April Giveaway

Who knew that giving stuff away could be so much fun? Honestly, it is. I had such a great time last month that I decided I'm going to try to do one every month this year. I'll try to be a little more creative as we proceed throughout the year. We'll see.

This month I'm passing on one of my favorite cookbooks. It's all about the crockpot, baby. If I can throw something in a pot and forget about it for hours LIFE IS GOOD!

To enter the drawing, provide me with your name and why you need this book in a comment. Comments will be accepted through Sunday night (11:59pm April 12th). Bon Appetit!

Getting Along

The past month has given Ian and I a glimpse into our not-too-distant future. Lindy and Ellie have been constantly at each others' throats. I've decided that when the teenage years settle in on our family we are just going to have to get a much bigger house and put those two as far away from each other as possible. (Sigh!)

Today was an especially tough day. Somewhere in the early afternoon, preceding a long and boring lecture about sisterly love, I announced loud and clear that "I have had ENOUGH of this!" and that "There will be NO MORE ARGUING OR YELLING!" (Try helping a 3 and 6 year old overlook the irony of the fact that I yelled this. Hmmm.)

The next couple hours were spent in relative peace. I figured my lecturing must have helped them overlook their differences and get along. 

I was wrong:

Taped to the headboard of Ellie's bed was this angry face. At least she tried to make her point without causing me any additional headaches. Right?...Right?

Hoppie

Bright and early this morning we awoke to find this little fella on our front step.

Apparently he is hopping around visiting the homes of bloggers and spreading cheer as we approach the Easter holiday. In honor of Hoppie's visit Ellie and I decided that we should bring him along with us today to brighten up all our little day-to-day tasks that are normally so boring. 

He came with us to pick up the kids from school. He seemed a little upset about being strapped into the seatbelt so I let him have a look out the front window whilst we moved oh-so-slowly forward in the carpool line.

We finally got a new mat for our trampoline (the old one had a very large hole). We spent a few cold minutes testing out the bounce. Hoppie took a turn as well. Here he is giving us the thumbs up (ears up?) for appropriate bounciness.

While having a bunny with you at the grocery store might be a little strange it can also be helpful. Thanks to Hoppie I remembered we needed some carrots. Phew!

He also joined Lindy and Ellie in some quality TV time (aka: "mom gathers her sanity time"). I think his favorite program was Arthur. 

Happy...oh, I mean Hoppie Easter everyone!

Happy 1st Birthday!

My baby is one. It's hard to believe it, but he is. What a fun year it has been. This little boy is absolutely adored by his family. I can't imagine life without him now. Funny, since I was initially so afraid of boys.

Looking back on his first year it's amazing how quickly he's grown. This month he has graduated into a front-facing car seat (he loves it), started taking steps on his own, and throwing magnificent tantrums when not given his hearts desire. All fun. Most of the time.

We had a small birthday celebration for the kid. A couple presents and chocolate cupcakes. Nothing better. He had a great time throwing cupcakes all over my kitchen. (And I mean, ALL OVER my kitchen.)

Happy first birthday, Curtis! We LOVE you!

Nothing is Broken

In the midst of applying makeup this morning my middle child sauntered into my bathroom and threw out a too-casual, "Hi." Knowing there was a little more behind this greeting I initiated conversation:

Me: "Hey there. What are you up to?"

Ellie: "Umm..."

Me: "Are you done your movie?"

Ellie: "Uh..."

Me: "What have you been doing?"

Ellie: "Well...I didn't broke nothing."

Since I didn't believe this for a moment we walked, hand in hand, downstairs to discover a very broken DVD remote. Busted!

Go ahead. Admire my powers of perception...they are rather spectacular.