Practice

Today we had our practice Easter Egg Hunt. I hid lots of plastic eggs all over the house and in them were the kids little animals. I did put a few treats in a couple eggs. Since the kids really wanted to do this and it was quite an activity I really hid those eggs. Hours later they were finding eggs that I had even forgotten about.

TRAINING WHEELS

The training wheels came off and off she went. She did really well, had lots of confidence and was ready to go. I took some video at the beginning and by the time John and her came in she was braking and putting her feet down. Its amazing what an hour of practice can do. I just want to note that if the accounting thing doesn't work out for John he could always teach kids to ride bikes. He was so great with her. They have such similiar personalities that he knows what works well for her. Great job dad!

BREAK DANCING

Dancing is a fun thing to do in our house especially before bed. It wears them out nicely. John introduced them to a new song and they were trying to break dance.

Picture of Mom and Dad

I had Ella's parent teacher conference today which went really well. My moment to brag... She exceeds expectations and is more than ready to start kindergarten in the fall. August 24th - Yikes it seems so close. During the conference the teacher thought I would find it interesting to see Ella's picture of John and I. You'll notice John is colored black. I showed John the coloring and he smiles and questions Ella about her art. He says who is this?, showing her the picture. Ella responds "that's you daddy"
John: You colored me black?
Ella: Yes Daddy you are dark you know!
Thought it was cute. It reminded me of our honeymoon. At that time the pre career phase, John was very tanned and we were in the Cayman Islands and numerous people would say to me "Where is your husband from, Honduras?" I had fun responding, No not at all, Canada actually. Since those days his skin color has faded substantially. PWC does that - all that financial due diligence keeps tan lines at bay.

ALLY

Christopher is obsessed with playdough these days. He loves to play with it and then carry around his creation.

A few weeks ago John and the kids caught two caterpillars and put them in our bug box, and then after 2 sources told me they were poisonous I decided to let them go. Well when I went outside one was already a chrysalis so I let the other one go and left the cocoon in the bug box. It turns out they were not poisonous although common mistake with these Texas bugs...
Today we were outside when I saw the butterfly breaking free. Oh it was so cool and exciting. Ella says its a miracle. I am not sure who was more excited the kids or me. Here are some pictures of our butterfly. We are letting her go tomorrow but for today the kids have been talking to her and collecting her flowers and its fun for them. Her name is Ally. They came to the agreement that she was a girl because she is so pretty.

SWINGING

This weekend was such a fun busy weekend. We had birthday parties, going away parties, pool party, church... all in all very fun time for everyone. Thank you all who shared my sympathies about my ring, and the ideas of how to capitalize on this loss!!! The next morning I am still in bed and Jack my faithful companion climbed in to snuggle and within minutes says "Mommy wheres your ring? Very observant child! I told Ella about it later and she said, Oh Mommy, its just Stuff! Erin B told me we had raised her right, well we will see how she does when its her stuff!
There is nothing better than watching kids have fun. On Friday we had family day. We have had so many great play dates and outings but I thought the kids needed the morning to just be together and not be entertained so we did puppet shows, play dough, painting and then after that 1/2 hour was gone (HA HA) we went outside for some water fun. Here they are laughing and having a great time. I love their laughter its so contagious.

We have now dubbed Friday as Freedom Friday. I was in the house getting lunch for everyone and they were out playing in the sprinkler and running to the swings and I am watching them out the window and the next thing I know Ella is flying high in the air all by herself. This is such a moment in our life, no longer having to push her on the swings. WOW my baby is growing up. Here's a video of the big event.

NAKED

Naked and grief stricken is how I feel right now. You may think I am exaggerating but if you have found yourself in my shoes you will understand the intensity of my emotions...
We had such a fun day today and tonight I ran out to Target to pick a gift up for a birthday party and in the check out line I felt something sharp on my hand and I look down and to my utter horror my diamond was missing out of my ring. WELL tears immediately welled up in my eyes and I just felt awful, I told Jennifer that I felt sick... She did her best to make me feel better and help me think of what could have happened but alas, I came home and am wallowing in my self pity for a few minutes. I will perk up tomorrow. I called John right away completely devasted and he says Oh I thought it was something really bad, its just a ring Lynnette. We can replace it. So sweet that man, thats why I married him, however I don't want a replacement, and its more than a ring.

