Nanny

Brooke:

"Where's Nanny?"

"Watch Nanny crawl down the stairs with me!"

"Nanny can't come to the table because I could spill on her."

"Can Nanny come in the store?"

"Please put the window up! Nanny doesn't like to be cold."

"Nanny isn't allowed in the bathroom."

"NANNNY, Na-Na, NAAAAANNNY!"

"Nanny doesn't like to get wet."

"Can I bring Nanny?"

"Mom, watch! Nanny is hiding under the blanket!"

"I want Nanny!"

"Can I turn on the light, I can't feel Nanny!"

"Nanny can stay in my bin at school in case I need her."

"Smell Nanny, she's stinky."

"Don't wash Nanny, I like her the way she smells stinky!"

"I can't find Nanny!"

"Wait! I need to get Nanny."

"Nanny can't play outside, she could get lost."

"Remember when we lost Nanny and I had to use "Other" Nanny?"

"This is Nanny's face. That is how she can see the TV."

At this point, I assume you realize Nanny isn't actually a "person." Though one might think that Nanny is like a 5th child. We worry about misplacing Nanny almost as much we do the kids. If Nanny gets lost, it may very well be the END OF THE WORLD. It's not uncommon for one of us (the other kids included) to ask nervously, "Have you seen Nanny?"

Nanny is a blue, ratty, tattered, stringy remnant of a blankie -- and could possibly be the center of Brooke's universe. I guess Nanny is a girl because we all call her a "her." Nanny accompanies us pretty much everywhere - to the store, on vacation, to the doctor's, to school... and Brooke loves her. Nanny has rules -- she isn't allowed to go into the bathroom, or eat with us at the dinner table. She can't play outside because she could get lost. She has to go in the wash when she gets stinky, and she has to stay in Brooke's cubby or bookbag at school.

It bothers me when well-meaning people try to tell us that we should get rid of Nanny.

Why would you throw away something that comforts your child and makes her feel good and whole and safe? When Brooke gets tired or cranky or sad, she takes a "Nanny Break," and sits quietly snuggling and calming herself down. Brooke likes her stringy and ratty, and likes to feel the strings between her fingers. When Brooke's sleeping, Nanny is always tucked safely in her bed with her, helping her make it through the night in her own bed.

I know there will come a day when Brooke no longer needs Nanny. I have to say, when that day comes, I think I'm really going to miss her...

"Fustrated" and other annoying "words"

I try really hard to approach life with a "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" attitude. I truly feel that when we just let things go, it makes us generally happier people, and I do want to be a happy person. There was a time in my life when every little thing could throw me into a tizzy, but I like to consider myself reformed. These days, the things that can make me want to smack someone are now reduced to to the improper usage of the English language. Grammar and dumb pronunciations of words particularly drive me nuts -- it's kind of like a nails on a chalkboard-type experience for me.

The word FRUSTRATED does not = FUSTRATED. Like, where did the "r" go?? A very professional lady with many years of grad school under her belt just said "fustrated" to me yesterday, and I wanted to smack her curly-haired head. I actually clenched my teeth and gave myself a headache over it.

I also cannot stand when someone says "irregardless," as that is not actually a word. The word is REGARDLESS. Putting "ir" in front of it turns it into a double negative, and makes one sound a snitch less intelligent.

Finally, when a person says SUPPOSUBLY, as opposed to supposedly, or AKS instead of ask... oh my gosh, I don't think I can even go there.

I should really get over, because offenders are for the most part, innocent.

Now I have vented.

dontsweatthesmallstuff, dontsweatthesmallstuff, dontsweatthesmallstuff...

The end.

things we DID do this summer

We rode bikes,

Had lemonade stands,

We went boating on LI Sound,

Played at the playground,

Chased many rainbows,

Painted lots of pictures,

Went to ball games,

Went swimming,

Had campfires,

Went kayaking on the lake,

Played some softball,

Did some fishing.

the perils of googling oneself

My married name is a fairly unique one, so when I googled myself, I didn't expect to come up with much. I like to consider myself a "writer," and I've had a few articles/snippets published here and there over the years, so I assumed maybe they would show up.

