On the Move and Easter

Early this week the event we knew was coming came to fruition...Colby started crawling. According to my blog and my memory (I didn't start blogging until Calleigh was 10 months old), this is a week or two after Calleigh crawled, five weeks before Brady, and a whopping three months before Aubree.

The crawling has had the effect that I was hoping for.  Previously when I put him down in the living room and I went into the kitchen to cook, clean up or whatever, he couldn't see me which I presume was the cause of his acute displeasure.  Now I see his little face poking around the side of the couch and into the kitchen he comes.  Yesterday Duncan had the three other kids (henceforth to be called "Calaubra") and it was just Colby and I.  I actually wanted to run to Target but realized that Duncan had the car seat in the van so I was out of luck.  Thusly, I was inspired to clean my microwave and cabinets (the latter of which probably hadn't been done since before Colby was born...thank goodness I don't have white any more) so I thought, "What if I took out a few pots and pans for Colby to play with?  Would that work?" Amazingly, it did!  I almost had to pinch myself.  Could this really be happening?  Could Colby go this long without fussing and crying for me to pick him up?  Ahhh, bliss!  So God bless crawling.




This past weekend was certainly a busy one between church, the twins' birthdays, and various Easter festivities.  Sabbath got off to a pretty rough start.  On Sabbaths I make an attempt to dress the family (or at least the five of us who I have a say on what we wear) in matching colors.  The color this week was green. Everybody was dressed except for me who is always the last one ready.  I was frantically putting my dress on, checking the clock to see if I would have time to do something with my hair when Duncan comes in with Aubree in tow.  He had spent the last five minutes trying to get pink marker stains off the front of her dress after Brady had thrown a marker at her.  Yes, they were killing time on Sabbath morning by drawing with markers.  How nice for them.  Upon closer inspection, I discovered Brady also had marker on his vest (although not from Aubree retaliating).  No amount of cleaning would get it off.  Not wanting to ruin our green theme for the day, I decided to ignore the marks and hope that no one noticed I was bringing sloppy looking children to church.  Perhaps it was all an omen because half way to church, a button on my dress came off, rendering one of the two straps holding my dress up completely useless.  But I refused to give in! Instead, I tied the two straps around my neck and hopefully no one was the wiser.  One can only hope that tomorrow goes more smoothly.

The boys in their green playing before lunch.

Saturday evening we were at the Isidros for Maddy and Kohlden's fourth birthday.  We had a nice potluck supper while the kids played outside in the somewhat chilly weather, oddly enough (I say oddly because it's been like 90 the past few days and will be for the foreseeable future).  I took Colby home to bed (so nice to live close.  Have I mentioned that?) while Duncan stayed with Calaubra to paint Easter eggs and other crafts. We are excited that the twins are now four as they will be in the same Sabbath School class as Aubree starting in July.

Cakes courtesy of Jennifer, of course!

My boy knows how to party...shirtless and showing off his police car tattoo.  Keep back, ladies!!

Sunday was Easter and as is our tradition, we went over Ron and Elaine's for a lovely breakfast and Easter egg hunt.  We met there at 9:30 with the Idisros, Bergherms (minus Bruce) and Ricky and Ana.  Duncan and Allen decided to ride their bikes over so they took a 45 mile circuitous route and were there waiting when we all arrived...a little stinky but what's some sweat between friends?  Elaine made her famous French Toast and we all contributed an item or two and I must say, it's really one of my favorite meals of the year. But then, I've always been a breakfast person.  The hunt went great, despite the chilly temps, and the kids all enjoyed themselves but Aubree came up to me at the end and asked "When's the big suprise?" A few months ago Elaine decided to get a pinata for the event and I think we must have told the kids that there would be something special this year.  A couple of nights ago, after talking with Allen, Elaine decided to save the pinata and have a Cinco de Mayo party because she will be celebrating 50 years in the US on May 5.  Unfortunately, we seemed to have forgotten to pass this memo on to Aubree who was very disappointed since gathering dozens of Easter eggs and getting a bunch of candy and trinkets is just not special enough, apparently.   Hopefully the pinata in a few weeks will meet her high standards.  By the way, it's not always a good idea to tell your kids you have a surprise for them because a) if you tell them in advance, there's a decent chance it won't happen and b) often the surprise is much smaller than their expectations.  For example, you say "I have a GREAT surprise for you!  Guess what it is??!" And they say, "We're going to Legoland tomorrow??" And then you say "Ahh, no. I got some new Popsicles at Publix." Fail.

