Rounding out Spring, Dancing into Summer

Soccer games, Preschool end of the year activities and graduation, Storytimes in pjs with special smoothies, a playdate at the Arboretum with friends, talk time on the phone with grandparents, a Dallas friend coming for a visit, and afternoon playtime outside the house with trucks and diggers = Summertime is on its way!!

 

 

 

After finishing up the last of our spring activities, we were ready to play in the South for a bit to start our summer off with a bang! January to May was nothing short of a crazy whirlwind for our family...and though we haven't reached steady waters yet, the storm is definately calming. I am literally dancing into our summertime fun!
 Over the last several weeks we have been busy traveling, seeing family and friends in Mississippi and in Texas. Oh, what a blessing that precious time was for me and for the boys. At 4:45 tomorrow morning, Clay and I are hopping on a plane headed for Orlando to meet the rest of Clay's family at Disneyworld for a few days. I should be in the bed sleeping soundly before my alarm goes off at 4am, but of course, I had stubbornly decided that this post must go up before we left. :) I am soooo excited to be running off to this magical place with my boys! The cameras are charged and ready to go..."It's a Small World After All" has been the tune in my head for the past 3 days...DisneyWorld, here we come!

...and when I return, plenty of fun pictures to share from the trips to the three states!

Little boys, rubber boots, and rain puddles = a splishin' splashin' good time!

Splish splash. Swish Swash. Two little boys, 1 froggy rain jacket, 4 pairs of rubber boots (you know, two pairs for wearing and two pairs for filling up with water and fitting your bare toes into until it's time to switch and fill up another pair for more waterfall effects), and plenty of rainfall. Sounds of laughter and squeals coming from two little boys. Loving these moments with my little men.

 

Pictures taken on May 19, 2013

After almost a week of solid rain, the boys and I decided it was time to get out the rainboots and do some splishing and splashing. So happy we did.

April "showers" in Minnesota - a winter snowstorm

Written on Thursday, April 18:

Whoever said that "April showers bring May flowers" must never have traveled to Minnesota in the "spring." Though Minnesotan's are accustomed to crazy temperature changes and snow still on the ground in April, this state hasn't seen a winter snowstorm in April for more than 20 years. Leave it to 2013 to change that. For someone who doesn't watch the news or the weather channel, it might have been a bit of a shock to have this weather start pounding down...thankfully, I have people who care about me and know that I do not pay attention to either of those above mentioned channels, so they call me to inform and prepare me. :) By noon today ice pellets were falling fast and hitting the ground hard. The boys and I were at the church; I drove around back and dropped Parker off at preschool and headed home s-l-o-w-l-y. I didn't want to end up in a ditch like the other 8 or so cars I passed within that 8-9 mile radius. Thank you, Lord, for 4-wheel drive. And thank you, Lord, for sending me a husband who is stubborn enough to not let me talk him into getting a minivan here in Minnesota, for I would have been one of the 17 or so vans I saw stuck or pulled off the road today.

Of course, when heavy weather hits, the Pilot gets excited. I have long since discovered a pattern with him; if a blizzard or snowstorm comes, he climbs in Troublemaker to see what he can see and to see who he can help that might be stuck. Then, he always suggests that I not worry over cooking, and takes us out to eat (usually to Red Lobster...1. because we love it so much and 2. because it would just feel wrong to go anywhere else during the above mentioned condition...it's where we always happened to be when major snowfalls occurred earlier in our marriage...random, but quite true.

All 4 of us load up in Black Stallion (that would be my Explorer) and head towards the nearest Red Lobster. Thank you, family, for our gift cards; we enjoy using them so much at random times such as this!!! I try hard not to crack up as the Pilot excitedly talks about the weather conditions and how "bad the roads are," "do you see how well our 4-wheel drive is working right now?" and quite a few comments and suggestions regarding other drivers and how they were not doing so hot...according to his knowledge.

