Fun Finds on the West Side of Town

After much deliberation, we decided to enroll Landon in the half-day kindergarten program offered at our school district for the coming fall. He’ll be an “early 5” with his birthday so late in the year, but we figure if he needs another year we can place him in the full-day program next year. We have given serious thought to options ranging from home school to virtual school to private school, and we’re still not settled on which direction we’ll finally take. It will all depend on what we feel is best for him and Eliza down the road.

On Wednesday, Hallie took the kids out to the TreeHouse in Chelsea.

Thursday brought a treat in the mail. Kira had gone to Europe and brought the kids a couple of T-shirts from her travels:  

French Kiss from Eliza

Our little Dutch Boy

On Friday, Hallie and Jen attended the Michigan International Women’s Show at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi. She brought home lots of goodies. Meanwhile, Priscilia helped out around the house while Mike worked. When he came home for lunch, he, Landon, and Priscilia played Wii Bowling. In a nail-biter of a finish that came down to the very last frame, . . .

Landon won. Again. In fact, he now holds the high score in our home. Priscilia put it best when she reminded Mike that between adults and a four-year-old it should never have been close. However, he did set the record, and 180 is hard for even an adult to reach. Mike chalks it up to the child’s prodigious athletic skills.

The children put their skills on display earlier in the week when both showed the grown-ups how to do flips and cartwheels.

Like Landon, Eliza appears to have no fear of heights or movement. The two of them ride, slide, and swing like little monkeys at the local school’s playground.

Cinco de Mayo Saturday started early with Mariachi and Tejano music on the radio and a bit of LEGO tightrope walking courtesy of a book we received a little while back from Grandpa O.

We improvised with the materials we had on hand. If you look closely at the minifig, you may notice he looks like someone you might know.

Following our contraption adventure, we went to music class at the MSU Detroit Center. Here’s a taste of what goes on during our hour there:

"We are piRATES! We are piRATES! We are piRATES! ARR!"

Dancing a salsa for Cinco de Mayo

Waiting their turn to strum the guitar

We then headed out to Northville to the Guernsey Farms Dairy for some light lunch and homemade ice cream. Mom had a scoop of Mackinac peanut butter fudge, Landon and Eliza shared a dirt pile (chocolate ice cream, gummy worm, Oreo cookie crumbs, and crushed M&M's), and Dad indulged in some McGuire's Irish mint cream.

M'mm! Dirt!

We ended our day out with the coin operated oddities at Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum in Farmington Hills.

The museum is listed in the World Almanac’s 100 most unusual museums in the US. To say the place is a trip would be putting it mildly.

The owner, Marvin Yagoda, cites P. T. Barnum and Walt Disney as sources of inspiration.

Landon has done a great job at therapy this week, so he earned himself a surprise:

In our house, the handsome princes work for a living. Time to slay dragons and rescue damsels! 

Make Sis. Evans' Day: Send Her Mail!

Some of our favorite memories as missionaries were receiving mail. Now that Sister Evans is in the Missionary Training Center, we're sure she would appreciate hearing from you. If you know her, you can catch her up on all your activities. If you don't know her, you can strike up a friendship with a remarkable young lady. You never know what you might gain from the experience!

Mike has many memories of sharing his mission with family and friends. His mom would write about the antics of the house pets and people in his home town, and Mike would share his observations and growing appreciation for Argentina. Her witty observations and anecdotes were a big hit both with him and his roommates in the missionfield. Mike's sister Emily mentioned to the grandma of another student in her class at school that her brother was serving his mission far away. She gave this nice lady Mike's mission address, and for the next two years Mike and Mrs. Williams (who, incidentally, is not a member of our faith--you don't have to be a member to write a missionary) shared a long-distance correspondence that Mike will always remember. Hallie enjoyed getting to know members of her congregation who helped keep her motivated while she served in Atlantic Canada.

If you have ever wondered what it's like to be a missionary from the missionary's perspective, now's your chance. If you feel like lending someone far from home and family some moral support, here's your opportunity!

