April pictures

And going back even further . . . (same rules--these get re-dated in a couple of days, so enjoy them while you can!)

Theo's grade held a "Biography Tea" at school.  That's Theo on the right, as Marco Polo.  Such a fun day!  I was glad I was able to go in and visit with so many figures from history!

Last year we started the tradition of holding a "Passover" dinner on the Sunday before Easter.  We go through the whole "seder" instructions (as well as I can figure out, being, um, not Jewish) to remember the escape of the Jewish people from Egypt.

Our eggs were really cool this year.  We colored them with crayons while they were hot, so the wax looked really pretty, then we dyed them afterward.  Sadly, I'm not adding pictures of that.  Here's all the kids on Easter morning in their finery.

And here's the whole family in the backyard.  I love these photos, because it's like the one day of the year that nobody forgets a belt or doesn't get their hair curled.

We invited friends over after church for an egg hunt.  Annual tradition?  I think so.  Our kids were mad that they were the only ones who had to stay in their Sunday clothes, but will I let them off next time?  Nope, I'll just make everyone else dress up.  Because how adorable do they look?

I loved seeing the dads out there helping.

Tons of the eggs were just dropped into the overly long grass in the greenspace next to our house.  Luckily they didn't mow it until the next day!  The little kids were so cute toddling around with their baskets--it made me wish for a two-year-old again (a little).

Theo is such a good helper for his sister.

And Addy will help any old baby she can get her hands on.

These fun guys keep their teacher at church on her toes!

And the whole thing disintigrated into a frog-catching expedition (a successful one, thanks to Emerson's frog-crazy friend Jensen) after the eggs were gone. 

I meant to take these on Easter.  But it didn't actually happen until June.  Do you like how I concealed Emerson's missing belt?  Yeah, lightning doesn't strike in the same place twice.

Here you can't see Sera's pink sparkly shoes.  She grew out of the black ones between April and June.  You see what I mean?  Take those Easter pictures on Easter.

Concerts Like Whoa

There are some drawbacks to being married to a fantastic conductor. For example, given his work-schedule, he might become convinced that nights are for living and mornings are for sleeping. He also might become overly fond of his pajamas, possibly to the point that you have to sometimes hide them if you wants to see him looking all hot and adorable dressed up when he gets home . . . particularly when "dressed up" includes a white vest and tie and tails . . . if you like that look, I mean . . . just sayin'.

There are also perks. Many of them. Like getting comped $50 tickets for the entire family (that's $300 in tickets) to see a Philharmonic concert with big-star Broadway performers as soloists in a performance of Rodgers and Hammerstein music at the gorgeous Embassy Theatre. Like getting to dress your kids all up and lead them like little ducks into the theatre, where they ooh and ahh over the crystal chandeliers and gold-leafed woodwork and pick out favorite features for their future "mansions." Like watching them dance and wave their arms to the music, and recognize show-tunes like "Shall We Dance," and "Whistle a Happy Tune," and "Edelweiss" when they're performed. Like getting to applaud your heart out as your handsome husband goes on-stage to be recognized for preparing the choir. Like hearing people talk about how the university choir he prepared for the performance outdid the usual Philharmonic Chorus.

And that's just one concert of eight in one month's time. I admit it: I love spring concert season! Winter concert season can be a bit of a drag, what with holidays to prepare for, but spring concert season? Pure pleasure (for the family, anyway, you'll have to consult Aaron on how it feels for the main man). It sort of blows my mind when I compare what my amazing conductor husband has accomplished with his choirs in this one short year. I know he worked incredibly hard to get them into shape for the first concert we saw this year, at Christmas time. And that concert was good. But to compare it with the concerts that have clogged our calendar this month? Without seeing it yourself, you can't really see the things he's accomplished with these choirs. He's able to elicit sounds so electric, so glorious, that words can't really do them justice.

I'm going to have to squeeze this post between some other posts so he doesn't read it too fast and try to make me delete it. He's quick to play this kind of thing down, and to point out flaws so small that most people wouldn't believe the existence of. But make no mistake, this man of mine knows what he's doing when it comes to music. And after slaving away during this first year, I suspect he's looking forward to enjoying more of the fruits of his labors in the coming years. Way to go, incredibly hot, fabulous, magnificent conductor husband! You are fabulous!!

Spring Things

So, February and March aren't actually considered "Spring" by most, but we're getting close! 

Mainly there was a lot of basketball played on the weekends by all three of the older kids.  Sera was a good sport about being trotted from one game to the next, and throwing out a cheer or two along the way.  Aaron and I got really good at coordinating a way to be in three places at once, or alternatively going from one place to another all morning long to make all the games. 

Although we're not entirely sure he ever figured out which basket his team was supposed to go for, Emerson definitely had fun this season.  He was the team entertainment, usually telling a joke to another player on the wrong end of the court.  However, he did know exactly what to do with the ball.  If he ever managed to run into it (heaven knows he didn't exactly go after it), he gleefully tossed it to the one boy on the team who knew how to get it into the hoop.  Yay for team playing!  Honestly, he could not have been more entertaining to watch.