I start a video recording. Parker is being silly and asking 10,000 questions as usual regarding the exact things his daddy was talking about. Clay gets a phone call; it's Nana. Hi Nana! They talk for a few seconds. His 7 year old Iphone (yes, everyone please pity him now and it will make him feel slightly better. :)) --"that was the second Iphone ever to come out"--shut off. Clay calls Nana back. It shuts off again. After attempting 4-5 conversations that were unsuccessful, the Pilot gave up on that notion and frustratingly shared with me that he needed a new phone. (You have to either live in this household or know Clay very well to understand why at that moment, the only comment I could muster was, "Yes dear, you do need a new phone very badly. And we will get you one one day; it's on the list... I tried to sound sympathetic, but I don't think I did.)

Meanwhile, Cooper is sounding quite whiny in the backseat--not your typical crying and wailing whining, but your lips-poked-out-for-no-reason-other-than-to-fuss-and-pout-over-absolutely-nothing type whine. And please, let me tell you, that our little mister has the whine down to a science. Have you ever seen the PBS show Calillou? It's his favorite. Picture Calillou's voice but about 10 times more dramatic and whiny and you have our little mister's "whine."

I am happily snapping pictures and videotaping the roads, the noises, the date and time, the comments...pretty much everything. It might have been quite the comical moment if you had been a fly on the wall.

We did arrive to Red Lobster safe and sound and now, were rather hungry. Thank goodness for those lobsters out front and for the restaurant's dream biscuits. Dinner was fabulous as usual. Of course, the boys and I were all done by the time poor hubby started on his snow crab legs. ;) He has to peel everyone else's first so it ends up being quite the ordeal. ha! I have to laugh every time. The boys are diving in as soon as he lays it on their plates. We try to tell them to slow down and savor each bite, but I truly don't think it even makes it on their taste buds before going down. Ahh, the memories we will have of eating at this place with our boys. :)

On the way home, both boys fell fast asleep before we had even made it a few miles. It kinda made me a little sad for them to miss the drive back, because in my opinion, driving in the snow in the evening under the lighting of the streetlamps helps make up for the "inconvenience" the snow and ice bring our way during the day. It is a beautiful sight...and feeling. Heavy snowfall topped with bright, glowing street lights...and a peacefulness. Hard to describe. You just have to see it. 

Anyway, after pulling onto our street the Pilot announced that he thought he might pull out our snowblower to "warm it up." We got it two years ago and it has only been used once (for a couple of reasons.) After getting the boys to bed, we both ventured out to the garage. The lightbulb blows. (remember to add that to our "to do" list..."our" meaning the Pilot's.) I poured myself a glass of White Zinfandel, pulled up my hoodie, and stood calf deep in the snow while the Pilot happily snowplowed. At this moment, I thanked God for 3 things: 1. for dear hubby being home during this wild weather  2. for my sweet glass of wine  and 3. for the beauty and peace of the snowfall

A mini run-down of our day in pics: (minus Moppets, Parker's school and Clay's dr. appt, the 4 times diarrhea diaper incidences, the wet-bed sheets, the laundry room, a few other things that visitors of this blog would probably appreciate my not sharing)

How I found Parker this morning when I came downstairs to get in the shower

In case it's hard to tell in the picture, it's an orange pepper.

 

Where Cooper ran to and what he grabbed as soon as he got back from his drive with his daddy in Troublemaker.

 

First thing Parker wanted to do when he got home from school...shovel the snow out of our driveway.

After 16 calls, 2 text msgs and 3 voicemails to the Pilot's un-workable phone, I was relieved to see Troublemaker pulling in the neighborhood. The little mister and his daddy had decided to play in the snow a little on their way home and help a few people who were stuck on a nearby hill...wish you would have told your worried wife ahead of time about that, babe!

How the roads looked on our way to eat supper. An accident every several feet it seemed like.

 

Snow crab at Red Lobster. Yum!

