Time flies and fruit flies

She's the apple of our eye, a berry special little girl, one of our favorite raisins to smile, and practically pear-fect in every way.  She's Robyn and it's time to go bananas because now she's SIX!!  (Orange you glad you're reading this post? :)

Since Robyn's favorite foods are fruits, we decided to let the produce produce a lot of our birthday fun. 

We sent fruit skewers to school for a birthday treat.  No allergens to worry about and a nice break from the steady stream of sugar we shared with her classroom at the Valentine's Party a day earlier. 

While Robyn was out with Daddy for breakfast, Amber and Katie helped decorate for the day by making fruity balloon garlands. 

We also had fun cutting out pictures from seed catalogs to make fruit-themed collages and tried to name as many fruits as we could.  My favorite, though, was playing k'nex with grapes and toothpicks.  I had been scratching my brain trying to think of something hands-on and creative to do with fruit and a couple of nights before Robyn's birthday I was up feeding Matthew and this idea suddenly hit me.  I'm pretty sure it was inspiration.  Especially with a lego-loving dad, grape construction ended up being a blast.

Robyn's grape creation: a cake with purple grape candles.

Not sure what this is...Eiffel Tower perhaps?

My very special grape unicorn.

While we ate a lot of actual fruit over the course of the day, fake fruit took the cake.  Literally.

It seems like she was just barely born and now all of a sudden she's six.  Crazy.  If I start to dwell on how fast time is flying rather than thinking about what a great girl she's growing into I know I'll start to grow melon-choly, so for now we'll just say it was a great day for a great girl.  Happy birthday, Robyn!

Little Women Reunited

Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy we may not be, but we did manage to pull off a decent surprise for "Marmee" this weekend by all showing up to play.  (Mom and Dad knew I was coming to visit from NY.  Dad knew Wendy was sneaking along too.  Neither of them knew about Karin and Lynda.)

Originally, Karin, Wendy, and Lynda were going to arrive together on a flight half an hour before mine.  A Denver snowstorm spoiled that plan and they ended up spending the night darting between Salt Lake, Los Angeles, and Chicago before finally arriving in Minneapolis more than 12 hours later. 

Sisters together at Panera. After surprising mom at the airport we arranged to meet Dad for lunch so Karin and Lynda could surprise him.

These girls have been partying all night all over the country.

Dah Dee Doh (my dad) introduced Matthew to fresh lemon.  It didn't phase him one bit.

No sleep, no luggage: no problem!  My amazingly resilient sisters were game for going straight from the airport, to Panera, and then on to SR Harris Fabric Outlet.

Ooh la la!!  I've never been to SR Harris before, but I am sure I will be going again.  There was fabric piled from floor to ceiling, all discounted, and all gorgeous.  Best of all, we were all there together to swap ideas and opinions with the added benefit of not pressing our husbands' patience. 

Even Matthew had a good time looking at all the different colors and textures.

So much fabric; so little time!

Lynda digging through boxes of zippers.

Not only did I get to see my sisters, but I got to meet my tiny little nephew Andrew.  Matthew was fascinated by Andrew.  I'm not sure the feelings were mutual though.

Future cousins in crime.

Matthew loves his little cousin.

Baby boys!

Although we spent a lot of time running around (ahem...shopping), we did occasionally take  a little time to just be at home together.

Wendy hanging out in her old room. 

My cute sisters Wendy and Lynda: sleep-deprived and still smiling!

What eventually happens when you've been going for 24 hours straight.

And then it was back to shopping.  No trip to Minnesota would be complete without a trip to the Mall of America.  And Karin informed us that no trip to the Mall of America would be complete without cupcakes.  Unfortunately, I have been banned from ever carrying the cupcakes again.  (Soooo not my fault! :)

Lynda picking out her cupcake.

Karin posing with the cupcake logo.  Either that or Karin about to eat her baby.  Hmm.

We saved the cupcakes to eat at home in celebration of Wendy's birthday.  And the cupcakes all TOTALLY survived the transport.  Give or take.

We also somehow squeezed in some time for crafting and cooking.  This is where I really wish I had taken more pictures.  Since I didn't, though, we'll do it in list form.  Between Friday and Saturday:

Trying on my new skirt.

Karin made a sock monkey

I made lemon bars

Wendy made wood blocks that spelled out D-R-A-P-E-R

Karin made cherry M&M cookies

I made a black lace skirt

Wendy made Key Lime pie 

Lynda made hair bows out of zippers

We all made pizza

I made a seam ripper

The seam ripper was one of my favorite parts of the trip.  I had a seam ripper kit from Woodcraft and Dad helped me turn it on his lathe.  It was amazing!  I still can't believe we were able to take a piece of wood like this:

Redheart wood blank.

And turn it into this:

Seam ripping will forever be a happier thing just remembering making this with Dad.  Which is a nice thought since I sure do a lot of it.

Speaking of Dad and his woodworking, we made a funny discovery this weekend.  He brought in his box of wood and was showing us different blocks and talking about why he likes each piece and what he thinks he might do with some of them and how there are some he has just because he like them and thinks they might be perfect for something eventually and we realized OUR DAD HAS A STASH!  :D  Ha!

On guard!  (Matthew likes wood too.)

And then suddenly before we knew it the weekend was over and we were all back at the airport headed home. 

Mom and Matthew sneaking in a last snuggle before we were on our way to security.

