Surprise visit to MI

OK, so I do not have to summarize my sister's visit. If you have any interest in this, simply check out her EXTENSIVE review here. She has three posts on her blog detailing her trip!

So, they left on Monday Feb 15, and I woke up Tuesday Feb 16 with the week stretching out beautifully in front of me. THe kids didn't have school, Timm would be doing some traveling, and I had left our time wide open to do whatever we felt like with our winter break.

Started by doing some laundry and doing some quiet reflective time on our own, praying journaling. I came in on Alli and asked how she was doing now that our visitors had left. She was fine at first, then she started crying.....hard. She was feeling a horrible sadness about missing her baby cousin Isabella. She was feeling really bad about not being there to celebrate her first birthday. She was missing family.

I comforted her, prayed with her, then asked if there was anything I could do to help her feel better? She sobbed "not unless you can TAKE ME TO MICHIGAN!"

Shortly thereafter, it occurred to me that I could take her to Michigan! So, I presented the idea to Timm, not sure if he would think I was crazy. But, of course, since he is the best husband and Daddy in the world, he was all for it. We told the girls to pack a suitcase and a "fun bag" for traveling, cuz we're going on a road trip to Michigan!

THe squeels of delight were wonderful!

So, with Daddy helping to pack us up, off we went. Arrived Tuesday night just before midnight. Spend all week visiting with everyone in Michigan, then headed back to NY Sunday morning.

What a great trip. We appreciate every single minute we have with our family in MI. SOme highlights were when the girls were pulled in sleds behind the four wheeler with their cousins (while I stayed in the warm house and watched), seeing Collin's new home, fighting over baby Isabella and kissing her 50 million times, celebrating her birthday a month early, having dinner with my sis and bro and their families, playing a game that made us laugh till we cried and became hoarse, a sleepover at Grandma's with the bestest buds, and my visits with a couple of friends I miss a lot. Just a few highlights. The whole week was great.

Now, it is back to reality.

Not exactly a normal average week though. Timm found out that the Verve Pipe is coming to NY. He surprised me by getting tickets, making dinner reservations somewhere, and arranging a sitter for a weeknight! So, tomorrow is a big date night for us! YAY!

Of course, as it always seems, something else came up on the same day. My new friend/neighbor who is fighting cancer is having a benefit concert tomorrow night. And I want to go SO badly. But, I won't be able to make it. If you want to check out the event, you can read about it here. I'm sure it will be a fantastic evening.

Many people have asked for updates with Alli's middle school pursuits. As I noted before, she did not get awarded the scholarship to the private school. She did get a letter from one of her top two picks within our district and she is scheduled for an interview/audition there on March 6. From what we understand, they aren't looking for exceptional talent as much as they are looking for a student who fits with the school's philosophy and a student who really WANTS to be there. It is a school that has a strong emphasis on the arts and humanities. A great fit for Alli. If she got in there, she would have 5 classes in the arts each week during 6th grade (dance, theater, graphic art, instrumental music,and visual arts). Then, in 7th and 8th grade, she would select a major art area and focus on that 5 days each week. She said she is going to audition for dance and theater, but she is also interested in graphic art.

She should also be hearing from her other top pick soon. They hold a similar audition/interview with a similarly focused school. However, that school is a little bit more competitive and you select your art major right away starting 6th grade. For that school, she is debating between dance, theater, and photography.

We'll keep you posted. However, from what I hear, we will not know which school she gets into until she is done with this school year!

Oh, almost forgot....NEW LAPTOP. Yay. So, I have some learning to do. Maybe I'll try right now to attach a pic and see if I can?

Hey, I did it. Now, I need to organize my pics and figure out what is where.