Spring Break....FINALLY!

Our girls FINALLY had spring break, the last week of April!
It was also a 'birthday week' in our family--my birthday...and the girls thought it was SO COOL to be home on my birthday, since that has never happened during their school life!

When you have time off....when it is your birthday.....and when you have a new baby to meet....what does one do? You pack up and go home...to Minnesota!!!

We were set in the birthday treat department--not only did my Mom make me a fresh peach pie (with those amazing peaches that she had frozen last August!), but Andy made me my favorite dessert, Raspberry Oatmeal Squares. We were feasting! :)

Thursday morning, I opened a few gifts, we had breakfast as a family at Blueberry Hill Pancake House and then set out for the 5 hr trip 'home'.

Thursday night, we dined at Godfathers and went to the movie Soul Surfer....and we were the only ones in the theater! That's Austin for you! We also walked through the mall....I think there are 2 dance studios and 4 stores total now. So sad.

On Friday, it was finally nice weather and we had such fun...
BECAUSE....
We got to meet baby Penny!!!!
As you can see, all 6 of us loved cuddling her. She is just precious.

But don't get me wrong....Penny wasn't the only good thing about Friday! :)
All of us also loved seeing Oscar too, and catching up with Megan was wonderful.
And yes, we even watched snippets of "the" Royal Wedding!

We never intended to travel with Colin's guitar...

And obviously it doesn't matter....as you can see above, he fashioned a red broom into his "Murray Guitar" for his Wiggle-watching fun!

Below, you see Oscar and Ellie....know what they share?

Food allergies!
Both are allergic to milk...and Oscar has been asking for pizza. Ellie helped Andy make them a safe pizza and we were hoping that he'd try 1 bite of it.....but no, apparently he's not "into it" yet. Good job, Oscar...standing up to peer pressure at the old age of 2!

Oscar, Colin and Ava really enjoyed the sand at Grammie and Grampy's house...

Wait....did I mentioned Grammie and Grampy's house?
It is AMAZING.
I have to confess.....we (the family) have always given Megan grief about her profession/hobby as an Interior Designer. She had a large part in the entire renovation of my parents' home and it is STUNNING. BEAUTIFUL. Great job Megan, CID LEED AP (whatever those letters mean!).

On Saturday, we were out of Austin by 7:45am...and we only left behind 3 scooters. We'll get those another day, I'm sure! :)

We trekked up to the Mall of America with a short list of shopping goals.
Let's say that our sole success was uniform sweaters on super clearance at Old Navy as well as a CHICAGO CUBS shirt for Colin...in the heart of MN Twins country!

We did not succeed at the Crocs store...nor did we come home with new work shoes for Andy. (Nordstrom at the MOA has ALWAYS come through for him too!).

We did make a final stop at the American Girl store though and let each girl pick 1 outfit for their dolls. They were giddy...and the cutest photo opp happened as we were waiting for Andy and Colin to use the bathroom...the girls took up an entire bench checking out their bag of AG garb....

And this is the only photo I managed to get on my cell phone. As I was trying to snap the best picture, a stranger walked up and asked me if they were my girls. Apparently the stranger also thought the image was too darling--she said it made her remember her girls and their love for the AG stuff. Awwww.

After the MOA, we headed to the Chianti Grill....no photos, but one of the best meals around...AND, they had something Ellie could eat too, which makes it even more one of our favorite restaurants of all time!

Finally, we met up with the entire family at the Edinborough Park. We were celebrating Mother's Day on Saturday and thought it would be a good idea for the kids to blow off energy before traveling home to WI. The great outside park didn't work out because of the rain....so the indoor park was plan B. The place was quite amazing.....but quite crowded too! The kids maintain they had a blast, though...and it was fun playing with all the cousins.
Here is Grammie with all her grandchildren:

It was a super fun whirwind trip....and now we are off into the happenings of MAY...another birthday month for the Glynns!

In closing, I leave you with a laugh for the evening:

This is the front of Andy's new tee-shirt!
Isn't it a riot? So fitting for Andy too!
My brother had this shirt on in a photo my Mom sent me a few weeks ago and after seeing it, Andy said "I NEED THAT SHIRT!" The girls don't understand why we are laughing....but this shirt is just as special as the "I Love My Wife/Husband" shirts we own!

Maybe next time, Tucker and Andy can wear them together to cause quite a stir while out in public!

Easter 2011

Our patio door is covered in hearts!

2 weeks before Easter, I read a blog entry by a stranger who has had amazing thoughts on the Lenten "season". One of her entries was about teaching children to be CONTENT. (Are adults really even content?!) Of course, I jumped all over that one and she also had a picture of her window filled with post its!
The idea was simple--everytime you sat down to eat a meal together, you write something you are thankful for on a piece of paper and post it to your window.
I'm not sure if we are more content yet...but we are more aware of what we HAVE and how MUCH we have! This little 1 week exercise also changed our dinner talk--instead of crazy obnoxious-ness with each meal, the children would talk and talk and talk about what each person was thankful for and why they chose what they chose.
Of course, as holy week came to a close, we all realized how thankful we were (are!) for Jesus and the cross.
Our 4 kiddos do not want to stop this exercise...and they do not want their notes taken down--it means that much to them. Andy suggested making the post it notes into a book....I think that's a good idea.

