Crazy Cloud

I dropped Chris off at the airport this afternoon and then took Amy's car to get the tires changed.  As I walked to a shopping area while waiting for the new tires to be put on, I noticed this crazy cloud.  Pretty much looked as though they were ready to burst.

Not twenty minutes later it started to snow, and then it came down fast.

Car Registration

I had to register our new Pilot and dreaded going, especially since it was the end of the month.  I was pleasantly surprised however when I arrived at the car registration building that the lot was fairly empty.  I took a number and was even more pleased to see that they were only three off my number.  The last time I had to register a vehicle, I think I was in the office for over an hour and a half.

Not to worry, the universe wasn't out of alignment for too long, the lines started to form just as I was leaving.

Tulips

Last year, I got blisters from digging holes for all of the tulips that I wanted to plant.  This Spring, we are enjoying the flowers.  They are supposed to divide every year, so next year and the next will be even better.

Jazz Choir

Kristen only has a few more concerts left in her 8th grade career.  She auditioned for the Jazz Choir last Fall and started 7 am practice sessions on Tuesday and Friday at the school in January.  Her choir, along with the Jazz Band, performed last night.  Kristen had a great solo in "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".

Kristen's Jazz Choir and Solo

2nd Annual Amazing Race Egg Hunt

Since our girls are older, coming up with engaging ideas for egg hunts that they still want to have can be a challenge.  (And yes, they still want to have them).  Last year, I hit upon a great idea of hiding 20 numbered eggs for each girl in a specific color.  They had to find egg #1, egg #2, etc. in order.  We kind of hit a snafu last year when Kristen couldn't find egg #7.  I either forgot to make a #7 for her or I hid it really well.  We finally let Kristen skip past #7, but by then Misha was close to winning.

This year, we added Amy in to the mix.  While they were all preoccupied in the house, I snuck outside Saturday afternoon and hid 60 eggs.  Twenty for each in blue, purple, and pink.  Chris hid three "golden eggs" in the neighbor's lot.  Once they had all twenty eggs found (in order), they then had to find their one final golden egg.  The weather forecast showed rain for Sunday, so we surprised the girls with their 2nd Annual Amazing Race Egg Hunt on Saturday Evening.

Let's just say, this version of an egg hunt involves a lot of exercise.  Misha would find an egg, run up to the porch to deposit it in her box, and then bend over to try and catch her breath.

Kristen, determined to win this year, got smart and started writing down where she found her numbered eggs.  She and Misha were neck and neck.  Amy got stuck on a couple of numbers and was slowed down.

Kristen would have had this Easter Egg hunt in the bag when she and Misha were looking for their "golden eggs" except that when she saw Misha's egg in the porta-potty (blame Chris for hiding it there), it dropped from it's hiding perch.  Misha heard an egg drop and was quick to investigate.  The egg was Misha's and she was the winner.  Kristen was pretty heart broken and may have shed some tears over her loss.

Next year.  That'll be Kristen's year.

The first place winner got a $25 gift card to Amazon.  Second and third place garnered $10 gift cards to Chick-fil-A.

Amy found all but two of her numbered eggs--#14 and #18--and her "golden egg" before it was too dark to look anymore.  We all went outside after church on Sunday to help.

Massage Chairs

Chris and I happened upon the massage chairs at Furniture Row while ordering a night stand for Kristen's birthday.  We might have spent over thirty minutes enjoying those chairs.

Volun...

Misha had finished her work outside on Saturday, but I had a few more projects for her to finish.  I asked her to come back outside to help.  She might have mentioned that she wasn't volunteering for the work but was instead "voluntold" to come and help.  She was probably right.

Yard Work

As per our usual Saturday routine in the summer, we spent much of the day working in the yard.  Chris ditched us for awhile to go mountain biking, but the girls all had their jobs to do and were great about getting them done.  Amy was on weed kill duty, Misha weed whacked, and Kristen mowed the lawn.  Those bags and the garbage can are full of plant trimmings.

I worked on my garden, turning the compost pile, and cleaning up the plants down at the beach.  When Chris got home, he got to work on getting the sprinklers working. 

There's a certain sense of satisfaction that comes with working hard and working together.  I am grateful that our girls are more often than not willing to help.

District Art Show

Misha and Kristen both had pieces in the District Art Show this year.  Kristen took a photography elective, and as a result, had entered four photos into the show.  Here's one of her submissions.

Misha had one art piece.

Honor Graduate Luncheon

We were proud to support Misha at her Honor Graduate Luncheon.  Can you believe they make these kids have lunch at 10:30 am?  Crazy.  But that's when we had lunch too.  There were about 30 kids who were honored for maintaining a 4.0 throughout their high school career.  Most of them girls.

My Last 14-Year Old

Happy birthday to you.  Happy birthday to you.  Happy birthday dear Kristen, happy birthday to you!"

She started out the day with a donut cake breakfast.  She wasn't complaining.

Christopher made an impromptu appearance.

Sadly, she still had to go to school, but Amy was kind enough to join her for lunch AND sing her "Happy Birthday".  She might have been a little bit embarrassed.

Misha was working in the evening, but had a little time to join us via FaceTime for the opening of the presents.  I think Misha's gift was the hit of the day--her old Apple watch.

