Amelia's 1st friend party

Yesterday was Amelia's first birthday party where she could invite friends over to celebrate with her.
2 hours + 8 five year olds = one tired mama! I think 4 kids would have been better, but Amelia had fun so that's what's important! We had a few activities planned, and still had 45 minutes left over! I guess the activities didn't last as long as I'd hoped. I had visions of smoothly flowing from one event to the next seamlessly, ending perfectly on time with parents swooping in to bring their child home. Not quite the case. (Although ALL the parents arrived right on time to pick up their kids, which was wonderful!)

Here is a sampling of a couple of the party activities. They played musical dress-up game:

 

 

 

 Opened gifts. Here is Amelia and Alex:

 Amelia and Grace:

 Amelia and Sophia:

 Amelia and Lola:

 Amelia and (her boyfriend!?!) Ian:

 Amelia and Avery:

 Amelia and Noah:

 The entire group:

 Pinning the pirate chest to the treasure map:

And the kids decorated their own cupcakes, which served three parts: It was the cake, it was a craft, and it was a parting gift since they decorated two, ate one and brought one home in a cupcake box. I love economizing! Each kid also received a lovely parting gift from the dollar store: a rubber snake for the boys, and a paint your own piggy bank kit for the girls. All in all, Amelia loved her first friend party! We are gearing up for the family party next week on May 6, then Mira gets her shot at a friend party in early June. Throw my and Chris's 11th anniversary in on Saturday and it's a busy month!

Happy Easter 2012

This year we spent Easter with Chris's dad and Terrie. The kids did their annual Easter egg hunt on the hillside and down to the beach! They love this tradition and really love finding the eggs with the cash in them! This year Amelia found one with $5.00. She was thrilled!

My two darling daughters:

 Randy, Amelia, and Mira:

Amelia, Cara, and Mira waiting for the Easter egg hunt to start:

Ready, set, go! They are off!

Up the hills, down the hills, on the beach . . . eggs could be anywhere!

 Cate got her own little plot of land at the top of the hill to find her eggs.

 It's a long way down from the house!

 Mira and Cara:

Amelia starts gymnastics

Each season, Chris and I let the girls pick an activity to join through the park and rec board. This can be either a single class, a drama class, a sport, or an art activity.  This session, Amelia chose gymnastics! Her first lesson was Tuesday night and she really enjoyed it! They got to taste a little of everything in the first session, then they will fine-tune their skills over the course of the next few weeks.

Here are a few photos of her first night:

 

 

 

Parents aren't allowed to view again until the last class. I'll post more photos then and show her progress!

Happy 45th Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Yesterday, my siblings, their spouses, Chris, and I threw a 45th birthday party for my parents. It was the most wonderful day! Great food, the best cake ever, family and friends. I think Mom and Dad were really happy with the turnout. So many memories were made that day.

Cake table:

 Me, Mom, Kelly:

 The entire Norstad family (Mom and Dad, 4 kids, 4 in-laws, 9 grandchildren!):

 Chris, Me, Mira, and Amelia:

 Bonnie and Jim:

 Mom's wedding dress:

 Bridesmaid Diane Lundell, holding up the dress she wore 45 years ago!

 Margene, Julie, and Sarah:

 The guests of honor:

 Bonnie, Jim, Brenda, and Merlyn:

 Gary, Steve, Linda, Matt, Debbie:

 Dad, Steve Rahn, and Keith Eide:

 The grandkids practiced all month and sang "Going to the Chapel" for the guests.

 Kelly gave a wonderful heartfelt speech that had Mom in tears.

Thanks so much to all of you who took the time to drive near and far for this celebration. Mom and Dad were overwhelmed at the love in that room yesterday. We appreciate all of your efforts and congratulations!

A new elementary school for the Cook girls!

Amelia will be going to kindergarten next year, and Mira was going to be moved back to her home school (Basswood). We had them all enrolled, then were told of an arts magnet school nearby that will pick up our kids at home! After finding out it was arts-focused, plus had all day, every day kindergarten, we were sold!

We had kindergarten orientation at the Rockford Elementary Arts Magnet School last week, and we were very impressed with it! We met Amelia's teacher, Ms. Herman, as well as her classmates. We were impressed they knew who her teacher was since we had just enrolled her the day before! They are a lesson in efficiency, that's for sure!

This week, we take an official tour so Mira can see where the 3rd graders go and hear more about the curriculum. We're very excited about this opportunity for them. Here are a couple photos from the night:

 Amelia coloring a picture of a sunflower in her classroom.

 Amelia's classroom, and teacher, Ms. Herman.

 Amelia will proudly be the class of 2025!

Mira performes "Chim Chim Cheree!"

Mira's class put on a 14-song musical last week. 14 songs in 30 minutes = pretty quick! All classes sang all the songs, but each student got to go on stage for a special song in which they performed actions. Mira's song was "Chim Chim Cheree" from Mary Poppins. She got to hold a broom and pretend to be a chimney sweep. It was cute to see the entire show, and Mira said she enjoyed singing on stage.

Bobcat Bash 2012

Mira's school had their annual Bobcat Bash a couple weeks ago. We bought some tickets and the girls made a beeline for the hair coloring station.

 Then Mira ran off with a friend and Amelia took full advantage of the bash on her own! (Sorry, no more photos of Mira enjoying the party!) Here is Amelia after getting her face painted:

 And after visiting the nurses office, where they dressed her substantial wounds!

 Learning the school cheer from some of the cheerleaders:

 And meeting with daddy at his booth where he volunteered his time.