Easter Bunny photos!

Oh we're on a roll here, People! Vacation Week is shaping up to be 5 awesome days!!!

Yesterday we went swimming for the morning!! An hour and a half in the pool! You should see Gretchen swim around on a kick board. Let me tell you, she was exhausted... and starving! She ate more for lunch than Carl did!!!!! We can't go on Saturday because the YWCA is having a synchronized swimming show. So, I thought it was something fancy. Well, they were practicing yesterday while we swam in the shallow end. Since I know nothing about synchronized swimming, I really don't know if they were bad or good. But, I know when they got out of the water (there were maybe 8 swimmers, men and women) it seemed that Lew & I would have fit right in! They practiced to their music, too. "Axel F" from Beverly Hills Cop. They kept playing it over and over. Each time it ended, Carl clapped and said, "That is a great song!" I told the kids that the song came from the movie that Daddy took Mommy to see on their very first date back in 1984. They didn't seem to be impressed. At dinner, I told Lew that was the song the swimmers were practicing to and we hummed a few bars. Once we stopped, Carl picked up and tried to keep the song going. He was pretty close.

Back to Vacation Week: Today, we went to Chick-fil-A for breakfast with the Easter Bunny. It was neat because last December, I had to take them separately to have breakfast with the Santa cows. I'm just happy to be able to take Easter Bunny pictures with my own camera. Thanks, Chick-fil-A! And we had chicken minis and fresh fruit for breakfast. Win win!!! I took the bunny pictures before letting them eat. Some of you know how deliciously sticky chicken minis are... and some of you have no idea. I'll admit, I feel sorry for those of you in the latter category. You can see them in the pictures of Carl eating during his Santa Cows visit using the above link. They are chicken nuggets on little rolls like a soft bagel, but brushed with sweet sugar butter. Carl is in heaven having chicken nuggets for breakfast! And Gretchen gets all her favorite fruits! She loves the sweet roll part and thinks she is being a great sister by offering Carl the nugget out of her sandwiches! Oh - today Carl ate all the green apple pieces! He didn't eat the skin - so why the green ones? I don't know, but he wouldn't go for the red skinned pieces. Whatever, he ate 1/2 the apples! Chick-fil-A is a tad pricey for fast food, but sooo yummy!! Besides, you can usually score a free kid's lunch coupon at these event. I came home with 2 today. Cool.

(I didn't both using balloons to cover up the people in the background on the second shot of them together... just lazy. Would you have noticed in the first shot if I hadn't mentioned it?)
I had to mail back the fish eye lens today, so I took a couple shots in the play area with it. Oh it was fun! Not fun enough to buy myself one - they run like $500. But, fun to rent for a couple weeks! This car is suspended in mid-air. I can just about walk under it without ducking at all.

I asked Carl what his favorite part of the morning was: "My favorite part was eating, taking a picture and playing. Mommy, what was your favorite part?" How polite of him to ask me. He's just sweet like that.

Next I asked Gretchen what her favorite part was: "Getting a pink balloon." (That was at the very end before we left. Carl said 'no thank you' when he was offered one.) I wanted more of an answer from her, so I followed with, 'What else did you do that you enjoyed?'... "Playing and eating and coloring my Easter thing." They gave the kids a pack of 4 crayons and a cardboard Easter basket to color for the craft. She spent all day coloring her masterpiece.

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Now, tomorrow Carl's therapist is coming over to the house and we can't wait! She usually only goes to school, but since this is vacation week, she is allowed to come to the house!

Then on Friday, we're going to an Easter Egg Hunt at the local Battleship. It's Good Friday, so Lew has the day off from work. It should be fun! Guess we'll all have to wait and see.

Carl TAG reader update

Carl's TAG reader broke a few weeks ago. It was two weeks after the manufacturer's warranty ran out. Well, we contacted Leap Frog and they kindly agreed to honor the warranty and sent Carl a brand new TAG reader! How's that for good customer service?? So, in the meantime, he had been using Gretchen's. She didn't get much time on it, but she was very good about sharing it.

So, once the new one arrived, he has happily been back to playing with his green one. We plugged it into the computer the other night to see his progress and were pleased to see that he is scoring on a 2nd grade level for comprehension and reading skills!! 2nd grade. He will be 7.75 yrs old when he enters 2nd grade. So, basically age 8. He's 4 now. What am I going to do with this child for the next 4 years?

