Happy Birthday, Goose!

After a fun party on Saturday, Lucy's actual birthday the following Monday was pretty low key. She brought cookies for classmates, chose dinner for the family (hotdogs and mac and cheese), ate cupcakes for dessert, and went to bed nice and early.

Happy birthday to you, Lucy Goose. You are observant and curious, you love people, you are a wonderful big sister, and you love to laugh. May you always be so happy and full of joy.

Easter

For Easter weekend we headed to Marion to see Cookie and Grumps. We had a fabulous time: new haircuts for the girls, riding bikes, egg hunts, a trip to Red Robin, and the list goes on. Here are a few pictures from Easter morning before we got in the car and headed home. A special thank you goes to Cookie and Grumps for hosting us. What a special time it was.

Soccer For Two

Lucy has been playing soccer for a couple of years now, but Caroline has always been on the sidelines. She has happily eaten snacks and played with toys for an hour every Saturday in the spring and fall, but this year we decided to sign her up too. I was at home getting ready for Lucy's birthday party during her first game, but Caroline had a great time and told me many times that she "liked learning everything about soccer." Rain and other social engagements have kept us from the past few games, but I will have action shots soon!

Lucy's Birthday Party

Last year Lucy had a joint birthday party with two classmates. While she certainly had fun at that party, Steve and I felt like it was just too much for a 5 year old (or a 31 year old) to handle. So we went small this year and just invited a few friends and the grandparents to come over for a party. The girls played dress up, they decorated picture frames to put pictures in, they ate cake, and then everyone went outside to play soccer. It was simple and wonderful and somehow incredibly tiring. Lucy and Caroline had a ball, and it was made even more special by the fact that Cookie and Grumps were there to celebrate too.

First Day Back

We are done with spring break and the first day back for all of us had the potential to be a rough one. Two weeks of PJs until 11 am and a very relaxed schedule was just enough time for the usual morning routine to be a rude awakening. The girls (thankfully) were excited to head back to school and see their friends. I needed a bit more coffee to be convinced.

I was a bit worried because Lucy has sometimes had a difficult transition back into school. She, much like me, doesn't respond particularly well to abrupt changes. Then I got an email from her teacher (who is amazing) telling me that she was having a wonderful day and that Lucy was so proud of the picture she made of us at the water park:

I have a few pictures from my phone of our water park trip below. The place was chaotic and not as well run as a different one we had been to, but the girls had a blast.

Our First (very hairy and very stinky) Child

Yesterday Lucy told me, "You and Daddy got married. Then you had me. Then you had Caroline. Then you knew our family was perfect*!" When I told her that she actually has an older sibling, she said, "Hey! Boogie doesn't count!"

*She says this because she asked for me to have another baby once (or ten times) and I told her that our family was just perfect with the four of us. 

Poor Boog. In a lot of circumstances these days, he doesn't get a say. He spends his days on the couch while we are gone at school and work. He asks for very little. He is a good boy. An old cranky man certainly, but a good boy nonetheless.

I think Boog loves spring even more than I do. He loves to be outside in the yard while we work. He can often be found just sitting in the sun on the grass while the girls run like wild animals around him. (They are sure not to run into Boog, as that causes him to be very cranky.)

When the girls rode their bikes yesterday, Boog was in heaven:

Finding another spot on our lawn to kill with his battery acid pee

Watching over his girls

I love you, Mom.

He really is a good boy.

Riding Bikes

Yesterday was gorgeous. It was a bit windy, but it was sunny, not raining, and no snow was on the ground. That is the perfect combination to create a wonderful spring day in my opinion.

Our driveway isn't huge and we live on a pretty busy road, so the girls don't get to bike much when we are at home. We decided to move the cars to the end of the driveway so that the girls had as much room as possible to ride and they were blocked from going out onto the road. Boog and I sat on the driveway and watched. We tried to direct traffic so that there were no head on collisions and we were mildly successful at that.

Lucy has asked us to take the training wheels off today ... stay tuned. This could get interesting.