Eggs Everywhere!

What a collection of Easter eggs we have accumulated over the past week.  Oliver and Adelaide have been really into making lots of eggs.  Every morning after breakfast, they asked for construction paper, markers and tape.  Then, they "surprised" me by hanging their eggs on display.

Act of Kindness

On Sunday, we went to an Easter egg hunt hosted by a local college.  We went last year and had a lot of fun.  This year, the college had the hunt in a different location.  They placed eggs all over a field.  Before the hunt started, all of the children had to wait by a gate.    

We had some fun waiting.  Adelaide was keeping us entertained.

She even started climbing the fence and actually made it to the top before she asked for some help.

The three year olds and under did their egg hunt first which meant that Adelaide had a chance to get a bunch of eggs.  

After the three year olds and under did their egg hunt, everyone else had to wait by the gate and once the kids (ages 3 and up) were through the gate they just ran around collecting eggs.

In true Hunger Games style, we told Oliver to ignore the eggs at the beginning of the gate and run to the end of the field where he would have plenty of eggs to choose from.  Once he got inside the field, he did just that and managed to grab some eggs.

It became obvious very quickly that the kids near the back of the line to go through the gate were not going to get any eggs so Oliver, Adelaide, Chris and I stepped aside to watch everyone else because we felt that Oliver and Adelaide had enough eggs in their basket.

As we watched, we started to see some kids looking really sad and some were crying.  We told Oliver and Adelaide that some of the kids hadn't gotten any eggs because by the time they got onto the field, all of the eggs were gone.  We waited a few seconds, mentioned to Adelaide and Oliver how many eggs they had found, and waited again.  Oliver then told us that he decided he could give an egg to someone who hadn't received one.  Chris and I watched as Adelaide and Oliver walked around the field giving away most of their eggs.  I must admit that I was touched.  Their generosity was not forced, it was from the heart.  They knew that they needed to share their eggs.  When my children are having particularly stubborn, self-absorbed days, I sometimes worry that we've spoiled them or made them feel this sense of entitlement that they shouldn't be feeling at such a young age.  Watching them gracefully walk around the field and give away their eggs to other children reminded me that parenting is going to have its moments.  There will be the tough moments where I wonder how I will get through the day and then there will be the touching moments that really grip me and make me want to throw my arms around them with complete love (which I did after the egg hunt) and tell them how proud I am of them.

Because I am.

Chick Magic

We have been having so much fun with chick magic!  I saw an idea on a website called Excited 2 Learn that mentioned a blog showing how to make little chicks and have them lay magic eggs.  I showed Oliver and Adelaide how to make the eyes and beaks and then they got to work.  Adelaide had a LOT of fun with the eyes.  So, some of our chicks have about ten eyes. 

 Oliver went a little eye crazy too.

 Once our chicks were done, we put them in an egg carton.  I then explained to Oliver and Adelaide that these chicks might lay magic eggs so they needed to check the chicks every so often.  I caught Oliver checking the chicks many times throughout the day.

 Finally, they found two chicks that had laid their "eggs."

 As the day progressed, they discovered some more eggs.  I told them it was important that they did not eat the eggs and that they plant the eggs.  So, we got out our popcorn bowls, some grass and they both planted three of their eggs.

 When they woke up in the morning, they came downstairs to find that their three eggs had magically turned into three flower lollipops.

I think these chicks will continue to lay some eggs throughout the week.  It turned into a really fun time with Oliver and Adelaide.  They did have a brief discussion with each other about where these eggs could be coming from but then they decided it was just "magic." :)

If Adelaide Could Live in a Submarine, I Think She Would.

On Sunday, Chris headed to Foxboro to meet up with some of his high school teammates to honor his former coach who had been inducted into the MIAA Hall of Fame.  The weather was not great so after church, Oliver, Adelaide and I headed up to the Children's Museum of New Hampshire.  They have a reciprocal membership with the Museum of Science so we did not have to pay anything.  It was about an hour away and a very easy drive.

When we got there, the kids had fun exploring the different exhibits.  

 This is the typical Oliver jumping up and down in excitement position that cracks me up.  It is SO easy to tell when he is happy!

 Without a doubt, their favorite part was the submarine.  They each had COMPLETELY different reasons for loving it of course.  Adelaide saw the little bunks and jumped right in and made herself at home.  She didn't do much else for about ten minutes.  Then, when we left the submarine, she kept on asking to go back to it again because it was her favorite thing there.

 Meanwhile, Oliver got busy pressing buttons and taking command of the submarine.

 Eventually Adelaide joined in and did some listening of her own.

 I am realizing more and more that all of these pictures are of Oliver doing something and Adelaide chilling out.  Here she is chilling out in a chair while Oliver created patterns on the window behind her.

 Oliver was so proud of the design he made.

 Adelaide just being Adelaide!  I am pretty happy with her new jean jacket.  I snagged it the Children's Drop and Shop a few weeks ago for five dollars.  I've been wanting to get her one so when I saw it there and in such good condition, I couldn't pass it up.

