Happy 7th Birthday, Norah!

A day late, but the sentiment is all the same.  Happy 7th birthday to the light of our lives, the best big kid we ever could have hoped for.  You have taught us so much about patience, humor, and unconditional love.  May your dreams always come true.

Easter, etc.

Louis recently went to a race car themed birthday party and the take home favor was a plastic race car helmet.  He wears it everywhere.  Reid was at the same party and is similarly obsessed with his helmet.  Best birthday party favor ever.

Now that both kids are firmly entrenched in the "lego phase" of childhood, our house is overrun with them.  I have tried a few things to keep them contained, but discovered this little gem at our neighborhood garage sale (homeowner's association mandates that garage sales only occur twice a year, so they are huge events with lots of homes participating).  I scored this beauty and so far it's been dong a decent job of making me not insane.

 The growing up thing is happening way too fast.

Despite the pool being a cool 68 degrees, the kids have already been in a handful of times.  I still make him wear his puddle jumper if I am not in there with him, but I am confident this is the year we will be free of artificial flotation devices.

Earning her keep.  She likes to vacuum.  I like it when she vacuums.

Waiting, waiting, waiting for summer.  I can hold off a bit longer.

We participated in the neighborhood garage sale for the first time.  We got rid of a lot of stuff and made a little cash.  If I figure it out based on how many hours of work I put in, I think I made about 25 cents an hour.

This guy and this hat.  Slays me.

Norah had her school carnival a few weeks ago.  We worked the Girl Scout craft table and then hung out at the carnival.

There was a "wipe out" inflatable that I couldn't believe she wanted to try.  Basically you had to duck under and jump over the spinning arms.  She did a good job of ducking but was a little too short for successful jumping (she made it a few times but got nailed a few times).

There was a petting zoo with bunnies, chickens, ducks, goats, and even a little pig.

We celebrated Easter the next day because the T's were traveling to Dallas for the actual holiday.  I made the gluten free bunny cake.  Yes, those are peeps.  I bought a package for the kids to blow some up in the microwave and these were the extras.

They clean up nicely.

I think the suit has to be officially retired at this point.  It is the third year in a row that he's worn it.  It still fits in the waist, but the highwater pants are a bit ridiculous.

Cousin-palooza.

The big kids are still good sports about participating in the annual egg hunt although not as cooperative when asked to pose for photos.

There were some confetti eggs smashed and a fantastic lunch.  My kind of Easter.

Flip flops are all the rage among the four year olds this year.

Our new favorite mom-can't-bear-to-clean-food-off-the-floor-one-more-time place to eat out--Pieology.

Norah had rodeo day at school.  This is as close as we got.

The Friday before Easter was a school and state holiday, so the GVZs took the train downtown for lunch and a walk on Town Lake.

That evening I felt as though I had already done enough good parenting for the day so I fed the kids ice cream for dinner in the car.

Finding shoes for my kids is a nightmare.  They both have these long and narrow feet with even narrower heels.  Norah is particularly sensitive about the slipping and rubbing of her heel and will complain incessantly about the smallest shoe discomfort.  As a result, they tend to have one pair of shoes they wear until they fall apart.  Norah has been asking for summer sandals for weeks and has rejected the 9,000 pairs I have brought to her.  Although I wasn't thrilled with this pair (a little too Suri Cruise for my taste), she loves them and even more importantly does not bitch and moan about them.  Done.

On Saturday of that weekend we went to the Waco Zoo with the B family.  Last time we were there all the animals were tucked inside because of the big, bad, 45 degree weather.  This time we saw them all.  There's nothing that makes you feel like your baby is all grown up than putting him next to a 20 month old.

Real Easter consisted of a low key egg hunt courtesy of the Easter Bunny and a hard core scavenger hunt courtesy of me.  Norah specifically requested a hunt where each egg had a riddle quiz with a clue to the next egg.  I took on her challenge and it was awesome.  I should have been a rapper.  I got some sweet rhymes in me.

Family came over for pot-luck brunch and we did some fun science experiments in the microwave (like blowing up peeps and a bar of ivory soap).

These guys play together all the time now but as a result bicker and fight all.the.time.  It is a rare moment to catch them like this.

This guy tests his limits every chance he gets.  But he also knows what it takes to get a donut at the grocery store.

Partners in crime.

In a matter of 15 seconds he completely disassembled this umbrella with his bare hands.

I think that's the end of my phone.  Until next time...