Our big boy

Ryan just keeps growing, and he is sure to let everyone know. The past several weeks, Ryan has been asking why Lindsay (his friend) has a big kid car seat and he has a little one. My only answer for him has been, "because I said so." The real reason behind it is because I'm probably a super overprotective mom and want to keep Ryan as safe as possible. But, after talking with some of the other preschool moms, I did some research, measuring (to see how much Ryan weighs and how tall he is), and made some phone calls. It turns out Ryan should be in a big kid car seat - he is over the forty pound weight limit for his current seat, and is well above the height requirement. And, it is actually not safe for him to be using the 5 point harness anymore - the people at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are very knowledgeable if you should ever need to call them. Anyway, after everything - the talking, the measuring, and the phone calls, I decided it was time to make a trip to Target and pick out a new seat for our new big boy. So Ryan and I hit the road and were on a mission to find the perfect seat. After having Ryan test out three different models, he settled on a "nice, cushy seat" which was just perfect. We got it home and immediately pulled it out of the box and put it together. The kids decided they liked the box better than the actual seat - at least it kept them busy while we put the seat together.

Today we made our maiden voyage with the new seat - as you can see, Ryan was thrilled.

He loves that he is using a "real seat belt" and can almost get it locked in all by himself. I can't wait for that day, it will make packing them up a whole lot easier. After the whole car seat situation, Ryan has taken every opportunity to put out instances where he can do things by himself - after all, he is a big boy now. Today when he decided he wanted to borrow a movie from the neighbors, he said he could go pick it up all by himself instead of going with me. So there I stood in the garage and watched him make his way across the patch of grass that separates the house (I had to stand back just far enough in the garage so he couldn't see me watching him). Once I saw him coming back out of the door, I hustled back into the house and sat on the couch waiting for him to come in. Sure enough, I hear his little footsteps climbing up the steps, then the garage door shutting (such a responsible little kid), and there he is happy as can be with his new movie in hand. He was so proud of the fact that he went all by himself and couldn't wait to tell me about his little adventure (it should have taken about two seconds to tell, but somehow Ryan managed to make it take about 5 minutes) - just another step towards his independence.

Pretty . . . not so much

So Ash was at our place the other day and was "helping" me give the kids baths. Lauren was up first so Ash was handling her while I was trying to deal with Ryan. It seemed like it was taking a while for Lauren's bath to get going and now I know why . . .It seems Ash thought it was time to give Lauren her first ponytail. All I can say is ISH! This little girl does not look good with a ponytail. In fact, she kind of looks like a dirtball - all she would need is a dirty little mustache and she would like some of the grease balls I've seen walking around. After getting a good laugh at Lauren's expense, Auntie tried to switch things up a bit by moving from the traditional pony-tail to the top of the head Pebble's (from the Flintstones) look. As you can see, Lauren loved every minute of it.
Good help me when the day comes that Lauren's hair actually needs to be done so it looks decent. I imagine there will be some hand swatting, screaming, and lots of not fun - I can hardly wait.

