Thanks for Easter, Grandma!

Dear Grandma,

Thanks for my Easter basket!  I enjoyed eating it.  Hope you had a nice birthday and Easter weekend!

Love,
Erin

Awesome paper, Grandma.  Yummy!

I also thoroughly enjoyed this doll

Her dress was especially tasty

I ate some spoons for Easter dinner - my first time in a high chair

I was very very excited to sit next to my big brother after dinner for a picture

He was not as excited, but I continue to try to win him over with my drool

I also helped him play the train traffic game on his computer thingy.  I am awesome at it.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Haaaaaa-ppppppppppyyyyyyyyyy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Grandmaaaaaaa...  Happy Birthday to you!

It's my mom's birthday today.  Dex didn't get a chance to call her for her birthday - he was a busy kid today, going to Tractor Supply to see chicks and ducks, and then going to the park to ride his bike and play for a while.  And I was gone for a while, at a competitive trail ride.  So - happy birthday, Mom!

Grandma and Grandpa came down last weekend to celebrate Grandma's birthday, and also so the boys could go to a model train show in Wilmington.  The Easter Bunny also come to John's work, so we also went there for a couple hours in the morning.  Awesome bunny this year - he was kind and patient and good to both kids.

Here's some pictures from last weekend:

Dex was a little skeptical of the Easter Bunny

Erin?  Not so much.

She was kind of fascinated by Mr. Bunny.

Dex was a bit better the second time around, with his sister.  Erin?  Still fascinated.

Fortunately the bunny didn't mind a little molestation from the baby.

Sunday morning brunch at the Mendenhall Inn.  The harp player brought Dexter on to his lap so he could play a bit.  So cool.  Dex said that when he is a grown-up, he wants to be a harp player.  :-)

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

New Ride

After four (or maybe more, I can't remember) long weeks of (im)patiently waiting, John got a call today that our new car was here and ready for pick-up.  And so pick up, he did.  Here's our new ride!

It's a fresh, shiny, new, made just for us 2013 Subaru Outback

And the instant it gets a scratch on it, John's gonna cry.  And also shoot me, because it will undoubtedly be me who scratches it.

How long do you think these seats are going to stay clean?  But I did an oh-so-scientific Facebook poll, and I was assured that tan leather is a far better choice than black leather.

John quadrupled the number of miles on it by driving it home.  Send it back.  It's too old now.

I dunno why he stays...

Conversation we had this evening...

Me:  Know what would be awesome?
John:  No.  What?
Me:  Ben and Jerry's
John:  Yeah, it would.  Do we have any?
Me:  Nope
John:  Would you like me to go get some?
Me:  Yep

And the boy, bless his heart, DOES.

And on his way out the door he asks...

John:  Does your car need gas?
Me:  I quite honestly have NO idea.  I'm fairly sure the "low gas" light was not on.  But I, personally, have not put gas in the car in a very long time.
John:  How about I just take your car to get ice cream, and I put gas in it.
Me:  Cool.

Somewhere, weaved in this ice cream discussion, I brought up the fact that the dog had puked on the carpet upstairs this afternoon.  And the only thing I could find to clean it was Simple Green.  Which doesn't do a remarkable job in removing dog vomit stains from carpet.  To tell you the truth, I'm not exactly sure what Simple Green actually does well, at all.  But that's beside the point.  After I told John about the stains, and asked if we had any Resolve, because I couldn't find it, he proceeded to bring out, and place before me:

1)  A bottle of Woolite Pet Stain Remover
2)  A bottle of Resolve carpet cleaner
3)  A bottle of some miracle stain remover stuff that I have seen remove red wine stains from a white carpet, with my very own big brown eyes
4)  A huge gallon jug of Nature's Miracle pet odor and stain remover
5)  An aerosol can of some kind of carpet stain remover
6)  An aerosol can of some kind of upholstery cleaner

I cleaned the carpet.  Actually, now I am doing a pet stain removal comparison, with Woolite pet stain remover and the miracle stain remover stuff whose name I cannot recall.

But, seriously.  I dunno why he stays.

It must be because I am cute.  And make cute babies...

Spring? Here, Spring!

Today is the first day of spring break.  Which means that Dex is here all week.  Which means that we all might go crazy by the end of the week.  I was hoping that the weather would be nice and we'd be able to go outside.  Ride bikes.  Walk the dog.  Go to the playground.  Maybe go to Longwood, see if there's any flowers.

Ummmm.  Yeah.  We're definitely not doing that.  At least, not today.  For one, we are all sick.  So my plan is to firmly implant my butt cheeks to the couch and not move them.  And for two...  Please to be observing the weather, on our first day of spring break:

So, yeah.  We're gonna just stay inside today.  Maybe I'll get out the water table and put some snow in it and let Dex play with the snow inside.

A couple weeks ago we had a little flirt with spring.  And spring is, I think, trying to come.  Mom saw some forsythia at the Dansko outlet the other day.  The neighbor's daffodils are up and trying to get ready to bloom.  Today the weather channel has 2 warnings for us.  One is a high pollen alert.  The other is a winter weather advisory.

Here's some pictures from our flirt with spring.  This was the same weekend that Dexter's pants fell off

Yay!  It's nice outside and we're on the couch playing with an IPad!

It was a nice day to walk the dogs.  Dex took Buddy, but he really wanted to walk Scout.  Which, no.  Scout weighs more than you do, kiddo.

So he helped Daddy walk Scout, instead

The next day we got Dexter's green bike with pedals off the wall.  We've had it for a while, but Dex hadn't quite grown in to it yet.  I think he has now.