I was surprised to see that I have a few much younger namesakes out there... my name popped up with a myspace profile, some pretty unusual photos, as the lead in a school play and even as a high school softball player. That wasn't so bad, but to my complete and utter horror -- there was a poem published with my name as the author.

The poem was titled "Prisoner of Love." It was definitely not mine.

I've been a writer for as far back as I can remember, and I've written some pretty embarrassing poems in my day (not insinuating that this person's poem is embarrassing), but I would NEVER be comfprtable enough to publish them on the web. Maybe a tiny handful of the poems I have written are worthy of another's eyes, so I was horrified to think that this poem was out there, with people critiquing it, and maybe thinking that I HAD WRITTEN IT.

In general, I am pretty sensitive to criticism. I can handle it, but it affects me inwardly for sure. The thought that someone out there who could google my name for some reason, (narcissistic much?? lol) the thought that someone might look at that and think those were my thoughts and words is driving me crazy!! How can I make it known that I didn't write that poem??! I guess this post may help with that, but I can't make it go away can I???

All I am saying is that I wouldn't attach my name to something out there unless it was what I consider to be amazing. While I wouldn't be mean and critical of what someone else wrote, I can say that this particular poem isn't necesarily something I want to attach my name to. If I have any interest in writing on another level, publishing some articles and maybe even getting that book I'm writing finished -- this poem shouldn't be out there with my name on it. UGH.

9/11

September 11th is always going to be a date that won't just pass by like normal for me. I don't think that I could ever forget what it felt like that day, in 2001, just watching. Watching lives change forever, people suffering and dying, our country hurting, then inevitably healing.


I wasn't DIRECTLY affected... I wasn't one of the thousands who lost a friend or a relative, my life. I didn't feel the heat of the fires, or the tremors of the explosions. I wasn't one of the ones pictured running for my life, or running to help save another's life. No matter, I was definitely AFFECTED. Besides being a New Yorker, I am lucky enough to be a citizen of the USA. I love our country, and I believe in it. I felt safe here. To have this happen in what felt like my back yard was such a scary realization that we are vulnerable.


We are all vulnerable to extremists, whether we live in the US, or Africa, or Afghanistan -- anywhere. We are all vulnerable, always, no matter where we are.


I was scared on September 11, 2001. I am still scared, and it makes me feel sad. I want to feel safe again, and I want to feel like I can provide my family with the safety that they deserve. I guess the best I can do is educate them, keep them free of ignorance, and teach them tolerance.

So that is what I am going to continue to do, because tomorrow is a new day. Tomorrow is September 12th, and it is the anniversary of the day when we started to fix what was broken, and I will never forget.

back to school

Well, my kids have all officially gotten back to school!

Kara started college classes a few weeks ago, followed by

Alex & Megan in 7th and 3rd grades, respectively.

Yesterday was Brooke's first day back to p r e s c h o o l !

So back to school really means back to routine in my house. The lazy days of summer typically lead to thrown together dinners, or more realistically, dinners at the baseball field. Of course the bedtime routine goes from a very efficient dinner, bath and bed in an hour to a very INEFFICIENT swimming pool shower, camp out in each others room, maybe lay down with the lights on fiasco. It literally takes me a week or two of strict routine to get everyone back on track once school is back in session.

As much as I enjoy the relaxed, slowed down pace of summer, I also love the school year routines. I like that my kids know that when dinner is over, we head right upstairs for showers or baths. I love that they know to brush their teeth while the shower warms up, and to lay their clothes out for the next day to save time in the morning. I love that they know that after baths and showers, we brush hair, put on PJ's and hop into bed. This has always been the way, so there are no tantrums, no messing around, and rarely any bumps in the road.

In our house, Mommy is off duty at 8:00 pm, so the kids know that unless we have one of the three B's (Blood, Barf or Boo Boo), I don't want to hear from them, and they pretty much respect that. I make sure everyone has what they need (water, potty break, tissues, book, etc) before I go back downstairs for some quiet time. Alex, who just turned 12, gets to stay up reading or quietly playing in his room til lights out at 9:00. Meg, who is newly 8, gets to read with her nightlight til 8:30, and Brooke, who just turned 4, gets to listen to a book on tape til its over. Everyone goes to bed happy, and I get to veg out and flip channels, surf the web or read.

