Spring Break Fun

This past week, Amelia was on Spring break. She did not attend a camp nor did we go anywhere, but we still made sure that these days off from school were packed with fun and lots of entertainment. On Monday, Amelia came to work with me, which she loves to do, and promptly lost her first upper tooth! 

But that did not slow her down to have fun with her friends, Grace and Malcolm, who came over for a play date. Elliot loved showing off his toys and dressing up.

On Tuesday, she lost her second upper tooth. That is two teeth in two days! And like that, she looks like a 9 year old. 

Right after work, my little girl and I went to see Peter Rabbit: The Movie at the theater. It was a cute movie and I enjoyed spending this one-on-one time with my firstborn. 

When we came home, Elliot showed us his "scuba diving" gear. This kid has an imagination that awes me every day. 

By the way, there is never a dull moment, when you have an active 4-year old boy in the house. Right before school, I told him to lotion his face...he also lotioned his hair and everything around his face. And then he wanted to wear his tie for school...why not. His hair looked already slick enough. 

For Good Friday, I took off from work while Derrick only worked half a day. After an early lunch, we took the children to the Adventure Science Center in Downtown. It is a  science museum for children with lots of hands-on exhibits that the whole family can enjoy. We have never been before and thought it was time to go and check it out. Luckily we purchased the annual pass as it was very crowded and loud and so we only stayed for a couple of hours. (I suggested to another mom that they should give each adult a complimentary glass of wine at the entrance and she totally agreed.)

We often watch the Magic School Bus. So these two were excited to "board" it for a picture. 

There is so much to see and do that we definitely will return soon to the Adventure Science Center. Hopefully on a less crowded day...

That evening, we had a picnic in front of the TV while watching a movie. Even the cat loves hanging out with us on family movie nights! 

And that concludes our Spring Break. I actually look forward to being back on a regular schedule even though there are merely 7 weeks left until Summer Break. 

March Update

The weather in Tennessee has been on a roller coaster and this month, we had days with sunshine and low 60s F but only two days later, it is freezing cold again and even some snowflakes coming down. To stay warm, we ate homemade soup (And yes, our son is 4 years old and most days still wears a bib at the table. As long as he still makes a mess and voluntarily puts it on, he will wear it):

While Derrick was on a business trip this week, the kids and I stopped by the library and the park, made pizza pie for PI day, and spent relaxing afternoons at home in front of the fireplace. 

But it life is always the best, when we 4 are back under one roof: Playing Fireman Sam with his Daddy. 

Because Mommy needed a break, two of my girlfriends and I went downtown for dinner and dessert  on Saturday night to explore some interesting flavors. We started with donuts (for the next morning) from Five Daughters' Bakery before eating dinner at a vegan restaurant called Graze. The donuts were terrific and the appetizers at the restaurant too but we discovered that we do not like Seitan (starch free wheat, and sounds like S-a-t-a-n) steak. Luckily I had ordered a Root Veggie Wrap, which was pretty good. We finished the night with ice cream from Jeni's and it did not disappoint. The Riesling Poached Pear Sorbet was amazing!  By the end of the night, we decided that we will soon go on another Foodie Night Out to try some of Nashville's other popular restaurants. 

I also was overdue for a haircut and some highlights and loved getting spoiled by my favorite hairdresser. Those wavy curls are my favorite part of getting my hair done. 

Over the weekend, we worked on our front yard. After Derrick cut down all the scrubs and bushes, I replanted the area. We decided to make the planted area shorter and to sod some grass in the coming months instead. Before, during and after: 

Next up, is the removal of the deck in the back yard and putting more raised vegetable beds in. 

Lately, these two are reading books to each before bed time. Hoping this bond will last forever. 

And some days, we all just need to cuddle together on the couch, even the cat can't resist:

This week, the children also finished their 8 weeks of private swim lessons at the Y. They improved both a lot and Amelia is now ready to take the swim test and graduate to the lap pool while Elliot made great strides in using his arms and legs to propel himself thru the water. 

