Comings and Goings

Dear family....As the girls grow and get busier, life gets crazier, especially in the spring. But I love you. So here are a few morsels to keep you in the loop. 

 Sometime in mid-April, Hadley saved enough money to buy herself a genuine American Girl doll. She is so proud of herself for saving the money ($109 with brush). She regularly tells me it means more to her than if someone had just given it to her. While I still feel like these dolls are overpriced, it is a really nice doll and I love the lessons Hadley learned while saving.

 Hadley split her lip open during a game at kids church. She had to have stitches. But her friend's mom is an emergency room doctor who was on duty and made certain we got the best care (I don't like thinking about the fact that this is necessary!). She healed up easily and overall, it wasn't very memorable.

 Hadley's 3rd grade play was called "Vacation on Mars." I love the plays at her school. I am always astounded by how they get so many kids involved. Hadley was an employee of a tour company that took families on planet vacations.

 The third weekend in May we took a trip to Traverse City, MI. It's the cherry capital of the world and very lovely. We skipped school Friday and went to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. It was hot, and at least once, too sunny to take a decent picture, but the girls loved hiking the dunes. The rest of the weekend was a soccer tournament for Hadley, but that is worthy of a blog post of its own...maybe when I get free time?

 My greenhouse. I've been selling my tomato and pepper plants. Fun. We tore out our deck, which accounts for the mess in the driveway.

 Here Kassy is standing by her Mona Lisa inspired portrait. The art teacher chose it for display at a local business. She is so proud after watching her sister receive such honors a few time. The portrait is actually unusual for Kass, who tends to favor abstract designs over realistic drawings.

We went to a sort of dog olympics in Frankenmuth this weekend. It was hot, but interesting. I am not sure if the fun was worth torturing Hadley who always dreams of owning a dog. We went with friends, who have five kids, all red heads. The parents are red heads too so Tom and I don't really fit in, but it was fun and entertaining to constantly be counting red headed children.

Hadley is running for secretary of student council. There are about six kids running for this position, and only one of them is a boy. I think he will be hard to beat, but Hadley and her friend made great posters. The whole thing amuses me since most of these kids don't really even know what student council is.  But most of them say things like, "Mom, I want to run for secretary. What's a secretary do?"  And in case you didn't know, the name of her school is Handley Elementary.....The election is Friday. Now she just needs to write her campaign speech! There is so much to learn from this process. How do you define politics to a third grader?