Easter, 2011!

This year, Easter was particularly fun! Two kids = two baskets of goodies = double the goodies Mommy can share!

We dyed eggs with Grandma and Grandpap the night before Easter. Lyla had lots of fun playing with the colors and watching the eggs change. Despite a distaste for hard-boiled eggs, she very much wanted to take them all home with us. She talked about the Easter bunny that night and was very excited to see what was in her basket the next morning, though she seemed a little torn on whether or not the bunny was real. At three years old, we're proud of her skepticism.

Sure enough, the bunny came! We had an extra basket this year for our sweet boy, and the Easter bunny very cleverly filled it with baby food and a few of Mommy's favorite candies. Naturally, I helped Flint out, since he can't eat chocolate yet. The bunny always hides the basket somewhere in the house, so first thing in the morning (after some breakfast and sufficient "wake-up" time), Lyla played a quick game of hide-and-seek to find her basket (under the vanity in her bathroom) and helped Flint find his (behind the rocking chair). She was most excited about the candy and Play-doh, and paid only minimal attention to the new sandals (that have to go back to the store because my daughter's feet are giant) or the Strawberry "Hortcake" figure. Some day... some exciting day... my girl will care about toys.

Easter morning turned quickly to Easter afternoon, where we spent time at Nonna's with the Wise clan eating delicious lunch, hunting eggs and otherwise achieving what objective seemed to be "make the biggest mess possible." It started with punching balloons - lots of balloons and hitting with balloons, which inevitably shifted to wrestling. Then, kids chased after poor Luke with silly string - all over the yard! Lyla was not a fan. She stood frozen with a look of panic, shouting, "Don't spray my Daddy!" Mia brought three-dozen confetti eggs, which were kept outdoors as well, thankfully, but still managed to get indoors (even back at *my* house), thanks to the efficient confetti vehicle known as human hair. Lyla had as much fun sweeping up the mess as she did making it. I thought I was safe when all the eggs were used up, but Les managed to pile together some loose confetti to toss into my hair. Lovely. Flint spent most of this time inside, scooting all over the place and occasionally getting up on all fours, rocking back and forth. He is so close to crawling!

There was also a quite humorous attempt at a decent photo of all five kids all dressed up. A couple of them would have been great if a certain goofball uncle hadn't been coaxing children to make faces. The photos are adorable, though.

By the end of the day, we were exhausted and 3/4 of us were very itchy. Luke's allergies were insane from the oak trees and somehow the silly-string irritated his skin, and Lyla and I had been eaten alive by mosquitoes (somewhere around 30 bites between the two of us). The fantastic family time together was well worth it all, though, as it always is at Nonna's. The drive home was extremely uneventful, with 3/4 of us sleeping. Can you guess who was driving? :p We made it home just in time to evade yet another giant looming Texas thunderstorm. Thank you, April, for the much-needed rain and the awesome lightning show!

Happy Easter! Happy Spring!
Picasa album for April!

Weeds

My sweet Lyla girl... 3 years old.

My kids grow like weeds. Well, I guess most do. I recently completed Lyla's photos from her 3-year shoot(s). I got some portrait practice and Lyla had fun doing one of her favorite things - visiting our neighborhood pond. A week or so later, I finished up some less typical Lyla shots by taking her to the Botanical Gardens in Grapevine for some more color. Great Aunt Donna and Grandma came along to assist in keeping both kids happy and distracted from the camera. I am pretty proud of some of these! Still (and forever) so much more to learn!

There were also a couple of Flint and both kids together...

To see the whole group of photos at your own pace, minus slide show, go HERE!

Toy Story on Ice!

One of Lyla's very awesome birthday gifts this year was a Mommy and Daddy date to go see Toy Story 3 on Ice! What a special treat from some very special people we are so thankful to have in Lyla's life! The time alone with our daughter was very much needed!

Lyla was disappointed, at first, to learn that she wouldn't be allowed to get onto the ice and skate with "her Jessie." When the music and lights started up the show, I looked over at my girl and saw absolute delight on her face. She was just beside herself with the excitement of being in the arena with her own special seat and so thrilled to see her favorite characters... so much so that I may have gotten a little choked up. Just maybe.

She asked repeatedly throughout the entire show to "go down there on the ice." When we explained to her that only the toys got to go on the ice and the people got to sit and watch, she nodded and seemed to understand... but her wheels were turning. Moments later, she claimed, "Mommy, I'm a toy, too. And I need to go there." Oh, our clever little fibber. She even renamed the ice "freeze" later on, in yet another attempt to persuade us to let her go skate, stating, "I want to go to the freeze."

She sat surprisingly well through the show and was particularly attentive during Jessie's dance and any upbeat song that Mommy could help her "dance" to from our seat. We volunteered exorbitant amounts of money for one over-priced Jessie T-shirt, one Jessie snow-cone, plus one box of popcorn with a soda all in the name of overjoying a three-year-old. Three trips to the potty, one intermission catered especially to antsy preschoolers and seventeen shifts from Luke's lap to mine to standing to sitting turned the show into an almost kinesthetic experience. The performance, itself, was very cute and entertaining - my favorites were actually Ken and Barbie, who totally stole the show dancing through wardrobe changes for the "closet of clothes" scene. The aliens were very adorable, as well, marching in on their knees to perfectly master the squeaky-toy waddle. So cute!

Knowing my Lyla doesn't transition all too well (even for a three-year-old), we gave her a few warnings as the finale approached, that she show would soon be over. She actually handled the ending well, but the departure from the American Airlines Center was a bit more challenging. Being overly tired, overly happy INside and overly resistent to exit, quickly turned any hope of a smooth descent from her Toy Story high into a rapid crash of flailing, screaming madness. Between bouts of throat-raking wails and hysterical sobs, we could make out, "I... wanna... stay... here..." It was a physical struggle to get her safely into her carseat and a serious auditory discomfort to listen to her belting out in desperation. Then... she fell asleep.

When we arrived at Nonna's to pick up Brudder, her eyes opened suddenly and she asked instantly, "Where's my Toy Story?" before drifting back to sleep temporarily on Daddy's shoulder.

What a special, special day!
Lyla: "I need some more tickets so I can do that again."
Mommy: "It was just one special day. Just one time."
Lyla: "I need to do one time some more."

Thanks to our dear friends for making it happen!

And for our next adventure... ice skating.