Hoppy Easter....

We had a very fabulous Easter this year.... a day filled with Easter egg hunts (yes, plural!) and wonderful time with family!

I'll write more tomorrow about the happenings of this weekend and the time spent with great family and friends.  'Til then, we hope that everyone shared in the same sentiments as us, and truly enjoyed their day with the ones they love!  Happy Easter!

We're Dying Around Here...

We've been dying around here, but not in the literal sense.  We've been dying Easter eggs.

We spent Sunday afternoon, with snowflakes flying in the air (ugh!!), decorating eggs and creating good memories.  

Both the girls got into dying the eggs this year, and before you knew it all our eggs were colored and glammed up.  Sullivan thought the eggs needed to be stirred, which caused a lot of spillage along the way.  Maybe she knows something I don't because the eggs turned out well.  Quinn's were equally as beautiful!

 

Dad even got in on the action...!  Who can stay away from dying eggs?!

What was the girls' favorite egg?

Quinn created a tye-dye egg after seeing the egg that Dad created.  She glitzed hers up with a little bling-bling!  Sulivan's favorite was her orange one (surprise!) with the glitzy bunny.

Our finished products turned out better that one could have anticipated.  They are very eggscellent!

Tubes

We were travelling to daycare on Friday morning, just Sullivan and I.  Out of the blue, Sullivan asks, "How do Judson and Crew sleep with those things in.  You know, the things we got the balloons for?"  Not clearly understanding her, I probed a little bit before I understood what she was talking about.

To preface the story, Quinn and Sullivan's cousins, Judson and Crew, had tubes put in their ears this week.  Poor babies.  And because we wanted to wish them a speedy recovery, we brought balloons to them.  We weren't able to see them that evening when we dropped them off, so Sullivan and Quinn didn't get to see that the tubes were not necessarily tubes, as they would define them.  

So as I probed her a little, it became clearly that Sullivan was referring to the tubes in the boys' ears.  I asked  her if that was what she meant and she said, "Yeah, how can Judson and Crew sleep when they have tubes sticking out of their ears?"  

So I chuckled out loud. Here in her 3 year old mind, Sullivan is envisioning these boys trying to sleep with long tubes coming out of their ears!  You forget how literal children are until they come across a situation like this!

When I tried to explain that the tubes are very small and inside their body, Sullivan still didn't understand.  She had several follow up questions wondering how Auntie and Uncle were going to get the tubes out of the boys' bodies and why would they put tubes in their bodies if the tubes can't come out. 

Several explanations later, the conversation ended there - with really no resolution to Sullivan's inquiries.  It led us to do a little research when we got home that night as to what the tubes actually looked like. Who would have known that the tubes were so little and not so tube-like?!  Below is a picture of the tube on top of the penny.

Who knows what questions will come out Sullivan's head next? Or what she is thinking!

Designers at Work...

Saturday morning we laid low around the house, as Sullivan was recovering from a stomach bug that put her out of commission for a few days.

So to fill part of the morning, I put the girls to work designing their birthday cake.  Both girls are pretty insistent that they are having a hot air balloon themed party this year- cake and all.  So I printed off a copy of a balloon and asked them to design the cake of their dreams.  A few minutes into the designing, we had to make some compromises.  Mom was not going to be able to design a cake with a hundred different lines and dots and colors.  So they set off and designed a fairly doable (I think) cake design.  We will see!

Many, many moons ago, Quinn used to set up a "tent" in Ryan's bathroom while he was getting ready in the morning.  Quinn would look at books or color for a long while to keep herself entertained.  Well, Saturday out of the blue, Quinn asked to do it again.  Ryan was not home and no one was getting ready in the bathroom, but that didn't deter Quinn and Sullivan.

They camped out in the bathroom and designed their hearts out!  It was fun to see an old tradition alive again!

Star of the Week... A Look Back

Not this past week, but the week before, was Quinn's Star of the Week.  On that Friday, we were invited into the classroom to celebrate Quinn, read her favorite book, and share pictures of her growing up.  It was great being in her classroom and sharing all the great things that make Quinn who she is!  It was also wonderful to see Quinn beam and be proud. 

(I've been waiting on Mrs. d to post pictures of the event on her website, but she hasn't done so quite yet.  So  I will have to do so a little bit later.)

But I did want to make sure that I posted her 'favorites' list - just to capture what was her favorite when she was in first grade:  

Mrs. d said that in all of the 20+ years of teaching, she has never seen any child say that chipped beef on toast was their favorite food!  Leave it to Quinn to mark a first - especially in the food category, given that she isn't the most adventurous eater!

All in all, I could have probably predicted Quinn's answers with about 90% accuracy.  She is pretty predictable in her likes and dislikes.  

