Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree

So last week was Spring Break, and while the first couple of days just about broke me, on the third day we finally hit our stride! Unfortunately this was the last truly Springy day of our "Break."

(a tree in our front yard -- it really does look like popcorn popping, don't you think??)

Since I had seen that the weather was going to take a turn for the worse, I decided to seize the day and check out the Botanical Gardens with the kiddies for a little field trip of sorts. Which was awesome because it was totally and completely free! (As long as you don't factor in the money I was forced to spend at the gift shop on the way out because apparently I promised the kids if they were good they could pick something out). The day was GORGEOUS, the grounds BEAUTIFUL, and the kids were FAR more receptive to the outing than I ever could have imagined. Especially considering there wasn't really anything for them to do there except for looking at trees and flowers. But I'll take it!

Sophie has such an interesting fashion sense. And just so know -- that hat she's wearing was initially brought as a handbag of sorts for her to hold her snack and juice box in. Hahahahaha. Good thing it came in handy as a HAT to shield her eyes from the sun.

And that's about it. We actually spent a couple of hours wandering around the Gardens before heading for home (via the Gift Shop, of course). And then I decided to continue my streak of being a "fun" mom and grabbed McDonald's for the kids for lunch. I think this day was possibly the best out of the week. Like I said, days 1 and 2 were rocky, and then I foolishly rendered myself incapacitated that very night by falling asleep in my contacts. Aaaaaahhhhh! My enforced glasses wearing and the 30 degree temperature drop overnight -- replete with SNOW -- pretty much ruined the last couple of days of Spring Break. Oh well.



And now for some random pictures and stories:

Up first -- Jane. She is so hilarious. She loves to try and be like the big kids and one of her favorite things to do is put on Sophie's back pack and pretend that she is going to school. Hahahaha. It is so hilarious to watch her wave goodbye and try to get out the door so she can make it to the bus -- which is one word she can actually (kind of) say. Here she is even more decked out when she found Grace's hat and coat by the fireplace one night. How adorable is that little face?? I just love her.




And then there's the water boy. We've been experiencing a LOT of issues with number one son. He's very spirited for one thing, but after a report card conference with his teacher a few weeks I ago, I came to a startling clear conclusion. After seeing his teacher's complete shock when I mentioned some of the issues we were having at home, and hearing her rave about how well-behaved he is at school and what a model child he is, I came to the realization that Ethan must be so worn out by the end of the day after being on his best, most perfect behavior that he can't help his deconstruction at the end of the day once he's home. All those suppressed impulses and frustrations and emotions just come hurtling out of him as soon as he is back in familiar company.

After hearing Ethan and Grace talk a lot about "sensory breaks" that some kids at school need to take, I decided that perhaps taking a little break of his own would help Ethan to stay out of the red zone once he's home. After talking it over with him (and doing a little brushing up on my "Raising Your Spirited Child" book), we decided on some things he could do to help diffuse his intensity and frustrations whenever he starts to feel himself melt down. Play dough was one option, but the funniest one to me was the following:





Playing with water. Never mind that it was freezing outside on the back porch -- this is how Ethan needed to unwind. Hahaha. After gearing myself up for a huge battle when he first begged to take the water outside, I decided it just wasn't worth it. I could let him melt down and not let the matter rest for HOURS on end, OR I could simply cave in and let him do what he wanted to do. In the end I figured if he didn't care about getting wet and cold, why should I?

He literally went from major freak out to happy-as-a-clam in a matter of minutes as he filled container after container with hot water and then brought them outside to play with. I have no idea what he was even doing, but when I happened to glance outside and saw the above picture I literally laughed out loud watching him swirl the steam all around with his hands. Hilarious, I tell you. Hilarious.


At the beginning of the month I made my first ever attempt at a King Cake for Mardi Gras. This one is modeled after my very favorite kind of king cake from Mackenzie's Bakery which has been closed for a few years now. :( After doing a lot of googling I determined that this particular kind of cake was made with a brioche bread for the base. I found a recipe online and whipped it up. I do have to say that making the brioche is far too time-consuming and complicated to attempt making more than once a year. BUT, the taste was almost spot-on for the King Cake. Unfortunately, all that beautiful sugar on top didn't really stick very well as I was cutting the pieces, so I'm not sure how they used to do that at the bakery. Perhaps by next year I'll be up for giving it another go and figuring out how to make it work.



And finally -- just so we're filled in on ALL members of the family. Grace is currently on Round 3 of strep throat this year. So, if it doesn't get cleared up this time around, the doctor says he'll order a tonsillectomy. In my opinion, the sooner those things are out the better. They're HUGE and I've always been kind of worried about her having sleep apnea or something.

Also, Sophie is currently in the process of being screened by the school district's special services for speech therapy. Apparently, when I took Sophie in for her 4 year check-up the doctor was a bit concerned -- for her age, he said, a complete stranger should be able to understand at least 90% of what she is saying. After taking her to an initial evaluation at the Early Childhood Center for the school district (which could have been a whole separate post on its own -- what with me scheduling it right during nap time and then not finding a sitter for Jane and foolishly thinking she'd fall asleep in the car on the way there and then I could transfer her to her stroller for the duration of the evaluation) the results were as follows: "She's a delightful girl," the lady wrote on her report. However, the number of sound substitutions she makes while speaking renders her almost "unintelligible" at times. Doesn't that make her sound like a feral animal or something? Hahahaha. I'm clearly only joking about this because I am not at all concerned with her speech at this time. Does she have many a speech impediment? Absolutely. And she sounds like a chipmunk when she speaks, to boot. BUT, if she qualifies for (free) speech therapy through the school district -- and the evaluator apparently can't see why they WOULDN'T qualify her -- then I guess we'll take it.

And finally we'll end with baby Alex(ander). I had my REAL ultrasound this Monday and it's still a boy!!! So that's good. He also appears to be a thumb-sucker, which in my book is GREAT! I will take it! His pregnancy so far reminds me SO much of Grace's that I wasn't that surprised when I saw him trying to suck his thumb and play with his ears on the screen. Grace was the EASIEST baby as a result of those habits and I'm REALLY hoping Alex is the same. Looks-wise, it was really funny because based on his 3D ultrasound pic he reminds me exactly of how Sophie looked in HER 3D pic. I am interested to see what he really looks like once he's here.

And that's that. This isn't much of a post, but there really hasn't been much going on. Just the same old, same old around here. I was going to close with an "After" picture of the tree in our front yard all covered in snow, but blogger is not letting me upload any pictures at all. And that's too bad because I had a really hilarious one of Sophie in one of her get-ups. Oh well. Maybe next time.