Picture Time

We got some pictures done of the kids today. They came out kinda cute. Jeff participated fairly well. He was pretty good with the pictures of them together, but lost it after the first one she took of him alone. I think the ones of Erin came out really really well though. Here's my favorites. Sorry for the grainy quality, that's the way they are from the website.

Garden Time

Finally it seems like it's going to stay warm here. We took advantage of the weather this weekend to get the garden going. With both kids getting older it was more fun for them. Erin helped to pick out flowers at the Garden Center. Then she and Jeffrey carried leaves (that we had used a mulch over the winter) away from the garden. Watching them try to walk up the hill with armfuls of leaves was hilarious. They were tripping and falling and trying desperately to hold onto all the leaves. Inevitably more leaves ended up on the ground just outside of the garden area than actually in the woods 30 feet away.


Both kids liked helping to plant the beans. Tom made rows and gave Erin and Jeff seeds to plant in them. Erin gently took hers and put them in the row. Jeffrey preferred the "sowing" method of throwing all his bean seeds around the garden. We eventually got him to understand where they were supposed to go and he put a few into the rows.

After lunch Tom and I put the flowers and herbs into the planters. When Erin woke up we were just beginning to work on Tom's hop plants - yes that's hops as in beer making hops. Erin helped to dig the holes and stir up the dirt inside. She even planted one of the rhizomes. Then she and Tom went down to the rock pile and picked out some nice stones to surround the hops.

Erin's favorite part of the day was yet to come though. Watering time. We have acquired a new hose that actually reaches the garden this year....with a cool sprayer on it. Erin helped to water all the plants in the garden and then got to run through the sprayer. Now all she wants to do every day is water the plants so she can run in the water.

So we'll see what the summer brings for the garden, but the fun of putting it all in was completely worth it.

A test of patience..

Both Jeffrey's and mine. Since our little man has been showing interest in the potty for several months now, we decided maybe it was time to bring out the pull-ups and little potty. Last Thursday was day one of the experiment. I got him up, set him down on the potty. He fussed and wiggled quite a bit. Sat for 1 Lightning McQueen story and that was it. Then he saw the Pull-Ups....with Lightning McQueen on them. He went nuts. All he wanted was to put them on. I told him we had to try to keep them dry etc, and I'm sure he processed about 1 word of what I was saying - "McQueen".

So Thursday provided 2 successes both mostly accidental. Friday included 1 poop but no pees. Saturday got a little rough, Sunday morning was hard, but by the afternoon he had a pee after his nap. This morning he went first thing - Yay!!! I'm going a little slower than I was with Erin, but I'm still there with him quite a lot. We read Lightning McQueen stories, blow bubbles, snuggle with blankie and read more Lightning McQueen stories.



I'm giving myself a week. If we're making more progress and having fewer struggles with staying on the potty we'll even try some big boy undies. I've got some Cars ones waiting here for him. So who knows how long this little experiment will continue.

Art Class

The kids did some pictures for Grandma yesterday. I wanted to share a couple of them because I finally figured out how, and they came out Very cute - as Jeffrey says -- boooiful. We used the Crayola Slick Sticks to get the bright colors. They are really cool. I don't get them out a lot, but when we do both kids love using them.

Erin's Drawing of a Rainbow, A Lake and a Sea Turtle (with her name at the bottom)



Jeffrey's Boooiful Colors

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Everyone!!!



We had a nice Easter day - even if daddy wasn't able to be here. Noni, Oma and "Papa" (Jeffrey's new word for grandpa) came down on Saturday night. They stayed through Sunday evening. We all just had a great time relaxing, playing and of course eating chocolate.

I tried not to go too nuts on the kids Easter baskets. I bought three or four bags of candy, put most of it into our eggs for egg hunting, and scattered the rest throughout their baskets. They each got a couple of books, a new bouncy ball and some bubbles. Erin got some new pets to add to her Pet House and Jeffrey got a Lightning McQueen T-shirt and Cars book. Noni added a few little nick-knacks too. They came out looking really cute.