Unusual bruising

We had another rather uneventful weekend. Trav was away at the lake helping his dad do some grout work so the kids and I were left to fend for ourselves. Saturday started as usual, wake up, watch some toons, eat, and then head out to play. It was a bit colder than it has been the past few days, but still warm enough to play so that's what we did. The kids were having mental breakdowns about fifteen minutes into our outdoor fun so I told them both, "one more crying fit, and we go inside." Although Lauren gave me her "I don't know what you are talking about" look, she stopped her crying and pulled herself together. Ryan also took my warning seriously and put an end to his tears - thank god. After that, we managed to get in a good hour or so of outdoor fun and then headed back in to get ready for lunch. The kids were playing in the hallway while I was making some mac'n'cheese. Everything is going good - the kids are laughing, the noodles are cooking, and then I hear a smack on the wall followed by screams from Lauren. By the time I poke my head around the corner, I see Ryan in an all out sprint running towards the kitchen table saying, "Oh no, Mom is going to be mad, gotta go . . . gotta go." I let him go, pick up Lauren and asses the damage. She is rubbing/grabbing her left ear so I assume that is what hit the wall. After a little more crying, she calms down and is back to her normal self and I don't see or feel any injuries so I put her down and head out to get Ryan. He is still hiding under the table and when he sees me he says, "Sorry Mom, it was an accident, accidents happen." I ask him if he pushed Lauren into the wall and he says, "no" but I still have my doubts on that - why apologize if you didn't do anything wrong. At that point it doesn't really matter as Lauren is better and Ryan is giving her hugs and kisses (another sure sign of guilt) anyway. After the drama, we eat lunch and get ready for naps. It is at this point that I notice Lauren's ear is red and seems to have a black line across it. Upon closer examination, I see that the dark line across her ear is a bruise, and the ear is red and swollen - something I have never seen before. It also seems that the ear is sensitive because every time I try to get close and take a look Lauren pushes me hand away and turns her head. Not sure what to think - could her hearing be affected by this?, will her ear continue to swell?, I give her some Ibuprofen (to help with the swelling and pain) and lay her down. At this point I figure I have two options - call my Mom (my usual response) and ask what she thinks, or pull out the computer and look it up on the Internet. I opt for option 2 assuming Mom might not have any experience with bruised and swollen ears and read anything I can find. Turns out getting a bruised ear is more common than I would have thought, and it isn't a big issue unless the bruising was caused by something piercing the ear (which was not the case here). Feeling confident in my findings and have checked on Lauren periodically just to make sure she was okay, I was satisfied that everything was fine. The bruise is still there today as you can sort of see in the pictures and still looks find of odd but there is no serious damage so I'll just put this injury in the back of my mind in case another mother comes across a similar situation in the future.

"What the hell" . . .

As you already know, we spent the past couple of days at Auntie's house. On Wednesday when we got there, Ash was still at work so we let ourselves in and waited for her arrival. When she did finally get home, I think Ryan was a little shocked to see her in her nurse scrubs and looking so professional - his first words to her were, "what the hell is that?" And yes, I am very proud of my profanity using 3-year-old son. He knows Ash is a nurse, but I'm pretty sure it never really registered until that moment when he saw her looking like one of the people in the doctor's office (a place he has been known to not like) and not like her normal self. After his shock wore off (and Ash and I were done laughing about it), I told him that was a word he shouldn't use and left it at that. Well, apparently he forgot, and proceeded to use the word two more times during our short visit to Auntie's house. On his last slip up, I again reminded him that "hell" was not a word that he should be saying. He said, "should I say heck instead and just say the other word to myself." After thinking about it for a second, I said, "yes, say heck and keep the other word to yourself." Well, there he sat (he was going potty at the time) and I was packing up our toiletries. Pretty soon I here, "hell, hell, hell" coming out of Ryan's mouth. I turn to him instantly and gave him the "I'm not happy with you face" and before I could gt anything out, he says, "what Mom, I'm keeping it to myself" - now how am I going to argue with that? Since then, there have been no more slip ups (yet), and I'm hoping it stays that way. Now we're onto trying to figure out where he picked up that word. I am constantly thinking about what I am saying, and listening to other adults who are around him a lot, and I just can't figure it out. It doesn't seem like anyone says it that I've seen lately - Mom, is there something you want to tell me? I can't remember the exact phrase you taught him in the past, but I do remember you standing there laughing at me when I finally figured it out and then you came clean and told me you knew already - so here is your chance to come clean before I figure it out on my own, and you know I will. So that was pretty much it for Ryan - he swore, I told him not to, he did it again - what a fun trip.

Then there was Lauren. She and Kelty (Ash's dog) have a love/hate relationship. She loves to poke and pet the dog, but hates when the dog pays attention to her. Somehow though, they are managing to work out their differences and someday might actually become friends. Here is Lauren "playing" with Kelty yesterday morning. Listen to her little devilish laugh, and then notice how once she sees the camera, she stops instantly and does her best "camera face."

After our visit, we made a quick trip at the EP mall to update my wardrobe (thanks Ash for being my personal shopper), and then headed home. We were all dirty and tired from trip so we hit the showers, and then hit the beds. As usual, another fun trip up north!

