Easter 2011

For our family this year, Easter meant dyeing eggs, hunting eggs, making bunny cookies, filling baskets, and of course, celebrating Easter Sunday at church. While it's fun seeing these things through the eyes of your children, it can leave a mommy feeling pretty worn out--especially when trying to complete all the tasks listed above with a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old. In fact, after trying to manage 4 little hands dyeing eggs, I was downright grumpy! But time has a way of softening memories, and I'm sure I'll only remember the fun parts...until I reread this blog one day! I guess I should just be grateful that we only experienced one egg casualty (see picture above) and that one was actually my fault :)

The kids were pretty fascinated by the whole dyeing process. Doesn't Ethan look thrilled? That's his new picture face.

Normally our church does a huge Easter egg hunt, but due to construction, we weren't able to have it this year. I really wanted Ethan to have a chance to hunt eggs too, so we had our own little egg hunt Easter morning after the kids went through their baskets. It took Ethan a few minutes to get the hang of it, but luckily he had his big sister to show him the ropes.

Then we got ready for church. They were fine to stand by each other, but we couldn't get them to both look at the camera and smile at the same time without pulling on some part of their clothing. Sigh. One of these days I will get a good sibling shot!

Once we got home (and after some much-needed naps!), the kids got to play with their Easter goodies. Ethan loved blowing his "Easter bubbles." He was actually quite good at it.

Kaitlyn is our little nature lover, so the Easter bunny brought her a butterfly (or bug or fish) net so that she can examine small creatures a little more closely this summer. She was SO excited when a butterfly visited our yard. But alas, it alluded her repeated attempts to capture it. Now if I can just convince her that the soon-to-arrive cicadas are actually fun to watch, then that net will get LOTS of use! But since I can't stand the creepy red-eyed things, I may have trouble convincing her.

Now off to rest, write papers, and get ready for Kaitlyn's birthday party next week!

Kaitlyn's Easter Party

Kaitlyn's preschool class had their Easter Party/Egg Hunt today at school. There was yummy food, a cake decorating activity, a live bunny and, of course, the egg hunt!

Kaitlyn's class (minus two friends who were absent today)

Icing their own cupcakes and seeing what happens when you mix colors together

All lined up ready for the egg hunt

The hunt lasted about 5 minutes.

Kaitlyn and her best pals, Halle and Meredith. This trio is inseparable at school!

Sweet Friends

A couple of weeks ago, Kaitlyn got to explore the Discovery Center with her dear friend Hannah. These two love each other so much and play together very well. I'm looking forward to many more adventures with these sweet girls!

Catching Up...

A few weeks ago, we all went down to my mom's house for the weekend. It was cold and rainy, and we spent most of the time indoors. Fortunately, my mom saved lots of toys from my childhood, so the kids always keep themselves pretty entertained while we're there. Sometimes, though, you just need to sit and chill in front of the TV. Truthfully, I think the adults needed them to chill in front of the TV for a little bit too! And in case you're wondering, yes, that is Santa on the screen. Apparently my kids haven't figured out yet that you usually don't watch Christmas movies in the springtime :) I didn't have the heart to break it to them.

Love the zombie look. This is why they don't get to watch much TV!

Are those really my children lying so peacefully next to each other?

Pure cuteness!

Ethan's 1st Haircut

This adventure didn't go so well, as you can see in the pictures below. The downward spiral started with the cape. We tried to describe it as a fun "superhero" cape, but that didn't fly at all. When Steve (the hairstylist) tried to put it on, Ethan swatted at that cape with all the anger and frustration that a 2-year-old can manage. We ditched the cape, but it was too late. He was in full meltdown mode. So Steve started snipping quickly.

So pitiful...

Enormous tears!

We tried bribing with candy, but to no avail.

He's getting really angry now!

Finally it was over!

I really hope his hair grows very slowly.

Ethan's 2nd Birthday

Somehow, my "baby" boy is now 2! I'm not quite sure how two whole years have elapsed already, but the calendar assures me that they have. We had a small family-only celebration for his big day. He loves trains, so I decided to go with a Thomas theme. The cake came with some train toys. Ethan "helped" me blow out the candles and seemed to enjoy all the attention.

When it came time to eat the cake, he was very eager to dig in. However, he couldn't figure out how to eat it. He first tried to take a bite by picking the whole piece up with his hands. But he didn't like getting frosting on his hand, so he would set the piece back down and say "Uh-oh" until someone wiped his hands clean. He tried this method a few times without success. Then he tried to use a fork to break off a piece, but his little hands just couldn't coordinate the action well enough. I offered to cut it into small pieces for him so he could use his fork and he adamantly refused. This little one hates for his food to be cut in any way after it reaches his plate (if you cut it before you give it to him, it's apparently fine). So he was in a pickle. He desperately wanted the cake, but he couldn't figure out a way to eat it without getting his hands messy and without having the piece "ruined" by cutting. I felt bad for him (it was his birthday after all!!), so I cut him a second piece of cake and cut it into small pieces before I put it on his plate. He happily gobbled it down without a second's hesitation. Notice that the original piece sits untouched in the middle of his plate while he scarfs down the smaller pieces :)

Then came time for present opening.

