Third and final Easter egg hunt

Happy Easter! We had a lovely day with family and friends (well, everyone but Lily and me because she was sick).

Carol made clues that Sam had to hunt for in order to find his Easter basket. He was so excited; running around the house and yelling the whole time. After the kids inspected the contents of their baskets, we went outside to find eggs. Sam did most of the hunting though. Lily just held on to my legs and hid her face. Poor thing! She had a rough day.

Hope your Easter was great too!

Easter egg hunt #2

Later that same day, we had another egg hunt with our playgroup friends. My friend Nicole has the most amazing yard and the kids went crazy hunting back there. Lily got two eggs, both of which she threw back on the ground. Oh well, maybe next year!



Seconds before chucking the egg back on the ground...



Score!



Just a cute picture!

Easter egg hunt #1

Sam's school held an Easter egg hunt this week. It took about 5 minutes! Lily and I went to help hunt.



Not the real thing, but close enough for Lily...



Reluctantly sharing candy



Sam's class

Donuts with Dads

All the dads were invited to have breakfast with their little ones at Sam's school to celebrate "Happy Daddy Day." Sam made Andy a tie and drew him a picture of the two of them at the "golfing range."

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls....

Sam's class put on a play called Madagascar Circus last week. They have been studying Africa and the animals that live there and showed us what they learned during the play. Sam was the ringmaster, who opened and closed the show and also introduced each animal, and a tiger with his buddy Blake. We took a video but you can't hear anything so here are some pics.



Leading the circus parade



Opening the show



Introducing the elephants



Roar! Sam the tiger

Adventures in Babysitting

A few weeks ago, when Sam, Lily, and I were in Fairhope, my mom and I decided (okay, I decided, she was an innocent bystander) to have the (7) grandchildren (except Charlotte, who had to go home to Memphis) over to spend the night. My dad was out of town so it was Margo and me flying solo.
Everybody came over, the kids played, ate dinner, and watched a movie. They were all so well behaved. No problems at all. They were asleep by 8:30! So Mom and I congratulated each other, clinked wine glasses (I distinctly remember saying, "We did it! That wasn't bad at all!"), and settled down to watch a movie. Piece of cake, right?
Right. Until about 4:45 AM, when the little monkeys began to rustle (4:45 AM! It was still dark out, people!). Before long all the big kids were up. Mom and I were walking around like zombies amid a chorus of "I'm hungry! What's for breakfast? Please, Nonnie, I'm SO hungry!" Our answers were probably not what they wanted to hear, but we finally (I am sure it felt like a lifetime to them. Sorry, kids, some folks can't function before having some caffeine in their systems.) gave them breakfast at 6. We had an elaborate plan to make pancakes in fun shapes until about, oh, 4:49 AM, when that plan went flying out the window. It was a bowl of cereal and some grapes for all. Breakfast occupied them for about 20 minutes and then they were ready for the next activity.
On to arts and crafts. We busted out crayons, markers, paper plates, scissors, string and made some masks. Luckily the kids were happy doing this and did it for about an hour. Now, being a former preschool teacher, I love some arts and crafts. But at 7 AM? Not so much. I have never done arts and crafts at such an ungodly hour and hope I never will again!

All in all, the kids had so much fun together and they were very good. We had a good time.

However, now I know not to congratulate myself the evening of a seemingly successful sleepover, but save my pat on the back for the next morning when stumbling around before the sun rises while swearing at small children under my breath and praying there is enough cereal to feed the masses.

PS. My mom declared Lily her favorite grandchild since she was the only one that slept until 7:30!

Take me out to the ballgame

Sam's first t-ball practice and game were last week. He loved it! I wasn't sure how he would do because the day before practice he was whining he didn't want to go. But he was fine. All it took was a quick trip to the store with Dad to get his very own glove and ball and he was ready! He jumped right in with the other kids and took turns throwing, catching, running the bases and hitting. He got a cute little uniform and cap. He loves the cap so much that he sometimes sleeps with it!
The first game was hilarious. He played leftfield (which is in between second and third base in t-ball) and third base (but ended up standing next to the pitcher most of the time). Most of the defense ends up in a clump around the pitcher's mound chasing the ball around when someone hits it. When one of them picks it up, they throw it wildly in the direction of first base and the first base coach has to grab it before it hits another player. He had two hits and made it to first base both times. Surprisingly, so did every other player ;)
Most importantly, he paid attention (as much as four year old can) and had fun. So if you are in the neighborhood on a Saturday, stop by the field and see the mighty Astros work their magic.



Batter up




Rounding third




Ready to field those balls (or resting?)




Him just a wittle guy




A trip to Baskin Robbins to celebrate after the game