just a little something...

disney day trip

After our trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando for Madeline's sixth birthday in December, we decided to commit to being Florida annual passholders. The annual passes were not quite as expensive as we had imagined they would be, and because of a Disney promotion, we got an extra three months (fifteen instead of twelve).

Yesterday we did our first day-trip to Disney. Orlando is only a couple of hours away, but with small children, those couple of hours can sometimes seem like twelve. Thankfully, I think Madeline and Oliver have now outgrown that phase. The trip to the Magic Kingdom really was very tolerable - other than one minor meltdown over a dropped shoe as we entered Disney property.

Unlike our prior trip, we felt like we knew what we were doing this time. The kids weren't interested in waiting in lines to take photos with characters, so we saved a lot of time by avoiding those lines.

 

The cars were a huge hit. Both kids wanted to drive, so Madeline drove me and Oliver drove Sam. I'm not sure which of us got the worst driver, but I think it was Sam.

 

Sam insisted on doing the It's A Small World ride, and I think it's going to be impossible to ever go to Disney without riding it. It's just one of those classics that we'll have to do each time. Plus, we get to sit down for a solid ten minutes - quite a deal after waiting in 30 minute lines.

The kids refused to let me or Sam help twirl our teacup in the teacups ride. Both Madeline and Oliver seemed thrilled to watch me turn green.

 

We packed some snacks, but we couldn't avoid a stop for ice cream in the mid-afternoon. It may have been my suggestion, but I'll blame Sam if asked.

 

We seem to always start and end the trip with the carousel. It's the one ride you can pretty much always just walk right on without a wait.

 

I don't have pictures to prove it, but Madeline rode Space Mountain twice - once with me and once with Sam - and she was SO brave. In fact, I wouldn't ride that roller coaster if she didn't make me. She also rode on Thunder Mountain and loved every minute of it.

We left the park after the evening parade, stopped for a quick fast-food dinner before getting on the Turnpike, and the kids were asleep within another ten minutes. It was a great day, and we're already looking forward to our next trip back to Disney.

saturday diversion (aka, cupcakes!)

While Sam was away at the Florida-LSU game this weekend, I decided to bake with the kids. We've been overrun by bananas lately, and we can't keep up with eating them before they turn brown. Since I didn't want to make another banana bread, I opted for banana cupcakes. I used the recipe from Bakerella, found here. 

 

I made a cream cheese frosting for them, and the kids helped me with the clean up.

 

Oliver even tried to share with Cookie Monster, but CM isn't as into cupcakes as he is cookies.

Madeline and Oliver decorated their cupcakes with some sprinkles that Maddie picked out at Publix. I would not have chosen Disney Princess sprinkles for banana cupcakes, but they did go well with the pink frosting (color chosen by Maddie, of course). 

 

I never thought that putting sprinkles on cupcakes would be taken so seriously. Or be so much fun.

 

The verdict? Banana cupcakes are delicious. The recipe was a good one - just the right amount of sweetness. The kids were entertained and got a yummy treat at the end. I got my fix of cream cheese frosting. And we got rid of two brown bananas. 

the blues

playing in the rain

road trip, part 1

We packed the kids up last week and headed on a road trip, the longest one they've been on in their short lives. Prior to this trip, they've been on a 5-hour trip to Seaside in the panhandle, but this was a 7 hour trip. Not being a big fan of torture, we decided to break the trip up into two parts. On Wednesday, we drove to Atlanta and spent the night with my college roommate, Rachel, and her family. 

Let me just say, there is hardly anything better than spending quality time with good friends. Even though we'd not seen each other in close to six years (over six, maybe), it was like no time had passed. Rachel lives in a beautiful house near Atlanta with her wonderful husband and three gorgeous children. We were immediately comfortable in her home, and the kids got along well. Oliver and Madeline even made friends with their family dog. We all stayed up too late, but it was totally worth it. I'm already trying to figure out when we can see them again.

