But just for a week. Which I can tell you, her dog Gypsy did not approve of. I heard tell of a minor hunger strike when cookies were snitched from meals but the actual dog chow left untouched! It was a lovely week full of a good balance of activity and rest.

Grandma started off smart – she hooked the kids on some puzzle game apps so they could all play together. Always a good plan, especially since they were FREE. Couple that with watching dog rescue videos together and much time was spent in quiet enjoyment.

We took Grandma to the YMCA twice this visit. Once to watch Trinity and Emanuel in karate and meet their Sensei.

The other time to come for our Sunday night swim. Mommy got in her exercise class, and the rest got quality pool time with Grandma letting Daddy off the hook!

Our big field trip was to the Mill City Museum. A family favourite and fun for Grandma to see some Minnesota history first hand. She and Ken took the twins up in the big elevator that walks you through the history of the mill as well as its partial destruction.

Grandma asked to go to two specific places to eat – Culver’s, which we went to the night she came. She had never been, we simply could not let that stand!

The second place was a brunch with adults only to Perkin’s. This was followed up by a lovely stash of bakery goods purchased by Grandma that came home for the kids to enjoy. We snuck over to Joann’s while we were out. Good food AND good shopping (with coupons of course).

It was a decadent brownie.

Grandma also COOKED a couple times – we got to taste her delicious homemade spaghetti sauce. With meat in it! AND she made taco soup. A new one for all of us, but one that everyone but the girls (no surprise) enjoyed. It was beyond delicious. So of course, I must share the recipe! HERE

Mine is without crunched up nacho chips.

She came bearing gifts… Canadian snacks… well lots of Canadian things. Including a colouring book for the 150th birthday. She also brought us some Gypsy puppies to add to our teddy collection. We had some small tokens for her.

My early birthday gift to mom, a pin.

We had hair braiding parties.

And Grandma spent special quality time with all the kids. It was so lovely for them to have one on one (though the twins opted to go together) time with Grandma and fully get her hooked on Caribou coffee.

Mix in a couple nippy spring walks to the park and Grandma got a taste of early spring in Minnesota.

We also pulled out movies and popcorn to make sure we had some quality cinema time. Kubo was well enjoyed.

Grandma took special care braiding up Emanuel’s hair. It was nice to have a week of no hair in the eyes. Though friends said it was very… basketball player! 

Since Easter was right around the corner we also did some egg decorating.

Ken and I snuck away for some quality YMCA time… well he sat, and I went to class.

It was a terrific visit. Sit back and enjoy the excessive, but happy images! Thanks for the visit Grandma!

And at a fairly brisk pace for once! I am determined to hit current BEFORE 2017 begins. Let’s see – March – creeping up on spring weather, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, my brother and my dad’s birthday month. Wow, thinking back that is quite the list of special days for our family.

Easter is always a bit of a deal. The girls get new dresses and hats if we can manage it. We go to church as a family, take photos, have a nice dinner… OH and the Easter baskets. This year we did our own egg hunt as well. The weather was far from perfect so we did it indoors. You just have to make it work, right?

At church

Baskets

Egg hunt

We had a fun and rather special craft… dragon eggs. Styrofoam and thumb tacks. All thanks to Nana. Even Echo got in on the fun, though then you had to glue down a few extra tacks to make sure nothing comes loose. 

We decorated traditional/conventional eggs as well.

Of course we did our monthly free Home Depot project.

Emanuel and I had to miss the scout’s mom and son dance so instead we went out to Mom and Son ONLY lunch at Dairy Queen! Talk about fun! 

Emanuel did make it to his Scout field trip to a police station. 

We actually had a few good crafts this March. Marshmallow and toothpick structures.

And making more relaxation bottles using glitter and glitter glue. Sparkle Sparkle!

We even managed to get in a visit with the Novaks. 

And spent plenty of time at the YMCA.

Post swim curls

Celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday with a themed lunch.

All in all a good month. This has really been a pretty good year as we look back! 

I don’t know why but whenever Easter falls right  the beginning of the month of April (this year the 5th) it always feels like the rest of the month is on FAST FORWARD! Of course, we made sure to follow our family traditions… pictures of the family together, girls in pretty dresses and new hats, the bunny ears (though those are getting too small for the available heads). Now that we are set in our home church we also went to Easter Sunday Service. Add in some decent spring weather and dying of eggs and I figure we did it up right.

The girls did classic egg dying… messy but fun!

Ken and the boys tried something we saw on Facebook… rice and food colouring in a cup then shake… it worked!

Although, I must admit the BETTER pictures were taken a week later in the same outfits (for the kids) in a shadier spot. The original picture was taken in front of the small Catholic church at the end of the street (they have a larger building behind they now use but it is less aesthetic). Sun was not our friend and the camera battery our mortal enemy!

Of course I also took pictures in the church…

The following weekend…

I actually spent much of my month before creating baskets for each of the kids. I could not resist this crochet pattern and was able to embellish it as I wanted. Add in some presents from Mom and Dad and Gammie and I think it was rather fun! You can find the pattern HERE.

Of course we had to take a picture with our new FAT SHEEP… well Echo named her Cookie the Sheep… she was a lovely gift from Sharon back in Canada… our predecessor had been loved flat by Miss Echo so Cookie lives OUTSIDE the bedroom. (New Easter hats as usual too!)

So a very happy belated Easter… CHRIST IS RISEN… HE IS RISEN INDEED… HALLELUJAH!

And us

Our Easter stained glass windows.

And just a couple more images… there is something special at looking back at these days and pictures that reminds me how precious this year has been!