april days

It's been another super busy month at our house, but things are finally starting to wind down now.  I've been taking photos all month, and thought I'd share a few of them here.

Our very mild March has led to May flowers blooming in April... our creeping phlox:

Vinca vines:

Tulips:

Lilacs:

Forget-me-nots:

Periwinkle:

And double tulips:

We've had flowers inside, too, like this bouquet that we got for our actress, Emmalie, on the 4th, opening night of West Side Story:

Here is Emm that night, showing off both of her costumes as Frances, the Jet girl:

There were 6 performances of West Side Story in all, on the 4th, 5th, 12th, 13th, and two on the 14th.  I was able to get a few good pictures of the show.  Here are the Jets and Sharks at the school dance (Emm is in the back, middle.)

The Jets.  Emm is 2nd from the right:

Tony and Maria on the balcony:

The Jets at Doc's (Emm is 4th from the right):

Tony and Maria at the dress shop:

The Jets sing Officer Krupke (Emm is standing, 3rd from the left):

The finale (Emm is in the middle):

Curtain call for the Jet girls (Emm is 3rd from the right):

Besides days and days of West Side Story, there were also days and days of Easter-related events.  I took this photo of the lilacs I brought in to put by some of my bunny decor ~ they made the house smell so good!

On the 5th, I helped out in Ben's classroom, and the kids all made these little Easter basket bags to bring home:

On the morning of the 6th, Good Friday, I took the kids to church to see the Crosswalk play.  We had a special lunch at Panera, and then that afternoon I took the boys to the indoor pool.  Ben participated in the Egg Dive:

Afterwards, Ben and Nick played in the pool for a couple of hours:

On the 7th, Ben and I drove to church for their Easter egg hunt.  Ben got to make a couple of crafts:

dye two eggs:

and then go hunt for 16 Easter eggs.  It was a beautiful day, so the hunt was held outside for a change:

"I see another one!":

That afternoon, the five of us dyed eggs:

This one says "West Side Story":

The 8th was Easter Day, and the kids were excited to come see what the Easter Bunny left in their baskets!  They all had candy and flower seeds, plus Ben had toy cars, a small Lego set, and a Little Pet Shop figurine:

Nick had two Finch Socks, a plant, and a book on gardening:

Emm received a bracelet, earrings, and an iTunes card:

Then the kids hunted for the eggs that the Easter bunny had hidden.  One of Nick's was on top of Ickie's cage:

Ben found one (with a dollar inside!) in the kitchen:

Emm holds a few that she found:

Then we all got dressed up nice for Easter Sunday and took a few pictures before heading to church:

 The "cave" at church, that we saw during the Crosswalk.  Now the stone was rolled away:

 After church, we went out to Walker Brothers for a special lunch (and I also made a special supper that night):

Our Easter lily:

On the 13th, Mom, Dad, Christine, and Leah all traveled to our house, to visit for the weekend.  Mom and  I went to see West Side Story that night.  The next day, Mom and Dad brought this bouquet for Emmalie:

 All of us went to see the matinee show:

 We also played some games, like Jumanji:

In the evening, we went to the final performance of West Side Story, and then George, Christine, Leah, and I went to the cast party with Emm for awhile:

 Leah and Christine bought Sharks t-shirts, so we had to take this picture of the "rivals" :) ... :

Our company all headed home on the 15th.

Couldn't resist snapping this picture of a conked out Ben and his buddy, Mr. Whale:

 On the 18th, the kids had their last day of ACE (drama/choir/handbells practice).  They had a party and gave a little performance for the parents.  Here is Emmalie with the Jubilate handbell choir:

 Ben and the Rejoice choir sang two songs:

Ben with his choir director:

On the 19th, we attended an encore performance of the group interpretive play, The Neverending Story, at Emm's school.  This time I was able to take photos. :)  The beginning narration:

 Atreyu (Emmalie) in the swamp, talking to Morla:

 Atreyu tries to sneak away from Falcor, the luck dragon:

On the 22nd, Ben's Drama Team performed their final skit of the year (Jonah and the Big Fish) for the Sunday School classes.  Ben was cast as the fish, and used the cool fish costume that Christine made for Nick several years ago ~ he stole the show! :)

This is just a random picture of Ickie, who was very curious about the camera and came right up to look at it!

Ben reading to some of his furry friends, Bett and Judy, last week:

On the 27th, I drove to The Slammer and spent the weekend with friends, laughing and scrapbooking! :)  Somehow, though, we all forgot to take any pictures!

I can't believe May begins tomorrow, and the kids only have a month of school left!