Kind of a boring Monday

It was a cold, dreary Monday so there wasn't a lot for us to do. I actually had to revert back to some of our "winter indoor" activities to keep the kids busy. Our day started off with a trip to the gym - it turns out both Ryan and Lauren really enjoy going now as their little friends' moms and I are on the same schedule so they always have someone to play with. After gym school we picked up Madagascar 2 for the afternoon and headed home. We did some Play-Doh in the morning, watched a little of the movie before naps, napped, and then built forts. You really can't go wrong when you build a fort for kids. They don't care how big or how grand it is, they just care that they can crawl inside and hideout for a while and that is exactly what they did. About every five minutes or so they would knock all the pillows over and the fort would crumble to the ground, but lucky for them, I am kind of a structural engineer and was able to reconstruct the disaster within minutes of it's demise. We did this little game of knock down and build up all the way until supper time. Then it was eat, take baths, read some books, and go to bed- like I said, kind of a boring Monday. Today however, will not be boring. Ryan is at school, and Lauren and I are (or were) busy packing up our things for a sleepover at Auntie's house. We'll be heading up after lunch and will be spending today and part of tomorrow with Auntie as she has a couple of days off - yeah! We haven't made any big plans yet as to what we will do when we get there, but depending on the weather, I'm sure we'll figure out a fun outdoor, or indoor activity.

Relaxing weekend, sick ending

We had a great, relaxing weekend just hanging out around the house. On Friday Ryan had Lindsay over for the afternoon so by 6:00pm I could see he was getting tired. Lauren was also very tired as she does not see it necessary to take her afternoon nap when Ryan's friends are in the house. So needless to say it was a pretty early night, but not before we managed to squeeze in some fun. Our neighbors just recently purchased a camper (which they have parked in their driveway). The new purchase was the talk of Ryan's day . . . "what is that?", "what does it look like inside?" - all intriguing questions which were answered when we walked outside and Jim (neighbor) was sitting in the new camper and invited us in. Turns out half the neighborhood was in there plus some of Jim's relatives so we joined them and Ryan was instantly in heaven. He checked out every square inch of the camper and asked numerous questions, all of which Jim answered (such a nice guy). After hanging out for a while, we were back outside standing around talking with everyone. Ryan was riding his bike by himself, and before we know it, he has his posse of girls (all neighborhood girls) asking me if he can go over to their house and play for a while. "Their house" was actually another neighbor who has a nice fenced in backyard, but is also across the street. I said yes as long as the girls promised to walk across the street with him (they are 1st graders to is 3 years of age) and walk him back across the street when they were done - they agreed, and off they went. Another sign Ryan is growing up - he goes to some one's house all by himself and plays with his friends (granted the house was just three houses away and I could see everything that was going on) - he is turning into such a little man. After Ryan was done playing (about a half hour later), another neighbor (Ashley) walked him back to us (we were still talking out in the cul-de-sac). By then it was a little after 8:00pm (late in our world) so we picked up the toys and went inside. Lauren had already been sleeping for almost an hour so we just had Ryan to get ready for bed and then off to bed we went - what an exciting Friday night. Although, we were outside pretty much the whole day so I can use the "we got lots of fresh air" excuse for my tiredness. Unfortunately Friday was not an uneventful night of sleep. When we put Ryan to sleep, he felt a little hot and said his tummy hurt so I told him to get me if he didn't feel better later. Well, later came around 11:00pm when he woke up screaming. I went to his room, felt his forehead and knew something wasn't right. He was on fire . . . his head, body, everything. So I brought him into our bed, pulled all the covers down and rubbed his head until he fell asleep again. You are probably wondering where Trav was this whole time, yeah, he got booted to Ryan's bed - sick kids take priority over healthy husbands. I thought that might be the end of it, but I was wrong, it was just the beginning. It seemed like Ryan couldn't get comfortable most of the night so he was constantly tossing and turning and waking up which meant I was awake too. After the eventful night, we woke up as usual around 7:00am (why don't sick kids sleep in anymore?). That morning Ryan seemed perfectly fine so I figured it was maybe just a quick bug, or maybe he was dehydrated from running around in the hot weather all day. Saturday was filled with more playing and relaxing at home. We went walking, played in the sandbox, made another visit to the camper (I'm thinking this might become the new neighborhood hangout), and watched Spider Man 2. The kids both got baths and went to bed early again (gotta love getting them outside, it really burns up their energy). There were big plans for a bonfire outside, but that never happened (that whole fresh air thing again making us tired) so we went to bed relatively early again as well. Sunday morning started out later than usual (Lauren was up at 7:30 and Ryan a little after 8:00am). Everything was going fine until I hear Ryan start crying from our room where he was watching cartoons with Trav. I walk back there to find puke all over the floor and Ryan crying his eyes out on the toilet - I guess he was sick after all. Trav took care of getting Ryan cleaned up while I went to work on the bedroom carpet (wouldn't you know, I had just cleaned and vacuumed the day before). The vomit was laced with his morning hot chocolate so that made for a real project - note to others out there, Nestle Quick is hard to get out of beige carpet. With everyone and everything all clean, Ryan resumed his position in our bed (looks like he'll be there most of the day) and I started in on all the new laundry. I hoping this is a one time thing, but I won't be washing our sheets and airing out our room until I know for sure. So here I am typing away, Lauren is busy pushing her baby around in her stroller, Ryan is laying in bed watching cartoons, and Trav is out running some errands for me - milk, pizza, and movies for the day, we should be good to go. I'm hoping for an uneventful rest of the day, but assume that might not be the case. Oh, great example happening right now . . . Lauren has stopped dead in her tracks and has the look on her face which can only mean one thing - a diaper full of sh** - wonder how much longer Trav will be gone . . .