The next day we took the kids to the Georgia Aquarium in downtown Atlanta. I'm not sure who was more excited - me or the kids. We saw some amazing fish and other sea creatures. The kids were slightly on edge (okay, more than slightly), but after having snacks in the aquarium cafeteria and with the promise of a toy on the way out, they did pretty good.

We saw jellyfish. 

The kids (and the parents) were mesmerized by the fish swimming around us in the walk-through aquarium.

Madeline got to touch the sting rays - very slimy, slippery things.

There were grouper with massive lips. The grouper themselves were pretty massive, but the lips...those were some amazing lips.

Madeline was so relaxed watching the fish swim by, she started rocking back and forth. I thought she might fall asleep if we sat there longer. 

After a quick lunch in the aquarium cafeteria - a lunch of pizza, soft drinks, and cupcakes -- we made the stop at the gift shop to purchase the toys we'd promised. Of course the kids both picked out white stuffed animals - Maddie chose a white seal and Oliver chose a white beluga whale. They instinctively know to pick out the animal that will show the most dirt.

And we got back on the road again for part two of our trip.

monday's good things

1. Leftover black beans and rice made with chorizo. 

2. My new pressure cooker, with which I made the black beans and rice.

3. LOVE my new clinic schedule on Mondays.

4. Planning a party menu.

5. Oliver's first swim lessons today.*

*Unfortunately, I didn't go to swim lessons. Oliver has become so clingy and attached to me lately that Sam and I thought that if I went and Oliver saw me, he would scream bloody murder and refuse to get in the pool. Turns out, he did great! No crying at all. I still think it's best that I didn't go, but I SO want to see my baby boy at swim lessons. I'm going to have Sam video it for me, I think.

sisterly love

In the car on the way to drop Madeline off at school yesterday:

"Mommy, can I marry Oliver when I get bigger?"

"Um, well, brothers and sisters don't typically get married, Maddie."

She hesitated for a few seconds.

"Well, if you won't let me marry Oliver, then I'm going to marry Daddy."

today

Today it didn't rain much at all, unlike each of the last ten days or so. The sun came out and we spent a good hour at the pool. The kids played with their Dad, Maddie swam up and down the length of the pool, I sunbathed, and then we ate sandwiches poolside. It was wonderful.

Today the kids took naps, and they took their naps without complaining or whining. Probably because the sun was out and they spent the morning playing in the pool.

Today I decided to try running again. 

Today my parents made a wonderful Memorial Day dinner on the grill - hamburgers, grilled sweet corn, and potatoes with rosemary and olive oil. The corn was such a hit that we all had seconds.

Today my children made s'mores with roasted marshmallows cooked to perfection by their grandaddy and their dad. Madeline had three in the time it took Oliver to eat one. They were a mess, and it was adorable to watch.

Today we had a fantastic Memorial Day.

she likes to be chauffeured around

Santa brought us all bikes for Christmas this year. All of us except Oliver, that is. Santa told us that he thought Oliver could have Madeline's old tricycle, and we agreed that that was a fine idea. 

Unfortunately, Oliver has shown zero interest in learning to use the pedals. He likes to "ride" the tricycle, but it means that he sits on it and pushes off the ground with his feet. He simply can't keep up with us when we want to ride as a family. So, we haven't gotten much use out of our Christmas presents.

Until this past weekend, when we got this:

Now, if only we could get Madeline to ride her own  bike again....

these make me happy today

1. Flowers are blooming! On my way home today, I saw flowering azaleas, redbud trees, and a beautiful japanese magnolia.

2. Listening to Oliver point to Elmo on his diaper and say, "Melmo!"

3. Reading stories with the kids before bed. I love sitting on the sofa (or Oliver's bedroom floor), with one child on each side of me mesmerized by the latest Dora adventure. Simply wonderful.

4. The dinner-table talks with Madeline. Yesterday she proudly showed off her cut-out pictures of body parts while wearing a cut-out picture of a brain as a hat. Today she read to me a book that she had made with hand-drawn pictures of healthy snacks, with the name of the snack written in English (by Maddie) and Spanish (by her teacher). She was so proud.

