Flies Beware

Lio and Paloma each got a Venus Flytrap plant a few weeks ago.  They really are pretty fascinating plants, and anything that can help get rid of those pesky flies that sneak into the house is fine by me!

A Perfect Day

I am happiest when Lio and Paloma are getting along.  Today is one of those rare days!  (Why is sibling rivalry inevitable?)  My wish for them is that they grow up close, and are each other's best friend when they get older.

I wonder what Lio wishes for.  (Oh, he later told me it was to sight a dragon.  Big surprise!)

I wonder what Paloma wishes for.  (She later told me that she wishes for no stinky flowers in the world.)

And they rode off not quite into the sunset (hey, my kids are in bed by then!).  The end.

honk honk

We have been seeing so many geese these past few weeks.  I know that in a short time we will see their baby goslings (thanks for the correct term, Lio!) waddling behind the mamas.  Ahh, Spring.

The funniest thing about these geese is that they like to wake us up with their honking every morning, and for some weird reason like to do it from the top of our roof!  (Notice the newly painted black shutter!)

Blooms

I am so ready for this weather to stay!  Everything is coming up in the front garden, and it looks so lush and beautiful.

I got some Columbine to fill in a few spaces that were looking a bit empty.  I even got a very young white Dogwood to make up for the tree we lost in the windstorm.  I love how Dogwoods look in the spring.  Maybe now John will be able to correctly identify a Dogwood, since he seems to think every flowering tree is one!

To confuse John even more, this is one of our Dogwood bushes.  I love the white and green leaves, and the stems are a beautiful red.

These little purple guys make me pretty happy.  I hope they spread and create a carpet.

Even though it's a few weeks early, I got some plants to put in the planters on the front porch.  I need to get some taller flowers, and probably some more color.  I'm always drawn to those bright greens, purple blues and whites.

a day at the zoo

We had summer weather today and met some friends at the zoo.  I wonder what real summer weather will do - all of the kids were soooooo hot!

Paloma fell asleep in the car on the way home, as usual.  I think I may make her run some errands with me after dinner since she will probably be up until 10 tonight.  I am on a mission to find her some simple sandals for the summer, but am having the hardest time finding anything that's not obnoxious in color or style, and in my price range!

The Birthday Cookies

For Lio's birthday this year, he has requested Dragon cookies.  The kid does not like cake, cupcakes or chocolate.  He even picks chocolate chips out of cookies.  I think he would eat any of the mentioned if there were absolutely no other choices around, but don't you think that's so weird?  He always chooses an iced cookie and vanilla ice cream over anything else.  

I just got his dragon cookie cutter in the mail, and I am sure it is going to take me over 3 hours to decorate them for his class.  (Easily 3 - I'm betting on longer.)  And the cookies are going to be huge!  I know it's going to be a lot of work, but I'm sort of looking forward to seeing how they turn out.  

Butterfly Show

Today we went to the Annual Butterfly Show at the Krohn Conservatory.  Lio and I went for the first time 6 years ago - he was only 2 weeks old!  I have a beautiful picture of us while we were there that was taken by a stranger, and was later sent to me.  I was holding sleeping little Lio, while a bright orange butterfly landed on my hand.  Ever since then, it has been our tradition to go each year.  (I am going to make it my mission to get a picture from each year that we've gone to share with you... but it's already too late tonight and I am so very tired.)  It's something that we look forward to, and always are amazed at how beautiful, fragile and strong those creatures are.       

meow

Not a day goes by without Lio and Paloma asking for a kitten.  Although I have had 3 cats in my life, I am not a cat person.  I can honestly say that when those cats were gone from my life, I did not miss them at all.  No sir.  Not the hair all over my clothes.  Not the hair balls on the rugs.  Not the scratches on the furniture.  Not the vet bills.  Will a pet ever be a part of our lives?  I would  like to think so since the kids seem to love animals so much.  (But I secretly hope not.)

Paloma's favorite game of late has been playing "Pet Store".  There is a script involved, where I have to always go into the room and say, "Are there any _________ (fill in with cats, dogs, etc.) available?"  Then I have to pay for her and take her home and treat her like the animal.  Sure it's fun for awhile, but every second of every day?

I'm not sure which will drive me more crazy - a real pet, or my Paloma pet.  And don't even get me started on Lio's "Pet Store"  pretend animal of choice, which is usually a dragon of some sort.  And let me tell you, he gets mad if I'm not up on my dragon facts and don't know the proper way to care for him.    

For the Birds

I am so happy that Lio and Paloma have the same love of birds that I do.  

