I feel like I live in a time warp!

I truly have no idea where time goes around this house. It seems as though it gets eaten up or it flies out the window. All I know is that time is moving and I am trying to keep up!

The kids loved finishing school! I am still trying to decide if I can keep up with them this summer. I am hoping I have the energy and strength (and wallet)!! We finished school on a good note with all 3 kids. Gabe's grades rocked and he really made amazing strides as a first grader. Marin had her struggles this year but we managed to finish strong and get enough work done to pull the grades up. Carmen stunned us with awesome grades to finish a really amazing school year. Her english skills improved so much and she did an amazing job of finishing off her 1st senior year. She gets to do her 13th year of school back home in Italy so I figure she'll be a senior for the 2nd time there.

Marin had a piano recital for her piano teacher and also performed her recital piece for the 5th grade talent show. She adored her recital piece this year and for the first time memorized it! WOO HOO! She absolutely stunned me at her recital. Her hands are beautiful....they just flowed over the keys and looked so elegant. I have heard the song over and over for months but I had not stopped to watch. What an absolute treat to watch those hands... Her treat this summer is to have 8 weeks off of piano and take a break. Thankfully Brett enticed her with some music from Twilight to keep her working over the summer. She is hoping to stun her piano teacher with a completed Twilight song when she starts back in piano.

Gabe is the lego master at our house. He delights in designing new lego creations and making them all come to life. He has an awesome imagination and keeps us all laughing. I am stunned that my baby is going to 2nd grade. He still seems so small but so big. I don't understand how that can be but I adore that boy! Gabe is learning all the things he can do now and is quite thrilled that he can open a can of soda all by himself. He is gaining his independence but still loves to snuggle and hug. I can hardly wait to see what these kids become but I don't want them to grow so fast.

Carmen celebrated her 18th birthday with us at Lagoon. She took one of the other exchange students and they had a blast! I think we all wore ourselves out that day but we had Cafe Rio for dinner at Carmen's request and finshed off the evening with Mamma Mia - very loud!! I think she had a fun day and she doesn't have a ton of gifts to pack home. She and 4 other exchange students left Monday on a train tour around the US. They will spend 33 days traveling to some amazing places in the US. She was so excited! I'm sure it will be a fun and memorable trip.

Brett and I continue to work and try to keep up with this family. We are so happy and so lucky and so tired! It seems like there are never enough hours in the day to do all we want to do. Our lives are full and rewarding and filled with happiness. I could not ask for more than that.




(click on the above picture and see how Brett spends his Sunday evenings...)

Snowplows in Spring?

I'm sure you think we had some freak snowstorm this Spring. Nope. We just had a crazy Rhetta moment with an idea and people willing to have fun. I am grateful I have earned the trust of teachers and faculty alike at my kids school. I'm sure they wonder where I come up with some of my ideas, but somehow they continue to arrive and support me.

I found out that schools can paint the snowplow blades that work in the area of their school boundaries. So fun!! These are some pics of our results. For our first time I felt it was easier to do hand prints than try a major "work of art". There is always next year!