Surprise Visit

The kids and I surprised my mom last week by showing up at their house in Dallas on Thursday. Dad and I made the travel arrangements without Mom knowing. The look on her face when we walked in the door was priceless. A second surprise came the following day when Kevin arrived for his first visit to Texas.

I was a bit apprehensive about flying with the kids by myself, but both flights went without a glitch. Maren had her own seat each flight (thanks to nearly empty flights) and was strapped in with our travel lifesaver: the CARES Kids Fly Safe child restraint (http://www.kidsflysafe.com - if you are flying with a squirmy child, don't leave home without this). It was also tremendously helpful to have a DVD player and an iPad this time around. One device for each kid is a much better ratio than one device to two kids. Mom and I took the kids on a real train ride from Grapevine to Bransford Park on Friday. We had so much fun! It was a shortened version of their longer train ride to the stockyards in Ft. Worth, but the 60 minute duration was perfect for my squirrely ones.We went to the Ft. Worth Stockyards on Saturday. We saw the live cattle drive and the kids even sat on one of the longhorns afterward. I'm not sure if they were impressed, but I thought it was really cool.We ate lunch at Riscky's Barbeque (YUM) and got the kids balloon hats before we left. Longhorns for Warner and a flower for Maren. The rest of our trip was spent playing at parks, swimming at the Larson's pool (my parents' friends), and eating. Texas has some darn good food. It's probably best that we don't live there. Mom said our visit was the best surprise she's ever had. Mission accomplished.

The Ice Cream Truck

The kids and I were playing outside Saturday evening while Kevin was mowing the yard. Suddenly I heard the Kona Ice truck's music and went into a bit of a panic. My wallet was inside, the front door was locked, and the kids were in the front yard. I told them to stay put while I dashed around to the back of the house, grabbed my money, and ran out the front door. I felt like a kid again myself - the ice cream truck was here! Is it me, or does anyone else remember that feeling of excitement when the ice cream truck paid your street a visit? I was so excited to share that with my kids.

I told the kids the truck had ice cream in it and they gave me these looks like "you've got to be kidding me. This is so cool". So they got the ice, and the truck had the flavors on the side so the kids applied as much as they wanted. This was a poor design decision in my opinion, seeing as my children made soup out of their Kona Ice, but they loved it.
They ran around back to show Kevin their ice cream, screaming the whole way. As we sat on the deck eating (I was monitoring the dripping but wasn't very successful - sure hope Tide gets purple Kona Ice juice out) Warner says "I so happy the ice cream truck came to our house. Next time, I want you and Daddy to get ice cream". Probably so we won't eat any of his. Smart kid.

Easter Sunday

The kids before church on Easter Sunday:
And, separate pictures of the kids with each parent ... next time I'm going to ask someone at church to snap a picture of all four of us.We had a great time at church. I felt so hopeful as we sang about Jesus being alive and bringing new life to those who trust Him. After church we had brunch at our house. As Warner says, we celebrated Jesus today. Happy Resurrection Sunday!

Easter

Easter is such a fun holiday, and certainly the most important holiday for Christians. It's the cornerstone of our faith. But I've learned that explaining it to children is quite difficult. Christmas is easy enough - they get the whole birthday concept, know what babies are, etc. so celebrating Jesus' birthday makes sense.

But Easter? First of all, I don't fully understand the concept of Easter myself. I think if we're really honest, none of us would admit to fully getting it. The God of the universe, in human form, endured the cross, and by doing so, somehow took upon himself all of the sin in all of the world. Oh, and then he was raised from the dead three days later. Mind blowing. Really.

So anyway, back to parenting and explaining this to my sweet three and one year-old. This year, I tried adding Resurrection Eggs to the Easter festivities mix. If you're not familiar with them, they're basically 12 plastic eggs with an item in each one that tell the Easter story. So I pull them out earlier this week and the kids just start tearing through them, looking at the "treasure" inside each one, while I'm frantically trying to keep up and explain what each "treasure" means. All the while I'm so upset they aren't opening them in the correct order and they're putting the items back in the wrong color egg. I'm not sure what I expected but clearly I expected too much. The second time I pulled them out I'd ask Warner what each item meant and he'd say "umm ... Jesus?" I'm thinking we'll revisit the Resurrection Eggs again next year.