Lauren's musical ability

I shot this on Easter morning and kind of forgot about it until today so I thought I would share it with everyone. Lauren is such a little ham for the camera lately and god knows she loves to "dance" so this was right up her alley. Uncle Aaron is assisting on the piano.

Busy little Wednesday

So the kids and I had a very busy day today. Everything started bright and early - it seems the early the sun comes up, the earlier the kids get up. Anyway, with everyone fed, dressed, and ready to go, I packed up the kids and we headed out the door to visit the train museum, one of Ryan's favorite places. About five minutes into the car ride I heard my first, "Mom, are we there yet?" This went on for a good ten minutes before I finally told Ryan we had about 30 minutes to go, should he should just sit back and relax and I would let him know when we were getting close. Surprisingly that worked and he played quietly until I gave him the warning that the place was just around the corner. With that he perked up, straightened his "Thomas the Train" hat and pulled out his camera (the new one he got from the Easter Bunny - what better place to try it out). The minute we pulled into the parking lot he was pointing and saying, "Mom, look at this, or Mom, look at that." Anything that involved a train (which was pretty much everything) was amazing, cool, and "totally awesome" - where does he learn to talk like that? Once we actually got into the museum, Ryan teamed up with one of the guides and off he went. The guide (an older gentlemen) was good with Ryan. He took him to see and do all the things a 3-year-old boy would want to do . . . ring bells, blow train whistles, and the list goes on. Lauren and I followed along and took in everything as Ryan was having the time of his life. The highlight of the day came when our guide took us outside to see some big trains up close and personal. After seeing all the trains, the guide told Ryan he had one more special thing to show him so we followed along to the edge of the building and were thrilled (mostly Ryan) with the miniature train we saw coming our way. "The Rocket" is a miniature version of the bigger trains and as luck would have it, it was running today (it was always broke on our other visits) and was open for rides - yeah! Ryan nearly fell running to the thing, Lauren did fall, and I just tried to keep them calm enough to get them in and sitting on their butts. When we were all aboard, we got a nice little ride along the building and through some of the big trains - Ryan was thrilled, Lauren was unsure of what was going on, but seemed to enjoy it anyway. Here is a clip from our ride:


And some pictures from the day of the kids. The first one is my favorite - they were so good together - no pushing, ho hitting, just smiles and fun.
After the train museum, we headed over to pick up Grandma Donna from her training session in St. Paul. With Grandma safe in the car, we headed back home to meet up with Auntie and have some lunch. After lunch we did some quick shopping, dropped Grandma off at her car so she could go home, headed to EP to check out garage sale (yes, it is that time of the year again and I love it), then headed back home again to relax and play. But, the day didn't end there. Auntie headed home, and at 6:30pm I had Ryan's school conference so when Trav walked in at 6:15pm, I walked out and was excited to talk to Ryan's teacher. All the news at the conference was good news so that was great, but it was more fun to hear some of the stories Mrs. Olson (teacher) had about Ryan. She told one story about him building a rocket out of some blocks, then inviting all of his friends over to see it while he told stories about it. She said he is always very animated with his stories and just makes things up as he goes - gotta love his imagination. I walked out of the conference with a smile on my face and was so happy that Ryan really seemed to be enjoying all that preschool has to offer. After the conference I raced home and helped Trav get the kids to bed because as you probably could guess, there wasn't a lot of time for naps today. So here I sit on an early evening blogging away with both kids sound asleep - another good day for the record books.

