Our "Egg-Sighting" Easter

(Actually, our Easter was pretty low-key. What's exciting is that I really am posting this before the Fourth of July!!!)

Saturday night, the kids dyed Easter eggs with Chris. For the second year in a row, I made the mistake of forgetting about the eggs until it was already close to bedtime, but maybe I will try harder to remember earlier next year. The Easter Bunny procrastinated as well, so at least she and I were on the same page. (Didn't you know that the Easter Bunny is actually a she? In our house, mythical gift-bearing creatures are always female by default.)










Since she needed an afternoon nap, the Easter Bunny brought baskets of goodies in the evening after suppertime. She is very smart to do that since she knows little kids are prone to ruining not just their appetites but lots of other things as well if they find their candy beforehand and get too wired on sugar. Instead of keeping with conventional Easter Bunny traditions, she left baskets on the front porch while nobody was looking before hopping back down the Bunny Trail. Sneaky, isn't she? After finding their baskets, the kids hunted for plastic eggs hidden throughout the house.








(By the way, the kids and I actually spotted the Easter Bunny--or one of her helpers--earlier in the week in the yard across the street, so Zachary and Ashley got a sneak-peak of her looking for places to hide Easter eggs. They thought that was GREAT!)

Below, you can see how much trouble I was having getting a good picture of both kids in their Easter Sunday attire. After church and before lunch is probably not the best time for a photo shoot, but I tried!






Hope you all had a Happy Easter!

Space Invaders

Last week, Zachary and Ashley found a very entertaining use for my closet. (Come over and see for yourself if you must.) And what's more fun than playing in a closet? Playing in a clean one, of course! (Much too dangerous otherwise.) Just couldn't let all those smiles get away.

Love You Forever (and don't you EVEN try to stop me!)

From birth to the Terrible Twos, through grade school and the formidable teenage years, during young adulthood and finally on up to the attempted escape to married life, this book shows you, step by step, how to become a true-blue, dyed-in-the-wool Stalker Mom.



The main character in this story is your typical, Suburban-driving, let's-have-your-friends-over-for-milk-and-cookies kind of mom. Each night, no matter how many poopy diapers she'd had to change; no matter how badly her toddler trashed the bathroom she'd just spent 2 hours cleaning; no matter how many times she had to call her boy in for supper; and no matter how many times she found mold spores growing on dirty dishes in his room, she still loved him more than you can imagine, and she never, ever used excessive force. Even though there were days when he drove her crazy and those when she felt like she lived in a zoo (or wanted to sell him to one), their nights always culminated in her singing the same sweet love song:

"I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living,
My baby you'll be."

But the more you read, the more you'll realize that this is one persistent lady. When her son packs up and tries to leave home, she takes to driving madly across town with a ladder strapped to the roof of her SUV and zip ties and duct tape on the seat beside her just in case (oh, and his mended pants and a casserole dish of his favorite chicken and dumplings), and she climbs through her grown son's window to rock the nearly 200-lb. sleeping man in the very same way.

Isn't this the kind of mother all women aspire to be? I know I do. And that's why I love this book! (And you think I'm kidding...)

Can you feel the love tonight?

For Valentine's Day, my sweet sister, Wendy, sent me 4 boxes of these little gems.



I think it's safe to say, "WENDY, IT'S YOUR FAULT I'M FAT!!!!!!!!!! Oh, and you better be glad you're in Boston, or else I'd come sit on you." :D


How's that for hello?

Me Encanta la Musica de Plaza Sesamo!

Ever since the 6th grade, I wanted to learn Spanish. I enjoyed all the classes I took from 8th grade on up through 3rd-year in college. At one point, though sadly no longer, I considered myself pretty proficient. I dreamed that one day my kids would also learn Spanish and that maybe they could become fluent in it even though I never was.

Several years ago, I found this cute CD that I thought I'd use to introduce my kids to Spanish. It worked wonders at keeping Zachary calm and happy in the car during the frequent trips we made to Houston his first year. And the tunes are catchy enough that I actually didn't mind enjoyed listening to the whole thing TWICE on each stretch of the trip. Now that Ashley is into all things Elmo, she loves listening to this in the car or when I put her down for a nap. (Both kids request it nightly, actually.)

Who knows? Maybe my kids will speak Spanish someday...just hopefully without furry monster accents! If you love Sesame Street (in English or Spanish--the songs are mixed) you might will definitely want to check this out!

[My favorite track? No Me Gusta (I Don't Like It)]

Food Fights and Rave Reviews

I have had enough of the mealtime protests that have been going on lately at our house. I know I am mostly to blame, but with all the candy-ridden holidays we've celebrated between Halloween and Easter, the sugar levels in this house are enough to put us at risk for developing sudden-onset diabetes. If sugar could spontaneously combust, my kids would be close to being carmelized. From the time they get up in the morning to the time they go to bed, I hear this sporadic chirping throughout the day:

A: "Treat...Mah-mee!" Uh-huh! uh-huh! Treat! Peez? Treat!"
Z: "Please, Mommy, I wanna treat!"
A: "TREAT! MO' TREAT!"