Me outside with my wine hunching over from the cold wind that blew snow in my face as the Pilot was snapping the picture.

 

The Pilot at work snowblowing neighboring driveways. (He says it was to truly "warm up the snowblower" after not using it for a year; I happen to know the boy got quite enthusiastic about putting that thing to work this evening though!)

a visit with a bunny, Easter eggs hunts and coloring, Resurrection rolls, and a celebration of our Saviour!

Our Easter weekend was filled with colored eggs, a bunny visit, smiles and laughter, kisses on sweet toes, Resurrection Rolls, surprises on Easter morning, us missing the Pilot, Resurrection eggs, many-times-a-read story of our sweet Jesus and His precious gift to us, an excellent morning of worship at our church, and even some much needed outdoors time...in the sun!! Our first walk of the season was taken this weekend! Yea!!

Friday afternoon, I got out our simple tools for classic Easter egg dyeing: mugs, hot water, eggs, food coloring, spoons, and paper towels...lots of paper towels. :) It wasn't until after I had the boiling water in the cups and on the stove, and the food coloring and eggs out, that I realized I didn't have any regular vinegar. I had every other kind: apple cider, white wine, rice....yada yada...but not plain vinegar. After a quick call to mama, who then consulted with Anne, it was decided I most definitely needed regular vinegar. Shoot. I sprinted to my neighbor's front door. No answer. Ran to my other neighbor. And another neighbor. And finally a fourth neighbor who did indeed have plain vinegar. Thank you Kathy!! Got back into the house where everything was still in one piece (well, except for a couple of eggs that Cooper had gotten a hold of) and the Easter egg coloring began!

Whereas Parker took his time expertly placing the eggs into the black mugs and gently taking them out, dear mr. mr. took more of the natural tendency to plop/throw/toss his eggs into the cups of the now warm water. (not many of his eggs made it out in one piece) I worked with him on it for quite some time, but somehow, my way just took the fun out of it for him. ;) He contentedly went back to plopping and pulling out, plopping and pulling out as soon as I left my post.

We weren't dressed fancy. Earlier that day, we had ventured outside and made quite the mess of ourselves in the slushy streets of our neighborhood. I guess in comparison, we cleaned up rather nicely for our egg decorating party!

Number of times I kissed those sweet toes this weekend: too many to count.

Saturday morning we ventured out on an Easter egg hunt at our church. Because of the weather, the event was held indoors. 2,000 eggs and 100's of kids. It went fast. Within less than 15 minutes, the official hunt was over. We took our time and counted our eggs, opened them to retrieve some edible goodies and then turned our eggs back in before jumping in the car to head home for more Easter fun. One thing I learned from this hunt and from this weekend: Cooper can no longer wear 2t blue jeans...I decided not to show the picture of Cooper in his "capris" at the Easter egg hunt. No worries though! Most were blurry and off color anyway! :)

We prepared and baked Resurrection rolls later that day. The boys loved the finger-licking fun as much as the story and the process of the activity. ;)

Parker was sad because we didn't have his Bible here to read from like we did last year. (We accidently left it in Texas...soon to return though! Thanks Nana and Poppie!) I remembered at the last minute prior to starting our baking, that Cooper had his Bible downstairs and returned with it to find Parker beaming when he saw that I had a solution to our dilemma (because pictures are way more fun than small text in mama's Bible).

When Cooper was dedicated at the church, our Small Group gave this Bible to him. It is an AWESOME children's Bible! We had gotten used to reading from Parker's because there is a little bit more text and detail for his age, but for this activity, the story and illustrations were perfect! (We actually have several favorite Children's Bibles, based on ages...I will share those soon!)

After our Resurrection rolls came out of the oven, the boys couldn't wait to tear them open to see if the marshmallows were still there. Parker got this big grin on his face and exclaimed, "It's gone!" I said, "That's right, Parker. Jesus has Risen!" Parker then said, "Yes! Jesus has risen indeed!" insert proud mama grin here.