Warner has caught on to a few spiritual concepts along the way however, and it blesses my heart to watch his little mind process what he's being told. This week he told me "Jesus is my friend and he got a boo-boo from the bad guys but then he was alive and went up, up, up in the sky in the clouds to heaben (heaven) and wants I go there with him too". And then last week as we walked into church he heard the worship music and said "they're celebrating Jesus in there, Mommy".

The kids made binoculars (out of toilet paper rolls) during MOPS on Monday. When I picked him up he said "look, Mom! I made noculars at MOPS and I can look for butterflies in them, or if I look waaaay up high, I might see Gob (God)".

And then a few nights ago before bed and after we read the Easter story in the Children's Bible:

Warner: Mommy, I don't think I want go heaven.
Me: Oh, I know it's a little scary but heaven will be wonderful. You'll be with Jesus and God and everyone you love - Mommy, Daddy, Maren ..."
Warner: (after thinking about it) Maybe I go heaven when I get big like you and Daddy. I want go heaven.

So we've got a long way to go on teaching the kids deep, meaningful, life-changing spiritual principles. In the meantime, they do understand eggs and candy, so we enjoyed both of those at Leslie and Bill's house in Lexington today.We hunted eggs outside, between rain showers.
Warner got so many eggs he needed two baskets to hold them all. Maren took to the egg-hunting concept quite well too, so we'll be eating Easter candy until Halloween I imagine. Unless I take one for the team and help eat the candy, in which case it could last a week.Maren would pull the candy out of an egg and if it needed to be unwrapped she'd find the nearest adult, hand them the candy, pat her chest to indicate herself, then point to her stomach. The adult would then unwrap the candy for her and she'd go on her merry way. No wonder she doesn't talk.
Egg decorating was a hit.Leslie coordinated a scavenger hunt to plant flowers. The kids found the pots, soil, flowers, and watering cans.Happy Easter!

Cars, Cars, and more Cars

Sometimes I wonder about Warner's love of all things Cars. He is fascinated with the movie, characters, and merchandise that have the Cars theme. At last count, he has over 40 die-cast cars. I'm not sure if you understand how many cars that is. It's a lot. They fill his entire Cars rolling suitcase. The collection includes six different Lightning McQueens - all a bit different (the marketing behind these things is amazing) - two Chick Hicks, and at least two Ramones.

Warner works incredibly hard each day to earn stickers for his Cars chart (no longer called a chore chart). He brushes his teeth, clears the table, helps clean up, etc. etc. and after each chore, he says "I get sticker for this? I get car?". Every time he says this. Each day he gets all of his stickers, he gets $.50. He then saves his money and can buy a car from us for $3.00. I must admit it is the sweetest thing in the world when he earns a car. He is so proud and will say "I so happy I earn a car". Of course not all of his cars have been earned. His Grandparents have added quite a bit to his collection.

He also sleeps with a car during nap time and at night. Before we head upstairs to read books, he roots through his collection to choose the lucky car for the day. He'll often mumble as he's digging: "well, I slept with Fillmore yesterday, and I already slept with Sarge ...". He studies each car before he goes to sleep and catches so many small details that even Kevin and I overlook. For instance: Doc Hudson has only one side mirror. Warner pointed that out to me the other day.
Kevin's mom got him pajamas (Chick Hicks and Lightning McQueen) that he adores, so when he wears them he sleeps with the corresponding car. He also takes a car with him when we run errands or even go to school or church. I have a feeling this obsession will not slow any time soon, especially since Cars 2 comes out this summer. So if you ever have any questions about the world of Cars, Warner's your man.

iLove my iPad

Kevin splurged and bought me an iPad 2. This is something that I consider a major luxury, especially since I stay home with the kids and our budget is tight. I was against getting such a toy at first, and would have never bought it for myself ... but let me just say it is the coolest gadget ever.
The bad news is the kids love it about as much as I do. I've downloaded a few games for the kids and Warner now asks about three times a day to play with my "new pigger" (I know, strange pronunciation but it means computer).

Perhaps the newness will eventually wear off and I can have my new toy all to myself? Wishful thinking, I'm sure.