We plugged Gretchen's purple reader in next, since he had been using it so much and hers also reflects many many 1st grade things mastered and the 2nd grade subjects with success scores!!!! So, that's probably a lot of his actions, but some of hers, too.

His other new thing is counting to 100... by 10s. Counting by ones is boring and so, last year. Gretchen is doing that, too. But, she still enjoys counting by ones... she'll go well over 100. She just likes to talk. Counting by ones takes more talking.

no where to go but up!

Today is the first day of the kids' vacation from pre-school. When public school closes, so does the half day pre-school program at school. So, we have 5 days of being together all day ahead of us! Well, 4 now. Today we had a blast together! So, why did I put on a title that sounded like we had a rough day and hoped the rest of the week would improve? Well, because today was so perfect that I have to keep my glass half full and expect bigger and better for the rest of the week. If I sit back and say "can't get any better than today" then I will be expecting the days to be less fun and disappointing.

Happy Monday!!

1. kids woke by 6:30am... thunder storm. Not ideal, but I knew it would make for an easy nap.

2. Carl announced it to be Pajama Day by 7:30! Cool!!!

3. all 3 of us enjoyed Jack's Big Music Show on Grammie's bed. It was the music genie episode. It's a good one, but really, they are all good! I ♥ that show!

4. we had a silly breakfast of popcorn, cereal bars, frosted mini wheats, fresh strawberries and melon and fruit snacks in Disney shapes.

5. we decided to further our couch potato morning and left Nick Jr on... Toot and Puddle was cute!

6. we played in the rice and beans. If you have not played in a tub of dry rice and kidney beans, I highly recommend it. It is high on my list of favorite sensory calming activities. Bury some figurines in there and just play play play! Gretchen loves it, Carl likes it. Hey, not perfect, but not bad either.

7. by about 10:15 it stopped raining. The backyard was flooded. Gretchen said, "We can't play outside because it is too wet." and I said, "maybe not....." and the fun began!! We even filled up the water table at Carl's request!

Yes, she is watering the azaleas!

Here's the little branch today...

8. 11:30 we came back inside and took a bath. Now we don't need one tonight! Cool!! Jammies back on!!!

9. lunch was chicken nuggets, pretzels and more strawberries and melon.

10. nap started early since they woke up so early. It took me 9 minutes to get Gretchen to sleep, Carl nodded off one minute later!! Woo Hoo 1:45!!!!!

11. I made 2 batches of strawberry bread!! We got berries from Costco and I swear, they are the size of baseballs! 5 berries cut up to make 2 cups! One batch with walnuts for me, one without for Lew. mmmmmmm.......

12. nap lasted 2 hours and 20 minutes!!!!!

13. I had 2 new TAG reader books for them when they woke up! Princesses for Gretchen and Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends for Carl! They are having a blast reading them... in their jammies... too cute!!

14. Lew brought home a pizza for dinner!

Tomorrow, I think we will go swimming at the YWCA. Then, Wednesday morning we are going to Chick-fil-A for breakfast and crafts with the Easter Bunny. Thursday morning Carl's therapist is coming to the house and Friday we'll most likely go to the favorite play place for under age 5!! Some afternoon we'll have to go to the library and get some new books, too. So, it is a fun filled week ahead... and the best part is I don't have to make any lunches to bring to school!!!

first week of spring

I have a couple stories I want to write up, but I'm just not finding free time. So, I will share a few photos of my favorite little branch as it blossomed this week. The whole tree is really beautiful, too!

Oh - look at this... I thought they were white herons, but when I looked that up, they fit the Snowy Egret photo better. We usually only see one at a time. I had no clue there were this many of them living right here. We came home the other night and Gretchen headed into the living room before us, looking out the window before we turned the lights on. "Guys! There are a bunch of woodpeckers in our trees!" It was almost dark, but they didn't seem to care that I walked around the backyard. It was kind of windy, so maybe they didn't hear me rustling in the grass. I counted at least 12 of them!

the Easter parade and why I love being crafty

Today was the pre-school's Easter parade for the parents. They encourage us to bring the kids dressed up like Mommy & Daddy would dress up on Easter. They even sent home a note detailing a possible outfit, complete with "Mommy's shoes". No, I did not put our shoes on them. Although, I did see one little girl in the 4 year old class wearing a bright green satin pair of pumps. Ah-ha... bride's maid shoes. I have a couple pair of the those Gretchen can choose from next year!

