Happy Easter!

Caroline had a rough start to her week with a stomach bug.  She was up for several hours early Sunday night and early Monday night.  Then the bug worked its way through her system for the remainder of the week.  She finally seemed a lot better on Saturday.  Her appetite seemed to come back, and to make up for a lack of eating throughout the week, she joined Todd and I at midnight Saturday night.  I laid her next to me and after a while she whispers, "drink."  "You want some water?" "Yes"  So I get her some water.  A little bit of time passes and she leans over again and whispers, "Cheerios."  "You want some Cheerios?"  "Yes"  So I get her a bowl of her Cheerios.  When I hand them to her she points to the TV, so I turn that on.  I drifted in and out of sleep until 2 a.m. when I put her back in her bed for the night.  She was still sitting up, eating and drinking as if it was the middle of the afternoon.

Her sickness prompted me to have her nap in our bed so that I could prop her up on our pillows instead of having her flat on her bed (which seemed to cause her to throw-up at night).  She did that for several days and then started napping on Henry's bed.  She loved the new nap routine.  I wouldn't have minded it if she would only nap longer.  Her 2 hour naps have turned into 1 hour naps and I really need to them to last 2 hours.  That's when we get our phonics and math lessons done without her "helping."  After half a week of no longer napping in her crib, on Wednesday, she decided she didn't want to sleep in the crib at night either.  She screamed (and I mean screamed) when I put her in her crib Wednesday night.  Thinking about it, when the boys were her age they already had a younger sibling who was sleeping in the crib and so they already had their own big boy bed.  Thursday night we converted her crib into a toddler bed and she is very happy with the situation.  She still isn't sleeping long enough, but I remember the boys went through a transition period of not sleeping long as well, but eventually they went back to their old routine.  Her first night in the toddler bed, she got out once.  I put her back and told her that if she got out we would put the side back on and make it a crib again.  She stayed in bed!  When the boys got their big boy beds Josiah got out well over 90 times the first night.  Henry got out about a third of Josiah's number.  Caroline - 1 time.  Girls.  :)

Caroline likes to be a little helper with everything.  After she finishes eating her meals, she takes her plate, dumps the uneaten food into the trash can (before I can save it for the next day), and then throws her plate in the sink.  And I mean throws.  We always make sure to give her plastic everything until she learns to place things gently in the sink.  She's a little nurse to everyone.  Every time someone gets an injury, she goes up, puts her hand on their back and says, "Ok? Ok?"  Then when she gets an injury, not matter how slight, she says, "Kitty? Kitty?"  She has a love for Hello Kitty bandaids at the moment.

She was happy to get her summer shoes this week.  It's been so warm here and putting socks on the kids just seemed cruel.  For her shoe-obsessed self, she has taken great delight in putting them on, taking them off, putting them on, taking them off.  She now asks if she is putting it on the correct foot and will listen to my instructions and fix it if wrong.  She is leaps and bounds ahead of the boys in this department.  Both of them seem to consistently put their shoes on the incorrect feet (and they could care less about it as well).  I am constantly saying, "Switch your shoes."

We did make it to the park one day to test out their new shoes.  It was a huge blessing that Caroline wanted to swing herself.  I didn't have to bend over and hold on to her and the swing while trying to swing her at the same time!  :)  They also love the handicap swing and she insisted Henry push her in that.  They were pals that day.

her buddy

They held hands all on their own.  

The boys dressed up as ninjas for the first part of the week until it got too hot to wear the ninja masks on their heads.  That and their ninja weapons got confiscated for all of eternity after a poke to the eye.  I try to give them chances, but I know the outcome anyway.

Fortunately (?) they moved onto a less aggressive activity mid-week.  I told them to take a potty break and when they didn't return, I found them in the bathroom with water running (for quite a while I imagined) and soap bubbles everywhere.  They were giddy with themselves.  It is exhausting around here some days.


Todd had Friday off from work so we took advantage of it and went to a restaurant that he and I love, Sweet Tomatoes.  It's a salad bar buffet with soups, baked goods, and a make-your-own ice cream sundae station.  We were super happy that all the kids did very well.  The boys loved it.  Henry kept calling it Sweet Potatoes despite many corrections.  He finally said, "I like calling it Sweet Potatoes."  He ended up eating a sweet potato there as well.  He took a bite and said to Josiah, "You HAVE to try this.  It is so good."  They do have amazing sweet potatoes there.  Caroline enjoyed one herself.  The boys had a good time with the ice cream station.  Each chose rainbow sprinkles and a brownie muffin on the side.  I think that sealed the deal with them and they've been asking to go back for just about every meal since then.

Easter morning began at 5:30 a.m. with Josiah.  His early start turned from excitement to crankiness and lots-o-attitude after 2 hours.  It ended up being a very cranky morning, lots of meltdowns and defiance by all.  Fortunately, after about 3 p.m. everyone seemed to chill out and we had a good afternoon.  We made Resurrection Biscuits with the boys.  We let them do the work and I helped some.  I was super happy they turned out because I wasn't convinced they would (because of us not wrapping the dough around the marshmallow and sealing it very well).  We did an egg hunt in the front room.  In addition to regular plastic eggs, I got a dozen of the confetti eggs thinking it would be a good alternative for Caroline who can't have the chocolate.  But they didn't exactly explode.  More like they were cracked and dumped.  Fortunately, Henry was quite eager to vacuum afterwards.  It ended up being a good day as it should be when we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord.

Resurrection Biscuits - marshmallow in the middle which melts making an "empty tomb"

Confetti eggs

I tried to take pictures of the kids before church.  It was actually lightly raining and cool so we did them quickly.  I have no idea why Henry thought surfer dude was a good look for Easter, but he went all out.  I was just happy that he wore those pants because they were too tight for him, but he sucked his little belly in and said they fit.  Now on my list is "khaki pants, husky size."

hang loose

surfer dude

The kids are really looking forward to next week when we do a fun run at Texas Children's Hospital.  We picked up our packet on Saturday and got our t-shirts and bibs.  I think they're more excited about all the free food and entertainment afterwards, so maybe they'll run faster to finish.

He is Risen.  He is Risen Indeed.