Due to a crazy week, Easter egg coloring didn't even start until 8:30 last night. So, we tried not to think about how late the kids would be going to bed and just enjoyed ourselves instead.

Everyone in our family has their own unique style.

This year Cole decided to make eggs that looked like real bird eggs. I didn't actually compare his eggs to pictures of the real things, but either way they turned out beautiful. Besides, it's the effort that counts in my book.

Isabel normally goes the pastel route because she's too excited to leave the eggs in the color for any length of time. Much to my surprise, she made a beautiful denim blue egg, showing an incredible amount of patience for a five-year old. I helped her finish them off with a little sand art.

Clay always goes for creativity. This year he pushed the envelope by making an "ugly" egg. He was trying to see if he could get it to look like a store-bought brown egg. It turned out to be one of my favorites.

Personally, I've never been that big on pastel colors so I always go for bold. Every year I make a teal colored egg because that's my favorite. And normally I make an egg that has the colors of the sunset in it. This year I went more for more of a twilight look. 

Whether it's robin's egg blue, pastel, bold, or just plain ugly, my favorite part of egg coloring is just spending the time together. Sure, it's always fun to see what everyone will do with their eggs. But in the end I would be just as happy with all white eggs as long as we are together as a family...no matter what time of day it is.

Happy Easter everyone!

More Easter fun to come... 

Ten years ago, on this day, my life changed drastically - although I didn't know it specifically at the time.

What happened?

I turned 22.

In memory of that faithful day, I'm steering clear of all fruity adult beverages that impair my judgement. 

Perhaps a glass of wine would be okay though? 

Cheers to you on this fine March 25th.

Cole loves all things military. Perhaps it's just a phase he's going through, but right now he loves all things that have the potential to shoot or explode. Believe me, he doesn't get it from Clay and I, so I can only assume it's part of being a growing boy.

Anyway, he got some really great models for Christmas. So the other day he busted out his M4842 Patton Tank and got started. Naturally, we didn't have all the colors he needed to paint all the pieces. So, being a typical impatient nine year-old, he took what I had, painted the few things he could and started gluing.

He enlisted his dad's help and it's a good thing he did because the OCD part of me just couldn't come to grips with gluing before painting. I need structure...I need order...I need a drink.

Isabel even got to jump in and help a bit because he's a good brother like that. Unfortunately I don't have any visual proof of his kindness.

I had a great time watching them work and really enjoyed the quiet that came with it...I spent most of the time reading.

There's a bit more to do and no doubt I'll end up doing my fair share of the more detailed painting, but I don't mind that's when the OCD part of me actually come in handy. 

Right now, here's what it looks like so far.

The best part of Valentine's Day is making cards with the kids.
Every year we go to the craft store and  let the kids pick out the supplies they need. It's always fun to see what they choose to make for their friends.Isabel is all red and pink, hearts and flowers. 

Cole is a bit weary of red and pink these days. He always chooses green paper because it's his favorite and more boyish. Last year he went with space stickers. This year he surprised me and chose cat/kitten stickers.

I could hardly believe it. But who am I to wonder about the inner workings of a 9-year old boy. To each their own, I say.

A good time was had by all and isn't that what sharing the love is all about?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Is there anything worse than having a sick child? 

I suppose you could argue that being sick yourself would be worse, but I disagree. Sure, it's no fun being sick, but I know that I can deal with it. For me, there's nothing worse than watching one of my kids try to deal with the Flu blues. 

My poor, sweet baby girl has the blues bad today and my heart is just aching for her - aching because she hurts, aching because she's tired, aching because there's nothing I can do to make the sickies go away. She's still at the age where there's really nothing I can give her for the symptoms, so I just have to sit and watch as she oscillates between being overly hot and freezing cold. And watch while she blows into tissue after tissue in the hopes of stemming the tide of a never ending running nose. And watch while she whimpers about not feeling good. 

It's almost more than I can handle.

I was hoping it would be a day of couch sitting and cartoon watching, but she's been sleeping most of the day. On the one hand that's good because she needs the rest, but on the other, that's bad because it mean that whatever she's got is pretty intense. She never, ever naps. Ever.


Sigh.