5. Thinking about the five-course winemaker's dinner we'll be attending on Saturday, followed by a charity wine tasting event on Sunday in support of the local public radio station. I should probably start fasting now.

o'leno

This past weekend was so nice, especially Sunday, when the weather warmed up to the low-70s. Because of the beautiful weather, and because we were all so tired of being cooped up inside to stay warm, we took the kids out for their first visit to O'Leno State Park. 

O'Leno is named after the town of Keno which was established there on the Santa Fe River in 1940. According to the history books, the town applied for a post office in the late 1870s. The request was denied because Keno meant "gambling," and I guess the postal service didn't want to support that particular vice. The town's name was changed to Leno and it worked - Leno got the post office.

When my brother and I were little, my parents took us to O'Leno quite often. We hiked the dirt paths, mostly avoiding the cypress knees but occasionally stubbing our toes on them. We used to stand in the middle of the old suspension bridge, then jump up and down or rock from side-to-side to get it to sway. When we were older, we used to go there to swim in the summer. My dad used to tell me that deep in the woods at O'Leno were ponds of quicksand. I still have a fear of quicksand based on those stories. Of course, now that I think about it, he might have been making it up just to keep me and my brother a safe distance from murky water filled with alligators and snakes. Or maybe not.

My kids loved it, of course. Madeline spotted the playground when we first arrived, so I was worried that she would obsess about playing on the swings the whole time. She did obsess for a while, but once we got to the suspension bridge and made it sway back and forth over the river, she forgot about the swings and the slide. She and Oliver climbed over tree trunks. They stood at the water's edge, tentatively sticking their fingertips into the water, and soon they were giggling as they stomped in the water in their shoes. 

It was nice to go to O'Leno again, and it was great to see it through my children's eyes.

 

it all started with good intentions

Last weekend, I was feeling particularly mom-ish. Or rather, I was feeling like I needed to start acting more mom-ish. 

"Let's bake a cake!" I told Madeline.

She was so excited, and so was I until I realized we didn't have cake flour. And the eggs were a couple of weeks out of date. I found a box of cake mix in the pantry - also a tad (like, six months?) out of date.  But can cake mix really go bad? I put aside any doubts and Madeline pulled up a chair to the kitchen counter as I got out the mixing bowl and hand mixer.

Once we got the cake batter mixed, poured into a couple of 9-inch rounds, and into the oven, I started the exciting part -- homemade buttercream icing. Since it was rather messy, and since I have this thing about messes, I had Maddie observe rather than help. She was not thrilled about this, so I bribed her with the opportunity to lick the icing-covered beaters when I was all finished. 

I learned several things that day. One - old cake mix really IS lacking in some important quality. I think it's called quality. Two - it's really a much smarter idea to use the good-ol' Kitchen Aid stand mixer, even for such a simple task as beating buttercream icing. Turns out that it's actually quite a workout on the hand, keeping the hand mixer steady for that long. Three - Madeline is not patient when there's buttercream icing to be had at the end of the fun. Four - making just enough icing to decorate a cake is really not a good idea. One should always make extra, just in case the cake decorator turns out to be awful at it. The last thing that I learned is that even ugly cake tastes fantastic when covered in buttercream icing.

The top isn't too bad, is it? Madeline insisted on flowers, so I pulled out an old icing decorating kit that I inherited from my  mom when I moved away to college, and I did my best. It could have been worse.

And it was.

It was a lot worse. At some point, when I realized the icing was going to run out, I just gave up. As far as I know, smearing and patching are terms not normally associated with cake decorating. 