Throwback to 2011.

That isn't his hat but it looked cute.

After Ron and Elaine's we came home to recuperate for a few hours and then it was off to the Hilliard estate for Easter 2.0.  They have a big shindig every year with, I don't know, a hundred people counting kids. Jennifer helps host it so that means you know you'll be getting some really good treats which we did.  It's a potluck and I always try to figure out something unique to bring but this year I just went with PB&J because that way I know there will be at least something there Brady will eat.  But I cut them into triangles and put them on a fancy plate so it would appear that I at least made a little effort.  The big highlight this year was the ponies.  The Hilliards fenced in their yard and got two of them since last year's party and the kids, particularly Brady, were very excited to go for rides on them.  The other big thing was the appearance of the Easter bunny.  Duncan was coerced into donning the attire last year and if it happened again, I probably would be sleeping on the couch this week.  Fortunately, someone else volunteered.  I was waiting to see Brady's reaction since last year it was this huge ordeal with tears and the whole nine yards.  He would watch the videos for months after and talk about that bunny and how he didn't like it (even though we kept saying it was Daddy dressed up).  Well, a year does make a big difference.  This time he went right over to the bunny and took pictures and all that.  Santa Claus can take solace with this information.

Hilliard estate from the front.

Dessert table.

Calleigh wanted her face painted as....an iguana?

Another shark.  Who would have guessed?

Eggs before they were hidden.  Yes, unbelievable as it sounds, Brady actually wore the same shirt to the morning activities AND the afternoon/evening festivities. And he even ate French toast at Grandma and Grandpas.

Getting ready to leave for the egg hunt.  The tall guy to the left is the host, Doug Hilliard, my old boss.

One funny thing happened at the end.  I was standing over next to the trampoline where the girls were jumping with a few other kids, much to my chagrin.  Those things freak me out!  Brady wanted to go in but there was no way that was happening.  I was in the process of getting the girls out when all of a sudden, something hard slams into my backside and I yelled, "Ouch!" I look around and a father and son were playing catch with a football and the son had made an errant throw and the ball hit me.  I told them not to worry, I was glad it hit me there and not in the head.  But I had to sit down for a few seconds because it stung like the dickens.  Brady was very concerned about the situation and said "It's okay, Mom.  I'll get you a band-aid." Thanks, pal.

Monday was Patriots Day up in New England which means it's a holiday and the Boston Marathon. Because of the busy weekend, I didn't get much work done around the house so I made the executive decision that we would take the day off school.  We are one day ahead in our lesson plans (in other words, our book shows a schedule for Monday - Friday where you write in the date.  When it's Monday, we have been on Tuesday's lesson, etc) anyway so it worked out.  Instead of traditional school, I told them we were building stuff so in the morning, Calaubra helped me put together a new shelving unit for Colby's room.  They actually were quite helpful with the girls even using the electric screwdriver/drill on their own.  During quiet time I cleaned the bathrooms, dusted, and changed the sheets.  That felt good.



Tuesday and Wednesday were your run of the mill days.  But Thursday was different in that Duncan took the day off work, just for kicks.   So we went to First Watch for breakfast.  Then he took Calaubra to pick some blueberries (we finished all the ones we hadn't frozen) and to the pool while I stayed behind with Colby (this is when I got the cupboards cleaned).  He planted the rest of the garden and got a few errands done so it was a productive day and a nice treat to have him home in the middle of the week.  In the evening Ricky and Ana came over for the girls' Spanish lesson and then Ricky and I watched the Bruins beat the Red Wings in overtime.  Playoff hockey rocks!

Attempted to get a nice picture to document we went to First Watch and this is all we got.

Aubs picked another half bucket.  They got a total of 10 pounds this time.