Ahhhh... I love back to school.

Pocket Full of Sunshine

Today is one of those perfect, almost-fall days, that roll around every so often.

You wake up to cool and foggy mornings, but by the time you've finished that cozy cup of coffee, the sun starts warming up the grass, and the morning dew just disappears.

You need to wear a light jacket in the morning, but always seem to shed it by the time lunch rolls around.

The air smells like c h a n g i n g leaves.

Oh I do love September.

the last day

Tomorrow is the last day of summer vacation for my kids. I would love to say I have something great planned, but sadly, I have to bring two kids to their respective annual physicals, and one of them is going to be getting two shots. Guess which one?
B R O O K E
This is not good news.
Poor little peanut is going to be very upset. I have this lovely little yellow lollipop in my purse, and I was thinking about bringing it out after the tears, but then I think to myself that I am setting her up by placating her with sweets.
I hate worrying about all of that crap. Really.
Why can't I just give my kid a pop when she is sad without feeling guilty that I am going to create a kid who needs a lolli to make her feel better??
Do all mothers feel guilty about these things?

What else makes me, as a mom, feel guilty lately?

--not giving each kid enough individual attention
--being distracted when I am talking to my kids
--not playing enough games with my kids
--not baking enough with my kids
--not doing more active stuff with my kids
--not cooking dinner every night
--not reading enough with my kids

...oh this list can go on and on.

I sure do love lists.

Turning 40 and having babies

Wow. I just got off the phone with my friend Holly, who told me she is pregnant! My other friend Val is unexpectedly pregnant too, and now I feel JEALOUS! Val and Holly will both be turning 40 in the next few months, and I am right behind them. I always told my husband if we have one more, then it has to be before I am forty. So now I am adjusting it a TEENY bit to being PREGNANT before I turn 40. That buys me a little bit of time, in case we decide to go down that road just ONE MORE TIME.

My biggest fear is that I will die.

Honestly, Brooke's emergency birth was really scary... I have this terrible feeling that if I went there again, I would end up being that statistic - the mom that dies with a complication. So I tell myself that having another baby for me is sort of selfish, and that is what has been holding me back. I mean, the kids I have already need me.

Besides, Alex could never make it without me. LOL.

Shameful

So the other day was the first time I have posted all summer, basically. That is just shameful, and I have no great excuse. Summer went along as it typically does in our house. I always have these great big plans of doing lots of fun, inexpensive, memory-making stuff with the kids, and then... nothing. We do the same old stuff - nights and weekends filled with our kids softball and baseball games, then tournaments, then soccer. Before you know it - GAPKIDS is putting up their back-to-school clothes online, and I am getting ridiculous amounts of fall catalogs in the mail.

Crap. Another summer, over.

This summer was particularly painful, because we had more rain than sun. I often felt like I was stuck in some bad Groundhog Day in Seattle movie or something. Rain really put a "damper" (hehe - admit it, that is funny) on my plans. The kids actually go back to school in less than a week! I'm not even done getting everyone organized for school, and that's almost like a crime in my book. I can't stand to be disorganized.

These are some of the things that I wanted to do this summer:

--Go to Sleepy Hollow Lake (not once)

--Go to Lake Taconic (no)

--Go strawberry picking (nope)

--Go camping (negative)

--Take fun bike rides with the kids (barely)

--Make my backyard look GREAT (boo, soggy marshy mushroomy yard)

--Go to Cooperstown (did it!)

--Go to the Bronx Zoo (nah)

--Take the kids to Six Flags, Zoom Flume or Hershey Park (no)

--Go Hiking (not once)

--Howe Caverns (Jenney and HER family went...)

--Weekend in the city (Statue of Liberty, Museums, etc) - this did not happen.

Oh well, I guess I will put those things on my Summer To Do List for next summer!

