We were in STL for most of the year and my husband's stint at Washington University in St. Louis was coming to a close. He was looking for a job there in STL, and also all over the US. He had interviews in Massachusetts, Virginia, Florida, California, and in St. Louis... There were some promising offers, and some that just weren't right... Meanwhile back at the Happiest House on the Block - we were just continuing on and milking all the joy out of our wonderful season in St. Louis. One of the parts of living in and around STL is that so much of the things in the community are paid for by tax dollars. So they have CRAZY high taxes which is not good. But those high taxes pay for anyone to get into the Zoo, the art museum, City History Museum, a lovely park that is wonderful for walking and running, Shakespeare in the Park, concerts at the Muny in the park, and on and on. Our daily out of pocket expenses were limited because of the generosity (Can it be generous if it compulsory?? That's another blog!) of the Tax Payers of St. Louis.
Math plus crafting!
Tall girl math
So this picture needs more information. This is "Sally" and she is with our youngest daughter. At first I thought Sally had come to us because our youngest wanted someone younger than her. Because at times being the youngest means you are the last to do things, the last to understand things, the shortest, the smallest, and generally just not first at almost everything. So my thought was that Sally was going to be the last now - and my girl had simply come up with a creative mode for that to happen. Things are never that direct. Or maybe they are. I learned that Sally was simply a way my girl avoided managing her dirty laundry. When those socks and shirts and jeans and towels needed a wash - she just stuffed them into her footed PJ's and Sally was born! Hm.. Eventually Sally went away with a notice that she was not to come back. Hm.
Pickles make fabulous mustaches.
Birthdays happened...
And so did Christmas - and now the tallest girl is almost as tall as Dad.
Um. Something is going on.
This was the year of Biology!
Out door art museum - yes, that is a huge eyeball.
More Birthdays..turning 15!
And more birthdays! Turning 12!
The party never ends..
This girl joined Girl Scouts - and the cookie selling machine was put into motion!
Eggs colored...
This was a treat craft related to school, but for the life of me, I simply can't recall which one.
It was VERY popular to say the least.
Summer in the shade - just lovely - and even more so when shared with a sister!
Our oven needed repair and this was the guy they sent.
He said he is a famous Country Singer..
I can't say that I recall his name, but he was very nice!
Science...
And science experiments...
Our upstairs bathroom overflowed. Which meant they had to bring in the world's loudest and most powerful air moving blowers to dry things out. So the children didn't miss out on the dance opportunity with the wind machine.
Mrs. Bowell came to visit and we had a piano recital in our tiny house.
We had moved the piano into the entry space because of the overflowing bathroom -
that really did make life interesting for a little while.
Then these girls were inducted into the Beta Club!
We took French class and did crafting - it was so much fun with Ms. Kim!
Daddy had another birthday - he's so handsome. :)
And the cat started to relax and enjoy being our pet.
She was kind of a grumpy old lady cat, and never very affectionate.
So we had to take advantage of any shots that made her look cute and cuddly!
But finally, July 1, GA Tech said they wanted to hire my husband. And have him start work. On August 1. So that was an adventure. Packing our house, finding a place to live, and relocating in a month was actually not that bad. The packers helped, and after a quick flight to Atlanta, we found a house to rent. We moved!
Before we moved the girls got their hair cut. That was a big day!
Moving in to our place in Atlanta!
First Day of school -10th grade
First day of school 7th grade
First Day of School 5th Grade
All kind of study going on..
Someone got glasses for the first time (MOM! I can see the leaves on the trees!)
Science was fun... lots of great experiments!
But we might need to work on the spelling :)
And of course lots of crafting..
And this kid turned 11...
Then Aaron came to visit on a special birthday for our favorite guy..
And this girl turned 13 - which means access to "all the makeup"...
And Christmas came and we had our first "official" vacation that didn't involve visiting family in Destin, Florida. (We love to see family, but it sometimes doesn't feel like a vacation)
And this year I really started to sew more!
