for the girls so they could play and explore at the Magic House and the City Museum , one of the most magical places in the universe). Not today. I did update the photo album in the sidebar, so if you click on the image of my lovely people over there, you'll be taken to all of our photos from December. What I'm giving you today is a list of Annie's favorite days, which she recently announced to the whole family. Excuse me. Anna's  favorite days, as earlier this week she sternly told us she doesn't want to be called Annie anymore but wants to be called by her "real name." We don't always remember to say Anna, and she doesn't always remember to be mad when we call her Annie. Half the time I call her Ella on accident, Oh, well. We're trying. Number one: pajama days ...