Catching up

Well, the last two weeks have been remarkably better (no more sickness in the house)! We have lots to report; however, my computer is now officially old (I can no longer log onto certain photo/video sites because of my browser) so it has taken me awhile to transfer some photos and videos to Randy's laptop so that I can then load them onto the correct sites in order to post them onto here. Aargh! Sometimes I think that technology is more work than it's worth to "keep up". Anyways...on to the fun stuff!
Audrey performed in her school musical on Thursday, March 18. She did a wonderful job and we are so proud of her! She worked very hard over the last few months, including after-school practices, line-memorizing (she had a speaking part this year), and learning all the choreography. Here are a few clips from the performance.







In our final days of recouperating, we had some "inside" fun dressing up, baking together, and some indoor sock speed skating (my future Olympians)!  

But now that everyone is healthy, and the weather has been warming up wonderfully, we are spending lots of time outside! A St. Patrick's Day picnic with friends. Lovely little Lila! Some bike riding...

as well as some general backyard goofing-off!

Home-bound and homemade playdough

So I need to apologize to any blog readers out there that like reading new posts at least once a week. Our family has done NOTHING exciting in the last 2 weeks, considering we have been passing around a really bad cold and cough. Violet's missed gymnastics, Isaac's missed 2 days of school, I have skipped Bible study two Thursdays in a row, and Randy even missed 3 days of work this past week. As adults, Randy and I can cope with some down-time, and are both on our second novel in two weeks' time. However, the kids have needed some extra activities to keep the wiggles and whining to a minimum. A couple extra videos, two trips to the library to stock up on "new" books, and lots of cooking projects have helped. I have attempted to make homemade playdough before, but it's never come out really well. Either I haven't liked the smell, the texture, or the short shelf-life. This week seemed like as good as any to try another recipe...and this one is a keeper! We made a batch of lavender and green to match our spring weather! So for any other moms out there wanting to make a batch of homemade playdough that is safe (in case a little gets into their mouths), cheap, and lasts a long time (up to 6 months in an air-tight baggie or container), here is the recipe I used (courtesy of The Preschooler's Busy Book by Trish Kuffner).

1 cup water
1 TBSP vegetable oil
1/2 cup salt
1 TBSP cream of tartar
Food coloring
1 cup flour

Combine water, oil, salt, cream of tartar, and food coloring in a saucepan and heat until warm. Remove from heat and add flour. Stir until combined. Knead until smooth (you'll have to wait a couple minutes until it's cool enough to handle). Have fun!

Snow day

Our valley has been blessed with LOTS of rain this winter...which also means lots of snow for the nearby mountains. We didn't have any plans this Saturday, so we headed up to Grants' Grove to snow shoe with the kids! The entrance to the trail we hoped to take was blocked by an 8 foot wall of snow, so we did a simple 1/2 mile loop around the big trees, stopping in the back for some snow play. The kids had a great time! Starting off by the fallen tree. Here they come...the gold and silver medalists of kids' ski cross! Oh, sorry, Olympics brain. The gorgeous, ice and snow covered trees! Yum, fresh snow! Thumbs up to our snow day!