Von Wheeler Family Debut

We didn't go too far from home this month, but we had several people visit us.

The Thursday before Easter was Grandparents Day at Annika and Lauren's school. We were blessed enough to have FOUR grandparents there. Dan's parents, my mom and my dad's mom made the trek from the Twin Cities in order to see short singing programs put on by the various grades and sit in too-short chairs. After, we smuggled the two girls out of school and to the Pizza Ranch. They returned to school just in time to have one hour left of the school day before a four day weekend!

While my mother-in-law was here she had mentioned something about dying Easter eggs with the skins of onions. I had never heard this before and the idea intrigued me. So, with the single yellow onion skin I had, I wrapped the egg in the skin, then wrapped it in tinfoil, then boiled it with the other eggs before dying them. You're supposed to use cheesecloth. However, I don't know what that is. Tinfoil seemed to work okay and it was kind of fun!

For Palm Sunday at church, the liturgical dance group Sacred Steps did a song. Later that week, my girls, along with a neighbor girl, decided to re-enact part of that song!

My dad and his wife also stopped by on their way back from Arizona from the winter. We finally got to meet their dog Sophie (much smaller than our former Sophie!). The girls also had fun checking out their 29 foot travel trailer!

Apparently, I left out all about Dan's 38th birthday last month. The girls made their very own streamers for him! Very creative! They also gave him some Darth Vader dark roast coffee, a work mug from Dunder Mifflin, and I can't remember what else. But a good time was had by all. We had dinner in our pajamas for some reason.

We also had family portraits taken. The ones with Dan and I in them apparently didn't work so well--something about breaking the lens. However, the ones with the girls were very fun! Derrick Hautamaki (Upper Peninsula) took them in Minnesota just before Mother's Day, so you can guess what the mas and grandmas got! We have more of these, but I have yet to download them (and don't want to do it tonight at 12:15 a.m.!)

Emily, Lauren and Annika made their singing debut recently at our church's annual Ladies brunch event, usually held around Mother's Day.

Seriously?

Lauren got glasses this month. Nine days ago to be exact.

She had complained of having headaches in school. So, through a process of elimination, she had allergy testing, an eye exam, and soon an appointment with an ENT. She's highly allergic to something, but we're not sure what. The tests we did on her shows she's not allergic to the basics like dust, mold, certain grasses or dairy, egg, flour. But she's off the chart for something.

Then at her eye appointment, the optometrist said Lauren's eyes have a hard time focusing quickly from far to near to far--something you do often in a classroom when looking at the teacher and then looking down at your paper. The optometrist recommended a low prescription for glasses. So we got them last Thursday. Today she broke them.

Lauren was busy showing Megan how they bend in the middle. They are a hard plastic frame. They don't bend. Obviously. Alas, there is a one-year warranty so "if they break for any reason" they should be covered. Honestly, this is really not something that should be covered. But it is definitely "for any reason."

We picked up the glasses on a Thursday night just before driving up to Minneapolis to help my Gramma Pat (my dad's mom) move back to Minnesota after a long hiatus in Illinois. After my sister-in-law Jessica and I put the kitchen together as much as we could, we along with Gramma decided she needed one more cabinet in the kitchen for her microwave and other kitchen items that still needed to be stored. That of course meant a trip to Ikea! A good time was had by all.

Then, on our return trip, Emily and Megan stayed at Gramma Barb's house for the week. I'm not sure what all they did, but Emily said, "Can we stay there longer next time?" Hmm. So much for separation anxiety.

For me, it was nice to be able to work Monday-Thursday on projects I needed to get off my desk. Apparently I overcommit. And the house was definitely a lot quieter. We didn't miss the whining and fighting that seems to have reappeared in our home overnight. They'll grow out of it, right?

This month, we also celebrated the birth of another cousin, Olivia Rose.

We also celebrated the artistic abilities of Annika and Lauren at their annual school art show. These are all seen below.

Kid quotes:
Pupcakes--what Megan wanted more of at Dan's birthday (cupcakes)

"I slipped. Good thing I didn't plop. Plops hurt." Lauren

"Somebody made a clock that runs on lemonade and water--no electrocution!" Lauren

Lauren next to her doggy statue

Lauren's tissue paper art is above her head

Annika's jaguar is beside her. You can see her signature.

Annika's still life

Annika's pottery--it's a clown.

Looking at backyard furniture at Menard's

Kicking back at the Menard's showroom

We let our children dress themselves...

Our kitchen furniture being used as the foundation for a fort...

So this is how they improvised for lunch dining.

The littlest princess