Some quick catch up:

Ben is one emotion filled boy. He bursts into tears at the most interesting times. Last weekend we were watching Charlotte's Web. When she dies in the end the poor boy was HYSTERICAL - big heaving sobs.

Saturday nights are now know as dance party night. Before going to bed, we turn off all the lights and crank the music and dance dance dance. Good thing we no longer share any walls with neighbors!

But we can still annoy our neighbors with smoke - every Sunday at 4pm we fire up our fire pit and burn all the dead branches surrounding the bungalow that we cleared that day. We then toast up marshmallows BEFORE dinner because that is our Sunday Funday works at the bungalow.

Although Ben is eating slightly better than in the past, he is still pretty finicky. My friend gave me a banana muffin recipe that Ben LOVED until he saw me putting oats into the mix. He now refuses to eat them - even though he LOVED them before...

We started Karate this month. It has been a huge help keeping sassafras Emma in check around the house. She is very good at it and takes her time in the dojo very seriously. Ben, on the other hand, is still the class clown and his sensei is not impressed. He has gotten "warnings" in every class. I think it's awesome because he truly needs help with focus and I think this will guide him. It has also give him some self confidence to stand up for himself - and guess what - now HE IS SASSING ME. Whyyyyyyyyyyy? Where is my sweet boy? JeezLouise.

We have missed the last few family swims at the school but got to go tonight. It took them a bit to get the courage to go into the deep end again, but they did it and were swimming up a storm. Ben can now float on his back for a bit, too, without sinking. Em's bootie keeps pulling her down. At one point tonight, Ben got a little too deep without realizing it, but he did not panic. Just kept bobbing to catch his breath until he could get a good enough push off to swim into the shallow area. Soooo glad this kid has always had good water instincts.

Peter Cottontail

As Easter weekend was the first part of Spring Break for the kiddos, Gramma Lou suggested we go to PA, celebrate Easter then return home kidless for a few days to go to work while she entertained them in PA. Winner winner chicken dinner!

We arrived Sat pm and immediately went to work on Easter decorations. Check out this cute PEEP craft. Looks adorable, right? But it was a giant pain in the ass for Gramma (not me, I just got to watch and laugh at her pain) as the graham crackers wouldn't hold together very well with the frosting. I knew that would happen because I had attempted the same kind of disastrous creation at Christmastime while making homemade gingerbread houses out the the same combination. But I just "smiled and waved, boys" and watched her spend time with my demanding munchkins, "Is the frosting dry YET, Gramma???"

I'm going to eat his face, he is too delicious...

We got to dying eggs next. I had spent $2 on a target dye set, but Daddy vetoed the chemicals and said let try it this way: We put three tablespoons of plain white rice in four different cups, added 6 drops of food coloring to each cups, tossed in the hard boiled eggs and shook 'em like crazy. (See pic) The eggs turned out AMAZING!! And no mess! (unless you count the spilled rice we found the next morning all over the rug... ha!)

I made them hop on one foot while shaking...

They fell asleep at a reasonable hour Saturday night. Ben is going through a "scared of the dark" phase again. He made me go into the bathroom with him every time he needed to pee. Yes, Gramma's house is haunted by the dead husband and wife that used to live there, but they are friendly ghosts. Please don't tell Ben this!! Em woke up at 5am Sunday morning. Daddy sent her back to bed with a book. She fell back to sleep until Ben woke her up with SQUEALS of delight when he discovered Minion Operation left by the Easter Bunny. Em's sleepy face is the ABSOLUTE cutest!

And she loves her new CD / radio player...

We had an egg hunt before our family ham lunch. The kids helped me put the eggs together, then daddy hid them. They were so excited to find the eggs they made up. Go figure!

Put the camera down!! We wants EGGS!

Here is the obligatory butt shot of a kid picking up an egg! It was cold and started snowing pretty heavy as soon as we were done!

Does this plastic egg make my butt look big?

That egg hider sure must have been tall. HELP!

Happy Childrens.

Counting his booty, chocolate and coins. I didn't get a pic of lunch but it was delicious. Ben even ate the HAM! Who knew? A successful family weekend... :)

I only ate the ham so I could eat the chocolate for dessert.

well, hello there!

I sat with the principal two weeks ago to plan out next year's PTA school calendar - NEXT YEAR'S - as in this school year is FLYING BY and we will be hitting the beach before we know it! I apologize for slacking on this blog, I'm just so darn tired at the end of the day! Our office is exploding, the kiddos activities have tripled. It's fast and furious and fun!

Em is doing amazing on piano. I marvel that in just 12 weeks she has "gotten" it. She is an absolute natural - we love watching her hands glide over the keys channeling her great grandma Antonietta. She played two short and sweet songs at a recital a few weeks back. It was a full house and this kid didn't miss a note. She marched right up to the piano and knocked out her songs without any fear. The first thing she does after she wakes up is wander into the sunroom and play. When she is bored she goes right for the piano. I'm excited to see her excel!

Homework has gotten better. She is moving into multiplication - via stupid common core - but she isn't bawling her eyes out every night anymore. If only we could get her to slow down and complete it neatly...

Both kids went to "buddy week" at a local Karate school last week and absolutely loved it. The sensei interviewed them and invited them to join the school. We are going to do a four week trial and then decide from there. It ain't cheap... but they learn valuable skills, and not just physical skills - the mental toughness and character choices they learn will be beneficial in many ways. They can go 10 times a month - more taxi driving by me, but also more chances to make some new friends. :)

I have lots of pics to post but my phone is dead. I'll try more tomorrow (Aunt Miki).