My poor, poor little sweetheart. It just goes to show that as a parent there are a lot of things I can endure (e.g. sleepless nights, being thrown-up on, stepping on legos, etc.) But, I just can't stand to watch my kids hurt.

You know, as a parent, my kids amaze me everyday. And I could spend an endless amount of time listing the countless reasons why I think being a parent is amazing. But, let's be honest, that will get pretty long-winded and no one wants to sit in front of their computer forever reading my jibber jabber. So, let me just say it's soooooo cool to share a genetic makeup with someone else because there's a good chance that we'll like the same things.

Case in point...

Tonight at the dinner table we took a little trip down memory lane, discussing the brief time my family lived in Fremont, MI. That memory led to me telling the kids that I dressed up as Wonder Woman one Halloween when we lived there.  I also mentioned that their notorious Uncle Chris went as Skeletor the same year. That, of course, led to my kids asking me who Skeletor was etc., etc. Anyway, when all was said and done we giggled a bit about He-Man's furry underwear and I mentioned that the creators were genius for coming up with She-Ra.

Well, when dinner was over, we got on youtube and sure enough, you can watch episodes of both He-Man and She-Ra. So, the kids got another taste of my life growing up. I was a huge She-Ra fan and I just knew that Isabel would love it too. And of course she did!

So, while I realize that loving She-Ra is probably not the coolest thing I could admit on the internet, I have to say I'm happy to own it because my daughter likes it too. And that is one of the best moments you can have as a parent.

Isabel and I did some easy baking this morning.  We made pretzels.

Now, I love to have my kids help me while I'm cooking (most of the time) but the easy bake oven is a whole new experience for me.  I never had one as a kid.  Not quite sure why...guess I wasn't into food back then.

Anyway, I'm the assistant and it's so much fun to watch Isabel get into her easy baking groove.  She wants to do everything. From rolling and twisting the pretzels....

To applying the egg wash....

To sprinkling the salt.

Then she pushes the pan into the magical little oven, waits for the timer, and then slides the pan from the oven to the cooling chamber.  She can hardly wait the 12 minutes it takes for things to bake, she's so excited.  

Like any good brother, Cole tries everything she bakes and makes all the appropriate "mmmm"  noises.  He's such a good boy.

I smell the baking of a culinary master!

We're still alive. I promise. Although we've all been enjoying some much deserved time off...academics and blogging included.  

The holidays have officially come to a close around here. The Christmas decorations have been taken down and are neatly packed in boxes that are now in the storage closet. Toys have been placed on a newly purchased shelf in the kid's room and I can again walk through the living room without fear of impaling my foot on a Lego. Although from the looks of it, I still have to worry about taking a Beyblade in the rump if I'm not careful where I sit.

We had a wonderful Christmas.  Especially, skyping with our family who live far away, as well as enjoying a whole week of Grandma and Grandpa visiting.  

Thankfully we have a few more days of recovery. The kids don't go back to school until Monday, so we'll be enjoying a few more days of no alarms. Hooray!

Isabel received some money from GG this Christmas and decided this giant penguin was what she really wanted. It's practically as big as she is.

Cole on the other hand decided to be different and buy a Lego set....because the copious amount of Legos he received for Christmas and his birthday somehow just wasn't enough.

Santa visited our house Christmas Eve and left many surprises for kids and parents alike.

Isabel got an Easy Bake Oven.

And immediately made pizza for lunch.

Cole got several Lego sets (to no one's surprise...not even his...he's gotten Legos several Christmases in a row now) and spent the afternoon putting them together.

As for the adults, Santa brought Clay a new green tea pot and strainer, and he brought me an Adele CD.  Both very merry indeed.

I hope that Santa stopped at your house this year.  Happy Holidays, everyone!

Nine years ago, today, Santa came a day early and brought Clay and I a lump of Cole.  Or a St. Nicolas...depending of course on whether we were trying to put him to sleep or not.

And so began the wonderful chaotic learning curve of being a parent.  These past nine years have been a joy watching Cole grow and learn and play.  It's been an amazing journey, one that I am happy to continue.  Here's a look back.

Happy Birthday, son!  We love you so much!