Sunday morning Jeffrey woke me up at his regularly early time. But I didn't mind so much since I needed to get a shower, get the kids dressed, watch them with their baskets and get dinner started. They looked so cute in their outfits from Grandma W. They quickly dug into their baskets. Jeffrey went straight for the candy. Before I knew it he had 4 chocolate eggs in his mouth and was trying to shove in more.

At church Erin went to do Easter activities downstairs and then went out for another egg hunt. She returned with a HUGE bag of more candy. Jeffrey got to play in the nursery. Noni and Papa headed home early so Papa could hide the 30 eggs I had gotten ready. He put them all over the main floor. When we got home Erin and Jeff were ready for one last hunt. They found them in the plants, on the chairs, on windowsills, even hiding in the Little People ark. It took them less than 5 minutes to find 29 eggs (there's still one that I've found and they haven't yet). More candy hooray!!! Again Jeff stuffed himself silly.

The afternoon was spent playing with their new toys while mommy pot roast cooked. We even got out the Thomas train Jeffrey got for Christmas. Both kids were fascinated with it and had the best time playing together with it. By the time dinner was ready, Jeffrey was so full of candy he didn't touch it. Erin devoured 3 helpings of meat, several veggies and a few bites of potato. After dinner, Oma, Noni and Papa had to head home. It was very nice though to have them visiting and spending a special day with us.

Easter Activities

We had a week full of Easter activities here. Several egg hunts, and some other programs going on. The kids LOVED each of the hunts and had a blast filling their baskets with eggs. Jeffrey was able to get into it much more this year than last year.

Our first hunt was at the local community park and soccer field. It was a warm but cloudy day. Jeffrey was a little unsure of what was going on, but he quickly got into it. They set it up more as an "egg rush" than a hunt. All the little kids went at one time. They took a circle on a field, dumped two HUGE boxes of eggs into it. The leaders took a step back and the herd was released. Kids rushed into the circle and filled their baskets with as many eggs as they could. Erin was a little more careful. And she wanted to show me each egg as she picked it up. So rather than put it into her basket she'd scan the area, pick one out and run back to me to show me. They found eggs filled with lots of little toys which Erin has had a blast playing with....and are scattered around my house now.

On Thursday we had Story Time at the library. Each year they set up an egg hunt to follow the stories. This is probably my favorite of the hunts. Our library shares a facility with a senior day care center. Often the seniors come and sit for the story time. Mostly they just love being around the children. At Easter, they prepare the egg hunt in their wing of the building. The kids run around the senior center hunting eggs in every little corner. And the looks on the seniors faces as the children squeal at every found egg is enough to brighten my week. Both the kids quickly found their allotment of 5 eggs. Erin ended up with a few pieces of candy, a snap bracelet and an additional bouncy ball. Jeffrey found much the same.

On Saturday morning we were supposed to go to another hunt. Erin went to bed all excited about going into town to "find more eggs". When I went to bed Friday night I could hear it raining.....when I woke up we found this......



...so we decided to bail on that hunt.

With one more hunt scheduled for Church and eggs to find at home, the kids ended the week all egged out.

My Little Girl, Her Flowers and....

. . . her Football. That's right. I wanted to get some pictures of the kids with my daffodils today since they are all in bloom. They both love checking on the flowers every time we go outside. Jeffrey wasn't really up for having his picture taken today, but I got a couple. Erin's hair is doing some funky wild thing and she insisted on having her football in the pictures too. Still they came out kinda cute, and I just wanted to show them off. It's been gorgeous here again...warm enough today for shorts -- Yay!!!

Pretty Smile - at the Flower not Me


Deeply Inspecting Her Flower


Jeffrey Giving it a Try


Some Wild Hair Here, But Sweet as Can Be