Preschool at the nursery

Ellen's preschool class recently took a field trip to a local nursery. These are just a few of the 100+ pictures she took of the flowers, grasses, herbs, and gravel.

I'm glad she decided to take this one, too!

In all, it was a wildly successful activity. Ellen loved it, and she loved showing us all the pictures she took!

"Daddy, can we go to China?"

It took a while for Jack to figure out that what Ellen was really asking was, "Daddy, can we go to a Chinese buffet?"

Fortune cookies are hit or miss, but Ellen insists on opening and reading them all, and then she laughs at each one, because I'm sure she has no idea what they're talking about. Most of them were more like advice than fortunes, but here are the highlights.

Ellen's fortune: "An interesting musical opportunity is in your near future." I think Jack and I have her convinced that she's going to get to sing in church with Mommy.

My fortune: "You will have many friends when you need them." Thank goodness for that, is all I can say. Seriously.

And the best one of all, Jack's fortune: "A short stranger will soon enter your life with blessings to share." Jack's betting on leprechauns.

Just been thinking. . .

...about this lately.

Breakfast

Pancakes (with raspberry jam and syrup)


Peek-a-boo


Hippo teeth, lop-sided, and dimples


Done

Did I mention that Rose can now walk? Actually, after a couple of weeks of walking, she actually runs. Help. Those little bow-legged steps are so cute. And fast.

Case study: the refrigerator

I'm so glad I have Ellen to document these things. I uploaded pictures from an old digital camera we let her use and found nine pictures of the front of the refrigerator from various angles.

The front of my refrigerator is pretty representative of something, that's for sure. I'm just not sure what. My (dis)organizational style? My spastic thought patterns? My (non)coping skills? My attempt to remedy my children's confusion in family relationships? (Which Aunt Rebecca? Which Uncle Matt? Which Uncle Eric? Which Uncle William?)

For the record, I also have pictures courtesy of Ellen that show toys all over the floor, unmade beds, crying children, dust around the air conditioner vents in the ceiling, dirty dishes, laundry all over the couch, and various self-portraits taken from very close range. What can I say? We're a work in progress.

Dr. Seuss, the extended version

Yesterday after dinner we took the kids to get doughnuts (yes, it had been that kind of a day). We had a couple of doughnut holes left over that we took with us as we left. The following conversation occurred on the drive home.

Mom: There are two doughnut holes left, one for Jack and one for Ellen. You can eat them in the car if you want.

Jack Jack: I only eat doughnuts at the doughnut store. I don't want one.

Ellen: I eat doughnuts at the doughnut store and in the car.

Daddy: Do you eat them on a train? In the dark? In the rain?

Ellen: YES!

Mom: Do you eat them in a house?

Ellen: YES!

Mom: With a mouse?

Ellen: YES!

Mom: In a boat?

Daddy: With a goat?

Ellen: YES!

Mom: In a box?

Ellen: YES!

Mom: With a fox?

Ellen: NOOOOO! I KICK THAT FOX OUT OF THERE!

Mom: (I regain control after several moments of laughter.) Do you know what a fox is?

Ellen: Yes, it's like Swiper on Dora.

Mom: Oh . . .

Yes. "That sneaky fox! He's always trying to swipe our stuff." No wonder she wanted to "kick that fox out of there." She probably thought he was going to steal her doughnut holes.

School days

Thanks for posting these pictures about the health, food, and shopping lessons. Ellen loved it.

Ranch Day

Yes, people, Ranch Day is coming. Don't say I didn't give you advance notice. And be sure to tell all your friends. April 24, 2010!!

Easter weekend and conference bliss

This is how we spent our Easter morning, after sleeping in and reading the Easter story over breakfast.

That little Harry Potter-like scrape on the side of Rose's head is the remarkably well-healing result of an encounter with the pavement at play group four days before. Maybe she's not such an accomplished walker as we thought . . . just yet.

And this is as close as Rose got to the dye -- playing with the metal egg holder while we used more reliable spoons.

Waiting for the pinkest egg ever . . .

And now we are enjoying General Conference! Isn't it blissful? That scene lasted about as long as it took to snap a photo. It was actually mass chaos, mess, and too much candy.

But what I did hear was . . . wonderful.

Play group Easter egg hunt

We have ourselves another accomplished walker:

Plastic eggs and candy= not interested in posing for pictures.

"Show me what you have, Jack Jack!" Hmmm.

It was pretty much over once she discovered there was candy inside. And I think she actually ate the Hershey kiss with most of the foil wrapping before I got it out of her mouth.

Happy Easter!

Spring Break continued!

The Children's Literature Center was across the street from this museum:

Rose is checking out the inside of a tree trunk

Mom and kids are playing a gigantic game of Operation.

This interactive art was my favorite. Each panel we touched produced a different sound: some instrumental, some choral, and some less "musical," like honks and beeps and screeches and thunder.

Spring Break!

Cold weather and snow was predicted for Lubbock and to the north, so we headed south for the day to Abilene.

We hit the zoo, which was the perfect size for our kids.

Rose loved the giraffes . . . and posing for the camera with her "cheesy" face.

Jack's favorite by far was the turtle tank. We literally had to drag him away as we passed it the second time on our way out.

Then we stopped by this little place:

The current exhibit was how a picture book is made. It was really interesting, and the kids loved looking at books in the child-sized reading room.

More to come!