End of school activities...

Eliza went to a fantastic preschool this year. We really loved her teachers and the entire experience. Here's a little from her "graduation".

The Friday of Abby's birthday party I went on an all-day field trip to Madison with Andrew's class! We had a great time and learned a lot about our capitol! I was quite entertained with the pictures the kids took...the quantity was astonishing.

Daniel finished our cabinet top! What used to be a big black laminate top that stuck out 12 inches from the cabinet to form a "bar." It also had a big black pad wrapped in vinyl that "finished" the edge. An eyesore for sure. Daniel transformed it into this...
We cut the top off and he put new wood and backerboard on. Then he tiled it and finished some trim to finish off the edges. Didn't he do an awesome job!?
Earlier in the year Andrew earned a good citizenship award. Well, Abby's teacher awarded her one at the end of the year. It was a lot of fun to surprise her at school and go to the assembly.

Our kids had a great first year at their new school. Pretty awesome!

Abby's 8th

It's birthday morning! Abby opened an American Girl doll, Kit, from Grandma and Grandpa Stewart. Apparently this will be their traditional gift for granddaughters turning 8. Much like my Grandma Koski gave the girls a porcelain doll upon turning 12, something I looked forward to very much! Needless to say, Abby was thrilled!!Andrew picked up a poster at the school book fair that Abby had been drooling over. He even sneaked it home on the bus without her seeing!
Eliza picked out a little craft (and suckers) for Abby. I love how she knew just what Abby would like to make--backpack charms.
Some ice cream sundaes...the real cake comes at the party in a few days!
Abby wanted a "nature party" this year, so here's what we came up with! Eliza and our babyistter friend, Johanna, designed this centerpiece while I was out on a field trip for the day. Isn't it naturey? Too bad the dark pic doesn't show the details so well, it was neat-o.
8 girls came, 10 if you include mine. The screaming, Oh the screaming. Oh, oh, the screaming.
This is my favorite picture. The tree was a magnet for entertainment during any downtime. Who knew?
Our activities included pounding flowers and making the print into a keychain.
We also made "grass guys." I can't believe I don't have a picture of this! But we took after my SIL's project at her house you can see here. It was so fun! We also had a treasure hunt with clues around the yard. We played a dice game where if you get doubles you get to unwrap a gift that has been wrapped many times over. Whenever someone else rolls doubles you have to pass them the gift to continue unwrapping. There were a few other games outside too.

But on to the cake! Abby designed this cake and I made it for her.

Abby unwrapped gifts in the tent...by this time it was getting dark! Her number one gift desire was a white board for her room!

As the frosting says, Happy Birthday Abby!

Camping without mosquitoes

Two summers ago we camped and got invaded, devoured, and made miserable by mosquitoes. This year we went camping early to beat the killer insects. It worked! But it was cold! Our friends, the Taylors camped next to us and we had a fantastic time.

This picture defines Andrew and Matt's main entertainment.
They chopped and chopped and chopped until every chopping muscle ached!
On our hike around Mauthe Lake Abby collected this moss and was quite attached to it.
Eliza and Lindsey with the Dads in the canoe. Again, it was cold!! The rest of us sat in the warm van while the kids took turns on the lake.
A group shot on our hike. Can you believe all these kids came from only 2 couples? I'll have to hand it to Martha for having five of them.
I was pretty proud of us for sticking out both nights camping. By night two it was quite cold and the rain came. Somehow we got dinner made before the rain got serious, but we ate in a variety of covered locations. We played in the tents, fell asleep, woke up dry and headed home for warm showers!

Talent Show

This spring our ward had a talent show! My family participated, but not in the way you might think. Daniel was the MC, I designed/made the backdrop for the stage, Andrew displayed a piece of art he did at school, Abby displayed a paper-folding craft she loves to make, and Eliza was an excellent member of the audience.

Everyone helped model for the set design. This...
Became this...
Which became this!
And it was a night of fantastic entertainment--we had such a great time!

Easter

My good ol' friend Kim brought her awesome family up from the Chicago to visit just before Easter. Here's a little of what we were up to...

I bought eggs as though they were "craft supplies" not food. In other words, there was no way we could eat every one. But they served us well.

Our first egg hunt in the new back yard

Never hunt for Easter Eggs without your gun and skull and crossbones bunny bag. (Look at Andrew's bag closely.) If you're not raising a boy, you really should.

Misc. Stuff

Andrew and Eliza each had a field trip to learn about maple sugaring. I went to both and we all thought it was pretty cool! Here Andrew is learning about a French trader and checking out her wares. The kids learned how they discovered maple sap, how they used it......and this is the French trader's home...cozy!
For General Conference (church leaders speaking from Salt Lake, we watch on cable) we play a snack game. Kids get a certain snack item every time they hear a certain word. Chex for "faith" and mini marshmallow for "prayer." I suppose you could say it's a tradition now, they're big fans. This year they added the couch fort.
For Earth Day Kohl's had a lot of service projects lined up for employees to help with. We went to the Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee and helped them mulch some of their trails. It was hard work and the kids did an awesome job helping!