Tonight was the Invention Fair for B's seventh-grade team. B invented the Messy Tray Protector, a piece of silicone that sets on top of a cupcake pan to catch the drips. Once the cups are full, you lift off the tray and clean it. The pan then has no drips on it that would eventually get baked on.
Then I got creative and took this neat picture of the Julian entrance:
Andy got a call at work yesterday telling him we'd won a drawing at a local store for a gift basket. I like to enter those things and usually forget that I did. He picked it up last night before his golf lesson but waited till he got home (smart guy, eh?) to open it so I could see everything. The girls could hardly wait to help him tear off the plastic wrap.
Inside were a variety of Tassos products: roasted red peppers, two kinds of extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, two types of olive bruschettas (Andy can eat those!), sun-dried tomatoes, pitted Kalamata olives, an apron, a dish to pour olive oil in for bread-dipping and a box of Whole Foods orzo. I looked up what I could online to figure out a value of the gift basket and got $52.10 without counting the orzo or apron. Pretty cool!
It's been a warm spring and our Bridal Wreath bushes are blooming. The look pretty while they last, which unfortunately isn't very long. They also take up a lot of the sidewalk and once it rains all the delicate flowers will fall off. Then Andy will cut them back. Apparently only new growth blooms each year.
A birthday package from Aunt Cindy was waiting for E when she got home from school today. We both agree she does an excellent job of taping packages - E had to pull out the scissors to get it open. Then, when she got the brown paper off, the box itself was taped shut! 
E was surprised to pull out the sandals she's been wanting. In the right size and one for the left and one for the right foot. We had bought the same shoes earlier in the season, but got them home to discover we bought two of the same foot. Had to take those back and they didn't have any left in her size. Fortunately, Cindy found them!
E's friend A came over for a while today to celebrate with a piece of birthday cake. Here they are on the computer creating invitations for A's upcoming birthday party. We measured E as we do for all the kids on their birthdays and, although A is still taller, E grew 2.75 inches in the last year.
Tonight Andy and I got all dressed up for the Pilgrim Nursery School Gala. The school holds the fund-raiser every other year and we've been to three before. We were debating whether to purchase tickets this year and never got around to it, but a couple from church gave a donation that left them with extra tickets they graciously offered to us.
She opened her presents when we got home. It was all golf accessories, but she loves them! She got a rain suit (pants and jacket), a dozen golf balls (Rocketballz from TaylorMade) and a long-sleeved navy pullover shirt. B said the best present he could give E was a hug. Awwww.
Here she is modeling her rain suit. Notice B is so interested he's already playing his computer game in the other room.
Not to be left out of the festivities, L got this balloon dog from a balloon artist at Fuddrucker's. She saw the man in the main dining room and when a manager came by our table she asked, "Is the balloon man coming over here?" The manager sent the guy over and L asked for a pink dog. (Surprised, eh?) E and B both fled the table when they knew the balloon man was headed over. E's favorite part of dining out was the new Coke Freestyle machine the restaurant had that lets you mix flavors easily.
Then she had to roll out the fondant. Look at her foot - you can see she's putting all 100 pounds of her weight into it. 
I helped her lift the fondant to place it over the cake. Turns out, she rolled it way bigger than she needed, but that's all part of the learning process.
She trimmed off the excess and mixed leftover fondant with food coloring for her decorations.
Ta-da! And, finally, the beautiful finished product. She did really well for her first attempt.
All three kids have had the same wonderful fourth-grade teacher, Ms. P. One of her writing projects is an expository essay where students write out directions for something they like to do. As extra credit, the students can demonstrate with the class what they wrote about, or share what they wrote about with the class.
Today was B's Honor Roll breakfast at school, but instead of sitting in a lunchroom jam-packed with teachers, students and their parents, B and I had our own Honor Roll breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts. B ate two chocolate-frosted yeast doughnuts with sprinkles and had a bottle of apple juice. I had a chocolate-frosted cake doughnut and the hottest cup of coffee in the world.
Tonight we went to the high school for the elementary school district's choral concert. L performed with the four grade schools that will eventually go to middle school together. We also sat through the other four grade schools' combined performance, the sixth-grade choir and the seventh- and eighth-grade choirs. Of all the songs that were performed I was only familiar with one. E came along for the concert (though she wouldn't change out of her sweatpants) and B stayed home to work on his math homework.
Yesterday Andy and I heard a ttt-ttt-ttt while we were reading the newspaper. I said it must be a woodpecker, but we didn't see one. This morning, we heard it again. After Andy left for work, I saw it in the tree outside our dining room. I was able to snap this picture from L's bedroom.
We started off our Easter celebration with the annual brunch at church. I made a Sunday Brunch Casserole that, I must say, turned out very well. Andy went with B and E early to make pancakes for the brunch. It was the third year he's helped make pancakes for the brunch. The kids love that there's something on the table they'll actually eat. 
After brunch, the Sunday School hosted an Easter egg hunt. L was all excited to hunt for eggs, but when she didn't get one of the three winning plastic eggs, she wasn't a happy camper. We took her basket out to the car. If she wants to pout about not winning she can also pout about not having her candy.
We got into church early and I was able to take this picture of the sanctuary decorated with Easter lilies, tulips and daffodils. Andy bought a lily and a tulip in memory of our dads. The sanctuary looks a little different than it did last year because it finally got painted!
After church we went to see Grandma Barbara and take her the Easter lily. It was a little windy!
B did a great job after worship was over of grabbing the pot of orange tulips I wanted. We plan on planting the tulip bulbs and see if they come up again next year. The squirrels around here love to dig up tulip bulbs. Our neighbor told us the squirrels think the bulbs are sweet and that's why they dig them up and eat them. Maybe he has a trick for keeping the squirrels away.
L has a sleepover planned tonight with her friend, K, from church. She requested (and the bunny delivered) her basket goodies a day early.
L brought home her spring portrait proofs from school yesterday. The hard part is going to be figuring out what to order. They look great!
