April

IMG_0553, a photo by tracyg00 on Flickr.

Here's a photo of my little fashionista. We went to Nordstrom with Jenny to have the fancy Communion dress fitted and altered before the big day. She had to dress for the shopping occasion. Afterward, we had lunch with Jenny and Grandma Millie at the Nordstrom Cafe. Megan sure loves these fancy outings.



In early April, we had a girl scout outing at "May I Have This Dance" a studio that's really close to our house. The girls learned a Bollywood number and a hip hop routine. Their instructor was super cute and energetic. They loved it:



QAS had an Easter Egg Hunt on the Saturday of Easter weekend. Here's Megan with Rita and Sarah:



And Jake with his buddy, Joe:



The hunt was super crazy with a ton of kids. Apparently, Jake had to give Joe some of his eggs because another kid had taken Joe's when he fell and they spilled out of his basket. Jake decided that kid was a "bully". He stood up for his friend and shared his spoils. Proud mom moment.

Later that day, Onna and Tom had their family over and had an unexpected visit from the Easter Bunny. Notice the short sleeves. Yes, spring was pretty awesome this year.



We colored eggs that night and they turned out pretty good.



When Megan was going to bed, she was a little concerned about a bunny hopping around too close to her. She asked me to leave a note for him:



(She's not really a fan of the tooth fairy either. We have to leave her teeth downstairs on the counter).

We spent Easter Sunday at Jenny and Flip's house. The pool was open and it felt like a summer party. The weather was absolutely beautiful.



Here's a quick Jake and Dad photo:

March

Super Gamer, a photo by tracyg00 on Flickr.

We had a great March this year. The weather was unseasonably warm, so we were able to get out and enjoy some early sunshine! Jake has recently discovered Wii, so he would actually prefer to play video games than go outside, but once out there he's just fine. When he's playing his Lego Star Wars or Lego Batman on Wii, I can feed him almost anything. We sample new fruits and veggies and he just opens his mouth while I feed him. It's hilarious.

We had been working on finishing our workout room in the basement. We took a trip to Sports Authority one Saturday to check out some equipment. Afterward, we took the kids to Pizza Hut and decided to let them eat there. We typically prefer to take it to go, since it takes so long. But, really, they couldn't have been happier.



When I take the kids with me to Target (I try to avoid that as much as possible), Jake insists upon looking at toys and then taking photos of stuff that he likes with my phone, so that I have a running list of stuff to buy for him. Inspired by his Lego Star Wars for Wii, he took a liking to these light sabers.



It's a rare morning when they're both eating breakfast and getting along before school. On this particular day, Megan was reading to Jake while they ate. I had to snap a photo. It doesn't happen very often.



Jake experienced his first Shamrock Shake this year. Since the weather was so warm, I was inspired to buy shakes and he decided that this was pretty darn good.



Occasionally, we'll have movie night. When we do, they insist that I make popcorn, followed by watching the movie while eating and laying on the floor.



As I mentioned before, March was exceptionally warm. On St. Patrick's Day it was in the low 80's. We took out the hose and made a water slide.





It was so nice to be able to go to the park without coats (even in the evening!):



We had the Roeder girls over for a playdate on the 18th. Still warm!







And a few funny stories to wrap this up. I got my hair cut in March on a day when the kids were in school When I picked up Jake, he said "Mom, you look different. Your neck is longer."

I bought the kids some wings from Jewel and they were eating them in the car on the way home. One of them asked about a particular part of the wing and after I explained it, Megan stopped and said, "Wait. You mean a chicken wing is really a chicken's wing?" An enlightening moment for her.

And one of our funnier moments.....Jake came into our room when he woke up early one morning. He stood by the side of my bed and passed gas. He said, "Did you hear that? It's the fart alarm. Time to get up." He started to make a habit of that. One weekend morning, we were already up, but he laughed and said, "Ha ha, there's the fart alarm again. That never gets old".

Oh, and this has nothing to do with kids, but I had a nice lakefront 20 mile run with Brenda Barrera (who was in from Virginia) and Leah Drew (who recently left for London). It was my last long run before the Boston Marathon. Shared with good company.