Observant One

Every five years, teachers in Virginia are required to renew their teaching license.  As part of my licensure renewal, I had to take a First Aid and CPR course, which I completed last night.

This morning, as we were all getting ready for work/school, I told my family that I had an announcement to make: I could now save their lives in a medical emergency.

I heard Brad whisper to Hannah, "No, she couldn't."

So I started to defend myself by listing off my new skill-set: rigid splints, soft splints, compression wraps, Epi-pen administration, CPR, stop bleeding, and the use of an AED.

Brad especially didn't believe that I could operate an AED.  So he asked me, "What does AED stand for?"

To which I replied, "I don't know, but I know how to use one to save your life."

He laughed, I laughed, Hannah laughed, and then Brad shared that he knew that I wouldn't know the answer to that question before he even asked.

"Notice how Daddy makes fun of me?" I asked Hannah.

"Yeah...I noticed that a long time ago!" she giggled.

Silent Sunday

First Comes Love

Our neighbor friends came over to play with the kiddos today.  In their adventures, Riley and Emerson found a giant, two-headed, stuffed snake, so Jack was making it hiss and pretending to have it crawl towards the girls.

One of them shared that she didn't like snakes, so Jack took it upon himself to tell her that his daddy used to breed snakes.  "Do you know what breed means?" he asked.

As I tried to figure out the best way to intervene, Jack explained as best he could.

"It means when two snakes love each other and they make a completely new snake!"

So I quietly walked away and jotted that little nugget down so that I wouldn't forget how completely tactful and appropriate my little man was in explaining a tricky subject to his four year old friends.

And then I smiled because, somewhere along the way, he's learned that loves come first :)

Silent Sunday

{Coldplay at FedEx Field}

You're So Old!

Tonight we had breakfast for dinner.  Mostly because it's easy and quick, and I know my kids will eat well!

Brad fixed the bacon and the littles were overjoyed and eager to eat as much of it as possible.  We asked them to share it equally, and Jack was kind enough to offer some of his to me.  When Hannah found out I wasn't going to take him up on his offer, she was excited to have a few extra slices.  We had to explain to her that he was still going to eat it, and he celebrated this small victory.

Playfully, Brad joked with Hannah by saying, "You got served!"

Jack had a questioning look on his face, so Brad started to explain that it was from a movie called You Got Served, when Jack interrupted to say, "Oh, like you got burned!"

Brad responded by saying, "No, that's a little extreme..."

To which Jack had to explain that the phrases, "You got served!" and "You got burned!" mean the same thing.

And then, laughing to himself, he joked, "You're so old!"

I laughed so hard, juice almost came out of my nose.  Dinner with my family is never dull!

STEAM Night

Tonight Jack and Hannah's school hosted a STEAM Night.  STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math.  To me, it sounded right up Brad's alley, so I sent him with the kids :)

They had a lot of fun, and while Hannah did mention when she got home that she wished I'd been there, I'm glad they got to spend some fun time engineering with their dad.

First, they participated in a 10-foot egg drop.  Brad explained to me that this is a cube structure.  They put the egg in a bag and then surrounded the bag with newspaper.  Then they buffered that newspaper with extra newspaper inside the cube structure to protect the egg.  And their egg didn't break!

Next, they went to a station called Spinning Spheres.  They made a Spongebob structure, and then placed it around a sphero (when I asked Brad how to describe a sphero, he replied, "An autonomous, multidirectional, spherical android," so there you have it).  The sphero could somehow be controlled by a tablet.  I love that last picture so much - my happy scientists, having a blast!

So glad they got to go and burn some creative energy!

Easter Monday

Today was our first day back at school after Spring Break.  Our day went pretty smoothly - aside from being a little tricky to wake up so early, everyone got off to a great start.  I was able to leave work shortly after my school day ended, and I got the kids early so we could come home and relax.  Hannah had her jammies on hours before bedtime, and as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out!  Jack wasn't far behind.  We'll see how we do tomorrow, when the "newness" of being back at school has worn off.

In the meantime, I wanted to share some pictures from our Easter festivities.  Yesterday was a day packed with family and fun!

