Dancing, puzzles, and tumbling…

"I wanna make a jigsaw puzzle that's 40,000 pieces. And when you finish it, it says 'go outside."
-Demetri Martin

We have a new music player that the kids can talk to in order to make it play.  They’re favorite thing to do is tell it to play the Gummy Bear song, which is quickly followed by crazy running and jumping around the house.  Oh well, I suppose there are much worse ways to spend an evening.

Grandma helped out a bit this week while Mommy was traveling for work, and she helped entertain the kids with new games.  Ashlyn made some “donuts” to as dessert, and Daddy did his best to drop the kids off at the right schools.  We survived, and I think we’re all glad that Mommy is back.

Ashlyn got to show off her cheer chops this week when her class performed their routine they’ve been practicing.  Ashlyn yelled, clapped, jumped, and tumbled with the best of them.  She was excited afterwards, so I think there’s a strong possibility that Ashlyn will stay with cheer for a while.

We traveled to Houston this weekend for a friend’s birthday and Nina and Papa watched the kids while we were gone.  From what I’m told, they had a great time.  They played with puzzles, went to the park, and managed and not destroy everything in the house before we got back.

And here is Isla carrying a cat.

Grass and distractions…

"When you're a kid, you lay in the grass and watch the clouds going over, and you literally don't have a thought in your mind. It's purely meditation, and we lose that."
-Dick Van Dyke

Thanks to a grass fungus that killed the St. Augustine in the front yard, the majority of the weekend was spent joining our neighbors in replacing the grass in our front lawns.  While that was happening, the kids found other ways to entertain themselves.

James wanted a hard puzzle and Mommy was happy to show him how to get one started.  Why he chose “Where’s Waldo” as his first puzzle is beyond me, but he seemed interested in the challenge.  At least for a few minutes, then he wanted to play Transformers.  Ashlyn and James also got to play with some of the toys they got over the Easter weekend, including the 3D chalk.  I think they just liked the glasses.

Ashlyn and Isla spent time playing arts and crafts and together they made Mr. Fuzzy, which was their version of the classic Troll dolls but with blocks.  Two happy girls running around the house screaming “Mr. Fuzzy!” was not on the list of things we thought would happen this weekend.

Ashlyn’s cooking practice this week was breakfast.  Ashlyn made the eggs while PePa cooked the bacon.  The eggs were a bit on the creamy side thanks to extra milk, but they came out well and Ashlyn was pleased with the result.  Now if we could teach her to wash the pan afterwards, we’ll be in business.

And because the kids were cooped up in the house all day Saturday while we worked on the yard, they were able to successfully talk us into a trip to Chuck E. Cheese on Sunday.  It had all the excitement and joy that accompanies every trip to Chuck E. Cheese.

Eggs, candy, and a birthday…

"All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt!"
-Lucy Van Pelt, "Peanuts"

Yes, this was a week full of eggs and candy.  But it was also a special week for another reason entirely:  Mommy’s birthday!  James was excited to deliver the birthday presents and Ashlyn was more than happy to continue her cooking career by making the birthday dessert.  We even tried going to a restaurant with three children in tow.  We quickly realized why we don’t go out to eat with them very often, and for her part Mommy put up with all the attention like a trooper.  Happy birthday Mommy!

The kids had four Easter egg hunts this weekend.  Four.  In one weekend.  It started in our neighborhood, like last year the kids ran around the pond picking up eggs.  Ashlyn and James picked up so many that their baskets were overflowing, so they started helping pick up eggs for the little kids.

The second hunt was at our house in the morning.  The kids woke up early and started taking turns running into our room yelling “get up!”  We eventually caved in, crawled out of bed, and went downstairs so they could tear apart their Easter buckets and explain to us why it’s ok to eat candy for breakfast (hint:  It’s fat free!).  When it got light out (did I mention they woke up early?) the kids took their baskets and ran around the backyard picking up more eggs and candy.

On our way to Easter egg hunt #3 we stopped at a park to take a few pictures in the Easter outfits.  It turned out mostly well, trying to get three kids to take a good picture at the same time was about as successful as you would expect, but we had fun.

At Nina and Papa’s the kids got to make their own Easter Rice Krispy Treats, chase down yet more eggs, and crack several dozen confetti eggs on Daddy’s head.  After the headache went away, we all enjoyed a lunch together which was followed by the traditional adult egg hunt, which has turned into another kid hunt in recent years.

We finished the weekend at Grandma and Grampa’s house, where we enjoyed some great étouffée, soccer, tag, and yet more eggs and candy.  After we got back home, we looked at around at what can only be called a disaster area.  Legos, stuffed animals, candy, plastic eggs, toys, pencils, bubbles, and more are covering the floor.  We’re going to spend the next week cleaning this place up.  Luckily, we have enough sugar to keep the kids moving for the next quarter.

Thanks everyone for another great Easter weekend!

Cooking and the beginnings of Easter

"I do not stick to rules when cooking.  I rely on my imagination."
-Akshay Kumar

Easter has begun with the Grapevine Easter Festival.  Each of the kids got to do an Easter Egg hung with kids in their age group, so the typical arguments of “candy does not count as a meal” followed for the rest of the weekend.  Ashlyn got to hang out with Victor E. Green, the Dallas Stars mascot while James played with a new friend he found in the petting zoo.  Isla mostly looked around at all the activity and tried to eat all the candy in her basket when she didn’t get anyone was looking.  Sneaky thing.

Chef Ashlyn has continued her training with Chef Mom by making chicken and dumplings.  She even used the chef knife, under constant supervision of course, and make a pretty good meal.  Ashlyn even has a sous chef for a short period of time, even though the help wasn’t very helpful.

Easter feels like it’s already here, with great Spring weather and baskets full of eggs.  And we’ve just started.