Here are the 4 Glynn kids on Easter morn:

And here are the group shots:
4 Glynn kids serious, 4 Glynn kids crazy
6 Wisconsin Glynns, Grandma & Grandpa Glynn and the grandkids that were here for the holiday

We didn't take that many photos but we had a great weekend. There was much fun jumping on the "jumpoline", there was the dressing of Barbies, there was the watching of a Barbie movie (!), there was DS playing and game exchanging (forgetting even!), there was eating, there was laughing and there was worshiping....it was a fun 24 hour visit from the Illinois folk.

We also hid Easter baskets and I had to laugh at a friend's comment that her daughter felt that our baskets were "better" than theirs. Oh, the life of a child with food allergies, who grows tired of the same candy over and over....blessing in disguise for us; I now regularly shop for trinkets year round to fill baskets! The hits this year were the pipe cleaners, pom-poms, craft glue and scrapbook paper! And also, the school's book fair books that I had stashed away; the kids can never have too many books!

Andy also snapped some hilarious shots of Colin. He was on a roll, playing his air guitar and just hamming it up. What can we say? He's a goof-ball!

And like every Easter, I have to leave you with a long ago video of Ellie and Jayna singing. They used to LOVE "Miss Pattycake" and the 2nd song on this snippet is of them singing "God's Not Dead...He's ALIVE!" Click here for a blast from the past!

Christ Is Risen...He Is Risen INDEED!

La La La La La!

Last night was the Badger State Girl Choir's spring concert.
It was full of beautiful singing, music and dancing...
And, it was very L-O-N-G! (A certain 2 yr old made it 23 out of the 26 numbers before needing my cell phone to keep him quiet and occupied! Go Colin!)

Jayna LOVES singing.
Jayna sings NONSTOP.
Jayna sings AT THE TOP OF HER LUNGS.
And most of the time, it is absolutely wonderful!

Choir has been fantastic for her; she was sad for it to end last night.
Little did we know when she started orthodontia work, she'd struggle to calm down. And little did we know, that choir actually is a good calming activity for her! So she sings...

Andy did get some snippets for those of you who are watching from afar...
Robin's Egg is Blue can be found HERE.

Mark Twain can be found HERE. (Ellie tells me that Jayna always sings this one in the shower!)

Mrs. Snipkin & Mrs. Wobble-chin can be found HERE. This one was the cutest song of the night--the choir had actions to most of the song and it was completely unexpected. Little did we know we had an actress on our hands as well as a singer....(Sorry for the little delays in the video--Andy was videoing and snapping photos at the same time. But...you'll get the idea of the cuteness!)

Journey To The Cross

Last night NHCS held it's yearly Fine Arts Festival....but it looked a lot different this year! Since Easter is so late, the timing was right to put on "Journey To The Cross", which was like an Easter version of "Streets of Bethlehem"!

We all started out by getting our passports and then moved through the journey....
We learned about the expensive perfume that Mary anointed Jesus' feet with...
We saw the donkey that was waiting for Jesus on Palm Sunday...
We learned of the palm branches and the shouting of "Hosanna" as Jesus rode into Jerusalem.
We learned of the things Jesus did in Jerusalem; and we learned of the coins that Judas was paid in exchange for betraying Jesus.
We learned about Maundy Thursday....the Passover meal...and the Garden of Gethsemane.
We revisted the conflict of accusing Jesus, and remembered the whippings Jesus endured and the crown of thorns he wore. We were able to nail a nail into a cross....for Jesus did die for US and our sin.
We visited the tomb, which was empty and heard the angel tell us that Jesus had risen.
Christ Is Risen...He is Risen Indeed!

It was a really neat journey.
Ellie had a speaking role, that you can view HERE. Jayna was a disciple--she sat at the table very nicely!

As we embark on the traditional "Holy Week", our family is starting something new...I had seen a blog post about teaching children to be thankful and content. For at least a week, everytime we sit down at our table to share a meal, we're writing on a post it note what we are thankful for. What a perfect time to implement this thought process...as we ponder on what Jesus endured for us!

Ballet Recital!

1 day after Ava's birthday, she attended dress rehearsal for her 1st dance recital...
2 days after Ava's birthday, she danced in her first dance recital!

Ava has frequently asked to take dance lessons. This year, we had heard great reviews of the Town of Menasha's dance program and decided to give it a whirl.
Ava had a fantastic experience--her teacher, Miss Jenny, was one of the most loving and kind teachers I've ever experienced with the kids. She also really had the ability to teach the little girls correct technique, and the girls really learned the "lingo" of ballet!

