Category: Uncategorized (Page 26 of 201)

Alisa is home from Japan!  She got home on Monday and came over that night to see us!  Can you believe that?  Even after a 12 hour flight home!

The kids were so excited to see her–although Levi didn’t really remember who she was… she’s been gone for 18 months, so he was just turning one when she left.  But while she was in Japan, she wrote Chloe and Josiah letters, and both kids wrote back to her as well.  So everyone has been eagerly awaiting her return.

She asked to have Boneless Wings and we were happy to oblige.  🙂  That is definitely a meal favorite here.  So she and Kumi came over for supper and stayed to play with the kids and just hang out for a little bit.  (Sadly, I had to teach, but I did see her during my supper break)  They were REALLY tired, so they couldn’t stay too long.

Oh, and she brought the kids gifts!  How sweet of her!

I let Josiah carry my camera around the other day.  He was extremely excited to be able to take pictures of whatever he wanted.  So, I gave him the lecture on proper use of a camera and how to hold it–and off he went.

He took 452 pictures.

Yes, you read that right.  FOUR HUNDRED and fifty-two pictures.

I admit I’ve been dragging my feet to go through them.  That’s a lot of pictures… He found the setting that takes rapid sequence shots, so there are a bunch of “flip books” of pictures, so that adds up pictures really fast.

It was fascinating to see what he wanted to capture.  Here are a few of the gems that I found:

Another Spring Break come and gone.

I always things I’ll have so much time to sit and write and do all those relaxing things… and then I forget how chaotically and quickly the days zip by.  We did get some things done (I taught all day Monday, the kids had playdates on Tuesday while we went to Bible Study, we had the carpets cleaned, we met friends at the park twice, enjoyed watching movies during the middle of the day and even went out to eat…) but I think everyone is happy to get back into a routine again today.  The weather wasn’t terribly nice most of the days, although it wasn’t snowing, so I should be happy!  But it made me want to just stay inside most of the time…

Oh, and I made sweet rolls! See?

But this break reminded me of how much I thrive on a schedule.  Even if we have flexibility in our days, we need to have some semblance of routine within that flexibility… otherwise I become a sloth.  True story.

I’ll be back tomorrow with pictures!  😀

These words have been spoken by our children this week: (Bonus points for those who can guess who said what–ha!)

1. Preposterous
2. Manure
3. Hiccup
4. Disgusting
5. Shall
6. Inappropriate

For Valentine’s Day, Josiah received a little gift token for one free cookie at Eileen’s Colossal Cookies. It’s located just down the road in Prior Lake, and I’ve heard good things about it, so I was excited to check it out as well.  We loaded up the car and went last weekend when Chloe and Tim were up in St. Cloud helping work on Patsy’s house.

The cookie shop was fun–and it smelled AMAZING.  It was rather small, but jam packed with goodies.  They had a ton of fun and different varieties:  I chose a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie, Josiah chose an M&M cookie with frosting on top, and the Littles got to split (the cookies were big!) a sugar cookie with frosting.

We all agreed they were delicious.  We would love to go back and try them again!  🙂

First a little morning lounging…

Then off to play outside…

And a little piano practice and music theory…

And lunch at Pizza Ranch!

And a trip to the library…

And some time outside to soak up the sun before I started teaching for the day…

And Tim worked with Chloe installing some lights on the patio…

And an afternoon snack on the deck…

I’m not sure what is up with her crazy face in that picture.  Tee hee…

But as long as she’s having fun, that’s all that matters, right?

We went to see Beauty and the Beast at a church here in town.  Her friend Genna was in it (as Chip!)  I also had a few students (some current and some past) in it as well, so we both thoroughly enjoyed watching. I like that we can go to shows together.

I made Taquitos for supper tonight–it’s a favorite around here.  Everyone likes to eat them and I’m a fan of how easy they are to make.  See?  A win-win!

I got the recipe from a friend.  I’m so glad she thought to share it with me!

As I was making them today, I thought it was a funny sight, so I thought would share my in process and finished pictures with you.  All those tortilla spread out over the counter made me giggle.  And so did my methodical way of arranging everything… ah, all in the day in the life of Erica!