Easter Weekend

We had a fairly busy Easter weekend starting with the ending of my Target job on Friday night - oh, so sad. Saturday morning came early with both kids up and at 'em by 7:00am. I gave the kids their warm cocoas and threw them in bed to watch some toons with Trav for a while while I took a nice, long, warm shower - don't get that chance to often so I have to enjoy whenever I can. After I was nice and clean and got down to business and started getting the kids dressed for their Great Grandma Erwin's 87th (I think) birthday party. Ryan was pretty simple, jeans and a dress shirt he picked out. Lauren on the other the hand took a little bit time. I had laid out a cute dress the night before, but never actually put it on her to see how it fit - big mistake. The shirt was tight and a little too short and we couldn't even get the dress zipped up. Onto the next outfit . . . this time it was a simple blue dress - we got it on, but it wasn't pretty and she could hardly move - guess that isn't going to work either. By this time Trav has steam coming out of his ears so he walks away and I scurry to find a different option. I finally pulled out a skirt and sweater set she had in her closet. I put the skirt on - perfect fit. Next came the white undershirt - good fit too. The final piece was the sweater - it was a bit long in the arms, but with a couple of rolls of the sleeve, we made it work. Thank God! Even with the time consuming wardrobe issues, we still managed to get on the road on time with everyone looking cute and Daddy still calm - that's a good morning in my book. Great Grandma's party was very fun. We were able to catch up with family, some of whom we haven't seen in way too many years. Ryan and Lauren kept themselves busy playing with all the little kids, the men kept themselves busy in the bar, and the rest of us kept busy chatting and catching up. Here we are with the birthday lady.

After the party we headed over to see one of Trav's friends who was back in town from Nebraska and then finally made our way to St. Peter to Grandma and Grandpa Loken's house. Saturday night wrapped up early with the kids in bed by 8:00pm and the adults soon to follow.

Sunday morning started with an Easter Egg hunt in Grandma and Grandpa's basement. Ryan did most of the hunting while Lauren walked around clueless until she spotted her new baby doll stroller hiding behind a chair with her basket. She skipped right over the basket, grabbed the stroller, and was on her way (guess she liked it). Ryan found his basket shortly after with a brand new, kid-tough camera laying inside - he was very happy!

When the kids were done checking out their new gifts, they both got baths and we headed out again, this time to Grandma and Grandpa Quast's house. There we had another Easter Egg Hunt - Ryan was a pro at this by this time, and Lauren seemed to finally get the hand out it too. They both made out with a bunch of goodies - candy, toys, etc. . .

the cousinschecking out their loot

By the time we got on the road again, this time to go home, both of the kids were tired. After a long weekend with lots to do, and little time to sleep they were both shot. Here they are on one of the drives between parties and gatherings - what I wouldn't give to be able to fall asleep like that again.

The scavenging continues . . .

If a Child Protection Officer walked into my house today and saw what I saw; which was Lauren picking a grape out of the garbage can in popping it into her mouth, I'm pretty sure there would be some serious questions. But, lucky for me that didn't happen. Now I just have to figure out a way to control my little scavenger. You would seriously think that I didn't feed my kids based on Lauren's actions lately, but then I remembered this picture of Ryan . . .Yes, that is him pulling a box of Teddy Grahams out of the garbage - what is wrong with my kids that they feel the need to eat out of garbage cans!? Ryan was 16 months in this picture, and Lauren is 16 months now so I'm thinking maybe it is just a "16 month" thing that kids do. Yeah that is probably it, they don't like to write about stuff like this in all of those "What To Expect When Expecting" books, but I'm here to write the truth and tell future mothers what it is really like. So mark it in your calendars, at 16 months you should start locking up your garbage cans or else. . .

