While Lutece plays her soccer games, Phoenix and I are doing important things . . .
. . . like taking pictures of each other.
"Really? Another one?"
Apparently, one of us, ahem, is taking pictures of himself as well.
The bottom of Phoenix's shoe.
Phoenix's foot.
Phoenix's foot IN his shoe. Close-up.
Spanish, that is. A couple of weeks ago, when summer preceded spring, we headed outside for a game of Jump to It! (I made up this game . . . I should write curriculum or something.)
First, we make the board with sidewalk chalk. In the past, we've just done numbers in circles. This time we drew all sorts of shapes for the numbers, thereby allowing us to practice Spanish numbers AND shapes. I know. I'm so clever.
I call out a number (or shape) in Spanish, of course . . .
Then you have to JUMP TO IT.
I call out another number or shape. You find it . . .
Then you JUMP TO IT. Are you starting to see where the name of the game comes from? Ok, so maybe it's not super creative, but hey, it works.
On our way down to Tennessee for Easter weekend, we stopped off at Mammoth Cave, KY to check out this whole "natural wonder" thing. It was pretty darn cool (literally and figuratively). On another note . . . you've got to worry when this is the best family photo you can get.
At the National Park Service information desk, the kids picked up their Junior Ranger workbooks. There is a lot of "educational" junk out there, so we were pleasantly surprised to find well-designed, interesting, and truly educational activities in these offerings. The kids were so entranced by them that we were forced to hang around the visitor center for an extra half-hour so the kids could complete enough activities to become Official Mammoth Cave Junior Rangers! (They both received a certificate and a coveted plastic badge.)
Still and all, the cave itself was much more interesting. We only did the self-guided portion, deeming it appropriate with kids at this squirrely age, but we will definitely go back for longer tours in the future.
Lu found some good rocks . . . She is ever collecting rocks at all the places we visit: parks, nature sanctuaries (where you're not supposed to collect rocks), parking lots . . . you get the idea.
And she is ever chatting. Chat, chat, chat. It is a blessing, I tell myself.
I am a soccer mom. I may not have a mini-van, but I do have a child in soccer. That has to count for something.
Today was Lutece's first ever soccer game, and oh my, I was surprised at how exciting and thoroughly enjoyable it was. Both Stayc and I expected to feel more anxiety than enjoyment, since Lu hasn't necessary shown a strong aptitude for soccer at the two practices she's had. Don't get me wrong, she's not bad at it, she's just, you know, six, and, well, Lu. She's had very little experience, she tends to be silly, and it's hard to maintain interest at hour-long practices. (Actually, this behavior seems pretty standard for most of the girls on her team. I haven't been worried about it. Not to mention, Stayc is the assistant coach, and it's much easier to be silly when Dad's around.)
So I think both of us were pleasantly surprised when she was completely serious (bordering on competitive . . . yikes) and actually fairly skilled at the game. Here she is yelling (in a nice way, of course) at the fullback next to her to pay attention because the ball was coming her way.
That's her! Little number 11. Look at her maneuver that ball (while gently pushing aside the girl next to her). You GO girl!
It's hilarious to watch these little girls play. So often they find themselves in this tight huddle of small bodies, all kicking away, while the ball goes nowhere. Who has the ball? Where did it go?
The girls got to play different positions, which was really nice. Lu was goalie for one of the quarters. She made a great save. I wish I had caught it on film, but I was, you know, actually watching her.
As fast as Lightning! I sure hope she continues to enjoy it . . . I know I did.
Dying eggs is all well and good, but let's face it, Easter candy is where it's all at. Despite the fact that the kids don't really get that much of it in their baskets, and that the baskets are filled with other sorts of non-candy goodies, they still go for the candy. It's ALL about the CANDY!
But first, they have to find it. Last year we started the tradition of an Easter basket treasure hunt. Apparently, the kids loved it, because they were the ones that informed me this year that, ahem, the Easter Bunny would be planning another treasure hunt for them. In fact, these painted eggs were Lu's idea, made specifically for the treasure hunt. Really.
There were about six clues and they did well with taking turns.
Can you see the clue behind Lu's head? I don't think she's seen it yet.
SCORE!!
Candy for breakfast. Yum!
Those little bunnies and chicks I made? Tossed away like so much rubbish . . . you know, after they emptied them of their jelly beans contents. Ahhh well. It IS, after all, all about the candy.
And ducks. Also ducks. I've been wanting to make these little bags for the kids' Easter baskets for a couple of years now and finally got around to doing it. They are similar to something my Mom made for me and Scott when we were little kids (do you remember them? Scott? Mom?). Ours were made out of fabric with little bits of felt attached. I specifically remember that my chick was made out of red and white gingham . . . and I gave them names . . . and I played with them . . . and carried them around with me wherever I went . . . sigh. My kids don't seem to care much about the things I make for them. Oh well. I will continue to do it.
They both got a set in their baskets, filled with jelly beans. If you don't remember what I made last year, you can check out this post (which also gives links to previous years).
I was proud of myself for toning things down this year. Last year's baskets got a bit out of control. The Rush Hour game in Phoenix's basket was the overall hit of Easter. Even Stephen and Ben (the kids' older cousins) couldn't get enough of it.
Next up, Easter morning . . .
Saturday evening the kids got to dye eggs again, only this time on a large scale, and in the company of family. Look at all those mugs, each with a different color!
Phoenix waited patiently for the eggs to arrive.
And then the fun started! Stephen was the only one who didn't dye eggs with us, being too busy with his fantasy baseball to bother with such things :) (Oh yeah, and the Dads were at their session of General Conference.)
Ben tried to persuade Phx to use the egg-dying tool, but why? Fingers work better.
Or spoons.
The kids absolutely LOVE Aunt Gayle, and of course she sat down to dye eggs with them (I was just the photographer). So much fun!
Pensive.
Distracted.
Concerned.
Annoying
We were lucky enough, this year, to spend Easter weekend with family in Nashville. The kids were giddy with excitement, and, well, so was I. One of the many advantages of the trip was that the kids got to dye Easter eggs not once, but twice. Oh the joy! We dyed them at home, only to find that Aunt Gayle had boiled four dozen eggs to dye too. FOUR DOZEN!
We did ours outside since the weather has been summer-like (we went from winter to summer, skipping spring entirely), thus keeping the mess outside.
Lu inspected each egg carefully.
Phoenix was not quite as careful, but he only broke one egg in the process.
And since this was just a warm up for the REAL egg-dying to come (did I mention FOUR DOZEN eggs?), it was all good.
What focus! What concentration! More Easter pictures to come.
