Trouble

 A certain little somebody grabbed the pink jiffy marker out of their Dad's pocket (sneaky!) and did this to one of the brand new closet doors. Gack!

 Luckily it was on the back, which you never see on a bifold door, so we were able to move on rather quickly from my initial freak out. But then little lady got out the kids craft markers and wanted to continue on. When told she couldn't continue on in this manner this is what happened: We didn't beat her, honest.

Coach

Little J had to get in on the action in the bathroom. (Well, I should be honest, she wants in on whatever action is happening around here.) We've taken to calling her the potty coach at times like these. Hopefully it all rubs off and she potty trains herself in short order! She has started picking up more and more phrases. For these photos Eric got her to say our family's version of the cheese command to smile at the camera, "Cheese, Pickles, Ice cream!" I'm impressed with her tongue dexterity, for one she is a pretty good little parrot.

Charmer

A highlight for me this weekend came on Monday night when Julie ran down the hallway and upon arriving in the kitchen squeeled, "I win!" Never mind that nobody was racing her and there wasn't a prize to be won, she was pretty proud of herself. What a dear!

Easter Sunday Family Time

We had a lovely Easter Sunday here at the Andersons.  A little sleeping in for Mom and Dad, a visit from the Easter bunny, a hike at half moon lake, hammock time in the backyard, BBQ for supper, and another post-supper walk/bike ride for the boys and I. I think spring is finally here!

I also realized that this is the first time I've posted any pictures post haircut. I chopped it off about three weeks ago, I finally couldn't stand it anymore. And it feels good!

Playing Hard

Amaryllis

When Anne was visiting last week we made a little stop at one of our favorite little places, First Choice Tree Nursery. Which really is much more than a tree nursery, they have the cutest little gift shop, which right now is dedicated to spring. Anne was kind enough to give me the gift of spring for my kitchen, a Jumbo Amaryllis. As of this evening it has eight blossoms on it. The kids and I have had so much fun looking at it and watching it change on a daily basis. It is making my heart happy this week.

Home Depot Helpers

I was looking for doors in Home Depot today. A french door to replace the door between the back entry and the kitchen, and some bifold closet doors. These two little jokers were my helpers. Mister E was at preschool. Despite already having spent much too long at Walmart and being an hour late for nap time Julie held on and let me take pics of the various options. It helped that we managed to snag one of these car carts.

Spring Has Sprung... At Least at School

Anticipation was high on Thursday as Eric prepared to go to school. Two out of twelve eggs had already hatched on Tuesday so he knew that it was likely that more of the chicks would have made their way out of their shells. When we arrived we discovered that 11/12 had hatched! (One wasn't fertilized so it was a dud.) The kids loved holding the chicks and watching them. It was hard for them to do anything else at school -even playing with the toys!

Baby Chicks

Eric's preschool incubated and hatched baby chicks in anticipation of spring and Easter. It's a huge hit with the kiddos! I was rostering today so I had a first hand view of the excitement. Thankfully one of the other Moms (who is a vet tech) was also in today, so I didn't have to supervise the baby chick handling. They're cute, but that's really not up my alley. My chicken days happily ended when I was 11 and my family had chickens for two years. 

One final photo so that I'm also posting a couple of the boys for Nan and Grammie. They are loving that the bikes are out and they can zoom up and down the driveway. Hooray for spring!

Julie/Brittney

I call the first two of these photos Julie/Brittney because Julie looks like she's in the middle of some sort of Brittney Spears dance routine. She was walking around the driveway, chattering to herself and spinning in circles. She is loving being able to go play outside and walk on her own. Since it really has only been since December since she started to walk, she didn't get to walk on her own accord last spring/summer/fall and we really haven't spent much time outdoors this winter. Every time we bring her in there is a major melt down. It is never a long enough play time. Soon we will have the gate across the driveway free of ice and I'll be able to fence her in, that will make things easier. Right now I have to watch her like a hawk as she's constantly making a break for the road.

And, looking a little bit more normal. :)

So Handsome!

We have learned that Jack is a little bit far sighted. A little bit too much to make it comfortable for reading and close up work. So he, (much like his mother), gets to have reading glasses that he will use at school and at home for reading and playing/working on the computer. I so love little people in glasses, and I think Jack in particular looks super handsome. He helped pick out this pair yesterday at the optometrist and he is excited to get them and be special like a couple of the other kids in his kindergarten class. I'm hoping that this will make him more interested in reading. He often declares that reading practice is "boring". But I suspect that it was also just a bit frustrating having to work that hard at making his eyes focus.