Eeyore's bday

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Banana Splits and More

...for my birthday at work. Yum.

David took my  mom and I out to dinner at Justine's on my actual birthday earlier this month.  And my mom took the kids shopping for me, so I was showered with cute treats that they hand selected and wrapped....sparkely red nail polish from Holden, ballet slipper pink nail polish from Lily Clare, an expandable brush/mirror compact from Evan (doubles as toy eating monster) and a crystal embellished gold vitamin box from Will. 

Here we are eating strawberry cupcakes that my mom made, my favorite.  You can get a glimpse of the prints David got me for our dinning room wall.  But the best treat of all was spending time with the ones I love. I'm a lucky gal.

Wishing You a Wonderful Easter

Holden, Will, Evan, Lily Clare

We have had a full Easter weekend.  David had Good Friday off so we kicked off our holiday by going to Sea World on Friday,  followed by a big Easter Hunt and festivities with some friends on Saturday, staying late for pool and pizza. 

The Easter Bunny delivered four amazing baskets this morning.

How did that bunny know exactly what each child wanted??

We swiftly got ready for church and slid in just in time. Everyone was clean (mostly, if pool water counts) and had their Sunday clothes on so I insisted on capturing a few photos.

Me and my brood. I have very few photos with my whole gang, almost everyone is smiling.

Family photo (wrong camera setting, just squint)

We had an egg hunt at home with Grammy, Papa and GG followed by brunch of eggs with goat cheese, roasted tomatoes and mushrooms, Brioche French toast with fruit, Bloody Mary drinks and white wine.  Then nap time for all and about to head off to Grammy and Papa's house for dinner.

Happy Palm Sunday

Evan's Invention

Ramp with built in garage....

David is somewhere...

on this island.  Do you recognize it?  More hints, man made islands/peninsulas, sandy desert terrain, safari dinners, home of tallest skyscraper in the world.

Luckily both grandmas are back in town and helping me out while David is away.  They ran the show while I went out for an early birthday celebration last night with friends.  I was awakened by three cuddly boys early this morning, who each wanted a coveted spot right next to mom.

Answer: Dubai, Saudi Arabia.

Round Top

Antiquing with the girls...

Most interesting object found.

Preschool Road Rally Day

Helping Dad

Putting together new grill.

Little Dragons

I't soccer time. The big kids had their first practice and game on Sunday.  They are all on the same team, the Little Dragons.  We got lucky with our coaches, they were great with the kids and everyone had a fun first game.  Will, Evan and Lily Clare all scored at least one goal, some for the other team, but the Little Dragons still went home with a win.

Will on his way to a goal.

Lily passes to Evan

It's Starting to Look Like Spring...

Spring Break partytime

With the five and under set,

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Fishing at Laguna Gloria

After art class we explored the waterside at Laguna Gloria.  A big family was fishing down at the docks.  The dad, David, took interest in Evan (not that he had much choice, but he was v. good natured about it) and patiently showed him the fishing rod, bait and let him cast a few times. 

After a few tries Evan caught his first fish, this little Perch.   Lily got to throw the fish back. David told me, "once a fisherman, always a fisherman".  He may have made a convert.

Art Camp

Lily Clare packed her own bag with her 'colors' for her first day of art camp today. She was intently working on a drawing project when I arrived to pick her up this afternoon. Today they explored drawing followed by painting the drawings with water colors.  The class rooms are along the river on the beautiful grounds of Laguna Gloria with doors opening out to decks where the kids can view the water and peacocks.  A nice spot for creativity.

Three hours of drawing and painting...and after class she wanted to sit outside and draw some more.  So we stayed for an extra half hour coloring and enjoying one of the prettiest days of the year.

A Machine that Makes Flowers - Mixed Media

Art Appreciation

Buses With Passengers, washable marker on printer paper

Lily Clare's teacher recommended that we look into art camps for her this summer. She says Lily Clare has a talent and passion for art. She spends lots of time on her drawings at school and home. Last week the class drew vehicles as part of their Transportation unit, I snapped this photo of her drawings before she gave them to her friend Devin.  Below is her rendition of Devin's treehouse.

Tree House, tempura on construction paper
(inspired by Bush Family Rodemar Tree House)

I took the teachers advice and signed up Lily Clare for spring break art camp next week at Laguna Gloria - painting, drawing, self portraits and sculpting. She was very excited about the idea of art camp, but said she will need to put on something over her clothes so she doesn't get paint on her.  I told her I would send her in play clothes so that she could get messy and just have fun.  I think she will love being in an inspiring creative atmosphere that can nourish her artistry.



Laguna Gloria



Kid Spaces


Posting a few pics of how the kid's rooms turned out...graduated from cribs to big kid beds moved Lily Clare to her own room, and transfored the office into Holden's space.



Boy's Bunk Room





Lily Clare's Room



Holden's Room

Holden's Preschool Bio

Holden, Age Three

By David Freas

Holden enjoys sharing. His favorite pastime is managing an imaginary taco shack. Sometimes he likes sleeping in his big boy robot bed, but more often than not he prefers to cuddle with his mom and dad.

Singing songs leads Holden to fits of giggles.  He likes music and is developing a unique set of breakdancing and Capoeira moves.

Don't Look

We've had a couple gory boo boos this week.  Sunday, Will's foot got punctured by two tooth pick sized splinters.  Luckily David was around to comfort him while I worked on extracting the wood.  They went for a special ice cream treat afterwards...and I helped myself to a big bowl at home.

Yesterday Evan got injured playing 'Jail' at the park.  A bathroom door was slammed on his toes.  I consider myself pretty good with wounds but this was a bit out of my league so David and I took him to our pediatrician.  Evan wore his doctor outfit and was super brave, even pulling off the clipped toenail himself. Yuck. Followed by, well, more ice cream for the patient and myself.

I think we've learned that keeping our shoes on is probably a good idea.

When I grow up...

I want to be a Daddy.
- Will

I want to be a Veterinarian.
- Lily Clare  (she gave us a lenghty interesting explaination of what a Veterinarian is at dinner time last night. An animal doctor, that helps take care of the animals. If they are sick, they will give them a shot.  If they bite people they will help the animal be nice....and on and on)

I want to fly a Fighter Jet.
- Evan

I want to be a Big Boy.
- Holden

Will, Evan and Lily Clare have been learning about 'Community Helpers' at school.  They were asked what they wanted to be when they grow up and it made for good dinner conversation last night.

**Update.   Lily Clare dressed up as a Vet for her class dress up day, Will went today as a Daddy - with tie and laptop computer.  I was surprised to see that he still had his tie on when I picked him up.  Pretty cute.  Evan was a carpenter last week, only bc I remembered he needed a costume at the last minute and grabbed what was avail from the costume drawer on our way out to school. He was happy though.