Yay Me!

Well, before I get to the good stuff, let me tell you a few things about my morning;
I got ready to take Jonni to pre-school to the accompaniment of Erik banging on the piano and belting out Jingle Bells at the very loudest volume he could muster. As I was enjoying this little bit of richness in my life, Jonni comes tripping down the stairs with a pair of shorts and a halter top in her hand. "What's that?", I asked to which she replied that it was her outfit for school that day. I gently explained that it is still to cold for that particular ensemble, to which she riposted "But mom! The sun is out!" However, even though I too am chomping at the bit for shorts weather, I made her switch to jeans and a t-shirt, but only after much assurance that summer's coming soon, I promise.
Okay, and now onto my news!! Well, as you all know, I joined a community choir in January, and our concert is on May 4th. (bonus info; that's my anniversary! six years, baby, and here's hoping for at least an eternity more) What many of you also know, but some don't, is that I actually got up the nerve to try out for a solo. That's right, you read it correctly. A solo. I have never, ever done a solo before, I am far and away too chicken. But I did it! Aaaaaand, I got the results yesterday, *drumroll*, I didn't get it. BUT!!!, before you get to depressed at missing the opportunity to hear my dulcet tones displayed for all to hear, I DID get another part!! I got a part in a quartet! So I didn't totally suck!! I'm am horribly disproportionately excited about this. That means, of course, that if you haven't gotten tickets from me yet (shame, SHAME on you), and you don't have a good excuse (ie you are not pregnant like my gorgeous sister and sister-in-law), then you best get them now, because you do NOT want to miss this one! If you have no way of contacting me, then post a comment, and I will find you! YEEHAW! This is one for books, folks!
The Almighty and Astoundingly, Limitlessly Talented Liz

Repentance

Okay, okay. So I've been a bit neglectful of late. I have good reasons, but I'm going to try to repent, and do a better job. I know it's just so hard on you guys when you can't get your regular fixes of my life.
How was everyone's Easter? Ours was great. We stayed home (for once) and had a nice, quiet holiday. The kids were thrilled with their baskets, (nothing fancy people, I'm not a crafty girl), and they had a blast finding their eggs. We didn't dye any, just had plastic because John and I apparently don't like dying Easter eggs. When the kids get older, if they want to, they can, I'm not saying they can't. But if they don't care...did I mention I'm not crafty? Yeah, not so much. At any rate, the cool thing about them finding eggs was that they went about it in such completely different ways. Jonni was all about finding as many as she could. She didn't care about keeping them even, she was totally willing to share with Erik. She just wanted to find them. Erik, on the other hand, would find one, and sit down right there to find out what was inside. Then he had to figure out how the egg worked. Then he had to figure out how to put the candy back inside, and then take it out again, and put it back, over and over until he had it down. Only when he had gleaned all possible information from that egg would he go find another one. I think he found like three. It was absolutely hilarious to watch Jonni rushing around on her quest around Erik doing his scientific experiments. And John was rushing around with Jonni, while I watched the whole thing. I guess we know who got what from which parent. ;)
Other than Easter, I have nothing else to report. To be honest, I am still ill, and so haven't been doing much. The poor kids are a bit bored, but they entertain themselves by demolishing the house. It is definitely a mark of sickness that I don't even care, and we're having company tonight.
So, until next time my cyber friends,
The Almighty Liz

Darn!

Well, it's snowing. We got a week of cold but no snow, and then this week has been gorgeous; fifties and sixties everyday! It gave me hope! It made me happy! I loved it! And now it's snowing. Almost two weeks of seeing my grass, and everything was almost dried out! Ah well, as my husband says, it's the middle of March. How long can the snow possibly last?
(famous last words...)
The Almighty Liz

Spring on the Way?...