You can reach Sis. Evans at the following addresses:

While she's at the MTC (May 2-May 22)
Sister Diamond Lacrista Evans
MTC Mailbox #146
DC-South 0523
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

In the missionfield (May 23, 2012-November 23, 2013)
Sister Diamond Lacrista Evans
Washington DC South Mission
5242 Lyngate Ct
Burke, VA 22015

By email: diamond.evans(at)myldsmail.net

Last Minute Mission Preparations and Grand Days Out for Kids

Mike and Landon went to see the Tigers play the Mariners at Comerica Park on Thursday. Landon lasted longer than last time. The weather was a bit chilly, but he was so excited to show off his Tigers T-shirt that he insisted on taking off his jacket. Good thing he’s so warm blooded!

After the game, he accompanied Dad to one of Dad’s work locations before they came back home so Mike and Hallie could take Diamond to Bloomfield Hills. On their way to the stake center they had dinner at Maggiano’s Little Italy in Troy. Diamond (now Sis. Evans) was set apart as a missionary to serve for 18 months in the Washington, DC South Mission (basically suburban DC, western Maryland, and eastern Virginia), and then she received her own endowment at the Detroit Temple. Hallie took her to the airport on Friday morning for her flight to Salt Lake, where she will stay with the family of a former SVU roommate until she enters the Provo Missionary Training Center next Wednesday.

Hallie and Mike aren’t quite old enough to have a daughter Sis. Evans’ age, but we got a small flavor of the sense of pride and accomplishment parents must feel seeing their child making choices that will set them on a positive life path. Sis. Evans has worked hard to get where she is, and we know she will experience a lot of personal and spiritual growth as she continues to work hard as a missionary. For all our scurrying around to help her get ready to go, we never took any pictures! Thanks to everyone who has and will chip in to send her on her way.

Sis. Diamond Evans

After Hallie sent Sis. Evans on her way, she came back home to pick up Landon for a Mom’s club gymnastics day out at Cutting Edge Athletics in Clinton Township.

On Saturday morning, we joined Sara, Jason, and Chase at Greenfield Village for the annual Day Out with Thomas. Weather had been cooperating better earlier in the week. However, in spite of the chilly threat of rain, the kids dove into the festivities.

But I don't want to play on the airplane!

Much better!

Someone's geeked out. 

Members of the Detroit Historical Society built a model railroad layout and let Landon try his hand at running the trains. 

After we came home and put Eliza down for a nap, Landon and Mike played some games. First we played a Thomas-themed game Hallie had found on one of her mom-to-mom sale outings. Landon won.

Then we played Wii Sports. The new TV and the extra space make for a better experience, at least for Landon. He trounced Mike at bowling.

A strike and/or a spare in 8 out of 10 frames. Wow!

Of course, Mike did beat the boy at tennis and golf, but who’s counting? 

The Young Women of the branch are raising money for Girls Camp this summer. This year they are offering babysitting services. We took advantage so we could spend a romantic evening . . . rearranging furniture in the kids’ rooms. The parents out there can relate. “Yes! Three free hours to actually get something accomplished together!” Once Mike finally gave up the idea of a shared office/Eliza’s bedroom, it was only a matter of time before his stuff had to go. Thanks, babysitters!

Later on, after the kids were back home, had wound down from their high energy, and had finally gone to sleep, we watched a movie in peace and quiet with the knowledge that the kiddos now have rooms of their very own. Hallie is busily making plans to thoroughly girlify Eliza’s expanded space. She hit upon her theme after finding an Eric Dowdle puzzle named “The Fairy Family” at Sam’s Club:

Image courtesy Dowdle Folk Art 

On a completely different and tragic note, a young soldier named Andrew Britton (Mihalo) was killed in action in Afghanistan on Wednesday. He was a 12-13 year old when Mike worked with him in the Young Men’s program before we got married. Mike didn’t know him very well, but he remembers Andrew as outgoing, happy, and vivacious. The kid had a lust for life that showed as he continued to grow up after we left Simi. What can we do but express our deep grief and gratitude to his family for their loss and his sacrifice? We are so sorry! Thank you so much!   

Exploring Our Creative Side

So here we are at the beginning of another week. We didn’t have quite the same level of activity this week as we have in prior weeks, but we still had fun.

Hallie, Priscilia, and the little ones went to Detroit Kid City in Southfield. In a mini play city, Landon and Eliza used their imaginations to pretend at an automotive factory, bank, barber shop, post office, pizzeria, music studio, art center, school house, out in the country.