  

For the past few weeks we have been watching a pair of robins build their nest in a tree close to our house.  The pair has been named "Mr. and Mrs. Spaghetti".  We saw them working so hard to get a ribbon up to their tree to incorporate into the new home they were building.  It looked like they were eating a long piece of spaghetti, hence their nicknames.  There is also a pair of cardinals that have built their nest in another tree in our backyard.  It's so nice seeing the couples each day, even though they do not seem to be the best of neighbors!

This past weekend, John bought a bird feeder and set it up right outside so we can see it from our kitchen table.  Just today, we have seen lots and lots of action!  There was a woodpecker with beautiful red feathers on its head, and the rest came with their mates - a pair of chickadees, our cardinal couple, a goldfinch pair, and a few others that we haven't seen before.  It's going to be so great watching the birds and learning all of their names!  Lio already has plans for a hummingbird garden in the works.  I can't wait to see and hear all of our bird friends!  I hope that one day I can get a good enough picture to share with you.    

Throwing...

Last night I went to Lio's T-Ball practice.  It was exactly what you would expect from 5 and 6 year olds learning to play an organized sport.  I'm not counting on any athletic scholarships for him to get through college, but I do hope that he has fun and learns that you need to practice to do anything better!  The cutest part about the whole night was watching him throw.... kisses that is.  To me.  His mommy.  I think he was glad I was there.

Triops Flops

Last Christmas, Santa brought Lio a kit for growing Triops - which are fish from the time of the dinosaurs!  A very cool gift - one that Lio wanted to open and begin immediately.  The first time we tried to get the eggs to hatch we had no luck.  Maybe the temps were too cold, maybe the water wasn't the correct type (supposed to be Spring water), maybe it was just a bad batch of eggs.  Who knows?  After nothing happened for a few days, we decided to wait until the weather warmed up and we would give it another go.  A few days ago, we got out all of our equipment, bought fresh Spring water, made sure the water temps were correct, and waited.   And waited.  And waited.  Our Triops were duds.  Our Triops were flops.  Again.    

Journal

I just bought this Uglydoll Journal for Lio today.  I thought that during his "quiet time" he could do a little writing.  He was very excited about it - kept asking when it was time to begin.  I hope that it's something he enjoys and gets into the routine of doing.  His first entry was very sweet:

*LIO READ MY BLOG, AND ASKED THAT I REMOVE HIS JOURNAL ENTRY.  HE SAID IT IS PRIVATE!  IF YOU MISSED IT, YOU NEED TO BE MORE TIMELY IN READING MY POSTS.  YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT WILL GET EDITED OUT!

He's excited to share it with John when he gets home from work.  I'm excited to see how it will evolve! 

Happy Thoughts

I have had one of those days - feel like I'm failing at so many things.  These two little friends just make feel a little better.  Give me happy thoughts.  Are from my Guetle Oma from long ago, when I was a little girl.  I miss those days.  It's hard being all grown-up.  

Climbing Trees and Climbing Walls

We had a nice day visiting Columbus yesterday.  The weather was warm and sunny, and perfect for hunting Easter eggs!  Lio and Paloma had so much fun playing with their cousins.  They have reached the age where they aren't as shy and can run off with the older kids and just play silly games.  Paloma was her adventurous self and attempted to climb a tree after watching a few cousins try.  Glad she still had her helmet on from riding bikes!

Both kids fell fast asleep in the car on the drive home, and of course woke up as soon as we reached Cincinnati.  It was just in time to have a quick bite to eat, and then back to bed for the night.  I was surprised they went to bed so easily since neither one of them naps.  They must have been worn out from the fresh air and fun!

After yesterday's climbing of trees, today we are all climbing the walls a bit.  It's always hard to get back to normal after a day away, not to mention a day away that was filled with eating Easter Bunny candy and cookies.  There have been many melt downs today, and we all just need a little quiet time.  I'm hoping tonight it's early to bed, and that tomorrow we will all have a better day!  

Happy Easter

Happy Easter weekend everyone!  We are off to Columbus, and are hoping the weather is nice enough for an Easter Egg Hunt.  

(Didn't Lio and Paloma's eggs turn out beautiful this year?) 

Mammoth Cave

Our little Spring Break "Staycation" was to Mammoth Cave!  I remember going as a kid and it making quite an impression.  John and I both thought that Lio would really love going through a real cave, and were surprised at how brave and adventurous Paloma was!

