A visit with Jennifer

Today was a special day because I got to spend some time catching up with a cousin that I haven't seen in years and years and years.  I literally think it's been twenty or more because I can only remember her as a very little girl.  Now she's all grown up and has been traveling the country and world.  It was fun catching up and seeing her again!  We visited while the kids dyed the eggs.

 
Thanks for coming, Jen.  We hope to see you again soon!

So far, so good

Once we actually made our "Spring Break To Do List" things started filling up the calendar.  Here's what we have done so far:

Thanks to some goldfish that were won at the school Fun Fair a couple weeks ago, we have begun a new fish adventure.  Instead of the standard fish bowl, we decided to go with a 10-gallon aquarium with live plants.  We set up the tank and are preparing the water.  We'll get the fish in a couple weeks.

No we didn't go to an amusement park,

we hit the mall instead.  We decided to go to the mall that had extra things to do besides shops.  J and R rode the carousel, and rode the train.  Then we shopped and had lunch.  We did all this with a friend of J's from school, along with her mom and sister who is Ry's age.

It was a nice way to spend a rainy, chilly spring day!

Spring Break has begun

In the tradition of Fairfax County Public Schools, we have spring break before Easter.  Because the bread winner of the family works hardest during holiday seasons, we are a Staycation family during these times.  Therefore comes the challenge of coming up with activities to keep us entertained and out of each other's hair.  Jen, Ry and I created a list of possible things to do:

• See a movie
• Go to the mall
• Dye eggs
• Have a girls' day out
• See the cherry blossoms
• Visit with a long-lost cousin
• Attend another cousin/nephew's birthday party
• Playdate with a friend
• Spend time with family to celebrate the season

We'll see what happens....stay tuned

S is for .........

SPRING

It's finally here!  It couldn't have been a better weekend to ring it in either!  It was Sunny and Seventy!

We dug in the SOIL!  The house and yard is in desperate need of some color, so we planted some pansies because it is too early in the SEASON to plant the other flowers.  The best part about pansies are that they "laugh in the face of winter."  Gotta love that!

SUNGLASSES!

Don't these crack you up?!  Ry happens to be studying the letter S in SCHOOL so SUNGLASSES were a perfect crafty project.  He can't see a thing, but he sure looks SUPER!  The part that cracked my up the most was that he says to me, "hey, mom, do you see the pink pimple in the middle?"  He totally caught me off guard with that one.  Where do they get this stuff from??

March--ing On!

Another dreary weekend.  We were deluged with wind and rain.  So much rain along the coast that the weathermen (and women) said had it been snow, some areas would have gotten 7 feet.  No thanks.  Between the snow and rain this year, I'm feeling completely soggy.  Ry and Jen have been battling colds and stomach flus on and off for the past month.  This weekend it was back to Ry.  Since John was home, he and Jen had an afternoon to go see Alice in Wonderland together.  It's another crazy tale with Johnny Depp and Tim Burton working together.  They saw it in 3-D and brought home the glasses and some M&Ms for Ry for when he felt better.  That was better for him than actually seeing the odd flick.

The rain continued on Sunday.  Ry felt better and we all did stuff inside.  Because Daylight Savings began, it was hard to get moving, but I managed to get through some household tasks as the kids played.  The highlight of the afternoon was enjoying some Rootbeer Floats.

Jen had the whole float.  Ry just had vanilla ice cream.

Mmmmm.

Maybe eating ice cream will make summer come faster.  Let's hope so, anyway!

Two for One

Today's fun:

• Picked up the completed tax returns from the tax attorney...we are getting a refund.  Yahoo!
• Had a date with Ry at Starbucks.  I had a caramel macchiato.  Ry had a vanilla milk and pumpkin bread.
• Both of us got haircuts.  Ry asked if we got the SAME cut...I got the girl version, he got the boy version.
• Ry had a pajama day pizza party at school
• Ordered some Girl Scout cookies from a neighbor.  Mmmmm, Tagalongs!

A visit with K and S

This is my cute nephew, Sam.  He and his mom, my special sister, came to visit.  Sam is a long awaited gem of the family, both for his parents, and for me.

In the last couple of years, my sister and I have been able to spend more time together because both of us recently decided to become "domestic engineers" as opposed to the teachers we spent time and money becoming in our careers.

We have talked more, and exchanged common thoughts and advice, through visits and handwritten letters.  It has been an emotionally trying and emotionally rich, few years.  None of which, I would trade for anything.

Only 17 Days until Spring!

 

I was never so happy to change the calendar to March.  We bought tulips over the weekend just to get the Spring Spirit around here.  By the weekend it is supposed to be in the 50s.  Maybe the rest of the snow will melt away.

Rylan said something funny recently.  We were discussing Easter and the fact that sometimes it is in March and this year it is in April.  He says, "why does the Easter Bunny sometimes come in April.....because he's pooped?!"  Yes, my dear.  Sometimes EB comes in April because he is too tired to come in March.  Out of the mouth of  babes......