 Before we left, we checked out the dig site.  Not quite as cool as the one down in Disney, but they still had fun.

 Poor Adelaide thought this was a real phone and she called Papa and kept on saying, "Hello, Papa, are you there?" Then she looked at me and asked me why he wasn't answering.  This is the same girl who saw a boy wave on my computer screen the other day (it was a video and not skype) and proceeded to frantically wave back to him.  She really makes us smile!  I would love to get into her mind for a day.

 Again, Adelaide sitting.  She really did have fun though!

I think we will definitely go back to that museum again.  It wasn't too crowded, parking was easy and the kids had fun for the entire afternoon.

A Simple Moment

Ever since I can remember, I have had a very hard time just relaxing and enjoying the moment.  My mind is often consumed with a million other little thoughts...these thoughts of 2012 involve housework that needs to be done, fears about parenting, and self-reflection.  I have finally begun to accept that the housework will never be done because there will always be more meals to be made, more toys to be played with and more clothes to be washed.  But, I have a choice in how much I let it affect my thoughts.  I am still learning when it comes to parenting.  I don't think I will ever hit a point in parenting when I think I have it figured out.  Are there things I wish that I had done differently over the past four years?  Absolutely.  Are there things that I think I've done well?  Of course.  I have two children who are very different from each other and I need to remember that I am doing the best I can with them.  I really am doing the best I can with Oliver and Adelaide and at the end of the day, isn't that what matters?  The self-reflection part is a bit more difficult because I am hard on myself.  But, one of the things that I can work on is enjoying the little moments that happen every day.  I've been wanting to be more "present" with my children and I made the decision that I will find at least one moment every day that I am fully engaged in whatever we are doing together.  

Earlier this week, we went outside to blow bubbles and I sat under a tree and watched them squeal with delight every time they blew a big bubble and it flew high into the sky.  I can honestly say that for about ten minutes I was filled with a sense of contentment watching them enjoy a beautiful day.

On Thursday, it was so warm outside so after dinner we made milkshakes.  They were so delicious and the three of us sat at the table and talked while drinking our milkshakes.  That was my little moment for Thursday.

Yesterday, Oliver and Adelaide's school had an evening event called Planet Playhouse.  When we were there, we went to one of the rooms where a teacher was reading a story by starlight.  Oliver and Adelaide sat on my lap while we listened to the story and the three of us really enjoyed that time together.

I may not be able to enjoy every moment of the day, but I am trying to focus on one little moment at a time.  I am thankful for my family and for the life that I have.

St. Patrick's Day

Once a year, we pay a visit to Harpoon to drop off some treats for Chris and the other employees.  Last year, we went on Valentine's Day but this year we decided to go on St. Patrick's Day.  Clearly, Oliver was VERY excited about dropping off the pots of gold.  He could hardly contain himself which is why there aren't many pictures of him while we were at Harpoon.  He was literally running from person to person wishing them a Happy St. Patrick's Day.  Adelaide played it a bit cooler but still was enjoying herself.

 Oliver, Adelaide and I made Pots of Gold.  They consisted of little black kettles and I attached a ribbon and shamrock that the kids had painted.  Inside, we put gold chocolate coins, Starburst, Rolos, tattoos, pins and stickers.  The kettles were actually bigger than I thought they'd be when I ordered them so we found ourselves buying more and more bags of candy as we filled them!

 When we got there, Oliver and Adelaide went to work dropping off the treats.

 Oliver was excited to see where daddy worked and even tried to help him!

 After we left Harpoon, we headed over to see Grammi at her work and we brought her a Blarney Scone.

 Of course Oliver and Adelaide expected to try the scone before leaving and Oliver did some work for Grammi that involved hole punching and stapling.

 When we got home, I gave them a snack of green milk and lucky charms.  This is a terrible picture but Adelaide was literally jumping up and down because she saw the green milk!

 Next up was making a leprechaun trap.  Daddy was happy to design our trap after we all did some research about the best way to catch a leprechaun.

 Adelaide decided to act like a leprechaun before starting to make the trap.

 Here is the finished product.  Oliver and Adelaide had so much fun putting together the trap and really hoped to catch a leprechaun.

 Oliver is explaining exactly how the leprechaun will get caught.

 Oliver and Adelaide decided later on that they needed to add some more zest to the trap so they adorned it with stickers, stickers and more stickers!

 St. Patrick's Day ended with shamrock shakes that consisted of mint ice cream, oreos and whipped cream.

Unfortunately, we didn't catch a leprechaun.  But, we had fun trying!

On a completely random note, today was 75 and beautiful.  Before dinner, I took the kids outside to blow bubbles and I sat on the grass watching them.  They were so happy.  The joy that something so simple brought to them made me really think about how I sometimes try so hard to make the holidays special and create memories, but really, it could be just those simple moments like blowing bubbles that they will remember when they are older and look back on their childhood.  I am totally okay with that possibility.  In fact, I am more than okay with that.  I want them to experience childhood to it's fullest and watching them blowing bubbles and running around trying to catch them on their wands could not have been a more beautiful representation of childhood moments at their best.