Our tour was 2 hours long, but seemed to go pretty quickly.  There were lots and lots of steps, and really amazing stalactites and stalagmites to see.  I would love to go back when the kids are a bit older.  They even have spelunking tours that would be very fun!

How much is this worth?

Lio has really been into money lately.  Spending mine, that is.  It seems like we can't go anywhere without him asking me to buy him something.  I tell him in the nicest way possible that he is welcome to bring his own money, and he can buy whatever his little heart desires.  He usually doesn't want to do this, so I guess my response is working.  

Next thing I know, Lio is asking me to pay him to do things around the house.  Who in the world introduced this kid to the concept of an allowance?!  I never got one as a kid.  I was expected to do things around the house to help because I was a part of the family.  It was my job.  As much as I didn't like it at the time, I do understand it now.  

But at the same time, I want him to understand that things cost money, and you have to save money, and you have to make good decisions about what to spend money on.  I think we are going to keep the idea that he is a part of the family and is expected to help out, but also give him the opportunity to do extra things to earn a little cash.  

During our Spring clean-up outside last weekend, there were millions of sticks and twigs in the yard from all of the crazy storms we've seen over the past year.  I told Lio that he could earn some money by helping to pick up as many sticks as he could.  He did end up with a pretty big pile, and didn't complain at all along the way.  How much do you think a big pile of sticks is worth?

Toasting Marshmallows

Saturday was our first official day of Spring Break!  We spent most of the day outside - cleaning the screened in porch, washing down furniture, raking the sand box, getting those toys out.  It truly was a gorgeous spring day, the kind I wish for every day.  After dinner, we decided it would be fun to toast marshmallows on the fire pit.  It's cute how into it the kids are.  They didn't even care that the only marshmallows I could find were stale!

The Seed

The other day, Lio saw a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge, and told John that he's been there before.  John informed him that no,  he has never been there.  John went on to explain that when he and I lived in San Francisco, Lio wasn't born yet.  So Lio told John that he was in my tummy at the time.  John informed him again that no, I wasn't pregnant with him yet.  Then Lio told John that he was there, in the form of a seed in John's penis. 

(A few weeks ago Lio had a lot of questions about how babies were made.  He is so scientific, and so black and white, and so smart, that I had a hard time coming up with answers that were real, but appropriate for his 5 year old self!  I finally changed the subject, but he must have still caught on a little bit.)

Instant Gratification

This is the wheat grass we planted for the Easter Bunny, after only one week!  You've gotta love some instant gratification.  With that ready for the baskets, I just need to get a few items to help Mr. Bunny out for fillers.  I'm thinking of some gardening tools and gloves (since I would love to plant a raised garden with the kids this Spring), pajamas, and a few little fun items from the Dollar store.  I'm really going to keep the candy to a minimum this year!

*John and Lio have Spring Break next week, so we're having a "Staycation" and going on little road trips that aren't too far from home.  Will keep you posted on our adventures later in the week!  Spring Break always makes me wish for our Vieques trips.  Sigh.  

Feeding Ducks and Hopping Rocks

After our hike in the woods earlier this week, we just couldn't get enough of hopping rocks!  Once again we had gorgeous weather, so took some Cheerios to Eden Park to feed the ducks.  There's a great area with flat rocks that the kids love to hop all over.  I really felt like I was pushing my luck - there were a few times that Paloma and Lio almost fell in.  They could have either gotten soaking wet, or could have fractured their skulls.  Sometimes I feel like I'm too protective, so I tried to get over my fears and just let them have fun.  I was tense the whole time, but they had a blast!   

April Fools!

Pretty yucky, right?  This was the start of our April Fools Day.  I saw some really cute ideas for fun tricks to play on kids in April's issue of Family Fun magazine.  (Post a comment if you're interested in getting a year's subscription for $4.95!!!)  I put a few drops of food coloring at the bottom of the cereal bowl, then hid it by pouring the cereal on top.  When Lio and Paloma poured their milk in, it turned green!  Lio thought it was mold, and Paloma just looked a little confused.  April Fools!

 

After a great day of playing outside, I offered the kids some fruit punch.  That should have been their 1st clue that something was up.  When have I ever offered a sugary sweet drink out of the blue?!  The punch was actually some jello.  April Fools!

The last trick up my sleeve was giving them a wormy apple.  While Lio wasn't around, Paloma and I carved a hole into an apple and stuck the worm in.  She's usually so good at keeping secrets, but this one was too much!  She kept talking to Lio about worms, so he was ready for it.  

Tonight we are having breakfast for dinner to end this April Fools.  Hope yours was a fun one!