Easter

Easter was particularly fun this year. We did not promote the holiday much -- so we were amazed when Ben strung the familiar lore of the Easter Bunny through the day. We left the kids Easter Baskets in their rooms after they went to sleep, and first thing Easter morning Ben came running in our room excited about the fact that the Easter Bunny had visited and left him great loot! He wanted to show us and wake up Charlotte to see if he had stopped in her room as well. Here are some cute pictures from the unpacking of the Easter baskets that ensued (BTW - don't buy the new colored straw that they have for Easter Baskets. It is very sharp...and if you decide to differ from me on this -- DEFINITELY don't unpack Easter Baskets in your BED....ouch.)

Ben is obsessed with a Nickelodeon television show called Avatar. So, he had been asking for the toy they make that is Aang's (the main character) flying staff. He also was wanting goggles for swimming -- and since we have plans to swim soon we thought it was good timing. Here are some of his pictures:





















This is Aang and his friend Momo, the lemur:















This is the Benster Bunny and his frog dressed up like an Easter Rabbit...maybe an Easter Ribbit...ooo, that might be unforgiveable.












Charlotte did not have anything she particularly wanted or needed -- since she has 8 elephants and about 47 horses. She is really into construction vehicles right now, so we got her a couple Bob the Builder trucks. They were by far her favorite. Since she loves hats so much, I thought MAYBE funny spring headbands might be the way to bridge the love of hats and the disgust with headbands. WRONG! She clearly knows the difference. I hope you can appreciate these photos, as all of them took major negotiations -- including ice cream for breakfast for the next year. (Not really...but she just doesn't know that tool yet!)

































































These are a sequence showing my partner in crime trying to secure the bunny ears to her head for a photo...
























In my opinion, this was one of the great photo finds of the day. Lolly in her swimming goggles...she looks like the lovechild of the creature from the blue lagoon:

Drew's Birthday

Drew was in Dallas, Texas for most of his birthday. The kids had been helping me plan his celebration all week. We were going to the airport to pick him up, have dinner, wrap presents, bake cake, etc...except Lolly and I got sick -- and Drew's flight was terribly delayed. He ended up walking in around 10:30 ...and we had all of the lights out. He came around the corner to where the kids and I were hiding with a lit birthday cake (some of us were giggling....) and we yelled surprise. This was his reaction:

From his blurry-eyed vantage point, he saw the kids in their pjs....Ben jumping up and down hysterically yelling surprise and Charlotte looking a bit shell-shocked like she didn't know what to do. They foisted their presents that they had been holding all week on him before he could take off his coat or put his bag down. It was incredibly sweet. They sang...first the straight version of Happy Birthday -- and then independently their silly versions (which change every time they do it - sometimes including different exotic animals, sometimes a falsetto tone, other times funny little dances).
We had organized a quick scavenger hunt for Drew to follow clues to get his present. Ben was hysterical trying to "help" him. He was so excited I thought he was going to pass out...and of course Drew was a major champ shedding his travel exhaustion and absorbing the kids enthusiasm, he eagerly ran around the house playing our silly game. Then we had cake. It was a short celebration -- but incredibly special because we had been apart for the week and it was a nice homecoming celebration for all of us.

Spring

Today
by Billy Collins

If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze

that it made you want to throw
open all the windows in the house

and unlatch the door to the canary's cage,
indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,

a day when the cool brick paths
and the garden bursting with peonies

seemed so etched in sunlight
that you felt like taking

a hammer to the glass paperweight
on the living room end table,

releasing the inhabitants
from their snow-covered cottage

so they could walk out,
holding hands and squinting

into this larger dome of blue and white,
well, today is just that kind of day.



I adore Billy Collins - and I don't think of myself as a poetry person. This is much like it feels in our home...the windows are open, the kids are wanting to linger outside and the warm sunshine makes me want to smile. Here are some photos from the last week in our spring.