Good News or Bad News

When posed with that question, I ALWAYS want the bad news first. Earlier this week my principal asked which I wanted first. Bad news: My job in 4th grade--you know the one that I have really enjoyed, the one where I work with the special education teacher, the same one that I only teach Language Arts because my team teacher teaches the other subjects -- is being eliminated. You see there are not enough students in 3rd grade to merit four classrooms next year. Good news: I have a job in second grade. Second grade! I have never taught it, but for some reason I am really excited about it. I mean really excited. It does mean that I will be teaching the another new grade level (that makes 3 different grades in three years). It means that I will have to move classrooms. It means that I will be closer to the kindergarten classrooms (and Ethan) for next year.

Family Daddy

Ethan and Erica sometimes fuss over objects and to whom they belong. Sometimes it is a friendly exchange; other times it can get very heated. Tonight we were outside enjoying the sunshine waiting for Paul to return home from work. When Erica noticed Paul's car in the drive, she began yelling "my daddy, my daddy's home!"
Ethan told her that it was his daddy too. Ellie had to join in the fun yelling for "da da da." Erica then reminded everyone that we share, and Paul was "our family daddy."

Hoppy Easter

Happy Easter. Today was a glorious day. The sun was shining, and we were able to spend time with the family. We headed the church and then to B-maw and Pop'O's house to celebrate.

Thanks B'maw and Pop'O for the wonderful Easter treats. We enjoyed our day together.

Who needs an Easter basket, when you can just use your shirt?

Ellie found her special egg with Uncle Todd's help.

We love to take our bicycles to B'maw and Pop'O's house. They live on a road with little traffic, so it is a great place to ride. B'maw and Pop'O looked after Ellie so that Paul and I could ride with Ethan and Erica. It is amazing how much faster I am without pulling the bicycle trailer behind me.

Ethan and Erica also were able to ride on the school bus. B'maw is driving the bus again as a sub. Ethan and Erica think that it is the coolest thing that B'maw can bring the school bus home with her. When should I tell Ethan that he won't get to ride the school bus next year?

We enjoyed our day together as a family. Now we just need another day off from work to get the house back in order. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter.

An Eggcellent Day

We had a beautiful today as a family. Our church had an Easter carnival for the children. So, after naptime, we headed over to "turch". They had story time complete with a puppet, egg hunts, snack time, craft times, carnival games, face painting, and a bounce house.

Erica found the golden egg. She had a choice of prizes. Paul, Ethan, and I REALLY wanted her to pick the kite. Erica selected the huge chocolate bar.

Ellie LOVED the puppies and bunnies. She talked and laughed when she was near them.

Ethan was thrilled that he could hold an Easter bunny.

After church, we headed home to dye the Easter eggs. Paul showed Ethan how to put a sleeve on the Easter egg. Ethan thought it was so cool how the sleeve melted in the hot water.

Ethan didn't like the smell of the vinegar we used in the egg dye. He put on his swim mask so he would not have to smell the "stinky stuff."

Some of our Easter eggs.

As always, Ellie has a front row seat to the cooking show. Ethan and Erica each had 3 colors to dye their eggs. Most of Erica's eggs ended up cracked.

My little lamb

Birthday Wishes

My children have birthdays just around the corner. Now anyone that knows me, knows that I have been thinking about and planning their celebrations since Christmas. The other night, Paul was not home during bath time. I wanted to save time, so I placed Ethan and Erica in the bathtub together. They have recently been banned from this activity. As the end of the bath time, I pulled Ethan out of the tub, dried him off, and then reached for Erica. As I was pulling Erica from the bathtub, she said that she wanted a penis for her birthday.

A few days after the bathtub incident, Paul and I were asking Ethan about his birthday party. He began listing his friends that he would like to attend his party. He then stated that he did NOT want to invite The Joker. Paul and I smiled at one another across the dinner table before we asked Ethan who the Joker was. He told us, "the guy with the white face, he can't come." It took me a minute to figure out where he learned about The Joker. I guess the trips to The Children's Museum and the Batman book he checked out two weeks in a row at the library helped him decide not to invite the Joker. Tonight at bath time, Ethan was upset because, "Daddy invited the Joker."

I guess you just can't plan for everything!

Easter with the Buenings

Today the Buening family gathered at Gammaw and Papaw's house to celebrate Easter and Aunt Erin's birthday! It was so nice that we had go outside and enjoy the weather while waiting for the others to arrive.

Ellie and cousin Jake on the swings.

Ethan, Ally, and Erica on the tire swing. This was our tire from Paul's old Ford car. Papaw could have made another tire swing from the flat tire I had this week on the van.

Ally and Erica on the "tater tot."

My sweet babies!

The Buening cousins . . . one more in May!!! and another in September!!!

