Hylie's Dance Recital

At the end of May, Hylie had a dance recital complete with ballet shoes and pink tu-tus!  She was VERY excited to dance on the big stage.  The official recital was on Sunday, so luckily they had the dress rehearsal on Saturday which gave Hylie the opportunity to dance and for us to watch!  It was a fun event and Hylie did a beautiful job.

Hylie's First Loose Tooth

Earlier in the month of May, Hylie woke up one Thursday morning and told me she had a loose tooth.  I could barely see any movement, so I figured we had at least a week before the Tooth Fairy would pay us a visit...wrong!  By Saturday morning her tooth was extremely loose and with a little bit of help from Geoff, it was pulled!

I scrambled to get something put together so Hylie had a spot to place her tooth so it could be found easily while she slept.  Luckily, I had everything needed to make a little pillow with a pocket and Hylie had fun assisting to put it together.

Lillian - 18 Months

During the chaos of moving, Lillian turned 18 months!  She's becoming more and more verbal--her vocabulary isn't huge, but it's big enough that she is usually able to let us know what she wants.

Her current interests include monkeys, bubble baths, her blanket, drawing (so far she hasn't made her mark on the walls in our new place...fingers crossed we're passed that phase!), playing outside, sucking her thumb, reading books, and doing whatever her older sisters are doing.  Sharing is becoming a bit of a challenge...Lillian usually wants to play with whatever Hylie and Eliana just picked up, so learning how to wait her turn is on the agenda right now.

Walking is still not consistent.  Every once in a while we'll see Lillian stroll through a room completely upright, but her usual mode of transportation is still scooting around on her knees...and she's getting pretty speedy, too.

You can also find her showing off her moves every once in a while:

This little thing doesn't go anywhere without her little blanket.  She loves snuggling it and if you pick her up and the blanket isn't in tow, she'll pat you just below your shoulder and repeat "bay" (for blanket) until you find her cuddly treasure.

The week before, we were able to leave her in Nursery at church and she did really well...but then last week once we entered the room, just as I had suspected, she got very clingy and I got to hang out with her while she played and participated in all the activities.  We'll see how long it takes her to realize Nursery is the happening place to be!

Looking forward to all the adventures that are in store with this cutie!

 Lillian is definitely carrying a lot of those cute Woodhouse genes!

Hylie's New School

Hylie's had to deal with the most change out of everyone here.  She not only moved away from her familiar home and friends, but also from her school. 

Hylie had a wonderful time in Kindergarten at Hynes Elementary--her teacher and classmates were very good to her. 

However, she was quite excited to learn that she was going to be attending FULL day kindergarten at her new school and would get to eat her lunch with all the other kids.  On the first day at Schiesher Elementary, Hylie was all smiles until it was time to say good-bye to me, Eliana, and Lillian.  Then the tears started to well up and it was so hard to leave knowing Hylie was feeling a little unsure about everything.  Her new teacher, Ms. Marino, was very kind and took the time to call me at lunch to let me know Hylie was thriving in the classroom.  It was also wonderful to see Hylie smiling when I picked her up at the end of the day. 

It took Hylie a few days to adjust to the long day, but she definitely loves school and has been making lots of new friends and enjoying all of her new experiences.

We've Moved!

These last three weeks have been a whirlwind, but truly, everything has gone smoothly and with very few surprises--what more could you ask when you're moving, right?

This entire experience has been bittersweet...we moved away from very dear friends, a home we loved and worked hard on, familiar surroundings, and many wonderful memories--but we now find ourselves closer to Geoff's work, in a very nice home we can grow into, and have been greeted and helped by many kind individuals.

We are very grateful for all the help we received on both ends of the move.  Friends from Morton Grove helped us pack, hosted a farewell luncheon, loaded our heavy furniture and numerous boxes, and tended to our girls while we were at closings and hauling boxes to the new place.  Geoff contacted the Bishop in the Lisle area and he helped coordinate so there were people to help us unload the truck into our new home.  And then there's the help from my Dad.  This move would not have been successful without him.  Dad fixed things in our Morton Grove home for the buyers, disassembled (and then REassembled) a lot of furniture, helped improve things around the new house, and kept us all sane!  He even had a birthday while he was here!  We made sure to step away from moving duties to go out for a dinner celebration.

The girls loved having Grandpa around.  Lillian really warmed up to him, Eliana insisted on Grandpa helping her with everything she needed, and Hylie was excited to have Grandpa help her with homework.

We are grateful for all we have and as I left our empty home in Morton Grove I felt at peace knowing I was bringing what matters most with me--my loving husband and beautiful children.  I'm so thankful for the blessings, love, and fun they bring to my life.

 We're slowly figuring out how we want to use our new space.  Sure not missing the red walls!

The girls have really loved being in our new home.  They've adjusted well to their surroundings and seem to love being in all the spaces--including the basement.  For some reason I was worried they wouldn't want to play downstairs but they haven't had any problems playing with their toys and each other in all areas of the house. 

 Eliana has been a huge fan of the dress-up box recently.

Currently, we're using the formal dining area for the kids' toys.

Excited for this new chapter...and all the projects and work that come with it!

Evening of Music 2018

Last Sunday, we had our annual Evening of Music.  I thoroughly enjoyed the event.  We had fun duets, show tunes, and some classics.  I was touched by how many people we were willing to perform as well as how many people attended.  I worked on the pieces "Grand Finale" piano duet with Katie Schmidt and violin solo "Stradivarius" by Kurt Bestor. I was grateful to just get some practice time in as we prepare for our big move!  Mary Ann Rackley was so kind to accompany me on the violin piece.

Some of the performers--we didn't get a group picture until later in the evening and unfortunately some people had already left.

Easter 2018

From Passover Sunday to Easter Sunday, our family enjoyed daily devotionals where we learned about the Savior and how much His life blesses us and how we can return to our Heavenly Father.  I loved that the girls looked forward to our devotionals each day and enjoyed retelling stories from the pictures we hung on the wall each day.

We also squeezed in some other Easter activities throughout the week:

Our church had an Easter Egg Hunt for the children.

We dyed Easter Eggs...Eliana and Lillian lost interest pretty quick!  Ha ha!

Eliana and Lillian decided eating snacks was more exciting...Lillian also decided Eliana's snacks looked better than hers!

On the Saturday before Easter Sunday, the Easter Bunny came and left some goodies and hid some eggs.

On Sunday morning we enjoyed making "Resurrection Rolls" before General Conference began.

We are so grateful for all the blessings in our lives because of the love and life of the Savior.  I know He lives.  He did indeed die for us and conquered death.  Because of this, all of us can have resurrected bodies and live forever.  And because of Him, we are blessed with all we need to return to Him with clean hands and pure hearts.