Among other things, Landon explored careers in fishing and hair styling:

Eliza contemplated her future as a pop diva.

On Saturday, Mike and Landon continued to explore Landon’s creative side by finger painting.

Thinking about what to do with the paintings as they dried, Mike remembered a creative idea for the home he’d seen on Pinterest, a gallery wall: 

Source: style-files.com via Michael on Pinterest  

Here’s our version, with more art to follow: 

Not quite as sophisticated, but it gets the job done.

Mike and Hallie had an opportunity to explore art of another sort when Ben and Megan invited them to the Detroit Opera House to see Bizet's "The Pearl Fishers." Beautiful venue, and beautiful performance!

We Have Moved . . .

. . . items from the dining room to the den and vice versa. Earlier this week, Hallie and Sara were talking about how Hallie wanted to make a school room within the dining room, and Sara mentioned that we should switch the dining room and den. Up to this point, we have used the room with the chandelier as our dining room because, well, it had the chandelier and because our home’s previous owners had used the space as a dining room. Hallie ran the idea by Mike, who at first resisted (he didn’t reject the idea, but he wondered what a den/family room would look like with a low-hanging central light fixture in it) but then warmed up to the thought of more usable space for the kids and their toys. Hallie had also hinted that in the future whenever we got a new TV the space would make it seem less in the middle of everything, especially once we got a smaller media unit. Mike figured he could change out the lighting fixtures without too much trouble. So, over a few days Hallie and Sara (with major help from Diamond and Priscilia) moved the bookcase and toy bins into the dining room and the credenza into the den. Mike even got into the act on Thursday when he moved the dining room set into the den and the TV armoire into the dining room. After moving everything, we now have an expanded family room and an intimate dining room instead of a large dining room and a crowded TV room/toy room/den. Thanks for the great idea, Sara!

Chase in the dining room prior to the move (the boxes are part of our attempt to organize and declutter)

Of course, Mike should have figured more was afoot than a simple room change with his birthday coming up (Friday the 13th this year, woo hoo!). Sure enough, after he came home from some work on Friday, a box with a new TV sat next to the armoire. Once Mike got over the shock of the unexpected big ticket item, he set to work seeing what it could do. Later on, Hallie, who had been resting upstairs, asked whether Mike wanted to go hunting for a new TV stand. We ended up finding exactly what we needed for less than we expected to pay at Art Van’s clearance center (Mike was pleasantly surprised). After taking the kids to music class and helping Jason with a small project at his and Sara’s, Mike put the TV stand together, and the family room was (for the most part) complete!

The windows frame things in nicely. Mike has bumped his head only a few times so far.

It's a small room, so it's a bit hard to see.

As we mentioned before, Mike had his birthday this week, and he spent a little time each day through the week indulging in some of his favorite springtime activities, including going to the Henry Ford Museum, having a picnic and flying kites with Landon and Eliza on Monday. 

Landon took some pictures with his new LEGO camera: 

Once we got to the Henry Ford, we took in the activities for Macy's 2nd Monday:

At first Landon didn't really want his picture taken. 

He said he'd get his picture taken if he could take Mike's.

Eliza fell asleep on the way there. This is how she spent most of the trip.

Afterwards, we went for our picnic and kite flight. At first, it looked like the wind wouldn’t cooperate, but after a while the weather got a bit more blustery and with the approaching storm clouds came a solid wind stream. Both Mike and Landon got in on the action. 

Landon was holding his own until a gust came that yanked the string holder out of his hand and sent the kite plummeting toward Lake St. Clair. Mike hightailed it toward the water and managed to get the string. After several minutes of winding, tugging, and cajoling, we managed to fish the kite, none the worse for its dip in the water, out of the lake.   

The kite has no rigid parts (it's just a sail and strings), which is probably why we were able to retrieve it.

Mike and Hallie got some couple's time in this week too as they celebrated Mike’s day at The Melting Pot with an all-American big night out. We rolled home three hours later, too full to do much else. . . . 

Hallie is continuing to recover well from her surgery. We appreciate all those who have provided meals and other support to us. Look at one of the cute cupcakes Joy gave us for dessert! 

Little Easter lambs. Almost too cute to eat! Almost.