Is it any wonder why actual FOOD doesn't sound so good anymore? (If they eat the candy, then at least I won't, but that doesn't mean it comes in a steady stream.) So when it comes to dinnertime, I know I'm supposed to let them eat whatever we're having, but occasionally I'll fix them something else just so I won't have to hear the complaints. I've decided to try again to make a concerted effort to do things the right way.

I made chicken fajitas for dinner last night, even though I know very well that my kids won't touch chicken (or any meat, really.) I got an unexpected response to the rice and beans, though:

Ashley: "Mmmmmmmm! Mummy!"
Zachary: "This is deeeeelicious!"

(And a few minutes later, after second helpings):

Zachary: "Oh, Mommy and Daddy...You're our best friends!"

Well, then! Beans and rice it is...

..every night until you grow up and leave home.

Spouse vs. Spouse Tag

How did you meet your spouse? Chris was the choir director in our single's ward (church) and his friend, who was the accompanist, introduced me to Chris one Sunday and jokingly said, "You can only be friends with Chris if you join choir." I'm still not exactly sure how my brain registered that. I can't sing, and I don't like being up in front of people. Choir wasn't really my thing, so I thought Chris wouldn't be either. But the same day, just a couple hours later, we crossed paths again in the hall. I guess you could say I got a second chance glance. In that short moment, there was something I can't explain that attracted me to him and I ended up at choir practice the next day. My interest in him was a well-kept secret. He hadn't even realized, when he asked me out 2 months later, that I was even interested in him, because all I did was go to choir and sing really bad! :)

Where did you go on your first date? He took me to dinner at Houston's (a nice steakhouse in Austin) and to see the movie, Remember the Titans. That dinner was the first and last time I think I have ever seen him eat salad (trying to make a good, lasting impression, I'm sure.) It was also on our first date that he told me he would never have a dog. (My parents had always promised me that I could have a dog when I got married.) I chose the right!!! :)

How long have you been together? Our first date was Oct. 20, 2000 (two days after his birthday.) We were married on November 9, 2001. We've been together almost 7 1/2 years.

Who eats more? Chris has a bigger appetite but more selective taste. I like more of a variety of things but actually eat less.

Who said I love you first? Christopher did, but I suspected something was up when he invited me to go house-hunting with him. We picked out our first house together before he told me, "I love you." How strange is that?! He signed a contract for the house and then admitted that night that he intended the house to be ours.

Who sings better? No question. He does for sure.

Who is smarter? Chris is incredibly smart, and I had the good sense to marry him. :)

Who does the laundry? I do, but he occasionally helps fold or put it away.

Who does the dishes? I do.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do.

Who pays the bills? Chris does.

Who mows the lawn? Chris does all the lawn work, but it bothers his allergies, so someday he will pass that off on somebody else (just not me!)

Who cooks dinner? I cook almost all family meals. He's a great sport about cooking for himself when our schedules don't line up.

Who drives when you are together? I do a lot of the driving when we go places as a family, but he always drives when it's just the 2 of us.

Who is more stubborn? We are both stubborn in different ways and about different things. He's silently stubborn and I'm a Leo. (Enough said.)

Who is the first to admit when they’re wrong? I readily admit when I'm wrong. Chris readily admits when I'm wrong. Problem is, he is never wrong...or so he thinks. :)

Whose parents do you see the most? My parents live 15 minutes away, and Chris' parents live 15 hours away.

Who kissed who first? Chris claims I did. I guess that's why there was a 2nd date, and a 3rd... :D

Who proposed? Chris did. We had already picked out the ring and the house. I'd met his parents; he'd received permission from my parents. So, it wasn't a big surprise. We were in the midst of planning the wedding and on our way to pick out our announcements (the weekend of my 25th birthday) when he casually passed the ring box, wrapped in birthday paper, to me in the car like it was my present. I was so mad at him for that! (Who combines their birthday and anniversary so they only get one gift? Not me.) So, we had a pretty lousy time picking out our announcements, and I just wanted him to take me home afterwards, but he started driving the wrong direction. He made me go with him to Zilker Gardens, and I thought it a little strange that a guy would take his backpack with him to a botanical garden, but I was blind-sided because I was mad at him. Then, at my favorite spot overlooking the rose garden, he opened his backpack and started handing me some little birthday gifts and tried again to just toss the wrapped up ring box at me like it really was no big deal, just my birthday present. By then, though, I realized what was happening, but when I opened the ring box, the ring wasn't even in there. He had completely set the whole thing up (getting the rise out of me) to throw me off, and after we both got a good laugh, he got down on his knee and officially asked me to marry him and presented the ring. (And, of course, I wasn't mad at him after that.) It was a very memorable birthday for me--one of my favorites.

Who has more friends? I do. Neither of us is especially outgoing, but Chris is less so than I am.

Who has more siblings? Chris has 2 and I have 4.

Who wears the pants in the family? Chris does, but I'm the belt that holds those pants up.

Tag! Your turn!