Baby cousins bidding adieu.

My sisters, off to Denver.  (Where they will once again face flight delays and lost luggage.  So sad!!)

It was definitely a weekend to remember.  And something we will have to do again.

Matthew during our layover on the way home: all smiles after such a great weekend.

Thank goodness for sweet supportive husbands.  (Bryan not only took care of the girls while I was gone, he took them to the Science Museum, went to the dollar theater to see Wreck It Ralph, did crafts with them, got everyone to church just fine, and even painted our bedroom.  I also came home to a completely clean house and a welcome-home banner. Go, Bryan!!)

So how soon is too soon to start thinking about another sisters' retreat? :)

P.S.  And since my mom somehow totally dodged the camera while we were together, here's the video of Lynda and Karin surprising Mom:  http://youtu.be/OJlG1ov1qXg

Once there was a Snowman

It was our turn to have Amber's Joy School at our home last week and I happened to finally remember to take some pictures of our crazy preschool fun.  We're just starting the unit on Rules and Decision-making and it turns out snowmen are very very good at following rules.  If it's cold they stay snowy.  But if it gets warm...they have to melt.  It's the rule.  And snowmen are always very good at following rules.

Building the snowman.  Yes...that's Katie eating snow in the corner.  Sigh.

D

Our new Joy Schooler: Joshua Snowman, officially named by Amber.  Not to be confused with the real Joshua hiding behind the snowman.

That was Tuesday.  This was the scene by the time we had Joy School again on Thursday.  See?  Snowmen are VERY good at following rules.

 
Even though our friend Joshua Snowman melted away the next day, we still tried to work a few snowman activities into our class on Thursday.

Like drawing snowmen with white crayons on colored paper.

Amber's favorite part of Joy School is always craft time.

And eating snowmen pancakes for snack.  This worked well since I'd told Amber we could have a pajama day for joy school and breakfast foods are just more fun eaten mid-morning in pj's with friends.

Watch out Snowmen: here come's Amber!

While the grass was nice while it lasted, here's the view out the window today:

Snowmen may be good at following the rules, but they can sure still cause trouble!  That sad little pile of snowman up in the right corner caused untold grief when we couldn't remember where Robyn's hat, scarf, and mittens had gone this morning...

And we're due for another 6-12 inches in the next 36 hours.  Perhaps there is a snowman reunion in our future?

Gobbledygook at Grandma's

For the fourth time in five years we were able to make the drive to Bryan's folks for Thanksgiving. When I reflect on the insanity that is our family I'm amazed they keep inviting us back.  Which almost makes me hesitant to post pictures because then they might actually remember next time and not invite us back.  Of course, we might just show up anyway in that case, so here come the pictures...

Thanks to Grandma there was plenty of food and plenty of fun surrounding it.   It was especially neat how she found lots of ways for the girls to be involved in the festivities.

Grandma had the neat idea to make little cornucopias out of sugar cones and munchies like M&M's and goldfish.  (Robyn was our special helper when it came time to put these together.)

Robyn, Amber, and their cousin Lylia each brought a small craft to use as centerpieces.

Adding Fruit Loop feathers to Cocoa Crispie-treat turkeys.  (Crazy expression to the contrary, this was Amber's favorite part of the trip.)

Turkey-treat erector set.

And, like always, the table was set beautifully.

Cornucopias at each place setting.  Aren't the blue glasses stunning?

All the details were perfect.  Even the salt and pepper shakers.

The traditional Thanksgiving Kangaroo salt and pepper shakers.  These were Bryan's very...special...gift to his mother when she turned 50.  Because nothing says, "I love you, Mom," like kangaroo crockery.

Of course, I shouldn't poke fun, because my mom gave me this salt and pepper shaker set this year and I actually really like it. :)  Go figure.

All the talk about salt and pepper shakers led Bryan to start poking around for other unusual sets.  Here's hoping they're still selling this little beauty when it's time for Bryan's mom's next big birthday...

Bryan's mom did most of the heavy lifting when it came to the big meal.   Which is probably a good thing, because the result was fantastic.  Besides, who knows what would have happened if we'd been in charge.

For instance, the main course might have been more tyke than turkey.

Matthew weighed approximately the same as the turkey.  Thankfully, he generally doesn't smell anywhere near as a good as a roast turkey so we managed to keep them straight.

 

We did contribute a little bit in the dessert category though.  Bryan loves this time of year because of all the emphasis on non-cake desserts.

The thing Bryan is most thankful for this time of year: pie pie pie pie PIE!

Turns out Matthew is a pretty big fan of pie too.  You've never seen a baby get so excited about pumpkin pie: he would throw his hands out and dive bomb for each spoonful.

Pumpkin pie: the consistency of baby food, the flavor of grown-up dessert.

Speaking of Matthew, I was clicking through some old pictures and stumbled across this one. My first thought was, whoa, who put the baby in PINK footies??  Then I realized it was Amber at her first Thanksgiving four years ago. 

Name that baby.

Not that we are entirely against girl-ifying our baby boy.  For example, we decided he looked right at home in Grandma's Tinkerbell Chair.

Now, lest those last few somewhat sedentary pictures convince you we were a docile group, I better end with a few more...active...pictures to give a better feel for what Grandma and Grandpa were actually up against.

Bodies CONSTANTLY in motion!

Thanks for a wonderful holiday weekend!  We're grateful to have such loving family to spend time with!!