April (snow) showers bring...

Well, April was an interesting and challenging month weather-wise for sure! We had snow, sun (melting the snow), rain, snow and more sun. It was quite the roller coaster. One day Sycely was in a spring coat and boots on the playground at school (many of kids just in t-shirts) the next day they were decked out head to toe in winter gear thanks to yet another "spring" blizzard! Eventually, the end of April did bring warmer temps and more sun so the new and old snow finally melted away and the grass was exposed. We were finally able to get outside to start playing with our summer toys, even though it was still pretty chilly even after the snow was mostly gone.

Week of the Young Child happens every April and this year our early childhood association teamed up with the University's early childhood department to offer a free creative activities fair for young children and their families. This event was our official kick off of WOYC and at our booth we handed out ribbons for folks to wear during the week to help promote awareness of the needs of young children. I'd also gotten proclamations from both our Mayor and Governor officially declaring April 11-18th Week of the Young Child. Lem had a class that day so Nanny took Sycely to ballet school and brought the girls to meet up with me at the fair afterwards. Lem was able to come check out the fun too when his class got out.

We got to do something extra special with Sycely in April. We finally used the free Performing Arts Center tickets we'd won at last year's high school reunion to take her and Uncle Ian with us to Wizard of Oz. Oz has been one of Sycely's faves this last year so it was super fun to get to take her to see it on the big stage. She, of course, insisted on wearing her Dorothy dress and ruby red slippers, but you're only 4 once I guess, so what can you do? :) The four of us went to dinner beforehand and enjoyed a fantastic performance. My favorite was the real live Toto. That little guy was so amazingly trained! I was so impressed by his "acting."

April brought about yet another round of new babies amongst our friends and church family. I think 6 new little ones was April's total. So, I got to sew yet anther round of snuggly blankets. Sycely actually helped me with the whole process for baby Anna's blanket. She helped pin, trim and sew and tie it. Ella "helped" in her own way by, um, breaking it in...before it was even put together! With the melting of snow (finally!) and the influx of new babies, we decided we could trust it was in fact officially spring so we got to planting. The girls and I spent one morning labeling starter trays (Sycely did all the labeling herself) and getting our seeds planted. This year we're starting off with carrots, peas, zucchini, sunflowers and by Sycely's request- Marigolds-no idea, so don't ask ;) They're still inside waiting for it to be a little warmer at night before we get them in the ground but they're are thriving in front of the office window. It shouldn't be too long now before we can get them planted outside.

The rest of our April was filled with more of our usual activities. Lem took some classes, signed up to teach summer school (at Dimond this year-yay!) Sycely's ballet class was learning their number for the spring recital, I was getting ready for the skating competition in Soldotna and had my last month of prepping for the Mrs. Alaska pageant. It was a full, but fun month and keeping busy sure did help get us through that last month of snow!