Miriam the Ballerina

Miriam has been taking a ballet class on Tuesday afternoons at CARE Ballet with her friend Elizabeth.  They have had 8 classes, and there are 2 more to go.  Miriam seems to really enjoy it and has learned a lot from her teacher Ms. Brooke.  She is very excited to do a little show for the moms and dads on the last day.

The other day we were the first ones to arrive, so I took a few pictures of her:

 

I think she's about the cutest little ballerina that I've ever seen!

Father-Daughter Banquet with Daddy!!!

By:Esther Kuperus

Yesterday night daddy and I went to the WCSG Father-Daughter Banquet with daddy. The special guest this year was Jason Castro. This year I also want with my friend Sarah and her dad. When we first got there we found our table and got a big salad. I do not like salad and neither did Sarah. After a while we got dinner. It was island chicken, mashed potatoes, and beans. I like all that stuff except that they put a type of sauce over everything, so I DID NOT like it . But for dessert I had chocolate cake. Then Jason Castro sang. On our way out the door Sarah and I both got pink flowers. By the time we got home (after dropping Sarah and her dad off ) it was almost 10:00. But I had a lot of fun!!

On the front steps before we left to pick Sarah and her dad up.

At Sarah's house when we picked them up.

 

When we first got to the  Pinnacle Center.

Dessert!

Sarah and I in our seats. Great ones!

Jason Castro on the stage!

Taste of Egypt Celebration

Today was the celebration of the 3rd grade students' Egypt projects.  They dressed up and stood by their projects while all the other students in the other grades came through and looked at them.  Then parents were invited to come and we also had "Egyptian" type foods to eat.  It was a fun way to celebrate the students' hard work.  The best part was all the 3rd graders singing and doing the motions to "Pharaoh, Pharaoh" at the end!

 

Esther and her friend Kate.
Kate's project is made of Rice Krispy Treats!

 

More Spring Break Fun!

The last part of our spring break week has been lots of fun, but also very relaxing.  On Wednesday we hung out in the morning and then each of the kids had a friend over in the afternoon.  We have had fun playing 4 Square this week with our friends and our neighbors!

Thursday and Friday were vacation days for Casey!  We went to Meijer Gardens to see the butterflies on Thursday morning with our neighbors Adam and Katie and their girls, and then went to McDonald's for lunch so the kids could use gift cards that they had.  Then we spent the afternoon outside with a bunch of our neighbors, enjoying the sunshine and getting a few things done.

Casey's little helper, vacuuming the car!

Fun with the neighbors!

On Friday we went to Marge's Donut Den for treats in the morning and then Casey and Esther went shopping to get Esther's dress for the father-daughter banquet, which is next weekend.  Peter and Miriam and I ran some errands.  After lunch we went to see Ice Age 4 at the theater.  Our local theaters do a Flick's Family Film Fest  a couple times a year.  Each week they have a different movie that is free for kids and $4 for adults.  We also had coupons for free kids' combos (drink/popcorn/treat) and they allowed us to use those for Casey and me too!  So we all saw a movie and had snacks for $8.  What a deal!   :)  Friday night we had pizza with some friends from church/school.

Peter paused before ordering the U of M donut. 
I assured him it was ok this time since MSU is out.

Saturday ended up being a more productive and busy day than we had originally planned.  We were able to get a bunch of free cabinets from a friend, so handyman Casey installed them in the sunroom, basement and garage.  He also built extra shelves for one cabinet since a few were missing and he installed a countertop over some of the cabinets to make a Lego creation station in the basement.  All of this resulted in a major reorganization project which affected other rooms of the house too.  It made Esther and I very happy as she loves to organize and reorganize as much as I do!  So it was a busy day, but we still found time to play and go to the library amidst our big project.  It's always so satisfying to see the results of a project like that.  I'm so thankful that I have such a handy husband!

 

Esther did a major detailing of the van (for pay)!
 

Sunroom craft/art supply cabinet

 

Garage cabinets/workbench

 

Basement Lego Creation Station!

Tomorrow we will go to church and then relax the rest of the day to get ready for going back to school and work.  It's been a great week... only 9 weeks until summer vacation!   

 



Fun at the Kroc Center

This afternoon we went to the Kroc Center.  It is similar to a YMCA, but is part of the Salvation Army.  We have been there a few times before, and this week they are doing special things for spring break.  We had a great time swimming, doing the big water slide, climbing the rock wall, bouncing in the bounce houses, and creating a craft.

 

Climbing cousins--Peter and Tyler!

The craft was creating birdhouses
out of ice cream cartons, cardboard
and aluminum foil.

The finished houses!