Exploration

It was Whacky Wednesday at A's school.  I told her to put together something, well whacky!  She walked away as I wondered what her whacky was going to look like.  It looked like this.

I am responsible for the hair.  We may be chopping off her beautiful hair because it's causing her too much discomfort.  It's getting hot and all that hair (very thick) is making her miserable.  She doesn't really like to play with hair and has no desire to learn how to put her hair up in a pony tail.  She whines when it is time to comb her hair and by the middle of it she is screaming, "I just want to get outta here!"  She is oblivious to what her hair looks like and would be happy to walk around with knot-ridden hair.  Watching her try to shampoo all that hair is like watching a snail move.  Although, Coach absolutely loves her long hair, I think we will chop it all off.  It'll serve multiple purposes.  It will be easier to wash and comb/brush.  She can learn to do both as it grows longer, yes?  Yes.  It will keep her cooler in the Summer and then she can grow it back during the school year, yes?  Yes.  There will be less whining.  Yeh!

I usually cut her hair, but I think this time around I will bring her some where and get it done by a professional.  When A was younger, she had short hair and it was really cute on her.  I think it'll be fine, sigh...  Anyway, I like her whacky.  Good job.

I took Baby outside to let her do some exploration.  I tend to carry her around a lot since we are always on the move.  So, when I get a chance I let her explore.  She of course loves it, perhaps I should let her do it more often?  C'mon B, let's explore!

Yeh!  Where shall I go?

She seemed to gravitate toward flowers.



Hmmm?  What is this?

Look at those little hands!  Her curiosity fascinates me.  Hey B, those are my pianese flowers.  They hadn't bloomed yet.  Don't touch!

B had been watching her brothers pick blowers off our weed infested lawn and was searching for more blowers to play with for herself.  Once she found some she bent over carefully and pulled it from the ground.  She drew it closer to herself to examine this fluffy flower.  She stared at it and then opened her mouth and shoved it in. 

Woah, I didn't think she was going to do that!  I couldn't help but laugh!  Can you see it in her mouth?  I think she was a bit stunned and disappointed herself.





Yah, well, I don't think she'll do that again.  Yucky!!  Hey B, guess what?  it's time to go inside now.  That's enough for today!

Wahhhhhhh!  She was just getting started, too.  Well, I haven't introduced honeysuckles to her yet.  They are growing next to our drive way.  Yummy!  I think she'll like those more than the blowers.

Robina and Her Babies

As I mentioned before we have a robin's nest on our front porch.  They have been so much fun to watch every day.  We are really going to miss them when they all fly away which will be very soon.

Do you see their little beaks sticking out?  Sigh...  So cute.





I was the spectacle climbing up on my step stool pointing a camera at the top of my front porch - trying to get a great shot!  I was imagining I was working for National Geographic getting that prized shot for the front cover.  They probably have one of those long telephoto lense, which I do not have.  Robina, the name my daughter gave the mother bird, has gotten so used to us she didn't mind me getting so close to take pictures. 

It's funny how all these little birds don't mind their mama sitting on top of them.  At night, I notice how she sits higher and higher off the nest.  The birds are getting larger.  There are four of them in there!  They haven't flown yet, but they are stepping outside their nest and they have all their feathers!  It's only a matter of time - they'll be gone.  Empty nest syndrome kicking in already.  These are just birds, what will it be like when my babies are gone?

Receiving Christ

They day we have been anticipating since A started the second grade had arrived on May 7th, 2011.  My little one received Jesus for the first time.  Knowing how important this day is in her life, I hoped it would be all it should be.  I was so very proud of A in her preparation for this sacrament.  At her age, I didn't have a clue as to what the Eucharist was all about and I wanted to make sure she did.  She's a smart cookie, she gets it.

I bought her dress online about a month before her big day.  Geesh, talk about procrastinating!  It all worked out.  I did not buy her veil.  Her grandmother offered her wedding veil for her to use.  I thought that was just awesome, it makes it more special.  I had to tweak the veil a little bit and use my exceptional sewing skills and creativity to come up with what you see in the picture.  =-)

There were three Masses for the whole second grade.  Ours was at 11 am.  I was a bit disappointed because of how noisy the whole Mass was.  It sounded like happy hour at a bar.  There was to be no photography during the Mass - that didn't happen at all.  I refrained, but no one else did.  Hmph!

I watched her proudly as she received Jesus.  Then I prayed as I envisioned her walk with Christ throughout her life. 

After Mass, her grandparents took us out to lunch.  Wherever A wanted to go!  Where did she choose to go?  Burger King - the one with the indoor playground and the super fast slide!  I was really hoping for something more classy, but the girl gets what she wants on her day.  I guess she wouldn't know any better since we rarely take the kids out to nice restaurants.