Onto other things besides garbage . . . Ryan had another play date at Lindsay's house yesterday. Let me tell you, this play date thing is great. I drop Ryan off, take Lauren home and put her down for a nap, then sit back and relax for the next 3 hours until it is time to pick up Ry - what a deal! Actually, it usually doesn't work out exactly like that, but being one kid down for a couple of hours does make a huge difference. I was able to get some laundry done, continue to organize the kids' closets, and even catch up on some Oprah - not too shabby. When I picked up Ryan, Charlene (Lindsay's mom) had a couple of good stories to share with me. First, when it came time for snack time, Charlene had pulled out some fruit snacks. When she asked Ryan if his mom let him have fruit snacks, he immediately said, "no." So she put the fruit snacks away and made him some cheese and crackers, something I apparently do let him have. Why he said no to the fruit snacks in the first place is beyond me, but whatever. Then there was the pooping incident. I had a feeling this might be an issue because leading up to his play date he had been in the bathroom on two different occasions trying to poo. Well, as you probably guessed, he never got the job done at home, but apparently the Pooping Gods finally blessed him at Lindsay's house. Charlene said he spent a good 20 minutes in the bathroom with repeated reminders that everyone should stay away and give him some privacy shouted through the bathroom door. When he did finally emerge, Charlene asked to make sure everything was okay and he just looked up at her said, "yup" and wiped his wet hands down the front of his jeans - well, at least he washed his hands. And finally, when Lindsay's older sister came home from school, she joined the younger kids to play for a while. At one point she said to Ryan, "you are just too cute." His response, "I'm not cute, I'm handsome and smart" - I can safely say now that we have a little Travis in the making - maybe a bit arrogant, but he says what he thinks. So after the stories, we say our good-byes and get in the car. On the drive home I ask Ryan how he day was and he has, "Charlene doesn't have licorice." It only takes a second before I realize that he is talking about not getting licorice after his pooping accomplishment. It is at that point that I have to break the news to him that not everyone in the world gets licorice after they poop, only he does because he is special. And I said going forward, if he is somewhere other than at home when he poos, he'll just have to remember to tell me and I'll make sure to get him some licorice later. He says, "sure thing Mom" and sits back patiently waiting to get home to his prized licorice.

Working Mother

As of today, I am still a "working mother", but come Friday, no more. Trav and I have been discussing me quiting my Target job for a while now, and this past week, I finally went in to put in my two week notice. Between Trav's long hours, and with summer just around the corner, neither of us felt the job was working anymore so it was time for me to quit my second job in as many years - guess I'm kind of a quitter. Anyway, when I went in to put in my two week notice, I told Alex (HR guy) my reasoning for wanting to quit and he came back with a different option - instead of quitting, I should request a Leave of Absence. So he gave me the form to fill out and when I got to the section that said reason for request, I asked him what to put and he said "personal" so that's what I did. After I filled it out and gave it back to him, he said it would have to be approved by the head of HR before it would be final. I just looked at him and said, "I thought you were the head of HR." He said, "oh yeah, that's right, so it's approved" - such a jokester that Alex. Anyway, now not only am I guaranteed my job back in 3 months if I so choose (although it is not likely that I will return), but I also get to keep my employee discount for another 3 months - yeah, I wish everything was that easy. The knowledge that I'm done on Friday has helped Trav through this busy week. I was scheduled to work Mon, Tues, Wed, and Friday nights so he has been putting in long hours at work, and then coming home and taking care of the kids all night. I must say, he has been doing a great job and I know Ryan loves having Dad all to himself when Lauren goes to bed. Speaking of Lauren . . . she has picked up a new dirty little trick. It seems whenever any scrap of food is left out our house, Lauren is "Johnny on the Spot" there to "clean it up" for us. The other night our neighbor brought over some mini cupcakes. Trav fed the kids supper, and then let each of them have a cupcake for desert. Lauren of course polished hers off, but Ryan only ate about half of his. So the next morning, we're all up, Trav is in the bathroom getting ready for work, I'm getting Ryan dressed, and Lauren is nowhere to be found. So Trav walks out into the kitchen and sees her climbing down from the chair with a mouthful of something. It takes him a second to see the empty plate he left out last night that had Ryan's half-eaten cupcake on it. She apparently walked into the kitchen, smelled the cupcake in the air, and helped herself to leftovers then calmly climbed back down the chair and walked away like nothing happened - what a little turd. Then, the other day, Ryan had some marshmallow bunnies in a bowl. Lauren had already helped him eat a few, but the minute he put that down, I'm sure she had her eye on it and she waited for the perfect moment when I walked out of the kitchen with Ryan to get him ready for his nap. By the time I got back she was shimming down the chair with a mouthful of marshmallow bunnies. It wasn't too hard to guess what she got into considering she looked like a rabid animal with white foam all around her mouth and Ryan's previously upright bowl was now laying on its side. Here she is after she polished off the marshmallows - she managed to wipe off most the white around her mouth but she still looks guilty to me.
The only other thing we've done this week is try to organize our closets. With the warm weather coming, I have been on a mission to switch our the kid's clothes, and in doing so, have been motivated to organize some other closets in the house as well. Here is our entryway closet. I was so excited for Trav to come home and check it out the day I cleaned it and was a little disappointed when he was less than enthusiastic about my accomplishment. But I know deep down he really likes all the labeled storage and perfectly aligned shoes. I'm thinking about asking for a label maker for Christmas next year - can you imagine the fun I could have with that thing!

