Happy Birthday Aunt Becky

Today is Aunt Becky's 30th Birthday. Hard to believe that she is that old. I mean, I have dirt younger than her out in my compost bin. So in honor of the occasion, I went digging through my boxes to find a nice pic of her in her younger days. I better not say to much because she could probably find some pretty pics of me from middle school also. The Seiberts had their akward phases from 11-14. Those were tough years. But, at least you didn't have braces! Look on the bright side through those coke bottle glasses.
While Becky was blossoming into a beautiful teenager, I was off at college so I don't have many pictures of us together. Here is one from our cousin's wedding in 1995.

And while I was in the box, I didn't want old Uncle Kevin to feel left out. Here's his senior pic. Did you know that he opened his own bike repair business ?
Do you still have that bike, Kevin? Or did it go the way of your hair?

muffins with mom

Today we were all up early to get dressed up to go to school for Muffins with mom. Fortunately, there were also coffee and donuts, but we went the traditional route of muffins and bananas. The dads of the PTO did a nice job with music, decor and food. The big first grader with mom. We had a nice morning together.
And if one muffin wasn't enough, Annalise's school also had Muffins with Mom this morning. Annalise was first out of bed this morning and was a little tired. You can also see in her eyes that she is battling a cold too. Right now she is camped out in front of the big tv with her blankie trying to feel better for an afternoon outting at the garden store for flowers.

It certainly takes a village to raise children. We are fortunate to have landed in one of the best villages in the world with such loving and caring neighbors. This is my good friend Heather and her daughter, Izzy. They are hosting Evie and Annalise for a sleep over tonight while Jim and I get up early to run the mini tomorrow.

And our sweet next door neighbors, Taylor, Beth and Paige. I think on the weekends, our kids live in their house as much as they live in ours. We couldn't be luckier to have a great family living next to us.

Connor Prairie

We have been itching to go back to Connor Prairie all month. But, Connor Prairie is a living history park that takes you back in time to 1836. Back then, there were no sidewalks and a lot of mud pits when it rains every day for 2 weeks. It finally dried out enough on Sunday for us to journey over there. Of course, our first stop was the barn. It was filled with lots of babies. There were a set of 8 day old twin goats, a couple of lambs and a couple of calfs. Our favorite farm hand brought out this one for us to pet. And can you believe it, the girl who LOVES cows, wouldn't touch this 3 week old calf. The rest of us gave her lots of love.
This little lamb got pretty friendly with Evie's boot.

And by the time we wandered around, we were the last people in the village. This was awesome because all of the olde tyme people gave us lots of attention. in this house, we were making May day baskets to fill with flowers. Later, Evie and I sawed through a log that they will use to build the new Potter's shed. While Evie and I were sawing, Jim and Annalise were chasing chickens back into the coop. It was pretty fun. I'm already thinking making the 7 mile journey back, if it ever stops raining.

Evie's Play

Evie's class put on 2 plays for the parents last week. Complete with costumes and scenery. I have a feeling that Mrs. Burt has done this before because the costumes were excellent.The class all contributed in the program. There was a brief bio of each student and the part that they played.

The first play was the three little pigs. See what I mean about those costumes??

Then we all got to hear a nice song and see everyone. There is Evie, all dressed up for her part "Chorus 2", a narrator of the Goldilocks and the 3 bears play.

Evie proudly saying her lines. She did just great. Actually, I think all the kids knew all the lines because if you watched the ones that weren't speaking, they were silently saying the lines too. Cute.

We enjoyed some post show refreshments. What a great play!

Gymnastics superstar show

Last week at gymanstics was the Superstar Show. It gave the kiddos a chance to show off all their skills for Mom and Dad. And instead of huddling down in a comfy chair while zoning out to a podcast, the moms and dads got to watch all the excitement. Annalise is super into gymnastics. She loves every single part. She follows instructions and tries her hardest.
She has begun to master the backward roll. It's super cute.

And here she is doing the bear crawl.

I just put this one up because I know she would love to see herself midair. Yes, that is a trampoline. This is the ONLY place they are allowed on trampolines. No matter how much they whine.

Evie is also doing really well at gymnastics. she has pretty good balance and was very excited to be promoted to "Girls Level II"

We think she may be taking after her Aunt Laura. She does great on the bars. In fact, when all the other girls are on the lower bars, she prefers the higher ones.

At the end of the class, they were awarded medals for the effort. Because kids get medals for everything now.

Yay for our future Mary Lou Retton.

Team Taller. Watch out, Olympics 2020!

Evie's bar routine.