We had no idea what to expect out of our little shy 6 year old, dancing on stage in front of a packed auditorium at the Menasha High School....and we were stunned! She nailed each step of the routine, maintained her smile, and had a fabulous time.

To watch a snippet of the routine, click HERE.

After the recital, Ava was showered with flowers, high fives, hugs, a ballet pillowcase and a special ballet figurine--a figurine given to me in 1994 from a dear college friend! I've saved it and it has moved across the country and back without even getting a chip or a crack! It was very special to now pass it onto our little ballerina.

We had such a fun and busy birthday week....a birthday is enough to wear a family out; but add on the dance recital hoopla and both sets of grandparents visiting....and we were beyond exhausted! The day after the recital, after everyone had gone home, we declared the afternoon "Family Nap" and for 3 hours, everyone slept hard!

Now, we can tackle the rest of April!

Golden Birthday!

FINALLY, the real birthDAY arrived for Ava--6 years old on the 6th of April!
A rarity...she was fast asleep when we barged into her bedroom, singing "Happy Birthday"!
(Many of you will also find it interesting to see her hair so straight--her entire top layer is straight and the bottom layers get curlier and curlier!)

She wanted to open 1 gift before school and the bottom left photo here is her looking at a special birthday book all about her and the time between her 5th birthday and her 6th birthday! She also found a pretty cool big girl "toy" sitting at her place at the breakfast table--a big kid scooter!

After school, we had a treat at Cherry On Top in Neenah and even made a fun Easter chick craft after we enjoyed our ice cream!
Before dinner, we let her open her gifts and took some sibling love photos.....there was nothing but love flowing from all 4 kiddos on Ava's birthday!

Ava's facial expressions as she opened each gift were priceless. She was so excited to receive each item we had picked out for her. It was precious to watch her excitement!

The Cake:

Ava usually does not enjoy cake...and about a week before her birthday, she drew a picture of what she wanted for her birthday cake, a letter for the Cake Fairy. The Cake Fairy even left a note for Ava, telling her that she had copied the picture (what looked like a golden sandcastle!), even making the castle "tilted" like the picture. The cake was actually 6 layers tall; no wonder it was tilted! We had to remove the cake pops during the day...we were fearful that their weight would crash the cake while Ava was at school!

It was a super fun day....a terrific day to celebrate the birth of little Ava!

Golden Birthday PARTY!

(As usual, to see the photos larger, simply click on the image!)

"Here ye...Here ye....all you princesses of the one true King!"...

Today, was the GOLDEN birthday party for Princess Ava!
We had 11 little girls in the house this afternoon, and it was absolutely wonderful!
They were invited to wear "royal attire"....yet I had no idea how cute it would be having them arrive all fancied up and just beaming. It was precious.

Ava had quite the chore in determining what she would wear....and she settled on a black and gold dress (for the Iowa Hawkeyes, perhaps?!). She has a dance recital this coming week, and I've been practicing buns with her hair...and she felt the bun style was most appropriate!

This was a "princess party", but we also referred to it as the "Queen Esther Party". Ava has always loved this story in the Bible, and it IS a story full of royalty! ☺
I determined that "cake pops" looked like a scepter that is mentioned in the story, and we went with the cake pop idea for the cake. One word: INTERESTING.
In the end, they turned out perfectly.
While working on them, though, we did run into quite a few snags, complete with me LOSING the actual star cake that I baked solely for the candles Ava would blow out! (We think it got thrown away in the mad rush of life! LOL!)

Andy took most of the cake photos last night at 10pm--we were worried that overnight, the pops would crumble off the sticks and Ava would have NOTHING for her guests. At least this way, she'd have a photo! We only lost 1 pop before the party began, which is quite amazing!

The party started at 1pm, which left us a large amount of time for party prep today!
Colin wore a crown and tried to get into the candies on the table.
Ellie did all the fruit schiskabobs and Jayna helped organize the craft projects.
Ava stayed home and set up an obstacle course with Andy...
And the rest of us removed Colin from the house went to the library and to pick up the balloons.

And after all the prepping...there was still empty time to W.A.I.T....

...Finally, all the little girls arrived!

The girls colored pictures, made jeweled crowns, listened to the Esther story, made necklaces, got bracelettes and HUGE blingy rings and played the limbo:

We played "Pin the Jewel on the Scepter", ran through an obstacle course in the basement, opened gifts, and shared lots of love with each other!

We ate yummy food....

And enjoyed the lollipops of cake!

After cake, there were 15 minutes left and the girls had a blast playing a spin off of Duck Duck Goose....."Princess Princess QUEEN!" Colin loved his seat in the middle of the circle; he was in his glory!

After everyone was gone, there was time to play with the new gifts...and our mail was delivered. From our dear friends the Lynch family....Ava got some Build A Bear money! As you can see, she was just a little excited!

It was such a fun and enjoyable day....and now we have a few days to recover until the REAL Golden Birthday!