I guess I'll be sticking with my chosen profession. And buying my "homemade" cakes at Publix. They do a much better job.

grandfather and granddaughter

Can you get a sense of how much they love each other?

what santa brought us this year

1. A pesky GI bug that kept me home from work on the 22nd after  a night of vomiting and had me taking Phenergan on Christmas Eve when the nausea returned.*

2. Pneumonia for Oliver. Dr. Rosi loaded the poor kid up on steroids, intravenous antibiotics, and nebulizer treatments on Christmas Eve. He felt like a new kid on Christmas day, so it was totally worth the two hours in the pediatrician's office.

3. A hacking cough for Madeline, and her own set of nebulizer treatments over the holiday.

4. A pink bicycle with training wheels for Madeline, and plenty of jelly beans -- the two things she asked Santa for this year.

5. Lots of cars and books for Oliver, who really could have cared less. He's happy to play in the cardboard boxes left over from the wrapping.

6. New bikes for me and Sam.

7. Lots of great food and a wonderful day with family on Christmas day. We're still recovering from all that food, actually. We dumped most of the sweets off on Mom and Dad last night, and I took extra chocolates to work today, so we feel a little better about the status of our kitchen now.

All in all, Santa was pretty good to us, I guess to make up for the illnesses we had last week. For now, everyone seems healthy, and that truly was my only Christmas wish this year. I'm ready to take down the tree and put up the decorations now, but that will have to wait until January 1st. 

*Be thankful I don't have pictures to go along with this one!

the tree is up

For the first time ever, we put up all of our Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving. We usually mean to put them up early, but it always ends up being the second weekend of December by the time we get around to it. We have lights on the outside of our house, also for the first time ever. They aren't spectacular. Sort of scrawny-looking lights, actually, but they are OUR lights on OUR house. And so I love them.

I tried to photograph the kids under the tree. Madeline was cooperative but Oliver wasn't. It think he has taken being uncooperative on as his new hobby. He's an expert at it. 

As you can tell from the photos, there are no ornaments on the lower part of the tree. After putting Oliver to bed that night, I put some ornaments on it. Not many, mind you. We gave up putting ornaments on the bottom of the tree years ago when we got Fritz and Mitzi. And then we had children...

Anyway, the next morning, the few ornaments that I DID put within the reach of a certain two-year old were promptly rearranged. When I left the kids very briefly unattended so I could shower, the kids made themselves busy. Some ornaments were broken. Others were just moved to new spots on the tree. And, "the lights went out all by themselves," according to Madeline. Oh, sure they did. Yep.

After threatening to call Santa and cancel his visit this year if they EVEN THINK ABOUT TOUCHING MY TREE AGAIN!!, I think the kids got the picture. Or else they decided to bide their time until I leave them alone in the living room again. Regardless, the tree still stands. And  Santa is still coming. I guess. For now.

thanksgiving '08 wrap-up

We had a lovely Thanksgiving -- up until Madeline's tantrum that caused us to leave her grandparents' house early. I took last Wednesday off work since Maddie had the day off from school, and also so I could start working on my contributions to the holiday meal.  We had a very nice day, and Madeline was a big helper in the kitchen. She got frustrated when I wouldn't let her do certain things (like chop with the santoku knife), but she waited semi-patiently for her turn to do things.

Her first task was tearing apart cornbread and biscuits for the dressing. 

While she tore the bread into little bits, I cooked the onions and celery.

She beat eggs, mixed the dressing, then beat some more eggs for the pumpkin pies. She mixed all the pie ingredients and then helped me pour them into the piecrusts. I learned that I am not a very thoughtful food blogger, or else I would have remembered to keep taking photos for the blog. Or maybe I'm just bad at multitasking. I do have a pie picture, so that will have to suffice.

This pumpkin pie recipe is the best one I've run across. Sam likes it so much that whenever I suggest altering it, he forbids me. And I'm too much of a culinary chicken to tempt fate and potentially wind up with a lousy pie.

My dad decided a couple of years ago that one turkey just wasn't enough, so he added a fried turkey to complement the roast one. This year he decided to add a third turkey, and he smoked that one. Let's just say we had plenty of turkey. Dad's good friend, Jim, got the honors of carving the (three!) turkeys. As a bonus for doing the carving, he got to take the carcasses home to make stock.

