Body Art

One of the reasons I had my last two kids so close together was so that they would play together and entertain one another without my having to be a constant playmate.  

It worked.  

The two little girls are now at an age that they do play together well 

which frees me to occasionally focus on other projects.  

Of course, a little less supervision can lead to experimentation.  

I hope that by the time they are old enough to really get into trouble

 they will have developed a desire not to.

Body art of the marker variety at least washes off with the next bath.

April in Virginia

The fading daffodils have been replaced by tulips.  

Cherry blossoms are dropping off the trees like a delicate pink snow.

 The redbuds wave purple arms.

  Dogwoods are blooming in pink and white. 

The green grass is laced with dandelions and violets. 

Azaleas shout their vivid colors.

The scent of lilac fills the air.

Easter Grass Takes Over

Ten years ago, or more, I successfully banished Easter grass from my home.  You know the stuff, shredded plastic in neon pastel colors which the Easter bunny industry has convinced consumers is necessary to make their Easter celebration festive.  I really don't like the stuff.

There are many reasons why I dislike Easter grass but the main reason is that without fail, it will end up all over my house.  It creeps into corners, gets under the couch, is trailed into bedrooms and bathrooms, and slips between the cushions of a favorite chair.  It has amazing static cling tendencies which allows it to pick a victim, grab onto their clothes and hitch a ride to areas where the Easter baskets themselves are not allowed to go.  Then there is the Peeps issue.  I like Peeps.  What I don't like are Easter grass covered Peeps.  However, once you open the box of Peeps and pull one out the rest are Easter grass magnets.  Soon it seems that the Chicks and Bunnies have sprouted neon feathers or fur that will have to be plucked a strand at a time before one can enjoy them in their marshmallow glory.  Finally, Easter grass and jelly beans don't mix well.  The jelly beans tend to sift their way down through the grass and end up on the bottom of the basket.  In order to get to the jelly beans, the grass must be moved.  In theory this can be accomplished by pushing the grass aside within the basket then snatching your favorite color jelly bean from the pile that was hidden beneath the grass.  For those who are impatient, or who are checking to make sure all their jelly beans are there and their brother hasn't been eating from a basket that isn't his, it is easier to grab the whole clump of grass in your hand and hold it to the side of the basket while inventory is taken of the remaining contents.  Inevitably, a few strands will make an escape at this time and begin to travel around the house.  In a worst case scenario, the clump of Easter grass will never make it back into the basket but will be discarded on the floor next to the basket where seven other people will begin to walk across it.  This of course makes the Easter grass happy because it facilitates the evil plan to conquer the home without all the fuss of trying to fall out of the basket. 

As you can tell, I have issues with Easter grass and for many years have not had it around, preferring to line the baskets with tissue paper in pretty Easter colors.  However, this year I was gone for Easter morning and my husband and daughters took care of the baskets.  My daughters, who have probably felt Easter grass deprived their whole lives, bought some and used it in the baskets.  I am sure they were festive.  My whole house is festive with sprinklings of Easter grass throughout.  

Flying Photos

As promised, here are some pictures of flying with Louis and Ronda.  First off, here is the plane, I wish that I could tell you what it is but unfortunately that kind of info rarely sticks in my brain and Ralph isn't here to refresh my memory.

Steven got the first turn in the co-pilot seat.  The first time they went up his door kept popping open because he didn't latch it properly.  They had to return to earth to get it to shut right.
This is Sarah as she was taking her turn flying.
William hopping into the co-pilots seat.  You can already see the thrill in his eyes.
And here is a picture of William after he flew.  I think his words were, "I want to do that again!"
Rachel loved the plane.  She would have kept flying all night.  The tears are because she wanted a turn to fly it and we felt that she was too small.  She was not convinced and we had to drag her out of there.

I loved Spring Break!

The kids are off to school and the residual mess in the house is beckoning;  Spring Break is officially over.  Blogging about our break will be as good a procrastination technique as any as I avoid the candy wrappers and spilling suitcases that dot my floors.  