We had dinner at Tokyo Joe's and then ice cream at Scrumptious.  We walked around a bookstore for a bit to give Misha time to drive in to Longmont after work and join us.

Kristen's bestie, Maggie, brought a cake to Kristen after we got home from our ice cream run.

Umbrellas

I saw this cool display in a green house and just had to snap a picture.  Love the color intensity.

Misha's Art

One of the latest pieces of art that Misha is finishing.

Amy Shots

Amy had her yearly physical.  She mentioned on the way in that she might be due for some shots.  When the shots were confirmed, she was really not a happy camper.  And then she had to wait for Carmen, the nurse, to come back in to give her the shots.  The longer she had to wait, she more she began to stew.  She started in with a whole bunch of "I'd rather..." statements.  One of the funnier ones?  "I'd rather run stairs in a sweatshirt than get a shot."

Lashes for Kristen

Amy offered to apply extensions to Kristen's lashes as a gift for Kristen's birthday.  She looks lovely with them.

Amy as a Bridesmaid

On the same day as Misha's Senior Prom, we also had two wedding two fit in during the evening.  Amy was asked to be a bridesmaid for her friend, Jane, so she was busy most of the day with that.  She did come home for a little while before the evening reception to help Misha with her hair, makeup, and lashes.

After taking pictures of the Prom kids, I took a few moments to snap some pictures of Amy as well.

Misha's High School Prom

Misha worked with her group (think 20+) of kids to plan their Senior Prom night.  Picture-taking was planned for our beach and we watched the weather leading up to Prom night.  It rained.  And rained.  And finally stopped raining Friday afternoon before her Saturday events.

I sent Misha down to the beach on Saturday morning to check the feasibility of using still having her friends come for pictures.  While it was a little soggy, Misha determined if they were to stay on the grass instead of the muddy road, it should be fine.

Misha had help from Kristen on makeup, Mom on curling her hair, and Amy on makeup touchups , lashes, and the updo.

So, at 5 pm, kids and their parents started to show up and we directed them down to the beach.  Chris drove the Pilot down with a bunch of girls in pretty dresses.

Lots of fun picture opportunities.

One of the parents owns a bus and graciously offered to drive the kids around for the night if they would pay for gas.

I texted Misha around 8 pm asking when they would announce Prom Queen.  Around 9:30 pm I got a quick text saying that she didn't win.

I told Misha that she didn't have a curfew for the evening but that she was expected to be up and ready to go to 9 am church AND she had to be happy.

She got home from the After Party around 4:30 am.  I was dozing in her bed waiting for her because I wanted to see how her evening had been.  Asking about the prom queen announcement, she said that even though she didn't win, when they announced her name and she walked down the fancy staircase, she got the most thunderous applause of all the girls.  "That was enough for me."

Amy Home from College

Amy was finished with all of her finals on April 10th.  Chris and I were nervously watching the weather and suggested that maybe driving on the 11th after cleaning checks wasn't the best idea with an impending blizzard.

Thursday morning dawned without as much of the weather as had been predicted and Amy made the choice to make a go of it.  She texted us with each passing town through Wyoming and continued on.  The roads were clear most of the way although, surprise surprise, Wyoming had wind.  We were so grateful when she finally pulled in to the driveway.

Misha even went in to the hot tub for the first time.

We were even more grateful when we found out that I-80 was closed the next day due to bad weather.

Spring Formal

Misha and her date, Matthew, attended Spring Formal (formerly known as Mormon Prom).  I didn't realize so many kids were coming to our house for pictures, however, I am pretty sure all mom got the necessary pictures.  Misha and Matthew doubled with Mike and Kyrsten.  They had dinner at Blue Agave in Ft Collins.  Unfortunately the restaurant took so long in the service and preparation of the food--2 1/2 hours--that kids were only able to spend a little time at the dance.  Still they had a great time and looked fantastic.

Honor Graduate

Misha is being honored at school for maintaining at 4.0 gpa during her high school career.  We are so proud of how hard she has worked in school, in attending seminary, and in working 16 hours per week as a senior.  She is definitely weary and ready for a change of pace.

Prom Queen Hopeful

Misha nonchalantly texted her family, "Oh by the way, I was nominated for Prom Queen."

Pretzel Buns

We didn't plan ahead for having hamburgers on Sunday so Chris made some pretzel hamburger buns.  We love our soft pretzel recipe.

Soft Pretzels
1 pkg yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
4-5 cups flour
1 egg beaten
coarse salt

Measure warm water, sugar, and yeast into mixing bowl, cover and let rise. Add salt and flour and mix. Let dough rise. Roll dough into long snake shape and twist into a knot or simply roll in to a ball. Let rise. Place on greased cookie sheets and brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle with salt. Bake at 425 degrees for 12 minutes.

My girls added in allowing the dough to rise after mixing and then after shaping the dough.  The original recipe doesn't require letting the dough rise.  However, the pretzels are much more fluffy.  The recipe is flexible if you want to make some rolls for dinner in a hurry or if you have a little extra time to let them rise.

Garden

I spent time getting my garden Spring-cleaned and ready to grow.  I pulled all of the weeds, turned over the dirt in the beds, cleaned up the strawberry and asparagus bed, and planted some peas, raspberries, and garlic.

Gotta love my little rolling seat that I received last Christmas.