Call me Ishmael

So we were getting ready to go to the library yesterday, and Megan, my 8 year old says, "I want to get out Moby Dick!" I was like, impressed. I've been a big reader since I was just a little girl, and I have been excited to see Meggie fall in love with books these past few years. So I went on to explain how Melville's Moby Dick was classic literature, considered to be one of the world's greatest novels - something everyone should read once in a lifetime, etc. I began to tell her I thought she might be a little on the young side for Moby Dick (ya think?), and it eventually occurred to me to ask her where she heard of Moby Dick in the first place. She smiled, and informed me that she heard about it from Timmy Turner. As in the kid from the goofy Nick Jr. cartoon, Fairly Odd Parents. Then she skipped out of the kitchen, giggling - with goldy summer hair billowing behind her.

Smelly back yard

I started writing this post on my back porch. It is a beautiful, sunny day - there is shade AND sun on the porch, which is my favorite. I typically enjoy sitting out there. The birds are chirping away, Brookie is napping (well - playing in her bed, but I have a few moments of peace, so I'm not complaining!).
BUT.

But, there is SMELLY grass dumped right in the tree line of our back yard/woods. UGH, it is disgusting. My husband doesn't seem to notice the stench, and acts completely unaffected by it. Much like he rarely noticed poopy diapers, I believe.

I may very well hire someone to come and haul it away, because I can't really enjoy the back yard while I am throwing up in my mouth over the smell every few minutes.
Besides the stench factor, it looks ugly out there! Why would anyone dump grass clippings practically on their lawn??
Good question.

That's really the only bad thing about my day (besides the fact that I forgot to get my favorite bread for my sandwich at the grocery today, which means that I had to eat my lunch with rolled-up sandwich meat instead of an ACTUAL sandwich). 

Here are the good things about my day so far:
-I just found out that my sister Jen passed her Nursing Boards with flying colors!!! Yay Jen!
-Meg's softball playoffs are tonight (love her more than anything, but the games can be PAINFUL to watch and oh so LOOOOOONG, so I will be glad when we're all done)
-It's sunny but not hot out, which means the kids will be happy to run around and play outside when they get home from school
-I returned cans today and got about $6 back!
-A book I requested just came in at the library, so now I will have reading material! Yippee!
-I have a plan in motion for dinner tonight
-The house is relatively clean, so I can relax and read my new book without feeling guilty for not cleaning

A Poem Meg wrote for her free writing journal

Families

by Megan, age almost 8

One thing about families is love,

But your brother is annoying and he might shove.

They all care about you too,

But when you get in your older sister's room she would say "Shoo!"

You all have laughs,

Especially when doing crafts.

Mom would think it's a disaster,

We'd have to stop because she is the Master!

Things that are of interest to a Three-Year-Old with a camera

Piggies

Snowy back yard
Dog and broken chair

Pollys

These are some pictures that I found on my camera that Brooke took by herself. There are MANY more, maybe I will post more some other time. I think it is so cool to look at things from a different perspective, particularly, what interests a three-year-old... I actually think it's a little on the artistic side, but I could just be a proud mom. :)

Brooke's drawing of Brooke and Daddy

Brooke, up close

Basket

Toilet?

Glassware on the counter

Foot

Dolly

I'm Sick.

Ugh. I am SICK!
It's not the Swine Flu. I'm (almost) positive.
It really feels like people are sizing me up, wondering if I am carrying the virus. I guess it is good to be concerned, but sometimes I think things get a little blown out of proportion - news coverage makes people freak out, and all of a sudden your kid has a sniffle and they get sent home from school (such was the case yesterday with my 11 year old).
Anyone can get it - I of course have done the research. Same symptoms as the regular flu, blahblahblah...

I actually considered keeping Alex home yesterday, and then I thought - "Kids have colds all of the time," no big deal, really. He made it though first period before I got the call to come get him. He had a "low-grade temp" (99.1 is mighty low grade if you ask me), he also had a sore throat. The school nurse thought he might have a spot on his tonsil. I would hate to have him infect someone else though, not trying to get anyone else sick. But schools are germ havens anyway. There is no way to really protect ourselves from germs and bugs - they are everywhere. It's part of life. If we aren't exposed to things, our bodies will never know how to fight them. So good mom that I am, I trucked him up to the pediatrician, just so I could hear her tell me what I had already diagnosed myself..."He has a cold."

THANKS, it cost me $15 and an hour ride to verify that info!
I sound like I am preaching. Sorry! It just makes me chuckle that everyone gets so crazy when they hear about the next PANDEMIC...