We had a great time celebrating Quinn and the star that she is!  

Family Fun 2013

Last Friday, Quinn's school had their annual Family Fun Night - a night filled with carnival games, food, a bouncy house, and more!  We were fortunate enough to hang out with our neighbors at the Family Fun Night.  It seems like when winter hits, we all hibernate and don't get to see each other as often as we would like!  It was great seeing them and the girls loved running around with each other!

We made our way to the face painting station, where apparently the unicorn was the painting of choice by all the girls.  Each of them modeled their look....

After a couple of hours of games, bouncing, face painting, and more, we were sad to call it a night!  This year's prizes from all the games had a common underlying theme.  They were all noisy toys - harmonicas, kazoos, etc.  And while Family Fun Night is long over, we are still reveling in the enjoyment of these wonderfully noisy trinkets!

The '80s Called...

The '80s called and they said they want....

all of Quinn back!!

and...

Sullivan's Lee Press On Nails back!

This past weekend we rewound the times and visited the 1980s.  Quinn had received some press on nails for her birthday last year and hadn't gotten around to using them.  She asked to wear them on Saturday so we got them out.  Once Quinn put one of the nails on her hand, she quickly removed it.  She didn't like the feeling of them.  My not-so-girly girl, Ms. Sullivan, was insistent on trying them on.  So she gave it a whirl and actually LOVED wearing them.  Ask Ryan how much he loved having her wear them!  Let's just say, Sullivan was pretty helpless all.morning.long!

Quinn's outfit was born at a fashion designer birthday party this weekend.  Apparently there was a pile of old clothes that the girls used to design their own fashionable look.  And the above was what Quinn concocted.  The picture doesn't do her look justice.  In all seriousness, I didn't recognize Quinn when I picked her up at first.  She had rosy red cheeks and feathered hair.  It was quite hysterical!   

My 1980s babies make me smile!

Hats!

Quinn had her very first chorus concert at school this past week.  

The performance was entitled, "Hats!"  Quinn had been singing the songs around the house for several weeks, so it was nice to see the performance and hear those songs in context!

Quinn did a great job with her singing!  It was exciting to see her on stage do all the choreographed moves and singing her heart out! Quinn is almost directly in the middle of the screen with the hot pink hat on.  Hard to find the needle in a haystack!

After the performance, we picked Quinn up in her classroom.  Doesn't she look cute in her outfit - hat and all?!

She did such a great job. We look forward to next year's concert and to see what excitement it brings!

Sneak Peek....

Here is a sneak peek at Quinn's "Hats" concert from this week.  She is in the middle of the screen with the hot pink hat!

The concert itself was very well done and Quinn had a blast!  More pictures to come!

Star Light, Star Bright...

This is the face of a bright, shiny star!

Quinn is the Star of the Week in her classroom this week.  And because of this honor, she was asked to bring one picture from each year she has been alive (one picture when she was 0, one when she was 1 year old, etc.).  But honestly, who could choose just one picture.  Really.  So we broke the rules a bit and brought two from each year.  Naughty us!

Here are the pictures Quinn picked out to bring to her class. She selected them all on her own and did a great job picking out the best of the best that represent her!

0 years

1 year

2 years

3 years

4 years

5 years

6 years

It almost brings tears to my eyes to see how much Quinn has grown so fast.  It hardly seems possible that we are approaching seven years old.  I can vividly recall these memories above and can almost transport myself back to those times.  How it seems like yesterday.... yet it isn't.

Reality says this is where we are at....

And even though that is hard to fathom, we are reveling in every minute of today - cherishing every moment for what it is.  Six or seven years from now, I will be saying the same thing I am saying today -

"I remember when Quinn was six years old.  It seems like only yesterday!"

Shine bright, Q!  

More than Splashing Around

Quinn and Sullivan started back to swimming lessons a few weeks back.  They so look forward to Monday nights when they get to go to lessons.  

Quinn has grown SO much this time around and has become more independent and confident in the water. She is able to back float independently and is working on developing different strokes to get herself around in the water. She is less hesitant to go under water or to try new things.

Sullivan is plain fearless of the water.  She isn't hesitant to do or try anything and spends most of her swimming lesson yelling out, "Hey Mom. Mom....MOM.  Watch this!"  She then proceeds to go underwater for quite some time.  So long that I sometimes get a bit nervous.  In one sense, I am thankful for her fearless nature around water.  In another sense, it scares me to death.  I want her to have enough fear to know that water can be dangerous.  

The second picture captures her dare devil side - halfway under the water blowing bubbles.

I can't wait to see what the next few weeks has in store for them.  I am hoping for some more independence and confidence when visiting the swimming pool this summer!