Micheals Birthday

We celebrated with Micheal today his 3rd birthday. We went to the fire station which the kids loved well except Christopher who saw the ambulance and was like "I no go hospital?" He did warm up just before we left. Then we went swimming at Jennifers and the kids had so much fun. We got Micheal this cool truck that opens up and launches cars- I have to say I love boy toys. They are so fun.

Strawberry Picking

This week is spring break which for some people is a disruption in routine or a family holiday for others. For me it is simply another week to do the same things with my kids with one caveat, everything is BUSY and CROWDED! We started off this morning strawberry picking which is always so fun. The kids love the wide open spaces to run, the wagons to pull and the yummy berries to pick and eat. I told my kids today that these aren't your mommas strawberries. You see when i was little and would go strawberry picking with my family and David and Donna we had to get the strawberries off the ground. Lots of fun for us, mud and dirt a kids best friend. However in the days of hydroponic gardening you no longer have to bend down to the ground or squat. So much easier for us and the gardeners. Genius I say!

You will notice Jack is eating pretzels. Only my kids are cruising through the patch eating pretzels all the other kids where completely covered in red strawberry faces. Jack kept saying "they dirty mommy, you wash them first".

Babies

Well its been a tiring weekend for some of my friends. Erin and Chad welcomed baby Ethan today a whopping 9 lbs 1 oz. I am going to give him some cuddles tonight... Congratulations also to Tammy and Jason who had baby Joshua yesterday, a tiny 6lbs 12 oz.
Its both families 3rd babies and I am so excited for them and how fun 3 is. I will post of picture of Ethan when I get back.... I wonder who will be next in the baby boom!

Thanks

The pictures are just cute and have nothing to do with what I have to say. I just wanted you all to know that my husband is fantastic. He came home from work and poor Sam had been sick all day and I put him outside and sweet John who is so kind brought Sam inside and gave him a bath. Sam and I love you Johnny boy!

QUOTE

I have a friend that writes a blog and every time she does she starts off with a quote. I think its so inspiring to read these beautiful words of wit and wisdom so I wanted to impart my own. I have a quotable saying maybe who knows it will go on to outlive me... When my dad was here and the noise level at my house is a much higher decibel than he is used to - he would shhhhh the kids. So I said one day "Dad, LIFE IS NOT A LIBRARY" Whenever I take the kids to the library it reminds me of my quote. So now if you want to say MY quote, you may, but it will have to read like this
"Life is not a library" - Lynnette Mullins

KITE RUNNER

Christopher got a kite from Tylers birthday party on Saturday and has been waiting eagerly to fly it ever since. Well today was his day we had SLIGHT wind so I took the boys outside this morning and this afternoon they wanted to show Ella some spiderman kite action. Here is how a kite is flown by 2 and 4 year olds at our house with very little wind...

Ella's Home

We took the boys bike riding this afternoon and they both fell sound asleep. They are too cute for words. Grandma Ruth you will be excited to see Jack is wearing his new Thomas the train pjs!

Ella and Hurricane Hoy as John and I affectionately call my family arrived home...

The kids are growing up so fast I can't stand it.... I just want to freeze time, I know all the stages are fun but you just don't get enough time with them. Everyone knows that I am absolutely dreading this fall when my sweet child goes to all day Kindergarten. She may be ready but I am definately NOT. Beware August is going to be a tearful month.

DJ

Johns been working on staining the deck and the boys were out to "help". Here Christopher and Jack were singing to him to entertain him. You can see Christopher at the beginning and the end say to Jack no sit sit, daddy's not done.

Speaking of singing I was pondering the question "When did I become a DJ?" Everyday when we get into the car the kids start their requests in for certain songs. Well at first it was cute because the boys nickname all their songs, such as I want the giggle song, the baby song, the tiger in the car song, the Christopher song, the woo hoo song, etc. Well the problem is that I don't know their nicknames so it can be very frustrating for me. Well today i am thinking "Seriously, I am not your DJ and I don't take requests, listen to the CD as it comes!!!" Ah I tell you this IPOD generation!