St. Patrick's Day and Spring Break!

I love St. Patrick's Day! I love the color green and I love dying things green! So we do it every year! The girls often ask for green eggs and ham on non-St. Patrick's Days!
This is what St. Patrick's Day at the Ruff house in the Midwest looks like...

Green milk in our cheerios!

Green fingernail polish to safe guard against pinching!

Green frosting on orange rolls! Think about that one tonight!

The girls had Spring Break this week and we were ready to have some fun. Days have been spent reading and coloring and cooking and playing games and hanging out with friends and swimming! What a good week! This is Miss Rachel after day one of Spring Break! She loves her King Fu Panda!

Sarah and Rachel had swim lessons at the Y Monday-Thursday and they had a blast!!!! For a funny story about that, check out my Curly Hair blog!


Here are a couple of movies (I hope) of them at lessons! I was kind of far away, but oh well!

Rachel swimming with her teacher!

Sarah practicing her strokes! She is the second from the left in the purple swimsuit!

Changes!!!!

Life at our house the last 2 weeks has been FULL of changes!!! Actually the whole last month has been so different!!!
The big thing that happened 2 weeks ago was that Richard's sister, Michelle, flew to visit us at the end of her mission. She was serving in the Cleveland Ohio mission and she spent some of her mission at Kirtland and some other Church History sights.

Sister and mom and dad

Welcome!!! Emma and Richard welcome Michelle
The girls welcome Michelle to our new home!

Come play with us at the John Deere Headquarters!

Sarah, Emma and Rachel with Michelle

While the family was here, we took a trip down to Nauvoo and did a session at the temple. It was so wonderful to be together as a family! We also did a quick drive down to Carthage a spent a few minutes in Carthage Jail. We are so blessed to live near these Church History Sites.

Having Grandpa and Grandma and Michelle was so fun! It was great to see them again and show them around our new city! We miss them all so much and it was a blast to see them! We know that Michelle is going on to new changes and adventures in her life and we are happy for her! She is an awesome woman who has an awesome future!

The MAJOR thing that went on with our family this last week is that Richard started graduate school. We have been waiting for this for a long time and it almost doesn't seem real. Richard says that it will feel more real after his first test and labs. He is taking classes like Embryology, Neuroanatomy, Spinal Anatomy, Gross Anatomy, Biochemistry, Fundamentals of Neurophysiology, and Philosophy. Lots of crazy classes!!!

We love Richard so much and I know that he will do great in school. This is going to be a great (read:hard and long) 3 years! Thanks for all your love and support getting us here! Keep us (especially Richard) in your prayers.

Oh, and here is one of the random things that Richard had to buy at the bookstore for his first trimester at school:

"Bag of Bones" for Richard to study the Spinal Column

(we had to reassure the girls that they were just plastic!)

Snowy adventures & Emma's sleeping habits

It's been kind of funny weather lately. "Warm" (I have to put quotes around that) and rainy and then cold and snowy. Today it was cold/warm and clear! We are just getting used to the weather.

Last week there was snow on the ground and the girls went out and played in it! They were making a snow pile and they had a blast! They both really needed the snow pants that day! It's like they were swimming in the snow! Every kids dream! (0:

Rachel with all the garb!!!

Sarah and the "pile", as they called it!

The other thing going on at our house is a little 2 1/2 year old who naps in the weirdest places. It started a couple of weeks ago. I went into her room to get her up from her nap and I couldn't find her. I looked all over and then I saw her blanket was sticking out from under her bed. There she was, asleep on the mattress under her bed. I have also found her in the corner sleeping, behind the bed and in the closet. And then the newest one started:

That is the middle drawer of her dresser. She climbs in there and falls asleep. She rolls around in the clothes and gets comfortable and falls asleep. Poor thing. She has a nice soft mattress, but she sleeps anywhere but there! Emma under her beloved ducky blanket, totally asleep in her drawer!