It is time.

I now know how to add videos onto our blog.  You guys are in trouble.

Actually, today you are in for a treat, especially if you are a grandparent, and especially especially if you are a grandparent of Christian and Michaela.  Here is a video of the two of them playing the piano (separately) at their Spring Recital, which happened to be on Mother's Day this year.  What a delightful gift for me!  I hope you enjoy it, too.

Spring Piano Recital 2010 from Christina Walker on Vimeo.

I am so proud of Christian for playing his piece.  He chose not to participate in the winter recital; his nerves got the better of him.  It was a big deal for him to walk up there, sit on that bench, and play.  He did it without music in front of him, as well!

And Michaela.  I don't have words.  My heart feels so full when I listen to her on the piano.  She loves to play, and I love to hear her, so our arrangement works really well.  I think she did such a beautiful job.  When she plays Amazing Grace, I think,"It is, isn't it?"

I'm glad to share this moment with you all.  There will be more to come...like Eliana in her musical debut.  I know you can't wait!

Eliana brought a small cup home a couple of weeks ago from her co-op class; they had planted a seed in some soil in honor of spring.  We set it up in front of one of our dining room windows and have been watering it, letting the sun in faithfully, and even talking to it (maybe that was just me).  Up until today, nothing had happened.  I have never really planted anything before, but I know that it takes a while for something to grow.

This morning Michaela came running into the kitchen shouting,"Eliana's plant has sprouted!" 

I was so excited!  I said,"Really?  Let me see!"  I was happy to see something green in her cup!

As I got closer I thought it looked kind of odd for a new sprout.  I suppose that would be because it was actually a full grown clover thingy she had brought inside.

I got fooled!  That was a pretty good one. 

We had talked earlier about what tricks we could play on people...but never came up with anything.  Seems like she's the trickiest one of us, at least this year.

Did you get fooled today?  Or did you get someone else with a great April Fools' joke?  Or what is the best April Fools' joke that you've seen or heard?

At I Heart Faces this week, they are looking for dramatic black and whites, pictures that are sensational or moody.  That is interesting.  Most of the pictures I take are of my kids, and while those three are plenty dramatic and moody, I am not sure that it's the kind of drama and moodiness that is being called for in this challenge.  That being said, I did take a picture last week that I thought captured a certain something and I figured it was worth a shot.  So, here goes...

When I do take my camera along with me, I take a lot of pictures.  Michaela is quite used to me clicking away, whether it's in Target or on the soccer field, in our dining room or in our yard.  She is always ready to smile.  It's hard to get a picture of her not smiling.  Of course, there are always the silly faces.  (I don't know where she gets that!  Ha!)  But most of the time, she sees the other side of my lens and immediately grins. 

At Christian's soccer game the other day I caught her with the zoom, so she didn't know that I was taking her picture.  I remember snapping this shot quickly and then going back to the game, so I didn't really know if it would turn out or not.  I also didn't know exactly what she looked like.  Once I saw it on the computer I was so happy.  I love it...I love her hair (the girl has such pretty hair), the tilt of her head, the way she has her lower lip caught under her top teeth.  I wonder what she's thinking.  Or what has captured her attention.   I like the negative space; to me it shows that there is something in the distance that she has her thoughtful eye on.

The color version of this picture is pretty, too.  I'll show it to you someday. 

There are an insane amount of photos entered into this challenge already...I am very curious to see what photo the guest judge, Tara Whitney, chooses as her favorite, as well as the runners-up.  Black and whites are so lovely, and there are so many different ways to convert (I'm assuming most of the pictures are digital).  Have fun perusing over at I Heart Faces, or get dramatic yourself and add a photo to the challenge!

This week at I Heart Faces they are asking for angles.  You can see so many different takes on this theme here.  I personally think it's fun to get direction like this...give me a way to go and I'll head down the path.  I subjected Michaela and Eliana to a little photo shoot this afternoon since they were home and I took a couple of pictures that were meh.  I tried hard to get something great of their eyes but I didn't go outside, so of course the light wasn't quite right.  Then I tried the angle from above.

I don't really know what makes a good picture.  I thought this was interesting.  It certainly shows off her beautiful dark eyelashes.  Her eyebrows are just like her dad's, as well as her Grandma Diana, and in this photo the line of her brow is quite noticeable; it comes up to a point rather than curves around like an arc.  You can see the scar on her nose, just a little, from an accident she had when she was almost 11 months old.  I don't really have a word for her mouth...I'll just say it's lovely.  This picture takes me to Wonderland. 

She is a sweet girl.  And a willing photograpy experimentee.  And she's much less wiggly than her younger sister.  I love her. 

(Not that I don't love wiggly little girls just as much.)

As I was getting Eliana ready for bed tonight I heard a great commotion upstairs; there was banging, and slamming, and scooting.  I was a little nervous about all that noise.  What could it mean, other than the contents of all of the bins of toys and paraphernalia were being emptied out onto the floor into a huge pile in order to rid me of my sanity problem once and for all.  

Oh, wait.  I am actually without any trace of sanity, so that couldn't be it. 

Maybe they were going to jump in it, like a leaf pile.  Or maybe they were going to try to catch it on fire by rubbing two Lincoln Logs together.  Or make a maze out of it.  I tried to quell my fears as I waited for Eliana to be sound asleep.

They finally came downstairs, calling for me softly.  Eliana was out so I walked into the hallway and prepared myself for this adventure.  (Read:  I quickly grabbed the camera.)

When we got to the top of the stairs Michaela opened her bedroom door and I saw...

the floor! 

It had been a while.

I was very proud that they had been up there cleaning, sweeping, and putting things away rather than emptying, spreading, and messing.  She even made her bed.  Sort of.  It's very hard to make; I am not quite sure what to do about it, actually.  That's another post, I suppose - Bedmaking 101.

Her room is a work-in-progress.  And it's been in progress for almost a year now.  When I think that we have lived in this house for a year (in about a month) it boggles my mind.  (Say that word over and over, and it no longer sounds like a word...boggle, boggle, boggle.)  All that is still left to do.  Again, another post for another time.  Or not.  You don't really want to know.

Back to Michaela's room...there are quite a few things left to do in there.  We have a fun print to hang on one of the walls (once we decide where all the furniture will end up).  Her desk needs to go back in there (it was relocated for the Valentine's Day surprise) and we need a chair for it (the desk) (it is very hard to find a reasonably priced desk chair for a kid).  There are also a few things that need to be weeded out just because she has gotten big for them (like the doll furniture, which will eventually end up in Eliana's room.  Which is a storage area right now.  Help!).  (Do the parentheses bother you?  I'm sorry.  I interrupt myself a lot.)

She was very excited about her clean room tonight.  She kept saying how much fun it was, and how she would help me clean the rest of the house now that she knew how much fun it was to clean. 

I'd better get started on my list for her!  It's going to be a long one.