Easter Fun Weekend

As mentioned before, this weekend was dedicated to the kids and having some Easter fun. We started out Saturday morning with a big breakfast (I bought a new griddle and can't get enough of it). After filling the house with smoke from the bacon and eggs, we bundled the kids up and got them into the stroller to go for a walk. They both fell asleep about 10 minutes into the walk so Trav and I were able to spend most of the time talking in peace and quiet. When we got home the neighbors were all out and about so we spent the rest of the morning visiting and playing with whoever was around. Around noon we finally pulled the kids into the house, gave them a quick lunch, and headed out for the Easter Egg Hunt. Upon pulling into the parking lot, we realized that this wasn't going to be the twenty minute trip we thought it would. There was a line all the way out the door, and going back into the parking lot - ugh. Trav and I had to remind ourselves that this was about the kids so we stuck it out and got through the line quicker than we thought we would. The hunt itself wasn't that great as there were way too many kids, not enough eggs, and lots of greedy adults. This Easter Egg Hunt was done different than others I have been to in that there were only those little plastic eggs to pick up, no candy, no little gadgets, just the eggs. It also seemed a little unorganized as they just let the people at the front of the line go right away so by the time we got outside, all the eggs were already gone. Ryan was a little bummed, but then we turned around and saw a bunch of eggs magically appear - it turns out some of the eggs had numbers in them, if you got one of those eggs, you took the number in and got a prize, if the egg was empty, it was just that, an empty, plastic egg. With that being the case, all of a sudden all these adults started going through their kids buckets and pulling the "good" eggs aside, and chucking the "bad" eggs back onto the grass for others to find - gee thanks for sharing, now all the other kids have something to look forward too. It was kind of sad to see how crazy (and greedy) a lot of the adults were acting. Anyway, Ryan got his two eggs, and then was easily distracted by the play area nearby so we headed over to play for a while.

Things were going good until Ry took a tumble down one of the ladders, then it was time for the tears, and time to leave. We headed back into the building where there were some other fun Easter activities. Ryan cheered up almost instantly as we promised him a chance to see the Easter Bunny - he loved it, Lauren wasn't sure what to think.

After visiting with the Easter Bunny, we made one last stop so Ryan could get his face painted - doesn't he looked thrilled.

With the busy morning/afternoon behind us, we all (yes, all four of us) laid down for naps. I had to work that evening so I took off around 7:00pm and Trav took over "Mom duty" for the night. When I got home everyone was sound asleep - a sure sign of a good night.

Our big event for Sunday was coloring and decorating our Easter Eggs. Ryan of course was thrilled, Lauren had no idea what was going on. In fact, she was so not impressed by everything that she decided to nap with Trav instead while Ry and I took care of the decorating.