Theo's team did really well and ended up in fourth place overall.  I loved his caring coaches, who really valued his early-development playing, and gave him good tips to improve.  I saw some of the other coaches over the season yelling at kids and getting after them, and I really appreciated the encouraging approach Theo's coaches took.  He learned a lot about team playing, and became quite good at guarding.  Next year he's hoping to play again.

Addy managed to get onto a team with really good coaches.  And of course, since each of those coaches had a kid on the team . . . their team won a lot of games.  There wasn't a play-off at the end for their category, but if there had been . . . .  She learned a ton and developed some good techniques.  However, she thinks she'll probably do something more "girly" next year, like dance.  Still, I'm proud of her for doing a great job as one of only two girls on her team!

 At the end of the season, all the kids got free tickets to see our local team, the Mad Ants.  It was a fun game that the Ants won by a mile, and after a season of hard work, the kids were quite impressed with some of the moves they saw on the court!

Okay, in other random pictureage, Emerson is so responsible in getting his jobs done every morning!  His main job is emptying the dishwasher, and he always does it with style.  Here are just a couple of his creations.  Above, we have an amusement park, complete with several "rides," and below we have quite a sophisticated space ship, don't you think?  Although we had a conversation about how high up it is acceptable to stack glass and ceramic dishes after that one.  I love this kid's imagination!

Living Here

The novelty of living here has worn off. The joy of living here has not. Our bedroom is decked with heavy curtains. They match the new bedspread I got on clearance a few months ago, and I love them (I totally copied our bedroom style from my sister Chelsi, who I has a nearly identical duvet). They are heavy, dark brown microfiber. And they shut out the light completely. This is a dream come true for Aaron, who likes nothing better than to be able to go to sleep at any hour of the day and feel like it's the dead of night. It is not so great for me, who likes to wake up as the sun rises and fills the bedroom with light. Fortunately for me, I have a summery new set of lime-green chiffon curtains to hang as soon as spring concerts are over, and I'm already prepping Aaron on the fact that he will be required to at least try to sleep during [my version of] normal hours for the summer.

Anyway, all this brings me back to living here. It's harder to wake myself up in the mornings in that dead black room, but it is so worth it. If I'm up early enough, or if the kids don't have school, I pull on a pair of running shoes and take a little jog around the neighborhood. I don't think my little circle is more than a half-mile long. But in that time I run past three ponds! There are ducks that land with a streaking splash into the still water, geese that honk exuberantly overhead, and numberless little birds going about their business, building nests, quarrelling, gathering food, and just singing about the sheer joy of their little lives aloft. It fills my soul. Sometimes I only have time to pop a mug of apple cider (really Mott's natural-pressed apple juice which is nearly as good) in the microwave for a minute and take it steaming out on the back porch to watch the natural world waking up. It feels like heaven to have my cold fingers clasped around the warm mug as I drink in the wet greens and browns of life uncurling in the morning rays of sunlight.

I wonder if I would appreciate living here if we hadn't spent those three years in Regina. Would I be able to smile every single time I watched the sun rise in the east, the pale grey of the horizon deepening to a happy-baby pink, then shooting yellow firecrackers into the sky? Would I truly get the loveliness of driving through our pleasant little neighborhood and then pulling into the driveway of the cutest house on the block? Would I appreciate the giggling sounds of children darting back and forth between their bedrooms above us as they film the new movie they're making, while Aaron and I chill in our slowly-coming-into-being island-retreat bedroom? Would I be able to love my kitchen cabinets even though they don't have hardware yet? Would the gentle swish of my washing machine bring a smile to my face? Would I consider a bathroom with a separate shower and tub a total luxury? Would the three hours it takes to drive to Chicago or Cincinnati seem like such a short trip? Would the arrival of spring in March rather than May seem like such a cause for celebration? So many more hypothetical questions I could pose! The answer to most of these, I'm pretty sure, is a resounding NO.

As cold and desolate as I sometimes felt there, living in Regina was a huge blessing for me. I didn't have fun learning those lessons, at least not all the time, but I did learn them, and I can be a happier, more content person because of them. It's always good to be reminded that hard things are good. Only by living through trials, no matter how big or small, can the Lord strengthen us and prepare us for whatever the future holds for us. I'm amazed, looking back over those three years and seeing the little ways we were blessed, and the big ones too. It makes me feel like a whiny baby that I wasn't able to embrace all the experiences all the time (but then I remember for just a minute exactly how cold that cold wind felt, or the ice on the insides of the windows in March, and I can forgive myself a little).

I love this city. I think it's where I want to raise our family and spend our lives--at least as far into the future as I can see. Living here is good. And it's nice to be where we want to be.