Things that happened:
Gretchen's birthday - Little Miss Gretchen turned 3 on April 24th. We didn't have a big party, instead choosing to celebrate alone and then have some friends over for her baptism birthday. She got a Doc McStuffins doctor kit and a box of REAL bandaids to use whenever she wished. The bandaids (all 60 of them) were gone in less than 24 hours.
Holy Week - April 24th was also Palm Sunday in the Orthodox Church, which meant that the days following it were filled with church, church, and more church. We actually had less than some (I know Justine's parish had services twice a day, but we only had evening services), but it was still a lot. We tried to keep activities to a minimum during this week so that we (read: I) would not become overwhelmed.
Pascha! - May 1 was Pascha, which meant we all got dressed up for a vigil service at 11 the night before. Olivia was too excited to sleep, so she stayed awake long enough to get dressed and dance around in her finery before falling asleep in the car on the way to church. She slept on a pew through the whole service (and the party afterwards) and then complained in the morning about how we forgot to walk around the church (we didn't). Gretchen refused to wake up, even through the transfer to and from the car, and slept on a pew in her pajamas until just before communion, when she suddenly realized that she was missing things, rubbed her eyes, and stumbled into line, bedhead and all. Kaitlyn woke up as we were getting ready to leave the house, wore her dress, and stubbornly stayed awake for the entire service and half the party. She was not cranky, just awake (and rather proud of the bell that she got to hold).
Bright week activities - The week after Pascha is called Bright Week and the people at St. Stephen's try to make it an especially festive and social week. We all went bowling one day and spent another day at a park. While bowling, we learned that our bowling alley has a program where registered kids get two free games every day during the summer, so we now have two registered kids and an accompanying family pass so that we can go bowling whenever we want. (Your local bowling alley may do it too: KidsBowlFree.com) Women's group did a paint and sip, which is an event where everyone drinks wine and paints a picture based on the a masterpiece. Carrie, one of the mothers here, was an art major in college, so she led the painting for us.
Gretchen's baptism birthday - Since Gretchen's birthday was on Palm Sunday, we moved her party to her baptism birthday on May 5. This will probably be a common occurrence. It was a kids only event featuring ice cream cake. I had a couple of games planned, but no one cared because it was a nice day and our back yard has a rockbox AND a trampoline. This was the easiest party ever.
Other items of note:
The girls helped me fill alms bags with non-perishable items and toiletries so that we can hand them out to homeless people. We keep a few in the car and restock as needed.
The bandaids were such a big hit that we put two more boxes in the Pascha basket for Olivia and Gretchen to have.
Bryan dug out the grass and added to our patio walkway so that it's the same width as the fence instead of being one off-centered line of tiles.
The Pascha dresses were done a full two hours before the service began. They would have been done sooner (Olivia's and Gretchen's were both done a few days before), but I took a break to make and eat dinner after putting Kaitlyn's zipper in. The were all wearable by 3 in the afternoon.
Kaitlyn walks all the time now. She also says "no" and means it.
Gretchen's bathroom skills have improved. Or perhaps it's her listening skills that have improved. Either way, she's not currently in a "run around in crazy circles" phase.
Olivia's screening results came back. One school suggests preschool, the other says they'd take her for kindergarten but they want her to work on 9 of the 13 core things that they look for. We have decided that she will be doing preschool at home next year. I have a curriculum and everything. It's super exciting.
The girls' calendar is a big hit. Such a big hit, in fact, that I bought them a large desk calendar and some stickers to decorate it. I also found a place where you can make custom stickers, which I will be doing shortly so that I don't have to draw the same pictures (mostly of visiting friends) over and over.
Tomatoes and banana peppers are started in my laundry room. The cloche that was over the broccoli bed has been moved to begin warming up soil in another bed. The broccoli (and accompanying weeds) looks great, and my second planting of peas (after the first batch perished during the transplant) is growing nicely.
I am hoping that it won't be another three weeks before I post again. Good thing Jacque has been stepping up her blogging game (8 posts since my last one!) to mask my failures. :)
Pictures:
Playing in the rock box:
Kaitlyn and Simeon:
Kaitlyn enjoyed Grandma's birthday cake:
Selfies with my babies:
Reading a bedtime story:
Look carefully at their legs:
Playdough and bandaids (that's Bryan's hand):
Pictures from April 9. The snow was gone by afternoon:
Simeon, Gretchen, Olivia, and Elias watch a movie:
Gretchen fell asleep on the way to the store, so I made her a cart bed:
Filling alms bags:
Kaitlyn with pigtails:
The girls tackle Daddy:
Pascha dresses:
The cutest laundry ever:
Basket monsters!
Nine kids on a trampoline:
Gretchen and her bandaids:
Enjoying the water table that Gretchen got from Grandma and Grandpa for her birthday:
Kaitlyn got into the recycling bin:
More rockbox:
Our improved patio walkway:
My paint and sip picture:
So are we thinking Kaitlyn and Sims these days? 'Cause I could get on board with that.
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