Hannah's Basket

Jack's Basket

This year the bunny left their baskets on the TV console instead of on our coffee table.  When the kiddos looked over the balcony first thing in the morning, there were no baskets to be found!  I had two crying little lovelies waking me up at 7:15 to exclaim that the Easter Bunny didn't come.  I don't think the bunny realized that he's always left the baskets elsewhere...luckily, I was able to dry their tears and show them that, in fact, the Easter Bunny did come!  Poor things...

Early morning light and an Easter egg hunt

Family photo - and yes, we matched on purpose :)

Uncle John, Dylan, and Aunt Ryan

Cousin Love

Dessert table

Family photo

Easter table - so lovely!

My carrots!  New recipe found here

My favorite holiday meal

We did an egg hunt for the cousins - one indoors with egg fillers and one outside without fillers.  How cute are these egg hunt signs I found at Target?

Everyone did a nice job of helping one another find their eggs!

And, of course, Hannah had plenty of time to love on Buddah-Bear!  Note: She shared her baby blanket with Buddah because she just loves him so much!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and enjoyed the beautiful day outside!

Silent Sunday {Easter Edition}

From my bunnies to yours, Happy Easter!

Gearing Up for the Bunny

Today was a day spent getting ready for the Easter Bunny to visit.  Because of Spring Break, Hannah didn't have a soccer game, so our day was free.  The weather was perfect for our community egg hunt (last year the kids had to wear their winter coats), and this year, we invited Dylan to come along and join in on the fun.

I love the way our neighborhood creates "obstacles" with twigs and logs :)

Getting ready to search for eggs

Ryan told Dylan to get ready and he got right into position!

After the hunt - which took all of 45 seconds

Visiting with the Easter Bunny

We came home to relax mid-day, but in the evening, we'd made plans to go to Grammy and Grampy's to dye eggs and have dinner together.  Since we all dye eggs anyway, it seemed like a good idea to do it all together...until we had cups full of dye and three little people in the near vicinity - then we began to question my great idea.  It all worked out well - I brought our messy mat that I've had since the kids were babies, and we covered Grammy's chairs with towels.

A few tiny cracks, and lots of glitter, but they are so pretty!

The evening was a success, and Grampy's chicken quesadillas were a hit.  The kids are officially ready for Easter tomorrow :)

Time with Friends

Today was the day for play dates with friends.  This morning, we met up with Kimmee and Channing for some fun at Rebounderz.  The kids all had such a good time getting their extra energy out on the indoor trampolines.  Once they were all bounced out, they played some arcade games in order to win a few cheesy prizes :)  Then we headed over to Burger 21 for lunch - my kids are crazy about Burger 21!  We had such a good time catching up, but I didn't get any pictures!!!

After we came home to rest for awhile, we had another play date with Hannah's best friend, Ryan.  We met up at a local park that has several playgrounds and a creek.  It was a beautiful day, and the kids had a great time!

These two melt my heart - and I'm secretly hoping they get married.

So peaceful :)

Not quite as peaceful, but so much more fun!  Hannah was hanging out on the sidelines because she got a cut on her hand.

I mean, really.

Once we came home, the kids still wanted to play outside, so Jack and I played a game of HORSE with his new basketball hoop (he beat me).  We played ring toss with Hannah, and before we knew it - Daddy was home!

And just like my dad used to do with me when I was little, Hannah climbed up onto Brad's lap to drive into the garage.  Jack was very generous and let Hannah have a turn by herself :)

It was a great, fun-filled day.  And all that sun made me wish summer was here already!

A Trip to the Mall

My kids have been asking to see Boss Baby since before it came to the theaters.  One of my co-workers told me about a discount every Tuesday at our favorite local movie theater, so I decided that Spring Break would be a great time to take the kids to the movies (since really, when am I ever going to take my kids to the movies on a Tuesday night after work?).  We really liked the movie - very funny and a cute story, too.

Hannah loves to pose next to movie posters

Since the movie theater is at the mall, I decided to make an afternoon of it.  We did some spring/summer clothes shopping, and then we saw the Easter bunny. 

We stayed to have lunch in the food court.  My kids love to eat at the food court in the mall - I think because they can play and eat and play some more.  And then they get to ride the spinning cup on the carousel!  What could be better?

Since it was such a pretty day, and we'd spent most of it indoors, we decided to hang out at the park in the evening, and Daddy met us there on his way home.  We played some basketball and spent some time on the swings.

My boys, in their matching shirts :)

I love spending time with these three.  And I love Spring Break!