Maebelle, Maebelle, Maebelle

Maebelle and I did a project for my mom for her birthday where we transferred a picture onto a wooden block. It was really fun! The picture was of Maebelle and these are the others from that evening that I love.

Just. Wow. 

I absolutely cannot believe how grown up she's acting and looking these days!

She's playing softball this year. Last year she played baseball on the team Zac coached and Orion also played on. She was the only girl that played baseball in that age group. So this is a whole new world for her. She's really been enjoying it!

Pensive? Damn, she was going for thoughtful. (10 Things I Hate About You.)

This is the evening of her 5th grade recognition.

The "I think I just stepped in gum" pose:

She had her hair in braids during the day so that she could take them out and have crimpey hair during the ceremony. : )

Fun on (and jumping off) the log!

Here she is right before walking down the aisle to her seat for the recognition ceremony (or graduation, as she called it).

Ms. King reading the names, Ms. Becker handing the certificates.

**tears**

The 5th grade teachers put together a slide show that included kid pictures of everyone. Maebelle thought the one where she drew all over herself with Grandma in Alaska would be fun since she basically was a living art canvas for the whole year.

The best part about the slide show was hearing the kids reactions to their peers' pictures. You could tell they loved them. Every single picture got a reaction from the whole 5th grade class. It was heartwarming.

All. Smiles.

Where I grew up, there was only one middle and one high school in our district. Therefore you were only adding kids to the whole class with each change. 

For Maebelle, most of her friends will go to different middle schools than her, and likely high school as well. This made this evening exceptionally special for her. In fact, her and her friends had so much fun together the last few weeks of school.

Lastly, Maebelle and Ms, King. One last time.

Told you it was a lot of Maebelle. Next will be Orion fishing on the last day of school.

Then...VACATION!!! : )

Spring Arrives (yes, I'm a few months behind)

I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted a blog! So this one takes us from snow (unfortunately, one of the few snowy days we had this winter) at the beginning of March, through the welcoming of spring at the end of March.

Orion was preparing for our journey to Wisconsin long before we actually took the trip. He continually got his fishing equipment out to make sure it was in order for months in advance of our trip.

Orion loves to make Lego creatures and give them as gifts.

This crabby-looking fellow sat in our kitchen for months before I asked him to take it back and return the pieces to his collection.

The only way he would do that was if I took pictures of it first to preserve it forever. : )

The beginnings of spring are arriving! Redbud trees are one of my favorites!

And the hostas. Hostas always entrap me when I have my camera with me.

They just have such beautiful greens and such lovely shapes to the leaves as they are in the first few days of life above ground again.

These redbud flowers are a bit more vibrant than the first ones. The purples and pinks of the delicate flowers are more saturated and more pleasing to my eyes.

Maebelle completed her last year of elementary school at the end of May. So I have taken a few more pictures than normal of her. They're to come very soon.

Also, we took a wonderful week-long vacation to Somo Lake recently, so hopefully I can get those up before winter! ; )

More Birthday and More Wetlands

The last of the birthdays for the Hamlin Holiday season - Zac's.

Zac was so amused by the drawings on the outside of his gift, he took a picture of it to share right away! : )

Good work Orion!

Orion's card, below, was a hit!

Oh, and pandas are real.

For the inside of the package, Maebelle, Orion and myself each drew a portion of an owl. Orion drew the owl body and scene around it, which is what Zac is looking at below. Orion's was sketched in pencil and included a mouse in the owl's claw and evergreen trees in the background.

Maebelle drew the middle, which was half of one wing spread out. Hers was very colorful and geometric. This is where we attached the actual gift.

I drew the end of the wing that Maebelle had begun. Mine was a colored pencil drawing that was intended to be somewhat lifelike. Don't know if I accomplished that with my limited drawing skills, but it worked.

It was really fun to create the owl book-thing that held the gift. The actual gift, which was just as fun to obtain, was the stained glass owl feather.

We had it made for Zac by #thenishglass, a local glass artist here in the Lawrence area. Zac had admired some of his work at a local boutique. However once I got there to make a purchase, they were no longer carrying consignment work.

The lovely woman at the store that day told me who the artist was and I reached out to him directly. He was so great to work with. And he did a FABULOUS job! If you ever need unique stained glass piece for a reasonable price, check him out: #thenishglass.

Maebelle found a gift for Zac in addition to what we did for him as a family.

A nice tiger's eye pendulum.

Aaaaaannnnddd, here's the feather!

And our dirty screen. : )

Oh, this sweet, sweet boy.

The green of this plant is so beautifully vivid.

It came from my Grandma and Grandpa's house. And now sits on our back porch (when it's not 30 degrees out) on a cute little bistro set we have from them.

One of the most comfy spots in our house now:

Back to the wetlands.

Every weekend.

We found a new spot to begin our wetland journeys. This path provides a grassy, treed walk, with little to no wind, as opposed to the open watery walks we had been taking.

I could stay in this place forever. You can hear the water bubbling from the below spot.

It's just so magical.

Peace