The Andersons

We had Emma's teacher conference yesterday. It was wonderful. (Well, who wouldn't enjoy spending an hour listening to a teacher tell you all the fabulous things about your child?) Emma got all A's - and for the first time - had perfect attendance! Her teacher says her 2 best qualities in school are her creative writing and the kindness she shows to others. We thank God that he is gifting Emma this way. She is just such a great kid - and it's all because of God's grace.

Here is one of Emma's stories Mrs. Hobbs wanted to share with us (written with her punctuation and spelling):

The Little Chick

Once upon a time there was a little chick whoe asked her mom for gold. And her mom said gold we shall not use. So the little chick tried laying a gold egg. And look what she got. She got a book. So she said I gues I can't make gold.

Emma's saying of the week from class:

"Speak kind words and you will hear kind echoes."

We would like to thank our friend Zach for teaching Elena that straws are good for a lot more than drinking milk.

Talk about taking me back to my childhood ....
Emma is totally into forts at the moment (and making complete villages for her miniature frogs - which I'll share at some later time). We put this one together in her room and she has slept in it for the last 3 nights. So fun!

I'm not sure the Entwistle's will ever let us babysit their son again. We couldn't resist putting the kids in matching ponytails. Sorry Luke! Don't hate me when you're 16.

Our friend (and my personal trainer for a stint) came over to help us in the garden on Saturday (a 70 degree day!!) Elena was in her element and dirty as ever.

This picture was actually taken in honor of my youngest sister Shannon who just told us they are pregnant with their 3rd child!!! We are so excited for them. Check out the Walker blog to follow their progress (a link over on the left).

We went to the annual Tacoma Daffodil parade on Saturday. It was like dejas vous for us. When the shriner clowns fired off their cannon (and a dummy flew out), our bodies shook - and poor Abigal was traumatized. She recovered a little better than Emma did a few years ago (age 2 I think). We actually had to leave the parade and Emma spent months talking about the "scae-wee doll in the cann".

This is a prime example of why you should never leave a quiet child alone in a room with a boa.

We got sun today!!! It was only about 60, but Elena insisted on a dress. We had fun playing in the back yard and soaking it up. We all know it won't last!

We were watching a special on the Travel Channel. They were highlighting our local Top Pot donuts company. That's when we heard about voodoo doughnuts in Portland. http://www.voodoodoughnuts.com They have some crazy donuts! So our friend Suzi picked us up a couple dozen while she was in Portland. We then divided them all up and had a donut eating fest! One of the favorites was the bacon maple bar (think pancakes, bacon and maple syrup). Most of you know that my main weakness is donuts. It was my own little version of heaven.

The bottom picture is what we saw driving down our street on the way to school. We had to pull over to find out what was going on. We soon discovered the practical joke our teenage neighbors were playing on everyone. They were apparently hiding out and looking for reactions.

Having fun at Zach & Suzi's house! Suzi took this fun shot.

I think our plum tree just went into shock. Right after it flowered, the snow came down. We hope it will still deliver some fruit! Our weather is SO strange these days. It can go from sunny one second to hail the next - and then it snows. And it's April now!!!

Having fun at the kid's museum in Bellevue with grandma.

Our church had a fun little play for the kids the day before Easter. It was about Mary (the one who had the little lamb). She brought him to school and he wreaked havoc. So Mary got ticked and didn't think she could forgive him. And the whole class learned a lesson about forgiveness and why Jesus died on the cross. It was pretty cute. They also filled the church with art projects, a bouncy toy, food, etc. We're hoping this is a church tradition. The girls had a blast.

We had a nice, simple Easter this year with my parents and Jodi's family. It dumped, so fortunately, the Easter bunny was smart enough to hide things inside the house. Elena ate her candy as fast as she found it. Emma sorted hers into piles to save for later.