Projects

Tom has been on a roll again... he finished two fun projects in the yard. First, he planted a flower garden around our light post. For years, he had to weed whack around the post, and it never looked as nice as we wanted it to. Now, it looks terrific!
Next, he built Sydney's playhouse and a deck floor to put under it! He made the deck of Trex, which has been really nice because it's smooth and there are no splinters. Even baby Cole can crawl around inside the house. The house has all the amenities a kid could want: kitchen with sink, table, and chairs and even a sky light!

Check out this happy girl!

Hop, Hop, Hippity Hop!

Easter was a lot of fun this year! Syd and I got up early and went to 7:00 am mass. We arrived at 6:58 am and were able to score a rockstar parking space and two of the last seats next to Grandma and Papa! After church we went home, and the Bunny had been to our house. He left two Easter buckets full of toys and goodies and hid eggs all over the living room.



The kids played for a little bit, and then we were off to Jodi's for brunch with the family. Wouldn't you know it? The bunny had stopped there too! This time, everyone received baskets - even mommy and daddy! After a couple hours at Jodi's house, it was time for a nap. We went home and snoozed off all the morning's excitment. As soon as we woke up, it was time for more fun. We headed over to Bella Gamma and Mustache Papa's house and ate an early dinner. The bunny had stopped there too - incredible how he gets around! The kids were basically spoiled rotten all day long, and it was a fun time for all. Happy Easter!

More Easter Prep

The Saturday before Easter, Syd and I were in Easter mode and decided to dye Easter eggs! As always, Sydney was very serious about her Easter egg dying fun.

Who is that lady in the picture?

Again! And a picture with my girl smiling!

Give me your most serious bunny impression.

The finished product!

Let's Go "Easter Hunting"

Wow - am I behind with my blogging. Work recently asked me to increase my hours (actually triple them), so I've been busy using almost all my "free" time to work. Anyway, we've had some exciting weekends lately, and I'm going to try to get some blogging in today before I get too far behind. I apologize in advance for the font craziness in this blog post. Blogger is currently posessed and is not cooperating with any of my requests... seems like some sort of trend this week.

Last week, I took Sydney to two different Easter egg hunts. The first was at a nearby park, and we actually arrived early enough to watch the younger children take their turn. This was good and bad. Good because Sydney could see what an Easter egg hunt was all about and "plan" her strategy. Bad because she had to sit in agony while watching them find and then open their eggs. To make it even worse, there was a 30-minute wait in between groups.

Don't you people know I have the patience of a 3-year-old?

And - she's off!

It was soon after I took this picture that I realized Sydney only wanted to find pink eggs. This strategy was not an easy one to implement, and I had to convince her that all the eggs had prizes - not just the pink ones. Needless to say, my little pep talk took a chunk out of her egg hunting time, and she ended up with three eggs total (the hunt coordinators had said that each child should be able to go home with about eight each). Anyway, I chalked it up to our first real egg hunting experience, when one of the nice hunt coordinators came over and offered Syd a couple more eggs to take home.

Ah - an elusive pink egg!

Inside each egg, she found a chocolate candy egg and a plastic animal or insect toy - specifically, an animal or insect that hatches from an egg that is not a chicken (e.g., she received a praying mantis, spider, and frog). It was an educational egg hunt.

She went home a happy girl!

After the mediocre success of the first egg hunt, we decided to give it another go. This time, we went to another park the Friday before Easter and we met a friend from playgroup, Kailey. We were worried about the chance of rain, but we went for it anyway. It did rain, but for only five minutes. It was, however, brutally cold - think a wind chill of approximately 38 degrees. Lucky for us, that significantly decreased the number of egg hunters. Syd and Kailey were one of about 10 total egg hunters for approximately 300 eggs! The kids made out like bandits! Needless to say, she now considers herself an "Easter Hunting" pro.

Kailey and Syd - egg hunting partners.

Seriously? This is April?

What?! The Easter Bunny is here?!?

Whatever... I need to finish my coloring project. I'll catch up with him later.

And - she's off (again)! This time, she was an equal opportunity egg hunter. She rounded up approximately thirty eggs total.

Hey Bunny! Check out my handy work!

Ritz Cracker Pork Chops

These pork chops were delicious. I served them with steamed mixed vegetables and au gratin potatoes. I did tenderize the chops before I started, and I think that made them more juicy.

4 pork chops
1 c crushed Ritz crackers
garlic salt
salt
pepper
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c butter or margarine, chunked

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine all dry ingredients. Dredge chops in egg and then in cracker mixture. Place pork chop in baking dish. Place chunks of butter around pork chops. Bake covered for 25 minutes. Remove cover and bake for another 10 minutes.

Proud Parents!

Sydney received her very first report card this week, and we are thrilled! She's "mastered" all the different goals and objectives they set for her at the beginning of the school year. Some of my favorites are showing concern and respect for others, learning to control feelings, learning to wait for a turn to speak, and dressing self with some assistance. During my conference with the teacher, she indicated that Sydney has become more and more involved with her friends at school and really enjoys listening to stories and predicting what might come next in a story (shocker - the kid has a brilliant imagination). It's hard to believe that we're down to the last month of school! Her first year of preschool flew by, and she's already looking forward to next year. She's especially excited because many of her friends from her class will be in next year's class. Plus - many of her friends from playgroup are starting at her school too! Our little girl is growing up.

Miss Independent

These days, Sydney wants to do everything herself. She wants to go potty, get in her carseat, dress her dollies, cut her food, and do her hair (the more barrettes the better) all by herself. She reminds me several times a day that she is a big girl and that she is growing up. On that note, this week, I gave her two new responsibilities. Each morning, when she wakes up, she's responsible for getting dressed and making her bed. I set out her clothes and take down the bed rail, but then I leave the room, and she comes downstairs when she's "ready." Both days she's dressed herself, she's done an excellent job. With the exception of putting her shirt on backwards, everything else was on and placed correctly, including socks and underwear!

She does a good job on the bed too. Here's a picture of this morning's effort:

Not bad!