Celebrating Earth Day

This year we celebrated Earth Day. And normally we do not formally "celebrate" Earth Day. Everyday, we recycle absolutely everything we possibly can, use cloth bags at the stores, are working to go more organic/locally grown with foods, rarely use the a/c, blah blah blah. But this time I had been putting off several projects with the kids for too long, and both projects seemed like they could be an Earth Day theme. So...

Here are the kids after painting their garden frog and turtle. The plan was to put the completed projects outside into the garden for beautification. However, both kids complained too loudly that they didn't want their works of art to get wet, so instead they are in their bedrooms. Olivia made her frog with very large red lips so that someone can kiss the frog and turn him back into a prince (we have been watching "The Princess and the Frog" too many times!).

Ethan's turtle masterpiece.

The second "project" was one I had planned to do for April Fool's Day, but forgot. So, I saved the Dirt Cake surprise for Earth Day. The back story - I had a dirt cake for one of my birthday parties (maybe in eighth grade?), and I clearly remember the look of shock on all of my friends' faces when I began to eat the "dirt" from the potted plant. I had been waiting for my kids to get a bit older to fully appreciate this joke, as it can really only be successfully done once. So, I mixed up the cake, put in some flowers (orange and blue of course!), and told the kids that Joe had purchased these "lovely" flowers for me for Earth Day. The cake sat on the table as we ate dinner, and when we were done I started complaining about how hungry I still was. Neither kid would share their strawberries with me, so I told them I was so hungry I would eat the dirt - and I did. Olivia's jaw dropped to the floor and she almost fell off of her chair (I wish that I would have had a secret camera set out for this reaction), and Ethan started crying about what I had done (oops...didn't mean to make him cry!). I had to convince each of them that the dirt was oreos, and then they both laughed hysterically. They still talk/laugh about it 2 days later.

Olivia and Ethan slurping their gummy worms. They just appeared with every shovel scoop of the cake!

Ethan's Big Boy Room

Another room completed in our house! That brings the total to four - Olivia and Ethan's bedrooms, the kids' bathroom, and Joe's study. We are working on the kitchen area at the moment. Ethan's room was momentous in more than one way - while he now has a bookcase to store his books (as opposed to a heap on the floor which is where they were for about 1 1/2 years), he also earned his big boy bed. He has been in his bed since December and seems to love it. I wish I would have taken some "before" pictures so that you could understand how bare his poor room was before we decorated! Here is a view of his "new room" from the doorway.

Ethan's curtain, designed by me. We have the 10 Cardinals' World Series Championship patches in the middle. However, when they will the Series this year, I guess I'll have to find a new place for that patch!

A view of Ethan's awesome closet. Both kids have closets like this, and I cannot say it enough how much I love them (the kids and the closets)! I also realized that I forgot to take a picture of Ethan's dresser and bookshelf, both filled with baseball memorabilia and the game used third base from Ethan's first ever Cardinals' game...I'll need to update later.

Spring Break at the Zoo

During Olivia's spring break, we spent a long morning at the Springfield Henson Robinson zoo with a group of good friends. Olivia snapped this picture of Ethan and I by the penguin exhibit. Although you cannot see them, all of the penguins were very active on this day (very unusual for them at this zoo!).

The main attraction for the kids at this zoo is the playground. However, I always make a point of having the kids circle around to see the animals before ending at the playground. Here is Olivia feeding the goats.

Even Ethan was brave enough this year to feed them!

I thought this picture was too cute to pass up. The otters were very playful this morning, especially when we watched their feeding time.

Here is Olivia, Julia, Liam, Ethan, Brady, Ally, and Alyssa posing on the hippo statue.

Good friends since preschool (which, yes, I realize was only last year!!). Here is Olivia with Julia and Ava.

Again we were able to have the kids slow down long enough for another group picture on the turtle: Ethan, Marina, Julia, Liam, Ava, Jack, and Olivia.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! We hope that it was a wonderful weekend for your family, and that the Bunny was generous to all! Here are the kids in their Easter finest. Olivia loves to twirl in her "watermelon" dress, and Ethan picked out the yellow shirt and baseball tie all by himself.

We celebrated Easter on Saturday with my side of the family. My sister Rachel's birthday was on Easter this year, so we celebrated with a cake. The intention was to only place a FEW candles on the cake, but the kids continued putting on the candles until the cake was covered. Ethan's face while watching Uncle Thomas light all of the candles is priceless.

Olivia hunting for eggs in the backyard.

Ethan finding his own eggs. Once they had all been found, both kids promptly sat down on the patio, emptied all of the eggs and began to eat their chocolate!

Olivia and grandpa playing "tip the chair backwards". This continued until the chair legs literally sank into the ground!

The kids woke up bright and early on Easter morning. Here is Ethan checking on what the Easter bunny brought him - lots of candy and some new Super Hero Squad toys.

Olivia with her new Frenchy doll (the dog from the Fancy Nancy series) and her chocolate bunny. She had made a list for the Easter bunny, but Frenchy was not on the list. However, once Olivia saw the doll she said "The Easter bunny made the right decision!" Whew.

Easter egg hunt #2 in our backyard. On Easter Sunday, Grammy and Grandpa Brett came to celebrate with us. Between the Easter bunny eggs and the eggs that the grandparents brought, this egg hunt lasted awhile!

Olivia following the Easter egg trail.

Opening the eggs. Some of the eggs were more generous than others, with the kids yelling "we're rich!" when a quarter was found.

After an Easter brunch at Mariah's, we then enjoyed a Baskin Robbins bunny cake (just in case the kids didn't have enough of a sugar buzz already).