So our snow melted last Sunday during a warm, sunny beautiful day. Why am I posting about this? The reason I find this important enough to post is that the snow hasn't come back. We have been able to see our grass for almost one whole week, and there is no snow in the forecast for the weekend. This has not happened since before Christmas. It's not particularly warm, in fact the low tonight is in the single digits, but the lack of white slushy stuff is giving me a burgeoning hope that Spring might, just might, make an appearance soon. Cross your fingers, knock on wood...
The Almighty Liz

General Update, and Random Complaining

Hello all you cyber friends out there! I bet you were wondering if I was ever going to post again! Well let me tell you it's been a rough three weeks here in our little household.
It started with my getting strep, followed very closely by the nastiest flu ever. Then Jonni got strep and a little flu, and Erik then got a little flu as well. John never got sick. John doesn't ever get sick. He's John. The kids got well, but it has been a slow and painful process for the mommy of the family. A strait week of fevers, chills, coughing, congestion, horrible sore strep throat, aches and overarching miserableness was followed by a week of normal sickness, which was followed by this week where I have been as weak as a day old kitten. I am finally starting to feel normal though, hooray! Now all I have to do is get my three-weeks-neglected house in order. Oi!
Here's hoping nobody else gets sick like this, and if you do, you have my most sincere empathy,
The Almighty Liz

Jonni's Fifth Birthday

I know what you're thinking. She's HOW old??? That's not possible!! Yet, somehow or other, Jonni is five. That means *shudder* kindergarten!! What next? Dating?
At any rate, I'm not here to alarm anyone, I don't want to start a panic, I just want to tell everyone how Jonni hurdled this particular milestone. She had her first ever birthday party. Now, we've had family parties before, and even invited a few friends of John and myself to share in the momentous occasion of Jonni's birth, but this was the first one where we invited who Jonni wanted to invite, and we did the party Jonni's way. I dare say, it was a success. What else, with Jonni at the helm?
We had four girls over (we invited five, but one got sick), and we colored a mural, played pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, had cake and ice cream, and opened presents. The girls had a blast, and the adults sat around and enjoyed watching them. Here are just a few pics of The Occasion;

Here's Jonni blowing out the candles on her cake.

I love this shot, I think it's hilarious.

She's just a bit tired of me taking pictures at this juncture.

Here's Jonni and all her girlfriends opening presents.

She got a pretty good haul this year.

Here are all the girls doing their mural. They had a blast with this one.

And what did they draw? Monsters!!

I especially liked the birthday cake monster!

So, another year in Jonni's life has passed. It's been a big one. She fished for the first time, went without her mom for almost a week for the first time, started preschool, and finally turned five. Yep, a big year, and mostly good. Happy Birthday Jonni!!

Here's to many more,

The Almighty Liz

Pre-School Oral Reports

Yep, you read that title correctly. Jonni had her first oral report this week. In pre-school. A little sooner than I expected. They were studying space for the month of Febuary, and so Jonni's report was to be on Mars. John helped her, since he is the space nut, not I. They decided the best route would be to pick some pictures, and then Jonni could describe them. Jonni picked six pictures. That's a lot for a soon to be five-year-old, I thought. Here are some of the cooler ones;

This Olympus Mons, the biggest mountain on Mars and Earth.

It is also roughly the size of Arizona, and an active volcano.

This is a sunset on Mars. That teeny tiny dot is the sun.

Anyway, so pretty cool, but still, I was way worried about her handling an Oral Report. As a safety measure, John wrote all the dialogue on the backs of the pictures so the teacher could help her. We have been assured many times that Jonni is extremely shy at school, and I just didn't know how she was gonna do this. It turns out we needn't have worried. Jonni was flawless. Not only did she do the things we practiced with her, she brought a book on space she's had at home for awhile, flipped to the section on Mars, and proceeded to expound upon her original report. The teacher said she went on for a full ten minutes, with no mistakes, and as she was reading over Jonni's shoulder, all the book stuff that she didn't practice with us was correct as well. Needless to say, her teacher was beyond impressed. Most parents just print something out, apparently, and the teacher reads it to the class while the student just stands there. She has never had anyone do what Jonni did, and she's been teaching pre-school for like twenty years! That's m'girl!!