"Easter is the only time of the year when it’s perfectly safe to put all your eggs in one basket."
-Kurt Avish
One of the primary responsibilities of a parent is to teach your children. This week, James taught me a lesson that I’ve already shared and applied at the office. The moon was up in the sky, and James seeing it excitedly yelled “Moon! Reach it!”. He was unable to reach it of course and asked me to reach it instead. I reached up as high as I could, but told James that it was too high for daddy too. James looked at the me, then the moon, and back at me again before saying “Get ladder”. I stared at him for a few moments, and couldn’t help but laugh. James didn’t see the impossible, he only saw a solution. It’s a good lesson for all of us, especially us old parents who too often start with why something can’t be done instead of looking for ways to do it. Thanks James.
While James was humbling his poor old dad, Ashlyn was showing off her jumping skills. She really is getting good, she has an impressive amount of control in the air for her age.
On a completely unrelated note, be careful what you ask for when you request help from children with setting the table.
Friday was Mom’s birthday, and we celebrated by cooking steaks after the kids went to bed. The kids were more than happy to give Mom her presents and then quickly open them for her. Such helpful creatures. Happy birthday Mom!!
The first of five Easter Egg hunts was this weekend at the Bedford Boy’s Ranch. We’ve done this every year since Ashlyn could walk and the kids still have a good time with it. This year they had a big blow up slide and Ashlyn went up and back down like a champ. When it was time for the actual hunt, James spent so much time opening his eggs that Ashlyn filled up both baskets herself. After the hunt the kids played at the park and James made friends with a girl eating a cookie. He saw her eating the cookie and sat next to her on the bench in hopes that she would be willing to share. I guess she couldn’t resist the baby blues.
Nina came over after the kids had recovered from the hunt and she brought Cousin Ben over with her. The kids had a great time playing outside with their cousin.
With Easter approaching, Mom thought it was time to decorate Easter eggs. It started off innocently enough until James learned that they broke open. After that we saw the difference between girls and boys. Ashlyn decorated her eggs different colors while James made a big mess with his. He kept saying “Eww, gross” followed by dumping the eggs back and forth and breaking them up. At least he tried to clean up. Only Ashlyn’s eggs survived.
And finally, it’s time for “Art with Ashlyn”. At quiet time today Ashlyn drew five pictures, but these were our favorites. The one on the left is “James being mad because his pickle is stuck to the wall and he can’t reach it”. The one on the right is “Mommy with a baby sister in her belly”. Such talent!