Crazy Hair Day

Fire!

Today at work the fire alarm sounded. We all waited for the inevitable, familiar voice to come on and tell us to ignore the alarm. The voice never came. We all fled the building to find that there really was a fire -- in one of the grates next to the building. Apparently someone had dropped a cigarette into the grate, which caught some paper on fire. There must have been plastic in there, too, because the odor was awful. We weren't allowed back into the building for over an hour after the firefighters put the fire out.

Two firetrucks and three other fire vehicles later, the fire was out, the building was cleared and we were able to go back to work.

Lego Addiction

Return of the Mountain Trekkers

The Trekkers have returned!

1st Softball Game of the Season

We played our first softball game this evening. The little kids played in the dirt and the big boys played ball in the field. Afterwards, we all hit Tip Top. Morgan got to sit at the kids' table!

Mountain Trekker

This morning Katherine left her school in a little yellow school bus, along with a few adults & a bunch of 6th graders. They were headed to the wilds of West Virginia for 4 days.

When I dropped her off it was raining, but she was ready for anything in one sister's outgrown hiking boots & rubber pants, and the other's under armour & flannel shirt!

Basketball

Girl Scouts on Litter Patrol

This afternoon Caroline's Cadette troop (and a few little sister scouts) spent some time cleaning up the Rivanna Trail. We didn't even get a mile down the trail and they filled over 6 trash bags with all kinds of trash! Afterwards, we went to our favorite ice cream place.

Driving Alone!!

Caroline & Morgan had to be at a luncheon this afternoon, sans family. We all had to be somewhere at 2, which meant that the rest of us had to eat somewhere else. The lovely thing about having another driver is that we were able to let the girls go to their luncheon, to eat, and to then meet up for our afternoon event. Awesome. Still, I'd be fibbing if I didn't admit that I was relieved to see the girls pull into the parking lot!

Baby Snake!!!

Will found this baby snake in the yard and decided that he needed to bring it up so I could enjoy it too!

At one point Will thought the snake was shedding. It wasn't - eew!

Who Ya Gonna Call?

A Dress for the Dance

Caroline and 5 of her friends signed up for an Independent Study this semester. After making the costumes for the Shakespeare production, the girls decided to make their 8th grade dance dresses.

Spring Break became a dress-making holiday!

First Caroline had to cut out the pattern.

Then she had to pin the pattern pieces to the fabric.

Cutting the pieces out came next.

Finally, she was able to begin sewing.

The dress Caroline chose is a strapless dress which requires boning to make the bodice stay up!

Here is the bodice attached to the midriff.


Even the inside is pretty!

Ta-da! The final product - almost. It needs a zipper, a hem ... and some straps to meet dress code.

They Make Pink Rods

Katherine and Will dug worms yesterday in anticipation of going fishing today. They put them in a can covered with saran wrap in my fridge! Then they wondered why the worms got out - yes! IN MY FRIDGE!!!



The expedition was a success - I'm not sure if they caught anything, but they had fun!

She'll be a Patriot

Caroline is wearing her dad's jazz band t-shirt from 1982(?)! It's hers now that she's going to be attending his alma mater. She found out this week that she'll be attending the Math, Engineering and Science Academy at AHS next year. Morgan's a bit bummed that Caroline won't be joining her in Mustang territory but we're all thrilled that she has this incredible opportunity.

Easter 2010

Easter morning starts with the kids discovering their baskets!











This year the Chapel Choir sang in the service. It is always good to hear them sing. They are few in number, but large in sound!

The obligatory Easter picture of the four kids...it should be getting easier to get their picture, but it's not.

The egg hunt at Grandmama and Granddaddy's - lots of eggs and then pond watching! There are so many beautiful fish in Granddaddy's pond, and frogs too!