So yes, I have a COLD. It is irritating to be sneezing and stuffy, but I did get to take Nyquil last night and it helped me sleep like a log, which is my favorite thing to do. I actually got to rest on Sunday, because Alex was home. He hung with the kids all day (and snuck in a nap!!), and I literally stayed up in bed til night time. I NEVER do that! I think it actually made me feel better. Alex brought me home-made chicken soup from his grandmother's, which was fabulous. He also made me tea... he's so cute. Then the kids and I read books in my bed before they went to sleep. Brooke picked a book about the ABC's of dinosaurs. I had to slyly skip a few pages because that could have been an all-nighter.

ANOTHER week later...

Oh my gosh!! It's harder to find the time to sit and write on this blog than I thought! Also, I don't often feel like I have anything of great importance to say, so I just don't write. As a stay-at-home mom, I feel like my life can get pretty boring on an every day basis. Sometimes, I feel like I have NOTHING NEW at all to say to my husband when he calls me during the day. Isn't that just sad??

I guess if I think about it, I do have a lot going on lately.

Megan's First Holy Communion is on Sat, so we're having a party after. Because my niece Brenna is the same age (and also celebrating communion) it's a joint party for both girls. That means I will have more people here than I typically do for family parties. I have to say, my sister Ali's in-laws are like part of the family - it's not like we aren't close or anything, so it won't be awkward. (I do tend to panic and get mighty anxious is social situations, but that's a story for another post).

Of course we're throwing the party together, which is nice - but since it's at my house I am definitely stressing over making sure everything looks nice and put together. That's just me. Tomorrow will be spent cleaning til my back feels like it's on fire.

I can't really pre-clean too much - other than the kids rooms, which I already have under control. Mainly because our house is really open, and the kids are really in and out of the kitchen/family room/bathrooms in the downstairs constantly, so I'd be better off waiting til the last minute. At least Alex took a day off tomorrow, so he'll help some, but I was counting on him to neaten up the yard. I think he really expected me to just do everything on my own without his help.

I really do.

I asked him the other day if he was going to be able to give me some time to help get things in order for the party, and he was stammering and blahblahblah about his schedule. I mean, I appreciate that he has a lot of confidence in my abilities managing parties and all, but hello??? There will be about 70 people at my house on Saturday morning. I have three young kids that I have to manage all day long, and half of the time, Alex doesn't roll in til after they're in bed. So. I guess I'd say I don't NEED his help, but I'd sure APPRECIATE his help, you know??!

Saturday is plain out of the picture for cleaning. I have to wake up at the crack of dawn to make a massive Ziti, a massive fruit salad, and just get other party-type stuff in order. THEN, after all of that, I still have to make sure Megan looks great, as well as the other kids - they also have to eat breakfast and in general, try to keep the house looking perfect before church - MAYBE I will have time to get my fat butt into something that doesn't make me look like a horse before we go for an 11:00 am service. My sister did say she'd come over early to help get everything ready, I hope she does. Oh well, our parties always turn out great, and I really am not too worried about it. It's not like it's a bunch of people I don't know.

Do you think I could get a refrigerator in one day? I mean, I'd really like to get a second fridge for the garage, because there is never enough room in my fridge for food when we have a party. Can you just walk into Lowe's and say, "I'll take a fridge?" and you go put it on a thing and bring it home? I'm going to see if we can make that happen for tomorrow. Nothing like waiting til the last minute!!

A Week Later...

I'm very motivated to keep up this blog, my goal is to post at least a few times a week. This past week though was HARD! I had three little punks home from school for the week with their spring vacation, and it was just BEAUTIFUL out!!!

Couldn't have been any better than if I planned it.

Lots of moms get this particular look on their faces when you say the words "week off of school," and it isn't pretty. It's like we're all panicked at the thought of spending 7 full days with our offspring - no break whatsoever. I tend to feel this way also. But let me tell you, it was a great week at our house. Shockingly, everyone got a long well, even with cousins in town for the week. Because it was so pleasant outside, the kids just played in the neighborhood ALL WEEK LONG!