So what's next?  What milestone is it going to be?  She will be turning 8 at the end of the month and will be starting 3rd grade.  What else?  Sigh....

New Life

Time has gone by again and now we have entered Spring.  I love the change of seasons.  Spring brings to us, new life.  Each morning, driving the kids to school, I notice the subtle changes all around me and all of sudden I'm surrounded by color!  No more bare trees, flowers of sorts pop out of the ground, bees are coming out of the ground (for real!  I was jogging one day and all of a sudden I see some one's lawn with little holes all over it with swarms of bees coming out of them.  It was horrible - I ran faster), birds are chirping and the weather becomes the perfect temperature.  There is a month out of the year that the weather is PERFECT and then the mosquitoes come and it's sweltering outside - Summer.

Spring also means the end of the school year is approaching.  Wow, that really went by fast.  I see the school year totally different now as a parent.  It is a year of activities divided by different themed events and challenges.  It keeps you so busy that it's over so quickly.  There are a lot of fun things towards the end of the school year like the Father/Daughter dance.  Coach and A had such a blast last year they decided to go again!

There was also a Mother/Son dance as well that T & I attended.  It was a lot of fun and we also won $100 in iTunes - weehoo!!  I was a very happy camper since my iTunes collection is getting very old and needs some new music to make it worth while again.  T is such a funny guy with an outgoing personality. 

There is this tree that I pass everyday, but it's only in the Springtime that it looks most beautiful to me.  I never really pay much attention to the different types of trees and flowers out there.  I hardly know the name of all the flowers out there.  However, I seem to pay more attention as I get older for some reason.  This tree is called a Red bud tree.

I didn't capture the tree the way I see it beautiful.  I love when the buds come out purple and they outline the dark branches of the tree.  It's a great contrast in color and there is this radiant purple hue that always gets my attention when I drive by.  I don't know why they call it a red bud tree.  It's totally purple!  However, I did see another tree that was pink (still not red).  They also look better when the weather is downcast.  They seem to glow in that weather.  Sigh...I never go on and on about a tree, but I look forward to it each Spring.  They are so alive!  It only lasts a little bit and then the green leaves spurt out and it looks ordinary again.

One day as I was sitting on my couch, I looked out onto the porch and noticed there was a robin building a nest.  I kept thinking there was no room for a nest on top of the pillar.  Every time the robin put a twig or a piece of grass down, it would fall.  I kept thinking, "Stupid bird!"  It was fun watching her build her nest.  It's not every day you get see something like that.  Then I got excited with the thought of a little robin family moving in and having the perfect view!  Eventually, there was a resemblance to a nest.  Coach saw the makings of the nest and took it upon himself to destroy it because he didn't think it was a good idea to have a robin's nest on our porch.  Within half an hour of destroying it, the robin rebuilt it's nest to where it was.  The next day, the nest was complete.  It looked so solid and sturdy.  Who was I to doubt a robin's ability?

Once the kids saw the robin's nest they were so excited.  We decided to keep it there and watch the beginnings of life of a robin!  I thought we'd scare off the robin, but it stuck around with the all the noise of our daily lives.  Our comings and goings throughout the day.  It's been so much fun.  When the robin left one day, we took a look in the nest and she had laid at least 2 eggs.  Today there are at least three birds in there and we can see them pop their heads out when Mom comes to feed them.  I should try to get pictures of them.

Easter was approaching fast.  Easter, another season in the Church where we celebrate God's gift to us of new life.  We usually travel to see family and celebrate.  This year we were co-hosting Easter and I prepared dinner for the Patterson family (22 people total).  I definitely didn't take enough pictures to capture the glorious day. 

I don't know what I have been doing these past years when it comes to decorating Easter eggs, but this is the first year I did it with my kids.  You can only imagine how frantic I was with a whole bunch of liquid dye in cups ready to be spilled all over the place, but the whole process turned out great!  My kids had fun and so did I.

We had visited with some family on Holy Saturday.  The kids were playing outside as we were enjoying hanging outside in the great weather before evening came.



This was E right before he threw up all over me and the couch.  I was a bit scared a stomach virus was coming to visit our family that evening, but it turned out not to be the case, phew!

I also bought a new lens that takes good portrait shots.  I was just trying it out.  I like it.

Easter Sunday started with 7:30 am Mass.  This year, I was a bit disappointed I didn't make the time to get my boys dressed up nicely for Mass.  They always look so cute when I do.  B & A looked very pretty in their dresses.

It takes so long to get good group shots of my kids.  The best I could get!

I really love tulips.  On my dinner table for Easter dinner.

Just some cute pics of my kids during Easter weekend.