Gathered around the table -- well, two tables, really -- were me and Sam, Madeline and Oliver, my brother Clay, my grandmother, my parents, Sam's parents, and my parents' friends Jim and Mary.  Jim and Mary are part of our adopted Thanksgiving-family. They come every year, and we would miss them if they didn't show up.

The kids did pretty well, especially considering the fact that neither one napped. Madeline had the major breakdown that pushed us into leaving a little earlier than expected, but I couldn't blame her. She'd had a very busy day and she was exhausted. Both kids fell asleep in the car on the way home even though it was only 6:30 or so. 

And now that Thanksgiving is over, we move our thoughts to the next in the December line-up of events. I'm headed to San Francisco for a conference next weekend. I get back just in time for Madeline's birthday and her birthday party. Christmas is after that. In a blink it will be 2009. Amazing.

thanksgiving

Thanksgiving might just be my favorite holiday. I love it even more now that I have an interest in cooking. While I'm typing this, two pumpkin pies are baking in the oven, the dressing has been prepared and is waiting for its turn to cook, and I have a refrigerator full of apples ready to be chopped for the Waldorf salad. Sam is outside with the kids letting them run off some energy before we get ready for the dinnertime-bathtime-bedtime sprint. The house is filled with the smells of sage, pumpkin pie, pear from the candle burning in the living room, and a faint scent of cleanness (the maids came today). Just perfect.

So, since I may not be posting tomorrow - or maybe I will, who knows? - I'm thankful for a lot of things this year. I am so thankful that Sam and I have good jobs that we enjoy going to, health insurance and retirement benefits, a solid roof over our heads, two sweet children, and the best husband in the world. I'm thankful that we're all healthy. I'm thankful that we have wonderful family to spend Thanksgiving with. I'm thankful for good friends.

Have a peaceful and warm Thanksgiving. We sure will.

halloween

Halloween was a very big deal around our house this year. Madeline has been counting down since Oliver's birthday. Oliver didn't know what all the fuss was about, but he quickly caught on. He refused to wear his costume that morning as was requested by his preschool, but he happily put it on when he saw everyone else getting into theirs. Madeline was dressed as Ariel, Oliver was a shark, Sam was Scooby Doo (and quite a hit with kids and parents alike), and I was Cinderella (without the blonde hair). My parents handed out candy to all the trick-or-treaters who came to our house. You can read about Mom's experience here.

The kids did great, with the exception of Maddie's tantrum at the end of the night, just as all our guests were leaving. The kids said "trick-or-treat!" and "thank you" and walked on the sidewalk. Manners during trick-or-treating are hard to remember, but Maddie and Oliver did quite well. 

The costumes have now been put away, and we can move on to thinking about the next holiday. I'm thinking about Thanksgiving and planning what I'm going to make. Madeline is thinking about her birthday, and Santa, and then hunting for Easter eggs at her Nana's house. Sam and Oliver just go with the flow.

water fun, pre-crayon

The kids played in their grandparents' pool on Sunday (before the crayon incident), and they had a blast. I decided to stay dry so I could snap photos, and also so I didn't have to be in the chilly water. Oliver can't swim on his own, but Madeline is quite the little fish.

______

Crayon update: Oliver is headed to the pediatric ophthalmologist tomorrow, so hopefully we'll learn that the green crayon chip is gone. Fingers are crossed.

gator wear

My little Gators.

Well, okay -- only Madeline is dressed in Gator attire, but it's only because Oliver has gotten so darn picky with his clothes. He insists on only wearing certain items, and I can't predict which ones he'll choose. He loves picking out long sleeve shirts and long pants and then hiking up the sleeves and the pants legs until his elbows and knees are showing. I don't know where this comes from.

