My Little Artists

Our school district has an annual art show displaying works from grades k-12. This year each of the girls had a piece selected for display. It is so fun to watch their faces light up when they see theirs hanging up. They are nicely matted with labels and are perfect for framing. I have started quite a collection in the upstairs hall.

Emma and her "Monet Lily Pads"

Ella's pinch pot

Taylor's "Matisse cut out"

Happy Easter

Ready, Set, GO...the shelter house gang getting ready for their egg hunt of over 450 eggs.

Taylor found one

and Ella...found a snake. Dave actually found 2 in a row of pine trees while helping Ella hunt eggs. The attention quickly turned to the snakes instead of the eggs. Ella, Hope and their cousin Zane were the only takers on holding it. The others admired from afar....including me. Ella's expression looks VERY unsure but she held it quite a while. She said it felt "squishy".

Spring Break

This year, the girls and I, spent break in Illinois visiting Grandma B. Macy, our new puppy, went with and we had no problems at all. She traveled great! I even stopped less than anticipated. She slept the whole 6 hours. The weather was great, too! We got to spend lots of time with cousins Brittany and Olivia who were also on break and of course Sisters Becky, Sue and Jane. We enjoyed our favorite eating spots, Happy Joes Pizza and Roys Taco House and went down the BIG slide at Richmond Hill. Yes, even I went down. I do have the picture to prove it but decided not to share. ;)

Grandma B. with L-R: Ella, Brittany, Taylor, Emma, Olivia, Madison & Riley

Emma with Olivia

"The Slide"

Welcome......

Macy Lou Sharpe

We added a new addition to our family on Friday. Macy is a 7 week old Maltipoo (Maltese & Poodle). We got her a little earlier than thought but all will work out. We had put a deposit down with a breeder in Delta for first pick of the litter due very soon but the breeder came across our Macy who fit exactly what we were looking for. We preferred mostly white ( Macy has a little tan on her ears) and we definitely wanted a female. When breeding with a poodle, you are never sure what breed traits will dominate. You can get all colors, spots, curly to straight hair, and either Maltese or poodle features. We like the Maltese look but not all the grooming requirements and poodles are very smart and easy to train. This was definitely a mother's sacrifice. Those of you who know me, know that I am a big dog lover but the girls, mostly Taylor, has wanted a little dog for a very long time. She is no Champ dog but I must admit she is super cute and the girls just adore her. They have been very helpful in taking her out to potty. It has only been 2 days so hopefully they will keep it up. Macy has been doing very good. No accidents in the house and we crate her at night. She goes 7 hours, 11 - 6, so far so I'm not complaining. We had planned a trip to Illinois to visit Grandma B over spring break so Macy will now be joining us. Should be interesting! The breeder offered to keep her for the week but I didn't want to take the week away with the girls. They were in tears over it. Keep watching...I'm sure we'll have many more photos to share :)

Valentines and Snow

The girls had 2 snow days last week when we got over 10 inches of snow which was blowing and drifting so we made the best of our time off by finishing our handmade Valentines. Ella and Taylor chose to make lollipop flowers and Emma made rockets which were lifesaver rolls and a hershey kiss. They were all super easy and turned out too cute. We also made and decorated cupcakes and Taylor created a ferris wheel out of our K'nex kit that Emma got for Christmas. The girls also had great fun playing in the snow.

Time flys!

Where did January go? I can't believe I haven't posted since Christmas. Seriously, time does fly. Although January was pretty quiet, we did get out and about but I forgot my camera at every outing...VERY bummed about that. We have been extremely lucky and avoided most illnesses this winter. In fact, Taylor had her 9 year doctor well check and wasn't at the doc for anything during the last year. Emma had a stomach bug a while back and Dave took Ella and Taylor sledding where Ella knocked out her front baby tooth. And no it was not ready so I think she will have a hole for quite a while. She didn't even know she did it. She was more concerned that they couldn't find the tooth. She wrote the tooth fairy a note and she still found Ella. We have seen a few movies: Princess and the Frog, Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Tooth Fairy, G-Force. Dave and I took Emma and Ella rolling skating while Taylor was sleeping over at a friends. Ella is "hell on wheels". She loves it and has so much fun. Emma has fun but is much more cautious and has to be holding your hand. We also visited Imagination Station which was great. The girls loved it so we ended up buying an annual family pass. Well worth the money. Now we can visit often. All the girls are doing great in school. They are all working on class Valentines and today was the 100th day of school. Emma & Ella are having a special 100 day parade tomorrow. They are also working on a whale unit, LOTS of reading and sight words, writing numbers 11-20, journaling and geometric shapes. Taylor has started multiplication and division, learning about freedom and voting in social studies, motion and friction in science and LOTS of reading for her, too. I can't believe we are already in the 3rd quarter of the year. Spring will be here before we know it. I'm not complaining about that. We have also been puppy shopping. We made a deposit for first pick of a Maltipoo(crossbreed of a Maltese and a Poodle) litter that should be in April. Just a quick recap of whats been happening here. I plan to remember my camera from now on. Keep us in your favorites!

Merry Christmas!

We were very fortunate to spend the holidays with family and friends ejoying good food, laughter and lots of fun this year. We spent Christmas eve at Nana and Grandpa Jim's house with cousins enjoying dinner and candlelight service at church. The girls woke up Christmas morning to find many gifts that they had been wanting from Santa. Emma loved her new American Girl and watch. Ella got a Barbie vet set and Taylor gets to jam to her own tunes on her new iPod. They all enjoyed their new Zhu Zhu pets. We were blessed to have a happy and healthy 2009 and wish the same for everyone in 2010.