We live in a pretty small neighborhood, consisting of three streets. On our street there are 11 houses, and 20 kids ranging from 5 months to about 15 years. The majority of the kids are in the 8-12 year-old range, and my kids just fall nicely into that category. Within the past few months, a family moved into the neighborhood that has a little girl Megan's age - they have become the best of friends - spending every day riding bikes, making lemonade stands, going from our house to theirs and back again to ours - just generally happy to have each other.

I truly hate the electronic age we are in (as I sit writing this on my laptop :] ), in the respect that our kids spend so little time interacting with each other face-to-face, spend so much more time on computers and in front of TVs and video games. I say "our kids," but I don't mean my kids. My most often used phrase is "Go play outside," or "Go find someone to play with." In my opinion, the TV is for a movie on a rainy day, it is not supposed to be a playmate. We have all of the typical toys, and we do use them - but definitely as a LAST CHOICE. My son plays Guitar Hero on the wii that he had to have, and chats with friends on aim, but usually after the sun has gone down, homework is done, and the evening is winding down. If it isn't raining or real cold, my kids are definitely outside -building forts in the woods, exploring the neighborhood on their bikes, jumping on the trampoline, throwing together a pick-up game of soccer or baseball, or pushing each other on the swings. We make picnics, do painting and play-do on the back porch... I feel like we are lucky though. One of my sisters lives in the woods - pretty isolated and a few miles from town. She has to arrange play-dates (which I abhor), and her son (the youngest with two older sisters) tends to play alone a lot, with nobody to just track down and hang around with.

I keep trying to get my sister to move back to our town. I am confident that she can RECREATE all of the coolness that she has where they live now, right HERE at home -- in our little town.

My sister feeling guilt about her son missing his cousins may be working in my favor!



success

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty;

To find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by
a healthy child, a garden patch
or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed
easier because you have lived;

This is to have succeeded.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

peace and quiet

Shocking, this house is overwhelmingly quiet and peaceful right now. This is not what I expected of a week's break from school.


Kara headed back to college yesterday - I was sad to see her go, but it's nice to know that she's wrapping up her semester soon. Before we know it, she'll be back again. I always feel so much more comfy when all of the kids are home in their own beds at night. We're going to see her in a few weeks because her play (Sweet Charity) will be opening on the 22nd. I think we'll go on the Friday, because it'll just be easier with getting a sitter for the little kids. I am really looking forward to seeing it because the last musical she was in was in high school! I miss seeing her on stage, she is so talented. She wanted Charity, but she got another decent female role instead - she's loving it regardless. I can't wait to see it!!

Little Alex went with Dad and a few of the other grand kids to Jeepers. I am hoping it will go smoothly - when he gets with some of his cousins, there is always a chance of something going awry! Dad called me this morning while I was at Wal-Mart, annoyed because my house was locked. He was trying to get in to get Alex a pair of sneakers, as he only has his soccer cleats on (he was being picked up from practice on the way). I didn't know he was going right after practice, so I never packed his sneaks - oh well, at least he's wearing his indoor cleats. He'll get over it. Maybe he'll start a new trend.

Megster had a Girl Scout field trip to Build-a-Bear in Albany today. I dropped her off with her leader, and they were heading up as a troop to build some bears! It was their reward for selling so many cookies this year. In other words, Megan is being rewarded for nudging me along to fall SO HARD off of my diet wagon, that I can't even stand myself. How anyone can resist a box of Samoa's is beyond me. And Thin Mints. Ahhhhh...Tag-a-Longs. In all honesty, I have no will power at all against most Girl Scout cookies. Thank God it's only once a year.


And lastly, Miss Brookie is "doing a quiet" in my bed. I try my absolute best to keep kids in a nap schedule for as long as humanly possible. Now that Brooke is approaching 4, she seems to be having a harder time actually napping. Honestly, I don't mind if she plays in her bed for an hour or two, just so long as I get a little quiet time to myself each day. Quiet time for me is catching up on email, going through real mail, cleaning, reading, etc. I think every stay-at-home mom needs a little quiet time! So when Brooke asked ever-so-sweetly if she could do a quiet in my bed with the TV on, I caved and allowed it. I think she may have fallen asleep though, because it is awfully quiet up there.

