Kate

I wanted to get some shots of Kate today in her room. She has big windows on the north and west so it has terrific light! Here she is reading "Fancy Nancy". Kate is a terrific kid, but sometimes she drives me nuts! My standard description for her is that she "loves life". She always seems to have a smile. But sometimes it gets in the way of her following directions and doing what she is told. She definitely walks (runs, skips, dances, swims, flips, etc.) to the beat of her own drummer. I know I should embrace this fact, but it is sometimes difficult for a control freak like me! :)

More Swimming!

In order to actually be on theme for the first day of the week, I'll post one last swimming picture of Meg.

Regional Gymnastics 2008

I'm still catching up on editing pictures from Abby's regional gymnastics meet last weekend. She had a terrific weekend and really learned a lot. Here's a storyboard of her practice.

Kate Swims Too!!

Kate loves swimming lessons. And, man oh man, do I LOVE this toothless grin! I'm going to miss it!

She is also in a phase that whenever she sees me with my camera, she does poses just like this one.

Swimming Lessons Begin!

Another sign that summer is around the corner - can't wait for it to get here!

April 16

I just really loved this picture of Meg and Kate. It's amazing how they can be the best of friends at times and then absolutely annoy the heck out of each other the next!

April 15

I was taking pictures of Meg and Kate today for a photography class. I cropped this one of Meg because I just love her smile and laugh! I can just hear her quiet laugh when I look at this picture.

April 14

Kate loved this hat that was at my grandma's table at the party on Saturday - so afterwards she gave it to Kate. Can you tell how thrilled she is with it?

April 13

Just a few random photos from our day. It was a BEAUTIFUL Spring day!
Jet getting her tummy rubbed by Abby. She is such a happy dog now that she can be outside more!

Meg playing outside before dinner.

Lemons and limes left over from yesterday's Tabletop Extravaganza (see prior post!).

This is Kate playing on the swingset - finally some nice weather!

This one is of Kate in pants that she wore a lot last Fall. I got the idea from Jodi Pfarm's blog - do you think she did some growing over the winter?

April 12

Today was the Third Annual Tabletop Extravaganza at my church here in Grand Forks. It is a fundraiser for the Community Violence Intervention Center. My mom and her friend started this event and it has been very well received. They work so hard on it! An individual sponsors a table and choses a theme to decorate their table. People are so creative! The person then sells tickets to have women sit at their table. There is a lunch (prepared by the church women), entertainment and a lot of socializing! The event grows a little bit each year (this year there were 21 tables). It's a really fun morning and, for me, has become kind of an "official" kick-off to Spring. I did not intend to post so many pictures, but there were so many terrific tables and details that I just keep uploading! :)

One more note: my sister, Kristi, sponsored two tables. Her themes were "When Life Gives You Lemons" and "Pirates Booty". I'm sure you can figure out which pictures go with her tables! :)

April 11

I'm posting one more picture from Abby's musical because there were so many questions and comments about it! They did a musical called "Once on this Island". I had never heard of it before. It was really different. Kind of a strange storyline! That's probably why I didn't share more information about it! :) Abby played a character called Andrea who marries the man that the main character falls in love with after rescuing him in a storm. As Abby will explain "I'm the mean girl who gets the guy". Nice. Even though it was a "different" show, the kids had fun and really enjoyed each other.

April 10

So, I'm pretty much bummed out tonight as my hockey team absolutely stunk up the arena in their disastrous loss to Boston College. All I have to say is GO NOTRE DAME! :)

On the bright side, Abby had her musical performance tonight. Most of the pictures had other cast members in them, too, so my options for posting were limited. The kids looked like they were having a blast and Abby said afterwards that she can't wait to do it again next year!

April 9

Found these left over from last night's bath. Just sitting their waiting for bathtime tonight! Natural light from bathroom window. LOVE that it is light out later and later each day. Makes me so happy!

Remember how I mentioned last week that the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux hockey team is playing in the Frozen Four? Well, their first game is tomorrow against Boston College. Wish "us" luck! GO SIOUX!

April 8

Doing more playing with natural light around my house. This is actually on the stairs to our basement - there is a window at the bottom of the stairs. Not a prime place for picture taking, but the light was nice!

April 7

Played with some natural light in our kitchen as well as some different composition/crops. Kate is such a trooper for putting up with me and my camera. It's her very unfortunate luck that her older sisters are usually at other activities when I have my camera out!

April 3-6

The North Dakota State Gymnastics Meet was this past weekend. The girls both did really well. Meg is now done for the season. Abby has one more regional meet left in two weeks. Brian and I are so proud of these two girls - there are no words to describe it! Went and got muffins this morning for a treat to celebrate their successes.

April 2

Sign of Spring! More light! I love that I took this picture at about 7:00 at night and it was all natural light!

Kate was "grounded" to her room for the night for making a poor choice after school. She was told no tv or Nintendo DS. I realized she was being particularly quiet so went to check on her.....and this is what I found. The stinker had found a portable DVD and was watching a movie. Looks like she's really suffering, huh?