Ethan had baby torpedoes in his Easter basket. He has been asking for torpedoes ever since Austin brought them on our family trip to Dale Hollow two years ago! Thank goodness he finally got his torpedoes! -- They zoom under the water.

Erica, you look beautiful in your new pink goggles! Mommy will loosen the strap up soon.

And now, the Easter egg hunt! Thanks for hiding the eggs Uncle Gordy and Aunt Ashley!

A Special Treat

Ethan and Erica love to help in the kitchen. We decided to make a special treat for our Easter celebration with Gammaw, Papaw and family tomorrow.

We made birds' nests with jelly bean eggs. Some even had a PEEP chick guarding their nests.

As always, Ellie had front row seats to our cooking show!

Elmo Show and Boys Night

What a great day! My mom surprised Ethan and Erica with tickets to the Sesame Street Live show at the Murat Theatre tonight. Ellie was also able to join us because she and I are like Velcro--we stick together. Ethan was so excited about the show and Erica told B-maw that Elmo is her favorite. We were ready for a good time.

This is how B'maw watched the the whole first act. Did I mention that we were in the front row? Thank you for the wonderful seats B'maw!!! Ellie also loved the show. She sat on the edge of her seat (my knee or B'maw's knee) and bounced and clapped during the songs. She even tried to do the motions for The Itsy Bitsy Spider. We all had a fantastic time.

So, while we were off having fun at the Elmo show, Paul had to entertain himself.

Well, not really . . . he had plans.

Paul's cousin, Brad, is getting married in a few months. (They will have the most handsome ring bearer that I have ever seen!) Tonight the boys were getting together to celebrate the last remaining days of Brad's bachelorhood. Tonight, Paul was heading to his Grandparents' farm with the rest of the boys. Paul loaded Ethan's mattress into the back of the van, so he would have a place to sleep tonight. He didn't want to risk not getting a bed so he took one with him. Erica thought it was the coolest thing. She even gave her pillow to Paul. However, she did take it back before he left. Ethan is sleeping in B'maw and Pop-O's bed tonight, and Paul will be sleeping in the van on Ethan's mattress.

Family Night at the Children's Museum

Tonight, Paul and I decided to take advantage of family night at The Children's Museum. We almost did not make it. The traffic was horrible. Everybody wanted to visit the museum tonight. Paul finally dropped Ethan, Erica and me off at the front door of the museum while he and Ellie went to park the truck. Even though the museum was very crowded, we really enjoyed our time together as a family.

Ethan was so excited to show Erica the DinoSphere at the museum. They have these wonderful tunnels that the children can crawl through that ends in a bubble in the middle of an exhibit. Ethan pulled Erica into the tunnel to show her the bubble. While they were in a tunnel, I saw another mother trying to encourage her daughter to look through the bubble. The daughter was very hesitant. I asked Ethan to help her through the tunnel. He immediately grabbed her hand, reminded her to duck her head, and then lead her to the bubble to look out. When Ethan realized that she wasn't quite tall enough to look out, he tried to lift her so that she may have a better view. The little girl's parents were a little misty-eyed during this event, as was I. The little girl was very bashful and obviously had many health concerns. Ethan either did not notice or did not care, he just wanted to help this little girl see the dinosaurs. Talk about a "proud mamma moment" for me. I think that was the best moment of our visit. Erica was able to dress up and pretend that she was a dinosaur. She said that she was a dinosaur from her Go Diego Go video. Erica said the dinosaur exhibit was her favorite part of the museum.
Ellie and her Daddy enjoying some snuggle time.

Erica and Ethan were on a dinosaur dig. Ethan was measuring the "bones" he found. He was taking his job very seriously.

Doesn't Erica make a cute archaeologist?

Ellie wanted to help put a puzzle together in the Comic Book Heroes exhibit.

Ethan and Erica worked together to complete the puzzle.

Ethan, Erica, Yoda, and Ellie at the Star Wars Exhibit. I was a little disappointed at the exhibit. Paul said that it was small, but the items they did include were very interesting.

Ethan created his own Fireworks of Glass sculpture.

Erica really enjoyed arranging her Fireworks of Glass sculpture. She was not ready to leave this portion of the museum. She worked on several sculptures and had to arrange and rearrange until the "glass" bulbs were in just the right place.

Laundry Day

I have never been very good at keeping up with the laundry. It is not a big deal to wash it. I just wish my fairy godmother would put it all away for me. That has always been the case, just ask my mother. Currently, I have several loads waiting to be folded. At 2:00 this afternoon, Ethan was on his 4th outfit and Erica on her 2nd of the day. I guess I could be upset that they were piling up the dirty laundry by the second, or I could be thankful that earlier, they were fighting over who was going to help me vacuum. Ethan took the vacuum cleaner from me, so I went to sweep the kitchen floor. Erica then proceeded to take the broom from me. Now if I could just figure out the laundry, oh and the dusting.