Cats looooove being dressed up!

Happy Easter

I don't know where this originally came from, but it cracks me up.

Jelly Bellies!

Husband and I thought that it would be a good idea to drive to Wisconsin (barely) and take the kids on a tour of the Jelly Belly factory today. CT is especially interested in factories and machines and conveyors and the like. We all had a good time, it was something to do and it was *free* which is always a plus. Free except for the money you spend on jelly beans when you pop out of the tour into the gift shop, that is. But CT loved riding in the little Jelly Belly train all around the warehouse wearing his Jelly Belly hat and that was so fun to watch!


Could he be a little more excited? Lil' A was excited, too, just a little more affected by the wind.


All aboard the Jelly Belly Express!

Afterward we decided to drive to the lake since the tour is only about a half an hour long and it took us an hour and a half to get there. It was very cold but the kids (CT more so) had a good time running in the sand and looking for 'smooth rocks'. We did that for about 3 minutes before everyone gave up and got back in the nice, warm, jelly bean scented car. Turns out winter on the beach is not much fun, even if there are 'smooth rocks' involved.

How we've missed playing in the yard over the past few months!

Zoo!

The weather was sooooo nice (relatively speaking) on Thursday that I decided we needed to go to the zoo. I was so excited for the kids to see the bears and lions and other creatures that we usually don't see everyday. How fascinated they would be! How enthralled they would be to marvel at the dolphins swimming or the brown bear's massive size. Then we got there and I remembered that my kids experience the zoo a little differently than it was intended for. Here were some of their most excited moments:


The photo machine. Do people really pay $5 for these pictures?


A Map.


Spraybottles. How much did I pay for this zoo membership again?


A fire hydrant. "It's yellow!" CT squealed with sheer delight. I could hardly contain my own excitement! Good thing we spent an hour in the car getting over here to see a yellow fire hydrant.


Zoo cops. Very intimidating indeed. I think he was really weirded out by me taking pictures, so that was kinda fun!

Other exciting sights included Anything with a Button or Flap and countless Handicap Door Buttons. It's good that they have animals there for me to look at to make the time pass while my kids are busy appreciating the details!

Mmmm...

Nothing like a hot dog-hamburger bun-bacon-sundae complete with whipped cream and a cherry on top! Just like Mom used to make!

What is it?

You might think it is a desk calendar that got crumpled by a two year old. Or maybe a big piece of paper that met a large amount of packing tape in a tornado. Or maybe you see garbage. But to a five year old....

....it's a wonderful hat!

happy birthday to me....

Well, I am one year closer to having rotten eggs....*sigh*. But I did have a super nice birthday weekend thanks to my awesome friends & family. Love you guys. On Saturday, my super cool organic friend took me to a 'scrap mania' and we got to sit all night and play with pretty papers and look at pictures of our babies. She also treated me to some coffee, because she knows me so well! Thank you to my mother for taking CT out for a few hours and giving Husband a reprieve. My mom & CT picked out a cake for me so that I didn't have to bake one for myself. *yay!* Then I came home around 11:30 pm to this (minus the child standing there, thankfully):

On Sunday, the actual Big Day, my whole family remembered and called to wish me a happy birthday. That's like 3 calls, so it is pretty noticable when someone forgets. Then CT and I went to Starbucks to play cards while Husband and Lil' A napped.
Husband needed a nap because he let me sleep in. Yes, I was out all day and night, and then I got to sleep in! Later we went for a tasty but waaaaay overpriced Italian meal. Thank you for that Mom. I still feel kind of guilty about it, but it was Super Yum. And then, of course we had cake. Not a bad way to spend the first day of my last year without rotten eggs.

A cake I made.

A cake CT made...