We have family photos being taken tomorrow, so I'm praying that Oliver will wear what I've picked out for him. I'm not holding my breath, though.

two

Saturday afternoon we had our first party in our new home -- we celebrated Oliver's second  birthday.  I took advantage of a natural theme and went with Gator decor. Madeline voted for a Disney Princess party, but I convinced her that Oliver might not be as happy with that. And, since orange-and-blue are natural colors to be wearing on Saturdays in Gainesville, everyone dressed the part without being told.

Oliver was adorable, as always. He seemed to enjoy the crowd and activity, and he didn't have a single meltdown. We had both sets of grandparents over, his aunt and uncle and cousins from Ocala, and a handful of other friends. Dinner was catered by Moe's, one of the kids' favorites. And, no birthday is complete without a birthday cake from Publix. 

When it was time to sing Happy Birthday, he finally realized what the fuss was all about, and his smile was so sweet. He needed a little bit of help with blowing the candles out, but next year he'll be a pro.

We ended the party with the presents, and Madeline really got into that. I think Oliver opened one or two, but Maddie did the rest. He was content to watch her or to play with the toys already opened.

All in all, it was a good day. Oliver is now two, and such a big boy. He's in the middle of potty-training at his preschool, he's learning new words (although he still speaks a little Spanish -- agua and leche are favorites), and he's calling for mama all the time. He's still my cuddly baby boy, even if he is two.

sugar high, sugar low

We took the kids to a local festival this past weekend. I had grand images in my head of the kids playing in the bouncy house, playing games with other kids, carrying balloons around with big smiles plastered on their faces.  Instead we got the kids loaded up on sugar so that they were sure to crash big time later.

There was cotton candy...

  

...and snow cones...

 

...and popcorn and more snow cones...

 

...and finally, the crash.

 

And everyone went to bed early that night, and the next day the children were well-rested and happy again. The end.

back to school photos

These aren't from the Oliver's very first day of school, but these are from his first week at school (preschool) with some of Madeline thrown in for good measure.

 

 

 

the garden

One of the neat things about our new neighborhood is the community garden, just across the street and the nature path from our house. I took the kids over to it on Sunday so they could see baby tomatoes and peppers, among other things.

Madeline really liked watching the butterflies hovering around the blooming flowers. It was a miniature butterfly garden, and the butterflies (and Maddie) were in heaven.

I had to convince Oliver not to squeeze the tomatoes, but eventually he learned.

I'm considering renting out a plot in the garden, but I'm not sure where I'll find the extra time to actually work in it. I've planted a rosemary bush in our back yard. It's doing okay after its first week in the ground. That single plant may have to do for now. At least I'll be able to enjoy watching the neighbors' plants grow. Maybe they'll share some tomatoes.

watermelon

Here are a few pictures of the family enjoying watermelon at the beach. Since life is busy and picture-posting is always a good thing.

boxes

As I sit here typing this, I am surrounded by boxes. I have packed almost all of these boxes myself, which is good because when it comes time to unpack, I'll know where everything is. Theoretically.

I packed up the kids' rooms today, and that was a little bittersweet. I remember painting the nursery before Madeline was born. We painted it a shade of blue that was supposed to be pastel but ended up much darker than we had planned. I used a sponge in the shape of a dragonfly to put a border of green dragonflies across the top of the walls. Madeline has spent over four and a half years in that room and it's hard to imagine someone else sleeping in it.

Oliver's room used to be our office. Then it was our guest room slash office. Then I got pregnant with Oliver, and Sam and I lost the last "free" room in the house. But, we got an adorable little boy who makes my heart melt when he looks at me with those blue eyes. Oliver's room was painted a pale green which also did not turn out to be the color I had anticipated. But, I added some blue accents -- blue knobs on his white dresser, a blue and red sailboat hook by the door, a blue shelf -- and the room took shape. Oliver has spent close to two years in that room, and it's hard to imagine anyone else sleeping in it.

I guess a move is always filled with mixed emotions. I'm so thrilled to be getting a new house, a bigger house with room to grow. But a lot has happened in this house and the memories are strong. I started my residency here...we were glued to our TV in this house when September 11th, 2001 occurred...I became pregnant (twice!) here and both of our children have known no other home.