We kept it pretty basic with just three colors, and lots of stickers - just right for a first-time decorator. With the eggs colored and put away safely into the Easter baskets, we sat down for lunch, then spent the afternoon watching movies - April snow showers make for good movie days. All in all, we accomplished everything we wanted this weekend - lots of family time, lots of Easter prep, and most importantly, lots of fun!

Ryan's play date

Since Ryan's last play date with his friend Lindsay, we've been working to get together again, but things always seem to pop up that prevent that from happening. Well, yesterday was the big day, the day that Ryan and Lindsay could finally play together again and this time at our house - talk about exciting! Ryan was so pumped when I told him the good news. About every five minutes or so he would say, "is Lindsay coming now?" So he got through the morning, managed to eat about four bites of his lunch, and then Lindsay finally came over. Ryan was going crazy. First we had to put on his music so he could show everyone (Lindsay, Lindsay's little brother Brady, and Lindsay's mom, Charlene) his dance moves, then everyone had to go and check out his bedroom, and before we had all a chance to see that, we were moving on to the basement where all his toys were - it was a whirlwind for the first 10 minutes or so and then he finally calmed down. Ryan and Lindsay went off and played while the moms and the two younger kids sat around and chatted. Before long Lindsay walks up to her mom and says, "Mom, can you leave now?" Apparently she was comfortable enough not to need mom around anymore so they packed up and left and then the kids got down to some serious playing. They (Lauren and myself if we were allowed) played dress-up, tea party, safari hunt, mystery solving, you name it, they played it. It was so fun to just be able to sit back and watch Ryan play with his first "real" friend. I mean "real" in the sense that it was the first real person he met on his own and formed a bond with. He has lots of other friends but they tend to be kids of my friends, family members, etc., but Lindsay he did all on his own and it is very obvious that they get along great. Over the course of the afternoon, it was obvious to me that they didn't need my help (or should I say, interference) when it came to finding something to do, deciding who should get what toy and how to share, or much of anything for that matter. They were both so nice to each other and just wanted to have fun so they made it all work - I was such a proud mom to be able to see that from Ryan. After a long afternoon of playing, Ryan was pretty tired so we ate an early dinner, gave Ry a quick haircut followed by and equally quick shower, and then curled up in bed to watch a movie before bed. About 10 minutes into the movie though, Ryan rolls over to me and says, "Mom, I'm kind of tired, maybe I should go in my bed" - god I love this kid. So I take him to his room, read a book, and agree to save our prayer for another night (Ryan's request) so he can get right to sleep. With both of the kids sound asleep, I was able to relax and catch up on some reality tv I've been missing out on lately. Sadly though, it wasn't too exciting so I shut the lights off and went to bed early too - apparently all that playing took a lot out of me too.

By the way, Trav does still exist but he has been putting in some very long days at work lately so today, like other days, he didn't even get to see the kids - he was out the door before they woke up and came home well after their bedtime. We plan on making it up to them this weekend though by going to the Shakopee Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, and then dying our own Easter Eggs on Sunday - should be some good family fun!

A cowoby and his little lady

Ryan wanted to be "Cowboy Joe" this morning so we pulled out his bin of dress-up clothes and this is what he ended up looking like . . .

Lauren couldn't stand being out of the picture so she managed to weasel her way in by giving Ryan a hug - if only he knew the real reason behind her kindness.And then she wanted all the attention on her so I took a quick picture to make her happy.I can't remember where the whole "Cowboy Joe" thing started, but whoever, and whenever it was said, it has always stuck with Ryan. Whenever he dresses up as a cowboy, it is always "Cowboy Joe." After being "Cowboy Joe" for a while today though, Ryan decides it is time to change things up a bit and says, "Mom, no more Cowboy Joe, I'm gonna be Peter Parker Cowboy." For those of you that don't know, Peter Parker is Spider-Man and as of late, Ryan's favorite character. So for the past week or so, he comes in every morning and says to me, "Good morning Mary Jane" (Peter's girlfriend), and I reply with, "Good morning Peter Parker" and for the rest of the day, he refers to me only as Mary Jane and I refer to him only as Peter Parker, unless I forget, at which point Ryan becomes mad and says, "it's Peter Parker Mom!"

Gotta love that Peter Parker!