Today was yard sales, of course, and it was the first day this season that the heat reared its ugly head while out on yard sales.  But I'll take it any day over rain.  Brady had gotten $2 in one of his Easter eggs at the Hilliards and he was extremely eager to spend it.  He got some kind of transformer at the first stop and then at the second stop he spotted a John Deer tractor which had no price.  He was clutching his remaining $1 in his hand and it was quiet a nice tractor and I was sure it would be more than his measly dollar.  I told him to go ask the lady how much it was and to my surprise, he actually walked over her.  But then he just stood there in front of her, completely mute.  Finally I spoke up and the lady said, "For you, $0.50." He was pretty excited.  Then when we got it home, we realized it makes all these different noises so it was quite a bargain. Maybe I'll have him handle all my yard sale transactions from now on.


I have gotten into the habit now on yard sale Fridays of going through the drive thru at Taco Bell for lunch. This gives us a little more time to "shop" since I don't have to get home to make lunch for the kids.  When it comes to fast food as a vegetarian with kids, your options are greatly limited.  It's pretty much Taco Bell. The girls like the soft tacos (with beans, no meat obviously) and Brady gets a quesadilla which he calls pizza.
I get two bean burritos and there you have it...lunch for four for under $10!  Today we really had to hurry because Duncan was taking Calleigh to the eye doctor for her initial appointment for her cyst.

Duncan ended up taking Aubree as well since the boys were back here sleeping and he decided to make it an outing...he had to pick up his bike at Ron and Elaine's and the girls could thus swim.  I'm sure glad he took her and not me with the four kids because it took an hour to see the doctor.  The doc was a little surprised nothing had been done thus far for the eye.  He prescribed compresses and an ointment and hopefully that will do it.  If not, there's an antibiotic she can take and as a last resort, they would have to put her to sleep to drain it.  I really hope it doesn't come to that.  I was thinking they would do a local but apparently not.

Stopped at Starbucks while out with Daddy and got some specials milks.

In other Colby news, we had to lower his crib this week too.  He's pulling himself up on things now and I had no idea this would even be an issue in his crib since he's gone right to sleep in there for the last several months.  Well, that all changed on Easter.  It was a horrible day for napping.  He fell asleep on the way to Ron and Elaine's which lasted about 25 minutes.  Then he fell asleep on the way home which lasted another 25 minutes.  Thus, he would not go down for an afternoon nap despite my best efforts.  To top it off, he fell asleep AGAIN, on the way back from the Hilliards at 7:15 which was horrible timing since he goes to bed at 8:15.  Naturally, he wouldn't go to sleep at bedtime.  He just cried and started standing up at the railing, looking all pathetic, and that's when I realized, oops, we need to get this thing lowered lest he throws himself over.  I couldn't leave him in there crying with that situation so I had no choice but to bring him in with me while Ricky and I watched the Bruins game I had taped from that afternoon.  I finally got him to sleep about 9:30 after nursing him some more.  The next day he cried at naptime and bed, although not too overly long. But seriously, this is Exhibit A of why I like to stay on a napping schedule.

Lowering Colby's mattress.

Speaking of Colby, we are pretty much done with his room and I'm happy with the results.

Just wish the crib was a different color but we put the black one in Brady's navy room.  You could suggest I paint it but then I would laugh in your face.

A few conversations with the kids...

After I've read about Daniel's three friends being thrown into the furnace:
Calleigh (incredulously): "Why in the world did people pray to idols anyway?  It's just CLAY baked in an oven.  It's like praying to my food." 

She must have an excellent Bible teacher.

The last week or two, Brady has asked that when I change him, I go "sweetly."
Duncan (to me):"I was outside spraying Brady off with the house and he told me 'Please put it on the mist because it sprays sweetly.'" 

So yeah, whatever that means!  Guess it means gentle?

It was just me and the boys this afternoon and I had finished nursing Colby.  Brady ran to get a bar for a snack and brought it over to us.  Colby started grabbing it, as usual.
Brady:"No!  Don't let Colby get it.  He'll wreck it."
Me:"Okay, I won't let him get it."
Brady (talks into Colby's face)"Ahhh, Colby.  Thank you.  Your a good not wrecker.  I didn't cry."

Nothing is more devastating for Brady than having his granola bar broken in half.

Have an eccellent Sabbath!