For our break, the kids and I headed down to Georgia to visit two of my aunts and their families. It was a good plan, we had a great time!  We stayed with Ronda and Louis where the kids were treated to as many cookies as they could eat.  They played billiards and air hockey, attempted to fly kites, explored closets, hiked trails, ate cookies and pizza, lounged in front of the TV, stayed up late and at least for Lauren, logged hours on Facebook.  Essentially, the kids got to do everything they liked.  And then when they already thought they had had a great vacation, Louis threw in the topper and offered to take them for a ride in his plane.  It gets better.  Not only did he let them ride, he let them fly it!  Really, does life get any better?   I wish that you all could have seen William's eyes when he got off the plane after flying it around.  Pure excitement!  He used to want to be a firefighter astronaut (you know, those people who fight fires in space), I think now he just wants to fly again.  Thank you Louis and Ronda for a memorable vacation!  I'll post some pictures later.

After Georgia, we stopped in South Carolina to visit my childhood friend/college roommate/claimed cousin Terri Bushman and her family.  It was so much fun to see her and catch up on 20 years.  We have six kids each which were bedded down with blankets and pillows in the family room.  Why didn't I think to take a picture of that sight?  It was just like the visits that we used to take to each others families when we were kids.  We tried to figure out who could room together in college like we did and our dads before us but we have a mismatched gender problem on the kids that match up in ages.  The tradition may not carry on for a third generation.  

We got home from our trip south on Thursday evening.  Ralph and Steven left Friday afternoon for a scout camping trip.  They enjoyed nice weather for setting up the tents and enjoying dinner.  The rain started after they went to bed.  I guess on the scouts tent, the rain fly was not pulled taut.  They ended up with some pooling and leaking and had a flooded tent by morning.  It rained through breakfast but they got the hike in that they needed.  

Meanwhile, I decided to head up to NJ for Dad's birthday celebration.  I left Lauren in charge Saturday morning and enjoyed a quick trip by myself.  It was a fun gathering with some old friends sharing stories about time they spent together.  I learned a few things that I had not previously known.   Totally worth the fast trip to be there.

Ralph and the kids got home from church just a few minutes after I pulled back in the driveway.  It was nice to have our family back together after running around in different directions all week.  We had a nice dinner together and got to share tales about our travels.  Everyone headed to bed early in anticipation of an early morning and that wrapped it up.    

Cherry Blossoms

For Family Home Evening on Monday, we decided to take a trip downtown to see the cherry blossoms.  It was a great outing with the family.  We got there half and hour later than we planned and by the time we found parking the sun was setting.  Then when we got my camera out to catch a few shots while there was still some light, we found out that the battery was already flashing a warning.  We did manage to get a photo of each of us, but we weren't able to be very selective.  Even so, it was a lovely evening, the kids were pleasant and we took a walk to the Jefferson  Memorial.  Rachel had had glimpses of the memorial through the trees and was very eager to get there.  When we arrived we got distracted for a moment by William's shoe.  It was just long enough for Rachel to slip away unnoticed.  We were sure that she headed up the stairs but were fanning out just in case she had gone another way when a woman asked if we were looking for a little girl in a pink jacket.  She confirmed that Rachel was running up the stairs.   The little imp was already at the top by the time we spotted her.  

Rachel really wanted to smell the flowers and was disappointed that they aren't fragrant.

William was most interested in the water.

Sarah trying to interest Geral in the blossoms.

Steven in front of a lovely weeping cherry.

Lauren looking just as pretty as the blossoms.

A Spring Bike Ride

On Friday, Ralph came home from work early with plans to get some work done on his carpentry project.  But as you know, when you have kids, you can usually kiss your plans goodbye.  As soon as he pulled into the driveway he had two little girls charging at him.  They had been outside enjoying the lovely spring weather by digging up the flower beds but they had a wanderlust that hadn't been satisfied.  The big kids had been out on bikes and scooters and they wanted in on the action.  With both little girls looking up at him batting their eyelashes and begging with their big, brown eyes it was impossible to refuse their request for a bike ride.  So he got them packed up and off they went.  I wish I had a better picture of their faces as they pulled out the driveway.  My neighbor commented that it was sheer delight.  The floor will wait yet another week but Rachel and Geral know that their daddy thinks they are worth it.