I am a little sad to say that dear little Cooper didn't share the same excitement as his older brother. He wanted to know where his marshmallow had gone and who had taken it.

He was quite distressed over this actually. ;)

Sunday morning, the boys woke up to lots of exciting treats from the Easter bunny. Their favorite? A kickball that the Easter bunny found on clearance at Sears in December 2011 for $2.

We also enjoyed opening our Resurrection eggs this year. Parker knew the story well, so he liked to tell me what everything stood for when we opened them each day. Cooper just liked to open them all. ;)

I worked in the Climbers room Sunday morning and then enjoyed attending the Easter service--since our Sunday School class was cancelled for the holiday. Thanks Tammy, for snapping this picture of the boys and me quick before class!


Following church, the boys and I went to the Landscape Arboretum for a Bunny Brunch. Delicious food and a chance to see the Easter bunny...couldn't get much better than that for these two. As one of the workers kept an eye on my kids at our assigned table in the other room, my McAlisters Deli waitressing skills came in handy while I balanced the 3 plates of food in the buffet line and then successfully delivered the heaping plates to the two hungry boys. Thank you McAlisters! I can't tell you how many times I have been thankful for the balancing skills I acquired from that highschool job...especially since having kids.

We enjoyed our brunch of fruit, veggies, chicken, fish, and all sorts of yummy festive food and then were greeted by the Easter bunny. I almost choked on my food though, when Parker looked him over curiously when the special guest was visiting another table and proclaimed, "Mom! That's not the Easter bunny! That's not even one of the Easter bunny's special helpers! That's a man dressed up in a suit; I can see his hair sticking out from the back of the mask!"

Oh Parker. My child who you can't sneak anything past. I didn't even try to fake it or cover it up. I said in a shocking tone, "Parker you are right! The Easter bunny and his helpers must not have been able to make it so they sent a man to dress up like him instead." That settled his mind and he decided that must be what happened. Real Easter bunny or not, Parker was still happy to sit with him and to get his picture taken with him. :)


Cooper really wanted to pull his pink, bushy tail; the Easter bunny man let him.

Before leaving, we checked out the fairy exhibits on display at the entrance of the Arboretum. Both kids were quite fascinated by the large displays featuring these tiny, whimsical creatures.

Parker stood quietly and checked out each of the little details. I loved watching his sweet expressions as it fascinated him. I snapped a couple of pictures of Cooper too...they were blurry (not sure if it was from me moving to grab his sneaky hands or from him being his little active self...probably both) as he kept sticking his hands in the exhibits, snatching the little creatures off of the delicate bridges and the pennies out of the miniature waterfalls and streams that others had thrown in hoping for wishes to come true. Sorry guys. He did throw them back in with happy toddler force though! Maybe your wishes will come true twice! :)

Cooper and his Easter outfit (that used to be his brother's) with his Easter bunny that Nana and Poppie got for him. I tried to get a picture of both boys in the Easter outfits with their little bunnies. HA!
(...and me playing around with some color stuff in Photoshop. I need a Photoshop for Dummies quite badly.)

Love that smile...even though you can't see those brilliant blue eyes in this picture. I can assure you those baby blue's were sparkling and shining even more on this particular day. When the Pilot gets home, I have plans to put Cooper back in this outfit and attempt more pictures. He's just too cute in it not to! (his collar was unbuttoned in this picture..in case you're wondering why it looks a little high and funny.)

Easter morning 2010: Us with Parker in the Easter outfit.


You know, I noticed that many of my pictures through the weekend had terrible backgrounds, were blurry and out of focus and most were off color from being inside with tricky lighting. As I look through them though, I smile and feel thankful that I was able to record much of our weekend "as is." Just about everything was captured...off color or not. And that makes this mama Super Happy!
I hope you and your family had a Blessed Easter holiday as well!