It was a nice sunny day outside, so he got to enjoy some time outside.

A family picture.

Uncle Andrew and Aunt Lindsey were able to join us. Gran was there too. Kaitlyn's already making plans for her birthday in May. She has already requested a princess cake.

Happy Birthday, sweet Ethan! I can't wait to see what new and exciting things this year has in store for you.

Kaitlyn's Spring Program

Kaitlyn's preschool held their spring program last week before spring break. Each class featured a book by Eric Carle, and Kaitlyn's class chose "The Grouchy Ladybug". They painted ladybug shirts to wear, and they sang several songs about ladybugs. Although I wouldn't call Kaitlyn an enthusiastic performer, she actually opened her mouth a few times on stage and mouthed some words. We're making progress! :)

Here is a picture of her whole class on stage. I know that Kaitlyn is tall for her age, but I guess I didn't realize just how tall until I saw her standing in a line with her friends. To be fair, though, several of the kids in her class are a few months younger than her. But since there are no short genes on either side of our family, I don't think they'll be catching up to her any time soon!

After each class performed their songs, all of the kids got back up on stage and sang some group songs. Kaitlyn was more interested in watching us in the audience. I can't believe that next year will be her last year of preschool. I can't even fathom kindergarten.

Otter

The kids in Kaitlyn's preschool class get to take turns taking the class "pet" home over the weekend. It's a very big deal. This large stuffed monkey is named Otter and the kids are supposed to document their adventures with Otter through pictures so that they can share their stories with the rest of their class. Kaitlyn got to bring him home a couple of weeks ago, and these are some of the things that Otter got to do at our house.

Otter and Kaitlyn "cooked" together.

They made Valentines for all of Kaitlyn's friends at preschool.

Kaitlyn, Otter and many other fluffy friends attended "school" where they learned about letters.

Kaitlyn and I were both sick during the Super Bowl, so we stayed home together while the boys went to our lifegroup party. She watched the game for about two minutes...

...before she moved on to more interesting things, like playing Tic-Tac-Toe.

Due to illness and snow, Kaitlyn missed a week of school, so we wound up taking care of Otter for a really long time! Poor Otter lost his novelty and wound up in her closet for several days...good thing he wasn't a real, live pet!

January

I know that it's winter and everything, but we are quite ready to be done with winter weather around here. In January, we have had several bouts with snow, one that dumped several inches on us and shut down most schools for a week. We tried to make the most of it on the first day by building the requisite snowman. The kids had fun for a while and the snowman stuck around for several days...because it took that long for temps to get back above freezing! After the snowman adventure, neither kid expressed any interest in going outside for more snow play--which was fine by me!

Very little happened during the month that was truly blog-worthy. But I did capture a couple of slice-of-life moments that I want to remember. First, it must be tough being a little brother with a big sister. Ethan looks up to her so much and wants to do everything she does. So it makes perfect sense that when Kaitlyn dresses up in a costume necklace that he would want to participate as well. And Kaitlyn eagerly indulges him. I wonder at what point he will realize that boys usually aren't thrilled to wear pink necklaces?

At least he has a "manly" shirt on :)

My birthday turned out to be a gorgeous day weather-wise--finally a much-needed break from the cold dreariness! So we eagerly packed up the kids and headed outside for the day. My aviation-loving husband suggested we go to the Fly-In at a local airport. The kids, of course, absolutely loved seeing all the planes up close. And there was plenty of room for them to run around and work off lots of energy.

They had an old restored World War II (?) fighter plane at the Fly-In. We got to watch it take off and fly around a bit. Pretty cool!

Kaitlyn is really, really into artwork these days. Give her some paper and some writing utensils (preferably markers or colored pencils), throw in some stickers, and she is good to go for at least an hour. She loves writing her name (and other words) and drawing pictures of things--things that I can actually recognize! She can write about half of the alphabet well and the other half--well, she's still working on those :) Ethan, of course, is right there with her, coloring on his pages and making his own art. Every once in a while, he'll bring me a crayon and announce its color, then he'll return to his project. It's really quite cute--not to mention a life-saver when I really need them occupied for a while.

On this particular day, the kids were happily coloring together when I decided to get out the Dustbuster and clean a bit. Both kids love to help with chores (in fact, they're downright giddy when I announce that it's time to put away laundry. Wonder how long that will last?). So Ethan dropped his crayons and came begging to help with the vacuuming. Notice that Kaitlyn is still at her art table, a little less eager to leave her project...until she sees Ethan with the Dustbuster. Now I've already mentioned that Ethan loves to do whatever Kaitlyn is doing, but it's actually a two-way street. Kaitlyn can't stand to see Ethan getting a "privilege" that she isn't getting, especially one that comes with attention from a parent. So about 2 seconds after I took this picture of Ethan below, guess who drops her crayons and comes begging for her "turn."

Yep, you guessed it! Now if I could only find a way to foster this enthusiasm of chores so that it doesn't fade as they get older!!