Easter Birthday

Easter Sunday was eventful for us. The kids started off their morning with an Easter egg hunt. Now that Jack is older, he is able to keep up with Ellie and actually snag his own eggs. The morning egg hunt was just a trial run to prepare them for the massive Easter egg hunt my mother-in-law throws every year. Look how intense my kids were about finding those money-filled eggs.

We also decided to celebrate Ellie's birthday since the family was together. Ellie is all about Scooby-doo so Nana hooked her up with this sweet cake.

It's hard for me to believe that my sweet girl is almost 6! I have a few fun things planned to make her day extra special...can't wait!

A failed zoo attempt

*Foreshadowing: Her shirt says "I am a wild child"

Tom had a track meet today so I decided to tag along with my sister and her family as they went to the zoo. We arrived early, right as it opened, and I was really excited to spend a fun day with the kids. I should have known better. Right away, Ellie was off to a rough start. I had to remind her several times to stay next to me, she attempted to climb over the fence into the zebra enclosure, and she threw a giant stick into the water during the sea lion show. But the kicker was when she got lost. We were on our our way to the petting zoo area when we stopped at the carousel. No lie, in 30 seconds she managed to disappear. I was actually glad Dianna and Daniel were there to witness one of Ellie's amazing disappearing acts (remember SeaWorld when she got lost 3 times?). Anyway, I was fairly confident she would be fine and I would find her, but that still didn't keep me from getting that horrible, sick feeling in my stomach. Daniel did a lap around the carousel and I ran ahead to the petting zoo. No Ellie. At this point, I get a call on my cell phone and, wouldn't you know, it is the ranger saying he has Ellie. Her experience at SeaWorld taught her to go right to a ranger and have them call me. Needless to say, we ended our little zoo trip right then and there and Ellie spent the rest of the day in punishment.

Just yesterday, I took Ellie to get pedicures with me and posted on my Facebook how much I loved having a daughter. That remains true, but, dang, that girl is exhausting!

One less pair of shoes to tie

Do you remember the exact moment you learned to tie your shoes? I do. My mom did a home preschool (Joy School!) and one day the lesson was on tying your shoes. I remember after class sitting at the top of the stairs and trying over and over again until finally the rabbit made it around the tree and through the hole. I was so proud of my accomplishment.

Ellie’s teachers have been dropping hints that she needs to learn to tie her shoes. No, not hinting, straight out telling me. She wouldn’t even be wearing shoes with laces if she didn’t insist on wearing those dumb, Twinkle-toe Sketchers. Oh well. Every morning when I tied them for her, I would recite the story of the tree and the rabbit hoping she would just pick it up, but she never did. So, yesterday I went to Half-Price Books and bought one of those shoe-lace books. It took Ellie and me about 20 minutes before she mastered it. And when she woke up this morning, she tied her own shoes on the first try. She was so proud. And I was so happy to have one less pair of shoes to tie.

Waiting for her head to spin around

Over the break, my little niece Olivia stayed the night. Olivia is a sweet, tiny, 4-year-old with long, beautiful hair. Completely adorable. The girls played wonderfully all day and when it started to get late, I let them watch a movie on my bed. Tom and I were watching a show in the living room when little Olivia came out to warn me of impending danger:

Aunt Holly? I think something bad is going to happen.
What, sweetie?
Well, Ellie saw a ghost on the wall and it told her in her head that she had to kill her friend or it would kill her.

At this point, Tom and I are completely horrified, but also struggling not to laugh. I escorted Olivia back into the room to confront Ellie and she just shrugged it off and said she was just joking. So, I might be raising some sort of demon-child and Olivia might be too traumatized to ever stay the night again.

Spring Break or Bust

I started off my Spring Break on a really low note. Really low. I dropped my phone in the toilet. My sweet G2. Not as reliable as the G1 (which I am really regretting selling now that my G2 is non-functioning), but still a good phone. I tried all the Google remedies to bring my poor drowned phone back to life, but, alas, nothing worked. I didn't realize how addicted to my phone I was til I had to do without. I can't check Facebook, play Draw Something, or even access my birth control app (Cycle Beads). If we end up having a 3rd child, it will be because my phone drowned in the toilet. But, back to my Spring Break. On Tuesday, we went to see Miranda Lambert at the Houston Rodeo. I am not a big country fan, but my dad hooked me up with the tickets. Plus, I like how she is anti-Chris Brown. On Wednesday, we took Jack and Ellie to see The Lomax. It was Jack's first movie-theater movie and he loved it. Plus, I liked the message behind the movie. Today, we took the kids to the rodeo. They both rode the ponies; a first for the Jackster. They also enjoyed the petting zoo, but Jack did get a little scared by the aggressive goats. The lines for the carnival lines were crazy long, but worth it in the long run. And the kids had their first taste of fried Oreos. I have pictures to prove all of this, but I am too lazy to upload them. Just know that we are really enjoying our Spring Break (except for the whole drowned phone thing).