John missed the above "Dexter riding his bike all by himself" and then spent 20 minutes pushing Dex all around the yard and the driveway.

We have since this day taken the pedals off this bike, so he can get used to gliding and steering with it (it's bigger and weighs more than his Strider).  I think his pedals can go back on soon.

Erin came out to watch the bike riding.

Cute spectator

Scout watched, too.  He was mostly just hoping someone would throw the ball, throw the ball, throw the ball.

Erin can't throw the ball.  Eat the ball?  Sure.  Drool on the ball?  Yep.  Throw the ball?  Not so much.

Dex helped Erin do her very first swinging.  Dexter loved it.  I'm not sure Erin was quite so delighted.

YAY!  They threw the ball!!!

Hi Daddy!

Here's the sick baby this morning.  She can't breathe through her nose, but she's still fairly chipper.  Dexter is in a pretty good mood, too.  Me?  I kinda want to take a nap on the couch.

Gittin' Culture

Music does something to me.  Not any music.  Not every music.  But classical.  Live.  Live classical music concerts get to me.  As do live Christmas carols.  So when I go to live classical music concerts (which is seldom) or to church at Christmas time (also seldom), I tend to cry my eyes out.  I dunno why.  It just gets to me.

I thought it'd be nice to share a bit of the music with Dex.  Wasn't sure how he would be, so we picked a family-oriented concert, that was free.  Right up our alley.  The Newark Symphony played "Carnival of the Animals" and some dance troop did ballet.  And it was fun.  Dexter was engrossed.  Enthralled.  Enraptured?  That might be pushing it.  But I think he liked it.  He liked knowing what the different instrument sounds were.  He liked watching the kids dance.  And it took a little prodding on John's part, but he even enjoyed playing some instruments and dancing on stage after the performance.

I think even Erin was entertained.  She held herself together fairly well. Cried once, but not for long enough for me to get out of my chair and out the door.

So now we're all cultured and stuff.  And Dexter wants to take dance lessons...

Pre-concert.  Both kids obviously thrilled.  Also, Happy St. Patty's Day!

After concert.  Erin was happy. Dexter wanted to get out of Dodge and go right home.  I just needed to go potty.

Erin and Daddy watch the mild chaos of children banging on drums and shaking rattles and stuff.

Dexter.  Cymbals.  'Nuff said.

And then Dex chose a pink scarf and climbed up on stage and danced his little heart out.  And I said thank you, gymnastics, for helping my child be just a little bit more outgoing.  See both video links below.

Dancing on Stage

Dancing With Friends

Five Months

Not much going on in the House of Norman this weekend.  I got my hair cut.  John put up a new towel rack, and maybe the boys will take a trip to Lowe's this afternoon.  And, of course, Dunkin Donuts.  The weather is kind of crappy, which is a bummer after last weekend when it was so nice outside.  So we're just hanging out.  Erin is napping, Dexter is resting with at least four train catalogs surrounding him in bed.  So he's got good reading material.

Erin turned five months old on Wednesday.  Little turkey STILL won't roll over, but she has figured out how to sleep on her side, and once when she was on her side she tried rolling over and ended up on her belly instead.  So maybe technically she HAS rolled over.  But not on purpose.  She prefers standing, she likes her exersaucer, and she's close to sitting up by herself.  Although, really, she'd rather just stand.  I figure she'll just skip crawling altogether and go right to walking.  Who needs to crawl, anyway?

Here's a few pictures of the baby girl.  She's still cute.

Got to get a good stretch in when you wake up...

Aunt Maria came for a quick visit.  "On her way" home from NYC to visit Aunt Christy.

Five months cute

Mmmmm.  Lion.  Yummy!

Hanging at the table today during lunch. Erin had pig for lunch.  Dex, of course, had grilled cheese.

Gymnast

We missed gymnastics this week, in favor of attending an evaluation scheduled 6 months ago for Dexter to continue receiving wrap-around services.  Given his druthers, Dex certainly would have chosen gymnastics to playing with cars and talking to the doctor (although the kid cracks me up.  She was asking him about the names of the cars in the movie Cars.  He told her a couple, and then said "I don't think I want to tell you any more cars."  And then told me "I don't know the doctor's name."  So I told him he could ask the doctor her name.  He did, and she replied, and he (ever the lady's man) said "Oh, that's a pretty name!").

This kid LOOOVES him some gymnastics.  And I am glad.  I love seeing his grin for the entire 45 minutes he is there, and I am always amazed at what his little body can actually accomplish.  He can now do a completely unassisted forward somersault (and will happily show you when asked, or even when NOT asked) and has some mad skills on the uneven bars.  The downside is that his monkey-like skills have now transferred to playing around the house.  So John turned around to throw the ball for Scout, turned back to Dexter, and found him climbing around on the top of our swing set.  Which, you know.  Cool.  One day he'll fall and start to realize his limitations.  Til then, I'm glad he's feeling bold and brave.

All smiles waiting his turn for the bars

He's supposed to swing, and then jump off the mat

And here's some video of the long-legged child kicking some balloons.  Ms Kristen had to keep moving the balloons farther away for him.  That evening he said he could not bend over to help me pick things up from the floor, because his belly hurt.  From too much kicking in gymnastics.  Poor kid.

Gymnastics Video Link

Please Remind Me...

To pull these pants out of the drawer and sell them to a fatter kid.  They are obviously not working out for us.

They look all fine and good, right?

Til the jumping begins...

Slipping a bit...

Well, at least it didn't slow down the jumping.

Pants restored, play continued.

Munchkin came out, too.  Drooly, drooly, drool.