Quinn-tessentials: Spring 2019

Spring has Sprung

These pics are mostly in chronological order, which probably feels more random than organized. What can I say, enjoy the flow.

I (wo)manned a poster making booth at Ann Arbor's Women March On for Justice mid-March held on Ruth Bader Ginsburg's birthday.

Wendy, my friend and fellow poster-er.

I'm smiling too much for this poster. Urg. This practice still blows my mind.

Our dear friends Martha and Rob moved. :/

This is Robin's first time pulling himself up to stand. I love that expression of accomplishment.

Date night at La Pina Loca. They have all sorts of fun Mexican street food there.

The last bit of snow melting.

Archeology Museum Scavenger Hunt

Twig eating

Esther's officially transitioned from a balance bike to a pedal bike and she is rockin' it.

Eliot turned 7!

Here he is indulging in bacon at The Bomber.

He requested peanut butter chocolate cheesecake for the family party...

pumpkin cupcakes for school....

and a sorting hat cake to eat with friends. Wow. We know how to stretch out a celebration.

Olivander's Wand shop. We made several of these during all those many snow days.

We enjoyed Jenol Cnfrins, otherwise known as General Conference.

Easter!

We experimented with natural dyes this year: Beets, Red Onion, Cabbage, Berry Tea, Yellow Onion and Turmeric. Colors didn't turn out as brilliant as hoped, but it was still fun.

We also broke out the kistkus to decorate a few eggs Ukrainian style. Wax on. Dye. Wax off.

Easter was low key this year. Or as low key as it can be when your kids essentially eat jelly beans for breakfast.

These are the only family members I could gather for our Easter family pic.

It felt good to finally get out more and play.

and plant.

Esther wanting to snuggle with babies and hang out chatting on the phone.

A welding plant down the road had a fire, and because there were a few large gas filled tanks, everyone within a mile radius was asked to evacuate. I waited for Robin to wake up from his nap, picked up the boys from school, took them to piano lessons, and then met Anthony at Dairy Queen to celebrate report cards and wait until we got the green light to go home. Timing was perfect. By the time we finished our blizzards, we were allowed back in.

Ypsilanti Cooperative Preschool's Earthday Extravaganza was a huge hit.

Sloths may be slow, but this guy carrying it whizzed right past before Esther got a chance to pet it. She ended up sneaking up to a different row for a second try.

When you're a baby, everyday is a pajama day, right?

The boys have been digging a massive whole. It's gotten much deeper since this pic, and I'm surprised the neighbors haven't complained yet. A few dead bodies could pit in that thing.

That one time Esther let me do her hair.

Pine wood derby!

Ira avoiding glasses even though he knows he needs them.

Ira requested that I take this pic, so that I could forever cherish his Ed Grimley impersonation.

Eliot has a story writing partner at school, and they've created a series called "Eating Ninja." I have a feeling she digs him.

We had a visit from Paul and Valine, which was such a blast! Never noticed how similar Ant and Paul's smiles are.

Introducing Grandma and Grandpa to Blank Slate

It was Mother's Day and Valine's Birthday while they were here. So I made her carrot cake and now wonder why I don't make it more often.

New quilts for Robin and Esther!

Valine and Esther gathering the goods to get our garden jumpstarted.

Eliot's piece was chosen for an art show at the Library. It only took us about 30 minutes of wandering around to find it. I think this is his hangry face.

Graffiti appreciation moment: "I love you!"

Esther and Ira enjoyed Spring Soccer. Esther and this kid were giving each other the evil eye for quite a while, but she was not about to back down.

We can't have Grandma and Grandpa Quinn over without enjoying a puzzle with them. Judging by the angle, I believe this photo is cutesy of Esther.

Valine's Birthday at The Bomber.

Esther was super excited to check out dinos at the new Museum of Natural History.

It was a treat to have the Quinns here, and we are counting down the days till we get to see them again this Summer!

Esther impressing us all with her strength

Eliot's first and possibly last cello concert. After saying things like, "I wish I could destroy 100 cellos!" for some time now, we decided it was time to go out with a bang and wrap things up after he made it through his Suzuki concert. I was at home with sleeping Robin, but Ira video taped most of it, and it was fantastic. Eliot is continuing on with piano but doesn't want us to sell the cello yet, so we'll see what the future holds.

Speaking of wrapping things up, Esther finished her first year of preschool...

And I concluded my last Bradley Method series! (The pic is of a mini-reunion.) After 6 1/2 years of teaching, I decided that our family has sort of hit the stress-reward tipping point. I will miss teaching birth classes immensely and am extremely grateful for the amazing people I've met through my classes, but getting the house clean and finding time to lesson prep has been a big challenge. I've also been wanting to find more time to work as a doula and teaching has made it hard to do that. After interviewing with and receiving offers from a couple of doula groups, I've decided to join Ann Arbor Birth and Family starting in September! I went to a DONA International training last week, and am starting to chip away at the many certification requirements. Hooray for new chapters!

I love these two. And they love each other.

Joyschool wrapped up...with lunch box hats? These two are Esther's "best buddies."

Robin rode the Earth around the sun for one complete revolution, so we decided to introduce him to processed sugar.

Chillin' at the park on Memorial day while the big kids and Dad were kayaking. Oh, this kid is sunshine.

Another one of Robin's friends who he gets to play with several times a week. She's pretty shy, but if I pretend like I'm not watching, the two of them start squealing and laughing together almost immediately.

Hanging out at the preschool, Robin was drawn to this particular learning center.

I had the sewing machine out for a project and Ira decided to make a makeshift pillowcase (with some guidance). This is his first sewing project!

A year ago, a couple weeks before Robin was born, I was asked to be on the preschool board as a "transition committee member," which means a couple of us have lead efforts to find a new location for the preschool, prepare the new room, and get it licensed. Sounds so simple when I say it that way, but it has been a ride! We only have one more licensing inspection left at our new location and I will be so relieved when it's all over, to say the least.

The youth group from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came to lighten our load with the moving, and they DID. It was so incredibly helpful to have them there to help.