Easter Bunny Pays a Visit

Whew! Are you sick of reading yet? Last night Kai realized that the Easter Bunny has never brought him a present--he has always hidden eggs though. Easter is always right around his birthday and I never thought to buy him more "stuff"!

Well, this year, I decided it would be okay if the Easter Bunny left what I thought would be tasteful and meaningful presents. Kai wrote the Easter Bunny a note and left him some carrots and lettuce (we figured out EB might not have left gifts because we weren't feeding him). The note to EB was Kai's first attempt at a joke: "Easter Bunny, Have you ever seen an Easter Bunny bringing tulips home?" We won't see Kai on Comedy Central anytime soon, but I thought it was an adorable little note!

Easter Bunny left each kid a lovely potted flower and he even got into my wool (according to Kai) and sewed and felted some little surprises: caterpillars in a leaf and little chicks. He was also nice enough to only leave each child 5 pieces of candy. Kai knew he had to wait to eat it until after breakfast, but Tea found her candy and ate it all at 7 am!

We started the day with a breakfast of creamed hardboiled eggs on toast. My all-time favorite breakfast! The rest of the day was LONG since Kai woke up at 6 am, but we had a good time and I'm glad it's over. Now I have to get ready for Kai's 5th birthday next Sunday and Tea's 2nd birthday the Sunday after that!!

First Day of Spring

What an anticipated day! I think the birds even knew it was the first day of spring. They were chirping like mad! We blew eggs in the morning and used their insides for french toast. I love the hollowed eggs but the process looked and sounded a lot like nose blowing so I left that business to Jevon and Kai.

We went to lunch at Cherry Street and heard some bluegrass music. Tea LOVED it and said her usual "so so happy" business. She had the best time and was dancing in her seat. I couldn't say no to ice cream on the way back to the van--it was so beautiful outside. We had the happiest person wait on us--his happiness was infectious! Tea was super stylish that day--she found a swimsuit and wanted to wear it but not completely so she just had it on her arms. Some lady asked her if we were going swimming; I said "no, this was just want she wanted to wear today." (Tea made an even bigger fashion statement on Saturday with her rainbow striped turtleneck, with a floral halter over the top, striped tights, purple leggings, pink and orange striped shorts, orange rufflely shorts over that and orange neon shorts over THAT. The outfit was completed with a pair of too big ladybug rain boots. There was no negotiating on this outfit. She was going to wear it or else!)

We bought potted tulips on the way home and then planted little flower seeds and wheatgrass in pots outside. Gigi sent the kids pinwheels and they had great fun zipping around the yard, watching them whirl.

The Moments I Want to Remember

Being a mom is definitely the hardest job I've ever had and some days can be so incredibly challenging and completely exhausting. Kai is an especially challenging little person and he's been having more bad days than good lately, saying he hates me, his sister, living with us, etc. (Luckily, it's every other day that's bad so we have some really good days mixed in). Then there's Tea, who's not yet two and thinks the world is grand. All day long she says, "Mommy, I'm so happy, so so happy." Yin and yang I guess. I am thankful to have them both around.

These pictures crack me up and remind me how wonderful and quirky my kids are. I know the days are long but the years are short. Writing this blog helps me keep this in perspective and allows me to reflect on the fun moments.

I love Tea with the dueling pacifiers. She's teething like crazy and sticks one on each side of her mouth to chew on. She even goes to bed this way. And then there's some pictures of the two of them just being sweet together...

St. Patrick's Day

What a crazy week of holidays! St. Patrick's Day was so rainy--it felt and sounded like we got 4 inches! We stayed inside and read about leprechauns and listened to snippets of Celtic music on Amazon. Then I remember that I had some Irish music--U2 and Enya. Kai loves the U2 War CD but he didn't enjoy Enya. We printed out some Celtic knots to color and then around 5 pm went downtown to listen to Irish music. Jevon pulled out his Pogues CD and we listened to that on the way and Kai absolutely loved it--he said it was "wild music."
Dinner and music at the pub was fun but a little loud and crowded. It felt good to get out on a holiday instead of just staying home.
Tea's hair was outrageously curly--a combination of a bath, some conditioner and extreme humidity. Made me think I shouldn't cut her hair just yet. I just need to bathe her more and then it won't be a tangled mess!

Spring is finally here!

Spring officially begins at 11:48 CST tonight! I am so excited and SO tired of winter and clouds! It has been pouring rain the last few days and we've had flash flood warnings. Today the sun came out and Kai's scowl finally went away. Yesterday he hated everything, especially his sister and wanted to live somewhere else. I joked that daycare was always an option and he really didn't like that. Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse....

He woke up today happy and made some toys for sister before she woke up. They played great together the entire day and there was LOTS of giggling. Phew! I really thought I was going to lose my mind yesterday. I'm just so thankful things improved.

I cut Kai's hair today too, which totally helped. He was starting to look like a grungy teenager, with that scowl to match. He hates having his hair cut. I understand. I am supersensitive too and those little hairs feel like razors. But sometimes when you need a haircut and don't realize it, you can get awfully grumpy.

Here are some pics to prove the sun was out and my kids were having a good time. I brought up the spring clothes and Tea immediately snatched this adorable little dress and had to put it on (by the way, that's her "nursie bra" underneath--she had to nurse bunny today and lifted it up to do so!). She looked so cute. I think she'll have to wear it on her birthday next month.

Pictures

Here's some more pictures. Tea loves to imitate her brother. Here they are jumping and doing other fun things!

I'm a slacker!

I'll admit it. I'm a slacker. I started this blog with all intentions of being really good about keeping up with it. But then we got sick. And then I took a knitting class. Then I started planning my garden using a total funky method that's incredibly time consuming. And finally, I really hate technology--I love how it connects me with my friends--but the computer sucks me in like the TV does and I can't seem to focus on anything else!

Did I forget to mention that I only shared the link with three people because I never got around to telling everyone else? Sorry, three dear friends, you were the only ones to view my one entry!!

Anyway, the kids are doing well. They are both about to have birthdays! And let me tell you, it has been challenging with both of them going through the mental and physical growth spurts that accompany a birthday! Tea's also getting in her molars!

Tea is quite a conversationalist. She and Kai had the most hilarious conversation in the car yesterday:
Kai: "Tea do you want to be a jet pilot with me someday?"
Tea: "Yeah, throw airplanes really fast."
Kai: "No, the kind of jets that have cockpits--we'd fly them."
Tea (with raised eyebrows and wide eyes): "Oh!"
Kai: "It might be really hard to get them to go faster than the speed of sound because the needles are really hard to put on"
Tea: "Uh huh"
Kai: "So you think you'd like to do that?"
Tea: "Yeah!"

Kai is the most amazing artist. It's scary how well he draws jets. He's positively obsessed with them. When he sees them in the sky, he says "That's an SR71 Blackbird, etc." Of course, they're just passenger jets but he spouts off all of these complicated names.

More soon...