The movers come tomorrow, and tomorrow night is the first night we sleep as a family in our new home. Time to start working on those next memories...

more about seaside and the illness

This year at Seaside, we stayed in a home called Salad Days. It was a great four-bedroom beach house with all the amenities we could ask for...except cell phone service, TiVo, and wireless internet. The wireless internet was the real bummer for the adults, but we made do. I went online just twice, mostly because it was too darn hot to cart my laptop up to the coffee shop more than that.

Between us, we had four adults, four children (ages 4 1/2, 26 months, 21 months, and 11 months), and one babysitter. Christy, the sitter, was such a huge help and totally worth every penny we paid her. I knew that having her watch the kids at night so the grown-ups could go out would be great, but I didn't realize how much we would benefit from having an extra pair of hands during the day. She made lunch and dinner for the kids each night, and she played with them on the beach and in the water. I'm not sure we'll ever travel to the beach again without a sitter.

The only negative of the trip -- and it was a pretty big negative -- was the gastroenteritis that struck the household. On the second night of the trip, Pete and Julia were ill. Their youngest son had a day of vomiting just as they were feeling better. Two days after that, I began having terrible nausea and vomiting. The same night that I fell ill, Sam started feeling bad. At 1030 that night, we awoke to hear Madeline vomiting in her bed. She managed to throw up on her bed linens, the bedroom floor, the bathroom floor, and only a small percentage landed in the toilet. I learned that Julia truly is a great friend, through good and bad. She got up with us and mopped the vomit off the bathroom floor and washed all of Maddie's bed linens.

Witnessing Maddie kicked off a night of vomiting for Sam. And, not to be left out, Christy caught the bug within another 24 hours. The only two unaffected by the illness were Oliver and Julia's oldest son, Ayden. Lucky ducks.

Here are a couple of photos from the trip:

And, since I know that videos are a big hit among my readers, here's one of Madeline's favorites.

  

jellyfish

bedtime stories

Books have always been pretty important around here. I started reading to Madeline very early in her life, since the time she was an infant. By the time she was 19 months - Oliver's age - reading stories was part of our nightly bedtime routine.

Oliver is a different sort of child. I have tried, and tried, and tried to get him to let me read to him. He squirms, pulls the pages, tries to take the book from me...he just won't sit still. I felt like a failure - everyone knows you should read to your child from the time of conception. It was just too much of a struggle with Oliver, so I gave up.

I have a new routine on the nights that Sam works and I'm alone with the kids for the evening. After the kids are bathed and in their pajamas, I have Madeline pick out a book or two. I sit on the couch with Maddie and read to her while Oliver plays with blocks or Leggos or the cat. He may climb up on the couch to see what we're up to, but once he sees the book, he's climbs down and resumes running in circles.

Tonight, Madeline and I sat on the couch reading a story that she picked out, a story about being a big sister. About halfway through, Oliver climbed up on the couch and peered over my arms to see what I was doing. A page or two later, he climbed into my lap. And sat there. And listened.

It was the sweetest thing. I feel a little victory cheer coming on.

easter recap

We spent our Easter Sunday at my parents' house. Sam's parents, my brother, and my grandmother joined us, and we all had a nice lunch together. Madeline ate her body weight in sugar. When possible, she fed Oliver sweets, too. I think he had his first Dove chocolate eggs and jelly beans yesterday. He loved it, of course.

The candy-binging started at home, before we left for Nana's house. I think the Easter Bunny went overboard this year, especially for Maddie. This was Madeline's basket:

You can't see all the jelly beans and chocolates underneath the big bunny and box of peeps. This was Oliver's basket:

I was sort of proud of the little bunny that I bought here, but Oliver ignored him. He was more interested in the chocolate underneath the bunny.

We had an Easter egg hunt for the kids, but only Maddie was into it. She tried to complete the hunt in record time. Then she tried to eat all the jelly beans inside the eggs in record time. Oliver preferred to play with the garden hose and climb on my mom's dogs.