All the classes parade around the church two times while the parents smile, wave and snap photos! Gretchen did much better than she did last year! Just the fact that she paraded around two times was amazing! She was really excited about her outfit. At first, she wanted no part of wearing something of mine - she wanted to wear her "gardening dress". I have no idea why she refers to it as that, but it's just a blue flowery sundress. I told her they want her to wear one of Mommy's blouses and she cried, "It will cover my pretty dress!" But, I showed her a couple potential shirts and once I mentioned a belt to wear with it... she was on board!!! She even agreed to wear some dress-up shoes!

Carl was also very excited to wear his "Daddy shoes" and a "shirt like Daddy". We threw in a tie, too. Now, it happens to be the same shirt he wore last year (check that link above if you haven't already), but last year I had to fold the bottom of the shirt up and tape it on the inside. This year, it didn't get near the ground at all!

After the wonderful parade, we had a class picnic over by the cemetery. Lew had picked up lunch from Wendy's before getting to the parade, so the kids were very happy to sit on teh grass and eat. OK, we didn't sit on the grass... I totally forgot the blanket I had planned to bring and it had rained early in the morning. We sat on the big cement cross that is laid into the grass like a sidewalk. Luckily, lightning did not strike us as we ate burgers on a cross. Diane had to tell us not to let the kids play on the gravestones. I figure, if she had to mention it, it must be something people have done before. Hmmm... no problem, I'll keep my kids off the graves.

Here they are running around with their friends and a few siblings playing tag. This went on until one child discovered, by accident, the fire ants. Yikes! That kind of calmed down the free play over there. Luckily, he only received a few bites on his leg. Those ants are nasty! Another class mate stepped on an any hill (at home) last year and ended up missing school because his legs were so swollen and sore! I hear they get into your shoes and bite you like crazy before you can get the shoe off! Still, they are also the reason we don't run amuck in bare feet on the lawn. Damned if you "shoe", damned if you don't... I guess.

Crafting..... Last Nov, I made the kids their #4 sweatshirts and when they came into school, Miss Diane kept saying, "Next March! Fifty-two! Fifty-two!" (Please read that with your best raised in the south southern accent to get the full effect. You know, the accent where my name is GEEEEE-EEEELL) So, I tucked that away, but wasn't sure if I'd do anything for her. It did seem kind of funny to broadcast your age like that. Plus, I didn't do anything for the other teachers' birthdays. Well, then a week or two ago, I decided yes, I'd make her a shirt. Well, by then, my favorite sweatshirt store was no longer stocking sweatshirts because it is too warm now. So, I figured they were on to something and I shouldn't make her a sweatshirt anyway. So instead, I found a nice tee shirt. I brought Carl with me to the fabric store. Oh, I love and hate that place! It is a quilter's shop, so they always have the best things hanging up - and the fabrics are gorgeous!! I love seeing all of them ... but, I then realize I don't have enough time, money or space to justify buying the yards and yards I long for! D'oh! But, they'll sell you a Fat Quarter for $2.50. Perfect for cutting out large numbers and reverse applique-ing them onto shirts. Carl picked the cloth out! I kept showing him ones and he stuck with "Blue polka dots" the whole time. Good call, Buddy!

We brought the shirt in for her the day before her birthday, just in case she really did want to wear it the next day. But, I didn't get to see her open it. Carl's speech therapist was there, though and she called me to tell me about Diane's reaction. "Jill, she cried! She broke out in tears because she thought it was so sweet of you to do!" And that right there is why I love being crafty! But, it also fully explains how I work. I made that shirt for Diane. For someone. We knew in the store who we were choosing a color for. I knew as I stitched and cut just who was receiving the shirt. That is what makes it fun for me. That is why my cousin Beth & I do not currently run a boutique. Because, I cannot "get into it" and make things for strangers, or blindly crank them out. I can easily make 7 Christmas ornaments knowing who is getting them. I can even knit hats over and over if I know who is going to be wearing them. But, I can't sit down every night and make myself knit for 3 hours just to stock pile them. If I could, that boutique would be one full place!!! And now, my niece is getting into cake decorating... I can even picture the tea room we'd have!!

Happy Birthday to the kids' teacher, Miss Diane!!

a new baby to celebrate!

