Happy Easter!

"Easter is the only time of the year when it's perfectly safe to put all your eggs in one basket."
-Unknown

Editor’s note:  Ashlyn is a big fan of Easter Egg hunts.  Despite all the pictures you will see below, she was still wanting to hunt Easter eggs right up until she went to bed.  She was happy with the Easter Egg hunts all in all, but she declared this evening that “I wanted to find more eggs but Uncle Jeff took them all and I didn’t tell him that he was a bad Uncle Jeff for taking all the eggs”.  I tried to explain that Auntie Sisa is notorious for knocking people over in her attempt to get eggs, and that Uncle Jeff isn’t the one to blame, but you know how difficult it can be to reason with a 3 year old.

The first Easter events started at Grandma and Grandpa Wolfe’s house.  Eggs were evident everywhere as we pulled up and the first hunt was underway shortly after arriving.  Ashlyn scored a good number of eggs and even had some help from Cousin Heidi.  After the festivities, James sat down with some quality time with the grandparents.  I have a great video of James laughing with Grandpa, and I’m hoping to have time this week to upload it so we can share it with you next weekend.  It’s a good one.  We also took the opportunity for what was the first of many rides on swings.  Does any kid not like the swings?

Saturday was a busy day.  We started with a trip to the Bedford Boy’s Ranch for their annual Easter Egg Hunt.  We missed the hunt thanks to gymnastics in the morning and a frantic yet lengthy process of getting the car packed and kids in their seats for the trip.  So we missed the hunt, but Ashlyn posed for a picture with the Easter Bunny, which is a first for her.  She started by giving Elly (her stuffed bunny) to the Easter Bunny, then she gave the Easter Bunny a hug, then the Easter Bunny slowly pulled her up onto his lap.  Ashlyn hung on to Elly for dear life, but she didn’t cry and was proud of herself afterwards.  Maybe we’ll finally get that Santa picture this year.

After the bunny, it was off to the lake where we were greeted with even more Easter eggs.  Ashlyn had her own yard of eggs to find but wasn’t satisfied and so get in on the action with the Big People Easter Hunt (this is where Uncle Jeff got in trouble).  We had a lot of fun spending time with the family, and the kids had a great time on the new playground swings.  Ashlyn has graduated from the toddler swing and is now flying through the air on the regular swing.  I think I scared Nina and Auntie Sisa with the height Ashlyn was getting, but check out those pictures and tell me if there was anything to worry about.

Sunday came all too soon and we reluctantly got back in the car for the trip back home.  We were worried that the Easter Bunny may have skipped our house because we were in Granbury, but that was not the case.  This was fortunate, because it had been almost 24 hours since Ashlyn’s last Easter Egg hunt and we were afraid she was going to go into withdraw.  The confetti eggs were a big hit, but instead of cracking them on Mom or Dad Ashlyn liked to carefully pour the confetti in her hand and then throw it in the air.

And so our Easter weekend is coming to a close, and as the sun fades all we’re left with is fond memories, a 3 year old hyped up on chocolate, and a house that I don’t think will ever recover.  Happy Easter everyone. 

Baby shark!

“Sharky, the friendly shark, but not too friendly…”
-Eddie Izzard

If you recall Ashlyn’s journey to movement, she earned the nickname “Crab” from the way she slid around the floor.  James has earned his own nickname, “Baby Shark”.  This is partly because James will slowly crawl his way across the floor towards you if you’re doing something interesting or non-baby safe, but mostly because Mom thinks putting his hair in a mohawk is funny.  Thus, the nickname “Baby Shark”.

Ashlyn’s favorite color changes by the year and this year it’s blue.  For dinner this week, she chose a blue cup, blue spoon, blue plate, and blue spaghetti while wearing a blue shirt.  Not featured are blue socks and blue pants.

When she’s not making messes, Ashlyn is cleaning them up.  Kind of.  She means well, and I think she accomplishes some decent rinsing.  And no, we don’t color coordinate every dinner and cleaning outfit.

The Internet is a wonderful thing, and Mom finds all sorts of fun things for Ashlyn to do.  This weekend was an experiment with shaving cream, food coloring, and an art easel.  If the amount of time Ashlyn spent painting was any indication, it was a success.  James even got in on the action with a little sensory play in the shaving cream.  It only took him 3 seconds before he tried to eat it.

Last week I reported that James was cruising, and this week he is continuing his rapid development with big boy crawling.  He’s not consistent yet, but he’s starting to get up on his knees more as he’s learned that he can move and get things more quickly that way.  So now he’s crawling everywhere, standing on everything, and all in all having a good time of being a baby.  We’re just a few short months away from moving into official “toddler” status.

Cousin Ben made a visit this weekend, which is always fun.  Ashlyn paused in her efforts to run around the house for a quick picture, and James just smiled..

Easter is fast approaching, and this year we thought it would be fun to decorate some eggs.  Ashlyn enjoyed the activity and actually managed to keep from dying half the kitchen in various Easter colors. 

Baby Shark!

Gardens, parks, and shamrocks…

“May you always walk in sunshine.
May you never want for more.
May Irish angels rest their wings
beside your child's door.”
-Irish blessing

We’ve shared pictures of Ashlyn playing with James and of James smiling or laughing at Ashlyn.  From this point forward we’ll be able to start adding pictures of Ashlyn teaching James as well.  Whether it’s showing him different fruits, how to play with beans, or how to make lots of noise with pans and kitchen utensils, Ashlyn is imparting upon him the knowledge she has gained in her three long years of life.  Good luck James.

Friday was an off-day for Mom and the weather was nice enough for a trip to the park with a few cousins.  James got to take a ride in his first bucket swing and had a good time of it.  Ashlyn even got in on the action and gave him a few pushes.  In between rounds on the swing, James hung out with a few ladies while Ashlyn went down the slide with her doll Violet and played with Heidi.

Spring is here and it was time to plant vegetables in the backyard garden.  Ashlyn picked carrots and broccoli.  We didn’t see broccoli at the store, but we did find a bag of carrot seeds and we let Ashlyn plant them.  We started by digging a row the length of the garden for the seeds to be sowed in, and then Ashlyn poured the entire bag of seeds in two spots.

We found quite a few garden snakes while getting everything ready for the planting.  I’m not sure whether the pictures below are representative of the differences between boys and girls, or just Ashlyn and James.  Ashlyn still won’t touch the little snakes, although she did pick up a grub and carry it around for some reason.  James on the other hand chased the snake around the blanket and almost pulled it apart in his excitement.  The third picture below has nothing to do with the snake, I just liked it.

Sunday was St. Patrick’s Day, the day where I get to fill the house with Celtic music all day long and not get yelled at because it’s “educating the children on other cultures”.  It’s also an excuse to make a traditional Irish meal.  This year was a basic Irish stew, champ, and soda bread.  I had a few helpers this year too.  Ashlyn made the bread, which she was very proud of.  James mostly stole the measuring spoons and showed off his standing ability in the living room.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!