Fire Station Visit

Chloe's school put together a gift basket for the fire department that responded to the alarm when her school caught on fire March 3rd. The principal asked for a family to volunteer to pick up the gift basket and drop it off at the fire station - we volunteered!

We picked up the gift basket at the local Great Harvest Bread Company (thankfully we're honest people because all the bread and cookies looked so delish!). We arrived at the fire station and were greeted so warmly! The firemen invited us in and showed us around the garage where all the trucks were stored.  

Chloe got to see the two trucks that responded to the fire. She got to sit in the driver's seat of one of them and then got her photo with two of the firemen in front of the other one. One of the firemen actually responded to her school's fire (the one she's hugging in the photo). 

Before we left they gave her a tour of their living area and gave her a helmet and backpack. 

She had a fabulous visit!  She's been wearing her helmet saying "Fire girl Chloe to the rescue!" all week :)  It was really a blessing for us to drop off the basket and visit with the fire fighters.  

She has still not started back to school because they are still getting approval from the state for the preschool to re-open at their temporary site. This was a nice way to stay connected to the school in the meantime.  I'm so glad we got to make this visit!

March - In Like a Lion

If you think about it, March is sort of a foreboding kind of month. There's the Ides of March (famous, of course, thanks to Julius Caesar) and the old "In like a lion, out like a lamb"saying, I always assumed, describing the weather (cold and snowy at the beginning, warmer and spring-like at the end).  We're only a week in, and I'd definitely agree that March has come in like a lion for us!

It started off well enough. We celebrated Megan's birthday at Sabbath School which was great. We took some treats for the friends there. (Ok, this was technically still February, but we were gearing up for the new month!)

Then on Sunday, Nathan and I had a date to celebrate his birthday. We went to The Melting Pot in Ann Arbor. We had such a nice time! It was so relaxing to have time to talk and eat in peace.

So, all was well, right? A few weeks ago we found out Nathan had to be in Orlando for work a few days this spring. Turns out he'd be leaving early Monday, March 2 and coming back Friday, March 6. I was way bummed about this because it meant I was essentially a single parent for a week. Not to mention, Megan's birthday was March 5 (so he'd miss that) and we had already sent out announcements for her family birthday celebration on March 7th. So, all party prep would be on me. Since there was really nothing we could do about it, we tried to make the best of it. I planned a few fun things for the girls to do that week and figured we'd keep busy with Megan's birthday prep. Early in the morning on Monday I said good-bye to Nathan and my single parenting week began.

Tuesday morning I woke up about 7am to get ready for the day. I checked my phone and saw that there was a message from Chloe's school principal saying there was no school that day because a fire had been detected at the school. He was going to check it out and keep us updated. I was hoping it was just a small fire, contained, and that they'd get it put out with minimal damage. Figuring this was my best chance at a shower, I went ahead and got ready. When I came out of the bathroom I saw a missed call from my mother-in-law and called her back. She asked if Chloe's school was on fire and I replied that it was, we'd gotten an email from her principal.  (I must have been half asleep because I didn't really wonder how she knew this fact...)  She said, "Chloe's school is on the news."  I thought, "Oh no, if it's on the news it cannot be good." Sure enough, I turned on the tv to see the breaking news that the school was engulfed in flames! I stood there as a I saw the whole school on fire as the local news helicopter flew above it taking video footage. I was so stunned. You know when you've just seen someone and then a few hours later you find out the person died? It was like that - we'd just been at the school and here it was in flames. My heart sank and I literally felt sick to my stomach when it occurred to me that I needed to tell Chloe. Suffice it to say, it was a rough day at our house. Lots of questions, tears, hugs. We were getting good updates from the school and had hope that she'd be back in school the next week.

Wednesday Chloe started her Little Ninjas karate class. She really loved it. When we were leaving she told me that she wanted to go to karate every day! I was so glad that she had this fun activity to keep her mind off her school.

Thursday was Megan's birthday - this was the day that I wanted to really get the girls out and about to have some fun. There's a kids play lounge near our house that they love but we hadn't been to for a few years. I showed the girls pictures and they were so excited to go. That morning after breakfast we headed to the play lounge and spent the morning there. Thankfully they have a parent area with couches and a tv so you can observe peacefully :)  My mother-in-law joined us towards lunchtime and went with us to Red Robin for lunch.

After lunch we did some shopping and got the girls' hair trimmed. For dinner I made a very nutritious meal of strawberry pancakes (with fruit on top!) and Megan fielded a few calls from her family and opened a birthday card from grandpa and grandma in Florida.

By this point in the week, I was so relieved that it was finally Thursday night. It had been a busy week with few breaks for me so I felt like I was in the home stretch. Friday morning my mother-in-law took the girls for me so I could get ready for Megan's party. The day went well and the girls got home around dinner time...and thankfully, Nathan got home just after them. Yay! I survived my week! I felt such relief...we all went to bed and were excited for Megan's party.

That should be the end of my week but...can you believe we all came down with the stomach flu that weekend? The girls had pretty minor cases that only lasted briefly - Nathan and I were hit HARD and were not feeling great much of the next week. 

So, March, I see how you are and I'm keeping my eyes on you. Bring on the "out like a lamb" portion of the month!

Megan's Birthday Party :)

My baby is three! The girls are way into all things medical these days so we chose that as our theme. The girls got kids scrubs and we decorated with lots of pink and purple.

Before the party, I let the girls change into their play kid scrubs. They loved them!

Decorations & Dessert table. I made that flower balloon. Yep. All. By. Myself.

(I took these before the party so the drinks weren't out but we had chocolate milk and white grape punch with gingerale.)

For lunch we had chicken and black bean sliders (with toppings like cheese and veggies), mac & cheese, salad, and chips.

Megan's cake was a Zingerman's recipe we got a few years ago when Nathan and his mom took a class there. It's called "Triple Chocolate Danger Cake" and it's my favorite chocolate cake. It's a pain but it's so good, practically flourless. After lunch we couldn't wait to dig in! It was so rich we had to add a generous scoop of ice cream to cut the richness.

What did Megan think of her birthday cake and ice cream?

Next up...presents! She got lots of help from her sister and cousins.

Megan loved her party!