Easter Eggs

Music Time and some Tidbits

This week we made shoebox guitars with rubber bands.

Enjoy the aftermath.

I particularly love the highly uninterested dockie drumming on the cookie sheet.

We have had another busy week.  We went to a local parks program.

The view was gorgeous.  But the program...well, I'm pretty sure that a program geared towards ages 1-5 should not contain a powerpoint presentation!

Our favorite new snack:  apple petals.

Seriously, these kids have consumed an insane amount of apples in the past two weeks.

The Eagle's Nest

Yes, I finally convinced the kids to go to the babysitting center at Giant Eagle.  I was able to grocery shop, with only the baby in tow.  IT WAS AMAZING!  Just don't tell Giant Eagle that Ava isn't 3 for another two weeks.  

Kid Tidbits

Driving in the car one day, Carter out of the blue said to me, did you know that Santa Claus and my Dad can do magic?  I'm not sure if he is referring to your amazing quarter behind the ear trick, but he certainly puts you on a high pedestal Mike!

We also went to a local YMCA pool that has a shallow pool for young children with a very small water slide.  I was so proud of Ava, she was very brave and went down the water slide.  Although I was at the bottom to catch her, she had to plunge into the water.  Pretty scary for a non-swimming not quite three year old, but she did it at least three times!

Dawson on the other hand, DID NOT LIKE THE POOL.  He clung to me like a wet cat.  He cried and fussed and fussed and cried for the entire hour and a half we were there.  This surprises me because this boy LOVES the tub.  He splashes and splishes to his heart content.  But he wanted nothing to do with the pool.  It wasn't even cold, it was very warm.  Hmmm, we are going to need to fix that before this summer, because I am planning lots of time at our community pool.

Home

Life has been so busy lately.  I am constantly cleaning, organizing, working on projects, getting things to complete projects and that doesn't even include taking care of the kids and hopefully teaching them a little something too.  I want the house to be 110% completed NOW!  But as Mike keeps trying to tell me "You can't boil the ocean."  Although we have been in the house for almost two months it still hasn't felt quite like home to me at least.  I keep wandering around thinking "Wow, how pretty!  Is this really OUR house?"  I forgot that we needed to take time to enjoy it.  This weekend we made Saturday morning waffles, and cuddled on the couch with our little guys.  These little moments help.  Kids are so resilient, I realize they are having none of these same thoughts.  In their little minds, this is home from the second we moved in.  Although Ava did mention the other day, "remember Drew Drive Mommy, I had a friend Elliana there."  I was pretty surprised, I never imagined she would have memories of our first house.  But she was telling me about their swing set, Dawson's room and her little bed when she slept with Carter.  Anyways, here are some pictures of us settling into our new house.

Dawson has been learning how to agitate from the best.  He took off his sock and was sticking his toes into Carter's ear.  Looking at Carter's face he was not happy with this development.  I love the look of mischief on Dawson's face.  

     

Spring has sprung!

We have been outside and enjoying every second of it.

Setting traps

and smelling the flowers.

Life

We had a wonderful weekend with Meme, Grandpap Bob and Nana this weekend, celebrating Nana's birthday and St. Patrick's Day.  The kids had a blast this year making a leprechaun trap.  It consisted of a crate, with a rope strung through it, various items in the crate and hangars hanging off the rope.  It did indeed catch a leprechaun, and they were suprised with some candy, dollar bills and a book.  Carter tried to wake up at 6 am to go check the trap.  Luckily I was able to catch him and make him lay back down.  

Carter with his creation:  a sunflower.  The box below it is to catch the seeds when they fall!  I had just open a pot and pan set when he scavenged all the cardboard pieces.  Of course Ava used the circular cardboard pieces to make crowns.

I am sad to report that our new couch has become an excellent trampoline.  I am trying to curtail the roughhousing, but it doesn't seem to be working. Their favorite game so far:  "Hey Mom, do you want to play hot lava in your eyeball?"  Um no.  I think I'll pass.

Credit where credit is due:  Dawson is growing up and every single day he becomes a sweeter baby.  Mike and I have remarked many times lately, wow! Can you believe how great Dawson is being?  His first fourteen months were filled with crying and crankiness.  He was happy and sweet as long as he was on my hip or being held.  This makes it pretty difficult for a mother of three young children.  As he gets older it has become very clear that he also has a little bit of a temper.  The other day I allowed Ava and Carter to play on the back porch while I cooked dinner.  Dawson was not allowed outside.  The minute I closed the screen door and he realized he was not allowed to go outside he threw a fit and then BIT ME!  Although I just realized I started this paragraph explaining how great he has been recently and followed it up with a story about his temper.  So here is one about his sweetness:  today he played spider baby with me.  We put the spiderman mask on him and he crawled around while I chased him.  I would give him "spider baby tickles" and he giggled non-stop for about fifteen minutes.  There really isn't anything better than toddler giggles.  

  

Pictures from this week

Goodyear Blimp Baby

Hmmm, wonder who got him that shirt?

Hand me down ballerina costume from cousin Riley.  HUGE HIT.

Fierce.  Fearless.  Four.

Mom, seriously I can have this?  It's great!

I had to take a picture of this, one of the very few moments when all three were playing peacefully together.  Ava and Carter can play well together, but usually adding in the baby leads to yelling because he's touching something, moving something, eating something.  The usual for a baby.

Thanks Aunt Tiff and Uncle Jay for the great St. Patrick's Day gear!

This is his nonchalant puppy face.

Well, we are off to enjoy more of this beautiful weather.  Although Dawson and I will have to wake the big kids up first.  They are still sleeping at 3:45!  All this fresh air has really taken it out of them!

Gorgeous Spring Day

Today we had gorgeous spring weather with highs in the mid 60's.  It was amazing.  The kids spent almost the entire day outside.  They took a walk down to the pond in our neighborhood to look at the ducks with Daddy.  They also were invited by some neighbor kids to play in the woods.  Carter, Ava, Dawson and Daddy spent lots of time playing with these kids.  Apparently there was a stick fighting contest, although the kids weren't actually fighting each other, just showing off their awesome moves.  Our little two year old Ava was declared the winner by a group of 6 and 7 year old boys!  That is hilarious to me!  But she really does have some amazing moves.  As the winner of the stick fighting contest she was declared the boss of the day, a title that suites Ava well.  I can imagine it was wonderful soaking up a little vitamin D and fresh air.  Of course it was my luck that I was in the house all day with a nasty stomach virus.  I didn't even get off the couch until after four o'clock.  Luckily the rest of this week should be equally beautiful, so I should be able to enjoy it.  I'm praying and crossing my fingers that no one else gets sick.