Festival of Arts 2013

 Aiden and Caileigh really enjoyed participating in the local Festival of Arts again this year.  We added speech arts this year and it was a fantastic experience for the kids to learn about presenting poems and stories orally.  Although I danced for many years, public speaking is not something I am comfortable with so I would love for them to have a confidence in this area.

Last night was the final concert for the festival and Sean took Aiden and Caileigh.  We had received a phone call earlier in the week informing us that the kids would be getting presented with an award but we decided not to tell the kids and leave it for a surprise.
They were extremely surprised and delighted to discover that they won a trophy for their piano duet.  Aiden also won an award for his fable, and the two of them received gold certificates for the fable presentations.

They are busy with plans for next year and can't wait to add more events.  We're hoping to also get Mikayla involved next year but we'll see where we're at next spring.  My only desire is that they continue to participate for the experience and not the trophy:)

Bupee's Here

We spent a lovely weekend with Bupee Garling and Uncle Matt.  Each of the older three enjoyed a "special day" with Bupee and it was a nice time for him to spend one-on-one.  The dynamics with one child is very different from the group dynamics and it is nice for family to get to experience this.  Thanks for a lovely weekend Dad!

We celebrated Uncle Matt's birthday on Monday, and then finished off with the piano portion of music festival yesterday.  Aiden and Caileigh played fantastic!  They have been practicing their challenging duet for sometime and there were many nights I fell asleep wondering how it would come together.  They surprised me by playing it the best they had ever played it!  It was definitely a great lesson on team work and perseverance. Their solos went well too and they played with confidence.
(If I can figure out how to get video off the phone, I'll post their songs later.)

Yesterday we spent the afternoon in the yard.  Sean even brought out the quad (ride on lawn mower) and took the kids for rides in the trailer.

It was then a little hard to wake up to.....

snow!

Beautiful yes, but timely, no.

It has since melted but we're forecasted for more so I guess although we experience spring days, we're not quite there yet.

A good week full of several visits with friends, crafts, barbecues and outside play!  The weather has been extremely warm and the snow is quickly melting.  

I had a visit from a friend I have known since the age of 3!  We've only seen each other a few times since high school.  I was able to meet her daughter Freya and her husband, John.

With her, was another friend from high school who lives in the area with her husband.  

  I played some home videos from my 7th birthday party and it was good for a laugh!

Once we were giggly girls and now giggly mothers :)

I'll let the pictures tell the rest..........

Resurrection rolls, and painting flower pots!

A water works system to "purify" our gutter water.

A barbecue with friends!

{My brood with Freya.  Excuse Jordan's expression as he had a fever and fell asleep about 10min. after this picture was taken}

Teen and I.

Easter pictures......