Happy Birthday, Daddy!

There is no quietly sliding through a birthday with these two little party animals in the house. Not that we would want to, of course, but when Mike says, "All I want for my birthday is a family dinner," Winnie hears "Balloons! Banners! Bands! Music! Decorations! Confetti! Friends! Games! Clowns! PRESENTS! AND IT ALL HAS TO BE A SURPRISE!!!! 

Mama. We need. to. start. planning. NOW!"

So, the balance for me, of course, is to do just enough to satisfy the wee ones' need for PAR-TAY, and actually celebrate MIKE! 

Turns out: a cake goes a looooong way to still their beating party hearts.

 Making the cake was pure heaven. 

Winnie insisted that she make Daddy's Birthday Crown, and Jezebel made him a mask. (I'm hoping that doesn't become a tradition for her, it's a little creepy. Maybe next year I'll suggest the Birthday Cape or the Birthday necklace instead...???) 

 Ok, seriously, Jez. The cake is all gone. 

It's like partying with frat boys.

Happy Birthday, Mike! Confetti! Bands! SURPRISE!! 

We love you!

Happy Spring!!!

Spring has arrived! Buds are blooming...

 animals, frolicking...

...and we're working out in the garden! 

 

Reality check: The first day of Spring brought with it a FREAK snow storm, with HEAVY, WET snow that did lots of damage around the whole city. This was the end of our driveway for two days. Stayed home on Snowmageddon Day 1; walked to work on Day 2. 

 Trees have since been removed and the snow has since melted... but sheesh, what a freak show.
In other news:
Jezebel had a serious case of the "I hate this snow stuff." which could be attributed to the outbreak of hives she had that day (we thought it was Chix Pox at first)... or it could be attributed to the fact that it's really cold and wet and requires ungodly amounts of layering. The hives were diagnosed on Friday morning, and pretty much cured by now. Allergic rxn to something: strawberries is our current best guess. (FYI: should you ever be snowed in during a skin rash outbreak, ground oatmeal, witch hazel, tea tree oil and aloe gel mixed together make a fabulous salve for the skin. :)
Tomorrow starts Spring Break! All that means for us is that we get to sleep in one glorious hour or so later and take Winnie to Y Spring Break Camp instead of school. I'll consider it a great week if we can get through it without any more snow or hives. :)

Fun with Grammy!

And, as a spectacular curtain call to the Peter Pan era, Grammy came to visit!

Leprechauns!

This morning, we woke up to some St. Patrick's day puppets and a card from the wee folk saying they wouldn't be seen or caught, but they did leave us some treats... We had only to follow their green footprints to the goodies! Happy St. Patrick's Day, all!

Peter Pan Flies to the Big Times!

Tonight, it's the Big Stage! 

 

I'm excited. And a little bit nervous. 

Grandma's Visit!

One of the best parts about being in a show is that Grammas come to town! Last weekend, Grandma was here... and we had a fabulous time!

Even though the sun only came out for about the 36 seconds it took to take this picture. 

 But that's okay. We were busy playing games, reading books, and performing! 

Life Imitating Art

Oh The Places We Go

Some days, just the thing that one may be needing,

Is a party to celebrate the wonders of reading,

And what better inspiration, what better muse

than Teddy Giesel, whom we know as Seuss?!

Last week was his birthday, 

and we had such fun!

We dressed up each day and

 when it was done, 

We came Friday night to our school for THIS fest:

And wanna guess what we liked the best?

Eating lollipops.

But the activities were cool, too. We got seed packs, and promised the Lorax we'd plant them.

We had our faces painted and did a Book Walk. We shot hoops and went "fishing" for booky prizes and saw lots of our friends from school. It was a fun week of celebrating Seuss: the man who has probably single-handedly inspired more readers than any other one person in the history of ever. 

Then on Saturday, we broke out the bling and headed to the big city. 

 

(Don't worry, I was a passenger when I took this picture...)

Jason was driving us to the theater where he would perform and I would watch a fantastic show!

 It was not a kids show, however, so the short ones stayed here: with our Gammas and Gamma Cousins. Girl Pandemonium is the only way to describe 5 girls between the ages of 1 and 6--or 8 girls between 1 and 36, depending on how you're counting your girls.

                                                   

A brief but wonderful overnight, and them home to a gorgeous afternoon, where the wee ones played outside while Yard Spring Cleaning began! 

                                                 

Now, our attentions fly away to NeverNeverLand-- with a full week of rehearsals and a SHOW on Friday night! Yeah! AND! Grandma will be here this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We can't wait!