Catching Up

When I get busy my blogging takes a backseat to the rest of life. I'm not really sure what I've been busy with lately, but my days are full. And I'm really tired by the time the kids go to bed. So that's my excuse for being a bad mommy blogger. So Warner had his preschool program the Tuesday after we got back from Florida. It was the most precious thing. Here he is, walking in with his class up to the stage to perform. They played "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" as the class came in, and I cried. It was hard to get good pictures but this gives you an idea of what the kids looked like on stage. Warner was super shy and didn't seem very interested in performing, but he warmed up a little by the last song. It was definitely something I'll remember for a long time. Kevin and my mom also got to come, which made it even more special. About a week ago, our local movie theater hosted a Cars 2 event in their parking lot, complete with life-size replicas of Lightning McQueen, Finn (apparently a new character for Cars 2), and Mater. I told Warner about going to meet Lightning and Mater a few hours before we went, so he wouldn't be asking about it for days. He was so excited to go. He decided to wear his Cars t-shirt, jacket, and shoes for the occasion. Maren was all about it too.Getting the kids to look at the camera was nearly impossible, since all they wanted to do was check out the cars. Especially Mater - he's Maren's favorite. The rest of the event was sort of a bust, because the other games and activities were geared toward older children. But it was free and just seeing the cars in person was enough for the kids. I can't wait to take Warner to see Cars 2 in the theater this summer. He's never seen a movie in the theater and I can't wait to experience it with him. Yesterday we went to the zoo with Elizabeth and her two boys. You know I've got spring fever when I'll take my kids to the zoo when they still need to wear jackets and hats. Actually by the time we left it was quite pleasant, so I shouldn't complain. The kids didn't care about the weather and were thrilled to be back at the zoo again. I can't wait to spend many more days there this year. I'm not sure why I even try to get pictures of both kids together. Clearly getting a good shot of just one at a time is challenge. But aren't the tulips in the background pretty? That's it for now. Stay tuned for (hopefully) more frequent and interesting posts in the near future.

Preschool

Warner loves preschool. He wakes up most mornings asking if he has school that day. He's learning academically, but also in other important areas such as socially and emotionally. And of course he comes home with at least one craft each day, which he normally insists we hang on the refrigerator. Here is his Cat in the Hat craft from Dr. Seuss's birthday week:The hat wouldn't stay put on the fridge so it was tossed around for a few days (before it found it's way to the trash. I know, terrible mother). Maren enjoyed it as well.Maren will be joining her brother at Lakeside Presbyterian Preschool next year for one day a week. Every time we drop Warner off at school, she throws and absolute fit, wanting to stay and play in his classroom. She will be 2 in July and thus makes the age cut-off for the 2 year-old program, so we decided to let her go one day a week. Warner will be going three days a week next year, instead of the two he's doing this year. Which means they will be there at the same time one day a week. I will have THREE hours to myself each week next fall. What in the world will I do with myself?Now, don't get me wrong. I love my children to pieces and am so thankful for the opportunity to stay home with them each day. But the thought of this time alone is very exciting. Yay for preschool.

Florida

We just returned from our annual trip to Florida to visit my grandparents who spend January through April there. Since it's tax season, Kevin wasn't able to get away from work. So, my mom and I packed up the old minivan (and packed it was) and drove there with the kids. We had a blast. Two of my cousins were there as well with their families the entire week we were there. So, Warner and Maren had five other kids to play with, which they loved. I took a zillion pictures so narrowing them down for this post was difficult. Here are a few of my favorites.Warner and two of my cousin's kids - Luke and Trey.
Watching Cars with the kids.Ice cream and sugar were large parts of our trip. Nearly every night, we visited the Candy Kitchen for candy and/or ice cream. Warner got a Pez each time we went, and Maren chose either a Dum Dum sucker or Smarties. We also took one trip to the Orange Blossom, where they have the BEST orange ice cream. I think this was the first time the kids had ice cream cones, and Warner told me he liked the "hard part" of the ice cream (the cone).The rest of the trip was spent at the pool and beach. The kids couldn't get enough of either. Watching the smiles on their faces as they played in the sand, fed the birds, and swam in the pool was priceless. Both kids were quite the fish in the pool. Maren is now swimming on her own (well, with the assistance of the puddle jumper floatie) and even jumping in the pool by herself. My dad came in for a few days. We enjoyed our time with him as well. One night we had dinner at Gators on the water. It's next to a draw bridge and we got to see two boats go through the bridge during dinner. Warner thought it was so cool. We had a wonderful trip. But now I'm ready for summer!