 

It was a good day, but I sure was happy to pack up all that candy when the day was over. Both kids gave us a hard time when it came time for bed, both going to sleep 1-2 hours later than normal.

I'm pretty sure the Easter Bunny learned his lesson. Um, her lesson.

monday photo

I know I've said this for the past four years, but, jeez...I sure do hate Daylight Savings Time. Whoever invented it definitely did not have young children.

Here's another photo from our annual session.

my babies

Madeline at age 4.

Oliver at 16 months.

...thanks, Amy!

saturday at the park

We took the kids to the park over the weekend. Sam was going to take them by himself; I was feeling the need for a break from Maddie and Oliver. But, it takes two of us to watch the kids - Madeline heads off in the direction of the big-kid swings, and Oliver tackles the toddler jungle gym – so I went along with them. The weather was just about perfect, so we all had a great time being outdoors.

I'm always a little nervous about Oliver (or Madeline when she was his age, for that matter) on the playground. There are a lot of big kids around, and they usually run around without much regard for the little kids. Oliver is pretty tough, though. He takes tumbles and falls without much crying.

He had a blast on the slide, not so much sliding down it but climbing up. When he DID slide down, what he seemed to like most was lying down at the bottom of the slide with his arms behind his head. I thought it was adorable. The other kids thought he was in the way, but I didn't care all that much. He was just so cute.

   

In the end, the park was just the break I needed. I’m not sure who had more fun, me or the kids.

medieval times

We made our first trip to the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire this past Sunday. I wanted to go for a couple of reasons. One reason is that I was curious about what it was all about, and I've heard about it as long as we've lived in Gainesville. The second reason, and the main reason I wanted to go, is that the kids refused to nap that day and I wanted a way to wear them out.

Madeline had a good time, mostly because she knew there would be princesses and kings and queens there (that was how I bribed her into going). She got to eat ice cream, ride a pony, and ride a camel. She really wanted to ride the elephant, but he was taking a snack-break when we walked by. And Mommy and Daddy didn't want to stand around in the 80-degree heat waiting on an elephant to finish eating his hay.

Oliver was being a real stinker over the weekend, mostly acting as if he was a terrible-two already. He was fine as long as the stroller was moving, but as soon as we stopped, he tried to climb out over the back of the stroller. We let him walk whenever we could, but he still wanders off or eats dirt or puts other random things in his mouth.

As soon as we got home from the Faire, Madeline ran to put on her princess costume. She was fully decked out in royal attire until the next morning when I made her take it off to go to school.

 

Sometimes I think she may be headed for the theater. We definitely have a lot of drama around here.

saturday at the petting zoo

Saturday we went to a birthday party thrown by one of Sam's good friends for his little boy, Robert, who turned two. It was a big, go-all-out birthday party, complete with a pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey game, a pinata, pony rides, and a petting zoo. We took both kids, and they had a great time. They were stinkers Saturday night after all the partying and ice cream and cake, but it was worth it to watch them enjoy themselves so much.

Madeline loved the animals, although she was a little intimidated at first. She was really nervous about touching them, and was particularly leery of the chickens.

Her favorite animal was the pony that she got to ride on. She thought she was in heaven.

Oliver had a different reaction to the petting zoo. When he looked at the bunny or the baby goat or the sheep, he saw a jungle gym. A big furry jungle gym. Perfect for climing on. In this first picture he is leaning down to pet the bunnies.

Just after that, he decided to pull their fur. And then he tried to step on them. Sam had to rescue the bunnies from Oliver.

Here's Oliver as he's petting a soft, wooly sheep:

 

Just after that, he started pulling the wool. Hard. Sam then had to rescue the sheep.

Oliver is so different than Maddie was. I guess this is the boys-are-different-than-girls thing again. I'm not sure I've gotten used to it yet.

I'm not sure I'll ever get used it. But I sure do love the little rascal AND the little princess.