This morning, my friend Angela welcomed her third son into the world! (You can find her blog over on the left there, "My Three Sons". If you haven't read her entry for 3-21, you should. It's just a nice, loving down to earth post about the love of a mother for her child and about Angela's on-going journey and growth.)

Welcome to the world, Thomas Alexander!

He weighed in at 9 lbs 7 oz!! And is 21" long! I pulled out the baby books. Gretchen & Carl didn't have appts between 4 weeks and 8 weeks, but it was sometime in between those dates when they hit over 9 lbs! In my experience, Angela gave birth to a 6 week old baby!

Tis the Birthday Cake Season for them as well. Her birthday was this month. Yesterday, their oldest celebrated his 4th birthday and their middle boy is soon to have his 2nd birthday. Mmmmm....cake!!!

Congrats again, Angela! And - to my readers, I might suggest peeking in on her blog in the next week or so because I'm sure you'll get to see some photos of this sweet new baby!!

look at this child...

You see her outfit, right???? I took this picture yesterday when we got home from shopping. While we were out shopping - when she was dressed like that - a woman actually asked me how old my SON is.

Really??? I thought we were past that.

Gretchen, what do you think of it?

more birthday wishes!

March seems to be a good month for baking cakes!

Happy Birthday, Shelly!! Hope you have something special planned!

This was Nov 2006 at the twins' first Candy Making and 1st Birthday party.

And here's a shot from Dec 2009 that Gretchen took!

I'm adding one more on here. This is one Mom took in January at Beth's birthday party. I just really like it. Don't you want to be there and be part of that fun and love?

best friends

This morning, before we went to the playground, Gretchen told me, "I don't like going to school every day. I like staying home all day with Carl." I told her that someday, when she goes to the Big Kids' School, that she and Carl will go to school together all day. That made her smile and she said, "That sounds like a lot more fun!"

The other day, I took Carl to the playground alone. He played happily for about 30 minutes, but then he usually comes to me ready to leave. Well, today, he had Gretchen with him and they just stuck together just like the peanut butter and jelly you can see on her shirt! If they got out of each other's sight, they were asking us, "Where's Gretchen?" or "Where's Carl?"

I took a few shots of just the plain old interaction and closeness. Like Carl's shirt says, "Life is good"!

See this one? This shows why people rarely ask if they are twins now!

my father's birthday

Today my dad would have turned 65.

I can't really come up with a good follow up sentence to that. It's the first day of spring and the weather here has been beautiful. Today was forecast to be another glorious day. But, I wish I was in NY celebrating a birthday with my father. You know, in 2007, we surprised him by driving home for dinner and cake. We knew when supper would be and the twins and I hopped in the car (they were 16 months old at the time) and drove home. As we pulled in Kenny's driveway, he was at his sink. He said he looked up and said, "Oh here comes Jill." Guess it didn't seem crazy for us to show up. We only lived three and a half hours away. You just can't drop in for parties when you live 16ish hours away. We took a great photo of Daddy on the floor with all the grandkids piled on him. Even in '07, Joey was wearing a winter hat!

So, I decided to do something today that I would not normally do. I woke up at 5:17am got ready and drove out to the beach in the darkness that is predawn. I was meeting some camera club friends - I wouldn't have done this on my own - for a field trip. But, had it not been March 20th, I probably would have skipped the sunrise part and joined them for the 8:00 meet-up. But, I thought I would maybe, just maybe capture something beautiful with my lens this morning. A birthday sunrise.

I know nothing about sunrise photography. I can say, this was the best sunrise shoot I have ever done!!!

When I pulled into the lot, there was only one other woman there already. She and I decided to walk down to the beach then and not wait for the others because we wanted to capture the very first colors of the morning light. And everyone else was late. This was my very first shot of the day. It looks much brighter than it truly was, the shutter was open a sort of long time - you can see the water is satiny and not clear. It was about 6:30am.

The others were helping some of us newer people by explaining settings and looking at our shots to see if we were getting them correct. I was happy to have someone there to be sure I got decent shots, because I don't plan to do a re-shoot anytime soon.

Skip explained what lens to use and how to try to get a back lit wave photo. These are my attempts. 2 of his waves won ribbons in our more recent club competition!

I miss my Dad.

fisheye photo Friday

Everyone should rent a fisheye lens just for fun.

This is my kitchen/family room/eating area... all in one shot!!!

Carl and I had fun at the playground today...