I think I'd better go check to make sure she is not getting into anything...she is my mischievous kid after all!

coloring eggs

We all gathered around the table in the kitchen and colored eggs this afternoon. I know I am a grown-up and all, but I actually woke up this morning thinking about coloring eggs, and how I was going to do mine. :) I thought had some good ideas! I remember it being so anticipated when I was little. Of course, my kids were all excited and happy. We started a little earlier than usual, because Kara had to go to work tonight. So I boiled up about two dozen eggs - we had a few crack as they were cooking, so we ate those. Dad got the mugs situated and plopped in the colored tablets and vinegar in the water. The smell of vinegar immediately makes me think of Easter eggs. It's funny that way.

Everyone did 3 or 4 eggs. Brooke finished hers too quickly of course - it's really so hard to be patient when you're three. She just totally loved the whole process. It's actually been so fun with her this year, holidays and all - because she really just gets things now, and she honestly loves to be a part of everything and included. Alex ended up with a few brown eggs because he had to put his in every color - eventually he realized that he was just ending up with dull BROWN. Kara is like me, she took her time and thought it out. She was funny - tried to write something in white, which of course she couldn't see as she was writing. Megan's were thoughtful too. I put some rubber bands around one of mine and made stripes - very cool. Kara thought it was "nautical." I put some stickers on one of the others, so I ended up with a green and yellow (square) polka dotted egg when I removed the stickers after dying it. I also put tape around an egg, both lengthwise and around the middle - that turned out neat too - kind of looked like a cross, so I guess that was fitting for Easter.

It makes me happy because I think the kids really enjoy our traditions - they were definitely looking forward to coloring the eggs all day. When I started boiling the eggs, they were lurking around the kitchen. It's just so hard to wait! They all stuck around pretty closely because nobody wanted to miss anything.
 

I hope Easter will be as fun as coloring the eggs. Looking forward to getting the everything ready later tonight, and of course - the best part - hiding the baskets and eggs!

Communion

Today I took Megan and Brenna to Grammy's to do a "photo shoot" for their First Holy Communion invitations. I love to take pictures of my kids, and they know I mean business when I tell them we're doing a photo shoot. I curled Megan's hair a bit, got her all dressed... she looked so pretty. We went to pick up Brenna and Ali had her looking a little DIRTY, so I made her wash her face and re-do her hair! Brooke stayed at Ali's and played, so I could focus on the communion girls. I was happy that Ali came along with us. I think she liked it. Tonight when she saw how great the pictures turned out, she knew it was worth doing it the way I like to.

Grammy's house was the perfect place. The background is awesome with barns, cobblestone fences, the river... I just wish it was a little nicer out - but the wind didn't hurt - it was actually cool, one of the pictures shows the girls' veils blowing in around their faces and it looks really neat. For the invitations, we're going black and white I think, which I love because it just looks really classic.




I can't wait to do a photo collage, or photo album of these pictures - they just turned out amazingly. I've only posted a few, but I took about 50 shots.

Hunting for Eggs

Today was Brooke's pre-school Easter Egg Hunt. I have to admit I was dreading it. I particularly get nervous interacting with the other mothers, and I have a real hard time with the field trips. I'm not sure why...

Anyway, Brooke was beyond excited, giggling all the way to school about how fast she was going to run and how many eggs filled with candy she would find. She was very concerned about my letting her eat candy before lunch, as typically, it is against the rules in our house. I assured her that it was a special occasion, so it would be OK. She also decided it would be wise to leave her Nanny (her very worn, shaggy string of a blankie) in the car so it wouldn't get lost.

So the egg hunt was a success - Brooke found a small pile of eggs and was very happy. They set the hunt up at the local park, so the eggs were hidden all in the play equipment - very cool. The playground is big enough so that kids weren't banging into each other - no serious melt-downs - everyone got a fair amount of eggs. Before the big hunt, the kids sang a few little songs with bunny ears on - totally cute. Then, after all the eggs were found, many of the kids stuck around to play. Since it was such a nice day, I was in total agreement and I actually spent most of the time chatting with another parent! woohoo for me! We actually spent an extra HOUR there, which was definitely not in my original plan.

It did make me happy, really.

I know how much Brooke likes to play outside, and I always feel guilty that I don't bring her out enough. She was all pink-cheeks and smiles. What a little sweetie.