Tulips and Daffodils and Children, Oh My!

My mom was in town this weekend so we went to the Tulip Festival. (ironically this is a field of daffodils)

Understandably, most field owners didn't want people traipsing through their flowers.


Sadly some people couldn't read the signs and they ran this way and that way before their parents could catch them.

We moved from yellow daffodils to yellow tulips....

Then came the red flowers....

And then a much needed break from dashing wildly about attempting to escape the confining arms of parents....

RoozenGaarde.......quite lovely.


That shoe fell off over 100 times. I'm not exaggerating.

"SNIFF the flower, don't lick the flower!!"

My kids liked this one with "teeth."

The children made it very apparent when they were done enjoying the flowers.

It was gorgeous to see, but not an activity I would recommend with small children, at least not for the faint-hearted!

Trial and Error

The other day Hyrum came into the bathroom and carefully selected my hair dryer from the counter. He left, dragging it behind him by the cord. I finished getting ready and a few minutes later he came back, solemnly handed me the dryer and said "No. No drop." Then left. I didn't realize til later that there were scratch marks and scuffs on the sides of it. I guess it does NOT fit between the railings of the balcony. However the cheese grater and broom DID fit.

New Perspective

The other day the kids and I were at a park when Hyrum saw a dog in the playing fields down the hill. With a shriek of "PUPPY!" Hyrum took off at full speed down the VERY steep slope. As I expected, he tripped, crashed and rolled. However, instead of crying, Hyrum lifted his head off the ground, and without even wiping the dirt and grass out of his mouth he looked right ahead of him at a patch of dandelions and said "flowers!" and happily began picking the flowers with his grubby little hand.

He gets his positive attitude from his mother.

Easter!

On Saturday we went to an Easter egg hunt with our friends. It took Hyrum a few minutes to catch on, every egg I helped him find he'd try to replace in a new hiding spot. That is until I OPENED one and showed him the contents. Then the eggs stayed securely in his bucket!

We had a yellow bucket for Brielle and a blue one for Hyrum, but Brielle INSISTED on using the blue one......I guess it's good the other basket wasn't pink.

I stayed up til midnight the night before Easter finishing these little chicks. They fit neatly in their crocheted egg, and the egg can be closed up with the chick inside.

I don't like crocheting, perhaps that's why it always takes me so long, but I DO like making toys for my kids. (this one took me two weeks to crochet)

Looking for eggs Easter morning.

Brielle has become a little melodramatic, as evidenced by her expressions in these pictures.


Inspecting the loot.

Hyrum thinks egg hunts are wonderful. We've spent many days since searching for empty eggs. (I'll hide the empty eggs, they'll find them, I'll hide them again........etc)

Brielle was most excited about her new bunny...

...and the chick.

As you can see, Brielle collects bunnies.

Hyrum got a puppy.

And guess who does the laundry at our house.

Beautiful.

We had been discussing the reason for celebrating Easter with the kids for a couple weeks leading up to the big day. Now Brielle will tell everyone who'll listen all about how the tomb was empty, and how Jesus died, but now He's "zur-rected". She's always so earnest when she tells the story, with a look of awe in her face. And she's extremely curious to know what happened to the two angels that moved the rock sealing the tomb entrance. She asks me several times a day where the angels are now. And if we'll put daddy in a tomb when he dies.

I'm so proud of my little scripture scholar, way to liken the scriptures unto ourselves. =0)

Like Scarlet Fever of Yore....

Brielle has been suffering from a malady that causes severe hair loss. It's been going on for over a week now. The problem: she's 3. Her solution: she must do whatever she pleases including (but certainly not limited to) cutting her own hair daily.

We've been losing handfuls each day, over the course of a week (she hasn't missed a single day of cutting her hair, try to imagine the effect) and after a particularly aggressive cut this morning we decided to go to a hair salon and have it professionally remedied.

I took some pictures of her last week standing in the kitchen with the scissors in hand and piles of hair at her feet. They were good ones, you know the sort of pictures you want to get in your scrapbook. However Russ says that unless I put the memory card BACK into my camera I'm not actually TAKING any pictures.

He thinks he's so smart. :)

I'd like her to have long hair, but since she doesn't want to, at least she looks cute with it short! Makes her curls stand out more.

Yahoo for TALL children!!

There is only ONE ride in all of Disneyland that my 3 year old can't go on. She's too short for Indiana Jones Adventure (47" or taller) but everything else is fair game!

Who takes a 3 year old on Space Mountain????

Showers can be hazardous...

When I shower, BAD things happen. Very bad things. Like strawberries smeared all over the carpet, a pound of raisins scattered throughout the house, glue poured over stuffed animals, highlighter on the walls......you get the idea.

I've taken to rushing from the bathroom as soon as I step out of the shower (well, okay, I grab a towel first, but I RUN!) to see what sort of damage control is necessary that day. Yesterday I found both children munching on glue sticks....

On this day I came hurrying out to find a peculiar smell in the kitchen.

The smell of cloves, ginger, ground mustard, cinnamon sugar, pepper, and salt.
That time they got a quick bath instead of a time-out, because the ground up mustard and pepper was irritating their eyes.

However when they pulled the same trick a week later, they were both sent to their beds until I had finished cleaning everything up.


That time it was crushed red pepper, whole allspice, crushed mint, and dill weed. It did NOT smell pretty.

I took my time cleaning up, in an attempt to let the full import of their actions sink in. Unfortunately when I went back to get the children out I found that Brielle had spent the time taking large sips of milk from her sippy cup and spitting it from her bed into Hyrum's crib, liberally dousing his sheets, hers, and the floor in between. Fun game.

The next day after my shower I discovered that the children had raided my purse. Hyrum was quite intent on getting just the right evening look.

Polite people call my children "busy" or "active." I call them "naughty," "mischievous," and "diabolical."

(kitchen band. this day there was no time-out)

Every day it's something new (with the exception of the spices) I never know what to expect. I TRY to keep them busy during my 7 minutes of alone time, I start a new movie, pull out new toys, start games, there's no end to the diversions I provide. But just as I savor my few minutes of peace in the shower, the children revel in their brief moment of complete freedom.

I don't like the messes, but I'm not willing to give up my showers. Maybe they'll grow out of the naughtiness.

Puppies

"Oh where oh where has my little dog gone...

..oh where oh where could he be!"

Hyrum splits his time these days between LOOKING for a puppy, and BEING a puppy. (The leash is attached around his middle, most often he pants, and sniffs and licks...he's really got it down to an art.)

Both pursuits make him equally happy.

Here are my two little puppies, lapping up their water.

It's tradition

Hyrum with his mixer and mixing bowl, off to find things to cook with. Generally he's not too picky when it comes to "ingredients." And after "baking" for a bit, he'll take mixer and bowl out the sliding glass door and throw both items over the balcony railing. We've worked for a long time to try to break him of this habit, but to no avail. Even when I duct-tape the door locked, that only lasts a day or so.

It's a shame, I've lost more can-openers this way...