I'd rather Eat Dirt

The weather has been too beautiful to make time for indoors, and that includes blogging. The kids have been soaking up the 70-80 degree temps; and I'm not complaining. I really love spring here - there are so many plants that blossom these incredibly bright beautiful blooms and it brightens every corner. One of my favorites of these is called Forsynthia. My good friend has a ton of these plants in her yard she she cut me a huge bough and brought it over. The yellow is so bright and it makes me feel so "springy!" Sam organized a family baseball game Boston v. Yankees - Sam, Jack, Lyv were the Yankees and Shawn and I descended to mingle with the commoners as the Socks! It only lasted maybe 10 minutes before Lyv was off hula hooping, and Jack was using the bat as a hammer, but it was fun while it lasted.

The only downer to spring and warmer temperatures is the increased presence of dirt and mud. On shoes, socks, feet, fingers, clothes, floors, bathtub, sinks, everywhere! You just can't escape it. Lyv must have taken the attitude of if you can't beat em' join em' and has decided to start eating the dirt! This is serious business, not just a little nibble, we are talking spoonfuls via the garden shovel of nasty, graveling, who knows what is in there dirt! It is disgusting, and I can't get her to stop. Does she have pica? Is she anemic? I'm not sure but she'd rather eat dirt! I haven't been able to get a good picture of her dirt goatee, in this you can only see a little remnant in the corner of her mouth! Shawn just googled why kids eat dirt, and he confirmed the pica suspicion, but he also read that it could be related to mental retardation! So if she is still doing this when she's a teenager, there might be a problem!)

Training Wheels

We've been LOVING the warm weather the past week. The kids and I have spent many hours outside soaking up the sun and hoping that this warm streak is here to stay. Jack has now graduated to training wheels! He thinks this is pretty exciting, but uncharacteristically enough Jack is a little timid with speed. He doesn't like going too fast... but he does like to practice. It is such an interesting discovery to see how different each of the kids are even when it comes to things as simple as training wheels. Jack, my wildman in most aspects of life, doesn't feel a need for speed (and I'm okay with that!) Here are some other random pictures of the kids.

Check out the next two pics of Sam - he finally got a much needed hair cut. I struggle with this, because I LOVE his long, wavy hair - but I HATE doing it and it has to be done or it is a fro-disaster in the making. So I finally convinced him to get a haircut - his main reservation was that the kids at school would make comments like "Are you a new kid?" He gets so embarrased over things like this. I asked him this morning if anyone had said that yesterday, and he told them if they said anything that he would tell the teacher! What a little stinker!Mouse Ears for a little M.M. Clubhouse action!

A fairly typical picture of Lyv, dying to go outside, and only wanting to wear her cute yellow rain boots, yet again on the wrong feet! The Minnie Mouse ears are a newer addition to the ensemble.

Weekend with Grandma

Grandma Julianne came and stayed with us while Shawn was in San Antonio for a podiatry conference. The kids were thrilled to have her here, and she made the most of it by taking them to the Dollar General everyday! Which is about the best place ever! We ate yummy food, played in the snow, did some zumba, reading lots of books, and played the wii. After the kids finally fell asleep then the real fun began with one chick flick after another! Thanks mom for coming out, we had a great time! Come back soon...