Love Was In The Air

 We are honored to announce that Ella has been officially inducted into the Elementary School Honors Society.  This is a very big deal because we have a certificate AND a pin now.  And because her boots look cute in that picture.

 Here's the ONE PICTURE I got of Gretchen at the dance.  She looks pensive.  She's worried that Mr. Darcy won't notice her new muslin gown.  (Silly Gretchen, the ton does NOT approve of wearing muslin to an evening dance.  She should be so embarrassed!)

 Of course Ella and friends thought it'd be hilarious to hide out in Mr. S's room for half the night.  Though they did leave to run through the dance floor giggling the requisite 1,000 times.  And, they even did stop to ACTUALLY DANCE for a few minutes.

 Gretchen's poor teacher had an unexpected emergency, so her even MORE POOR SUBSTITUTE got to deal with this for Valentines Day!  The kids were extremely excited about all aspects of the day.

I was extremely excited that Gretchen got a very special invitation from her friend D to a Valentines Lunch Party directly after school. 

 Mr. D. had been saving this little mini-light-up-pillow-pet for Gretchen since he saw it a month ago.  Boy, does he know the way to my little girl's heart.  Did you read that?  MINI.  LIGHT-UP.  PILLOW PET.  She was beyond thrilled.  He got a matching puppy (see below).  And if you've spent any time with my darling girl over the last year, you will recognize the following phrase, "That'd be PERFECT for my American Girl Doll!"  And it is.   

 We won't let that 6" height disparity come between their love.

 Because look at those faces.  I just want to SMOOSH THEM!

I told his mom that I wasn't sure if I should file this under "Senior Yearbook" or "Wedding Reception Slideshow".

Last week Ella turned in her Science Fair project.  I didn't even have to threaten much violence to get it finished this year!  Hooray!!!  (Though we could do a study on whether the Science Fair makes parents hate their lives.  My Preliminary Hypothesis:  YES!  Oh My $*#@ YES!!!)

Yesterday we had a baby shower and three birthday parties (we only made it to two of the birthdays, but the first one was a double party for TWO boys, so I think it should count as more).  And then Colby and I went out to celebrate 14 years of wedded bliss.  Auntie Krista was kind enough to watch Gretchen while Colby and I went out.  They had so much fun!  (Ella was at her 2nd birthday party at the time).  But the busy Saturday kicked our butts so hard that we slept in.  BY A LOT.  We got to church an hour late.  And then I missed Sunday School (I decided to talk to my friend instead and called it a Mental Health Break.  It was awesome.)  And you know what?  One hour church is so pleasant!  I had a great time!  It just goes to show, sometimes you should be irresponsible.  Just enjoy life.  I carried that theme on through the afternoon. I sure had a great nap in the hammock!  And don't worry pinterest, I'm all caught up!  (Good thing too, cause this week is set to kick my butt again.  Sigh....)  So how was your week?

What?!?! Hey!!!

Gretchen chose Red Robin for her 6th Birthday Dinner.  Guess how long the balloon lasted before it popped*

What?  I'm updating our family blog!?!?!  Woo hoo!  The new 9am church schedule is wooooooonderful, and I'm hoping this will be the first of many weekly updates.  So, my dearies, how have YOU been doing?  We've been doing well.  Busy, busy, busy.  Getting older  (See above)  (See below).  Getting cuter too, if that's even possible.
(*The balloon lasted less than 5 minutes.  Mostly because she kept shoving it under the table cause she didn't want everyone looking at her.  Cause guys, DON'T LOOK AT HER.)

Living Room Photo Shoot.  Bulldog shirt was a birthday gift from her friend.  Thanks friend!

 The girls signed up for City of Reno Ice Skating Lessons.  And we made it for 1/2 of them!  Look really really closely & you'll see Ella below.  If you're ever looking for our sweet girl, be sure to watch for the brightest, most rainbow-ey outfit possible.  Find that & you find Ella.  Or a pride parade in full swing.  But probably Ella.

 Gretchen is going through this super fun phase where she doesn't want me to take her picture.  She lost her first tooth, a little baby front bottom tooth.  I got a picture of her, but then it descended into head-banging.  "Mom, take my picture when I do this!  HA HA HA HA!"

We found a snapcircuits set at Savers and invested $8.  Cause we value education.  But then I had to come home and actually figure it out.  I hate figuring stuff out because I'm lazy and also tired. But I rallied and IT'S SO FUN!  GG and I built a real live working radio! 

Also because we value education, we went to Sutter's Fort in Sacramento so Ella could see the little Donner Party doll that they've been learning about for 4th Grade State History.  Well, really we went to Sacramento because Colby had a bike race.  Our lovely friends came with us.  Their daddy has been sucked into the world of cycling, just like Colby (sorry children and wife of lovely friends!)  We got a hotel right near the old downtown on the river, right down the street from the capitol.  I love vacations SO MUCH.  SO MUCH.  How much?  SO MUCH.

So we drove to Sutter's Fort to see some Real Live History, especially the much anticipated doll of Patty Reed.  (Oh my, little doll.  Do we really want to read your story?  Ick.)  Then we found out that the doll was approximately two inches tall.  For reals.  See below.  We all went, "Oh.  Neat.  Yeah, that's really small." 

 The gift shop was great, of course, and we couldn't leave without a surprise.  Not the Donner Party Cookbook.  (I'm not kidding, this exists.  Christmas?)  But we DID find some sweet rag dolls!  They carried them around for almost HOURS.

 Gretchen got the alternative "Mini Working Telescope" so she can watch out for mini enemy troops. 

 We learned so many interesting things!  Like that living back then was awful!  And Sutter of Sutter's Fort and Sutter's Mill was sort of a jerk face.  He married rich, spent all his wife's money, and then left his family in Switzerland so he could try again in the new world!  (After changing his identity, of course.)  Talk about the American Dream!

 Also, sucked to be anyone owning land near Sutter's Mill!  Who wants to die penniless in the middle of gold hysteria!?!  Good times.

 Ah, history!

So we came home and went to a fabulous birthday party at our friend's fabulous dance studio.  Here's GG hanging up her paper doll. 

Friday was the school dance (grades K-5), where we got LOTS of amazing pictures of kids doing LOTS of amazing dance moves.  But they're all on the camera still and I'm tired, so that's a project for next week.  But Oh How I Love Dancing.  Dancing is right up there with vacations.  I danced all night til bedtime (8pm) to some sweet dance songs.  Embarrassed the h-e-c-k out of my girls.  It was me and two of my other favorite moms, working our little hearts out to all the top 40-hits.  And then Katy Perry's "Roar" came on and every girl in the building joined us on the dance floor and danced like they had the Eye of the Tiger.  Yeah, it was great.  Little kids dancing is my favorite. 

Ok, that's it for now.  We've got a Big Week with Valentines Day and an 8 mile run (a very very slow 8 miles, don't be too impressed) and a spa day coming up.  Twil be amazing!  So I will take pictures, remove them from the camera, and share them with you next time.

xoxo