It's officially spring, but it's not warm around here yet! We're still waiting impatiently for temperatures above freezing, so we can get outside!
The kids both had their spring school pictures taken in March. We didn't really pay much attention to picture dates, so they weren't really dressed up or anything, but they look good anyway. Aidan didn't even bother to take off his sweatshirt for the picture, and needed a haircut...
And though I usually like the kids to wear solid colors for their pictures, Esme was at least wearing flowers to go with the flowers background...
We still had plenty of snow at the beginning of March to get in some more sledding...
We all had a great time at Esme's school spring music program. They sang several songs based on the stories of Hans Christian Andersen. We particularly enjoyed the ones about the Princess and the Pea and the Emperor's New Clothes. Esme, as usual, was totally into it. WAY looking forward to her piano recital in June.
Jim and Esme went to the Daddy-Daughter Dance at her school in March. They both had a great time getting all fancy-dress, eating cupcakes and dancing.
For Jim's birthday yesterday we had a lovely relaxing time. It was the first day of spring break, so the kids and I were able to spend the whole day doing birthday stuff with him. We had doughnuts at Marge's for breakfast, I made a broccoli-mushroom quiche for lunch, and we went to Ball's Softee Creme in Lowell for our first Ball's ice cream of the season. I made Indonesian Fried Rice with shrimp and chicken for dinner, and then we had old-fashioned cream pie for dessert, complete with singing and a candle for Jim to blow out. He said he had a good time. :)
Aidan's been coming along well with school and guitar; hopefully he can stay the course through the end of the school year despite the many temptations to slack off and be obnoxious. Jim bought some more new instruments for the family and Aidan seems to be quite adept at the didgeridoo - he just picked it up and made it work the right way. It sounds really cool. Aidan's school spring music program takes place on April 19 at 7:30 pm at Van Singel Fine Arts Center; we're looking forward to that as well. There will also be a guitar recital sometime near the end of the school year. Aidan's hoping to have a friend over on Monday for a while, c'mon Tyler's mom! :)
Esme as always is excelling at school and piano. Her second grade teacher's baby girl Brooklynn was born in March, so she is home on maternity leave until mid-May. The substitute seems to have everything under control and the kids are doing well and working hard. Esme's piano recital piece, "Flopsy and Mopsy" is just about learned, though we're not sure whether she will need to memorize it she has plenty of time as there are still a couple months until recital time. Esme's friend Rachel will be coming over to play for a while on Monday, hooray!
Jim finished his project with MF Global on Thursday. At the moment he's on vacation (hooray!) but there are several possibilities in the hopper starting before the end of April - possibly Fairmont Hotels in Toronto, possibly Dress Barn in Columbus... He is just glad to have some time off, the longest number of vacation days he's had in a row in YEARS. His electronic bagpipes arrived on Thursday and he's enjoying playing them and figuring out their various special functions. Jim also gave up caffeine in March, and is feeling lots better as a result.
We don't have any specific plans for spring break except to relax, clean out the garage, have a couple of the kids' friends over, and have Mom and Dad for a visit on Friday. Anything can happen though!
I finished the Wetzel book in March and I'm planning to start taking orders in April. I'm hoping that taking orders before having them printed will work. I've begun working on the Hollopeter branch of the family now - or rather, I'm formalizing the work I've done for years on the Hollopeters by starting to complete the research for a book. As the Hollopeters came to America before independence from Britain, there are significantly more descendants in that branch of our family than there are for Glander, Byers or Wetzel, the branches I've completed so far. The research will probably take at least a year...wish me luck!
What's your family up to? Fill us in!