Happy Birthday to Me

Around age 30 I quit celebrating my birthdays. Never been that crazy about getting ANOTHER year older, but not neurotic about it. Yesterday was a perfect celebration. Cards, phone calls, texts from friends and family. Flowers and dinner out with Rob and the kids. And cannoli! Thanks everyone for making my day so great :-)

Easter Weekend

It was a perfect mountain weekend! Our plans were touch and go up until Saturday morning, as Jack battled a nasty 24 hour stomach flu bug on Thursday. Thankfully he rebounded very quickly and we set off Saturday morning for Lake Arrowhead. This was our first time staying at Troy and Nikki's mountain home, and for sure not the last! We had such a wonderful time. We ate, drank, and relaxed on Saturday. We took a walk on the golf course behind their home, dyed eggs and entertained the kids with crafts and games.
Sunday morning was bittersweet, as the kids had a great time collecting eggs, but then Max got hit by a stomach virus, too! We decided to save brunch at the club for next year, and opted to keep eating our way through the full refrigerator.
In the afternoon, we made our way to Big Bear for Easter dinner with family there. More eating, drinking, Easter eggs and laughter. Lauren found Uncle Daniel's lap in no time, and proceeded to flirt with him shamelessly for hours. We headed back with Grandma and Grandpa after dinner, where Lauren climbed up on Grandpa's lap and cuddled with her milk and blanket. Lucky for Rob, he can always count on a good cuddle with Jack because Lauren left him hanging Sunday.
Home today, and Lauren was back to snuggling with her daddy...it's always nice to get back home :-)

Privacy

I'll bet that most parents would agree with me...we don't need exotic vacations, luxury sports cars, designer clothes, palatial estates. But could we PLEASE use the potty privately? PLEASE!

Holiday Confusion

It's two weeks until Easter, but the kids are a little confused about the holidays. Jack is wearing a Halloween shirt, and that is Lauren in the Christmas jammies and the Darth Vader mask. At least they are playing together nicely!

Shamrock Shake

Apparently there is no sadness that a shamrock shake from McDonald's can't fix. Jack is feeling better, although I'm sure my stomach will be feeling worse ;-)

Pink St. Patrick's Day

Sometimes being a mom sucks. Not so much for the piles of laundry, endless chores or sleep deprivation, but for having to break my little boy's heart. Today is Jack's best friend's birthday, and the party at Pump it Up. Despite looking forward to it for weeks, we can't go. Why? Pink eye! Jack woke up with his eye crusted closed and I had to break the news to him. He cried in my arms about having to miss out on his best buddy's special day, even though he understood he couldn't spread his germs to all his friends. Pink eye on this green day has us feeling blue.

Cute Every Day

I just wanted to share a few photos I caught over the last week. The kids are always presenting moments that deserve to be caught on film (what do you say now that photography is all digital? Caught on megapixels?). Anyway, if my phone is close I get them. Here are a few gems. One, Lauren wearing Jack's pirate costume. Jack was at tae kwon do and so Lauren was brave enough to steal his costume. She was also smart enough to take it off before he got home and caught her! Two, Jack wearing his Mouse Ears. He put them on Gracie and took a dozen pictures of her before wearing it himself. Three, Lauren cuddling an itty bitty teddy bear provided by one of my students. And finally, Jack shelling peas with me. It was the highlight of my week as it reminded me so much of my childhood, getting two bags of peas from a little farm in Palos Verdes and eating one bag in the car on the way home-like candy! Jack kept testing them for sweetness. Another good week :-)