The Dieckman Family: April 2023

Easter 2023

Easter was on an unseasonably warm day, which we were all thankful for. The girls were able to wear sundresses to church and Avery was able to wear shorts. A week prior to Easter, which happened to be spring break for Concordia, Oma and Amelia were madly sewing at Oma's sweat shop trying like the dickens to complete the top and skirt pictured below, so Amelia could wear it Easter morning. Not only did they get it done, but Amelia saw it as either a stroke of luck or divine intervention on God's part that we had such beautiful weather, and she was able to comfortably wear her new digs to Easter church service!

The Easter Bunny delivered eggs to the park and everyone 'willing' participated in the hunt. Aggie authentically enjoyed the hunt, Audrey happily participated in the hunt, and the older two completed the hunt. They are all at different seasons in life.

With the beautiful weather, Shane and I hosted lunch on our back patio. Oma & Opa and Mimi & Papa joined. We played several rounds of Sleeping Queens and threw in a game of old school charades. We wrapped our day up with egg dying and a resurrection cross, which is a favorite for Audrey.

Amelia turns 16!

On a gorgeous day in April, my beautiful Amelia turned 16. Amelia is such a treasure. She is kind, sweet, friendly, giving, caring, and an over all lovely person. We are so very lucky to have her as a daughter. She brings sunshine and joy to our lives daily and constantly reminds us to delight in the everyday. I am thankful God decided she should be part of our family. Life is better when Amelia is around! She requested a strawberry layered cake for her birthday which we accompanied with a blackberry ice cream.

These are the things I want to remember as Amelia transitions from 15 to 16.

1. You are a scaredy-cat by nature and learning to drive is stretching your nervous system beyond its bounds of comfort.

2. You always have a story when you come home from school and enjoy an audience when you have 'tea' to share.

3. Chemistry has been a "tale of woe" from the beginning of first semester until now. You will rejoice when you no longer have to take a class with Mr. Love.

4. For your birthday you wanted a second ear piercing. It took you forever to get your 1st, but your 2nd was less than a year later. Dad might be a little worried.

5. Your room is usually a disaster. However, we are working on some Atomic Habits, and as of late, we are starting to see the carpet on your side of the room more regularly these days.

6. Recently, you read Song of Achilles, and couldn't believe how much you enjoyed a book about a romantic love story between Achilles and Patroclus.

7. This past March, you found a summer job as a swim instructor and have loved working with kids during your training.

8. Knowing you would have a jam packed summer and wanting to ensure you would still able to model for the Gage Country Fair, you used you Spring Break to sew a cute top and skirt set with Oma. The finished product has 'you' written all over it.

9. Movie night is still one of your favorite "family night" activities. After reading Romeo and Juliet in school, the flick Rosline quickly rose to the top of "favorite movie night movies" with its retelling from the jilted ex point of view.

10. You have a major weakness for treats. Dairy Chef is open, and anytime you can exploit Dad's lack of temperance for ice cream, you readily do so.

March Happenings: Part 2

Audrey participated in the Concordia's Children Fair and sold homemade ice cream sandwiches. She was thrilled to sell out and plans on perfecting her product and selling them again next year.

Her TCA friend Lillian participated as well.

Audrey's CC friends.

Aggie and Brantley together again!

Library day is one of Aggie's favorite days of the week.

Shane is happy to report that Dairy Chef opened on St. Patrick's Day. Avery and I kindly sacrificed ourselves and waited in line for over 20 minutes for a Dairy Chef run.

We had a late snow and finally were able to build our first snowman.

Avery thought our snowman needed hair.

Aggie is always begging for a piggyback ride from whoever will give her one. Audrey is almost always a sure bet.

Aggie's state presentation on Hawaii.

Aggie's American history project.

March Happenings

A lovely drawing Aggie made for me.

For Audrey's cell parts project, she made a zoo.

Avery dressed up for the "black-out" at the Boy's State Basketball Tournament.

My grammar/comp students at TCA.

Avery at the State Robotics Tournament. He really wanted to go to World's but missed the cutoff for finals. He is gunning for next year. Making it to World's is a bucket list item before he graduates.

Although Amelia's basketball season was tainted with team issues, she finished it was some nice accolades. The ups and downs of basketball have given Amelia a place to work on being more assertive, setting boundaries, and not putting her head in the sand.

February Happenings: Part 2

Shane is a dreamer. We visited an outdoorsman showcase looking for kayak with pedal drive. He envisions himself fishing with Finn calmly sitting in the back.