As you can tell, we are never bored and on top of it, there is also lots of work and so I'm working more hours at my job as well. Every week, I try to write a blog post, but then the days fly by and I'm either too tired at night or too busy on the weekend to update this space. I still do enjoy it though and will try to be more consistently with posting on here. Thank you for continuing to follow our journey. 

Dress-Up Week

Every year, the first week of March is "Read Across America" Week in our schools. It is also the week, we celebrated the beloved children's book author Dr. Seuss. In honor of his work, the children were asked to dress up each day to celebrate a specific book: Monday - Sleep book (wear pj's); Tuesday - Green Eggs and Ham (wear something green); Wacky Wednesday (wear something wacky); Thursday - The Cat in the Hat (wear a hat) and Friday - Fox in Socks (wear silly/ mismatched socks). Amelia jumped at the opportunity to dress up for school and was quite happy with the choices we came up with:

The school also hosted a Dr. Seuss themed literacy night on Tuesday, which Amelia and I attended.

We had fun playing Bingo, trying on hats at the photo booth, listening to an author read his book to the children, playing Dr. Seuss games and drawing a Cat in the Hat. 

That week, Elliot also had Spring Picture Day at school and all he wanted to wear was his favorite Batman shirt. We agreed he will take it off for the photographer, but if not there will be plenty more years of school pictures. Sometimes it is all about which battle to fight and which to let them win. He looks so adorable and grown up, it is hard to say no some days. 

Unfortunately, by Friday my little boy came down with a high fever and we stayed home. I prayed it would not be the flu/ strep throat disease that is going around and luckily, it was "only" Hand-Foot-and Mouth disease. After 2 days with a high fever and feeling miserable, he finally turned the corner on Sunday and then started a rash. 

Since he brought it home from preschool and was not contagious any longer, on Tuesday he was able to be back at school. You know that he feels better if he dresses up like a Superhero Kitty Cat:

Meanwhile my other child dressed like her personality: wild and fun-loving.

I try to volunteer once a week in Amelia's classroom and while I was there, I noticed her artwork. " If I was a Narwhal"

And then there was the daylight saving time on the weekend. Luckily, the weather turned a bit and we started our week off with a two-hour delay due to the unforecasted snow. I can't believe Spring is almost here and while the trees are blossoming and spring flowers are blooming, winter is still not done yet. This weather here in Tennessee is a bit crazy lately. 

Hopefully, this was the last batch of winter weather and from here on out, Spring will march in. 

Spring Showers

February passed by quickly and I'm finally catching up with a little update on what we have been up to lately. Well, the cold winter weather made way for some warmer, spring like temperatures and lots of rain showers. So instead of being cooped up indoors, we are spending a lot of time outdoors visiting parks or playgrounds or working in the yard. 

Family walks/ runs in the park:

A couple of weekends ago, we played outside most of the day. It was even warm enough for the first Popsicle on the porch:

Not only is it warmer, but the flowers and tree blossoms are in full bloom:

But the rain showers also brought a lot of flooding in the area. This was at our local park during an afternoon run this week:

Indoors, we played a lot of board games this month or read a lot of books. Amelia is learning how to play chess. 

Derrick brings usually the kids to bed at night and almost every night, he reads a book or two to Elliot. Amelia either reads on her own or I read with her. He is all about dinosaurs lately:

And we cuddled on the couch when Daddy was on his business trip:

Last weekend, Amelia was invited to her friend's birthday party. Games, cake, fashion show and a pinata. The girls had lots of fun:

Here comes Amelia: She was interviewed before hand: She is 6 years old, her favorite color is purple, she likes playing "Connect 4" and when she grows up she wants to be a Mom. The last one cracks me up as everyone was ahhhing but she only wants to be a mom so she can be bossy (to her children) - her words :). 

 All the princesses:

 Amelia and the birthday girl:

 Girl power!

Meanwhile, the boys made pizza at home:

We also prayed a lot this month for Elliot's teacher as she was recently diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer and underwent surgery this week. Ms. Williams is such a loving person and not only the children miss her, but the other teachers and parents do to. While the surgery went well, she still has a long way to go until she is healed. We keep praying and sending her cards and at preschool they are wearing these t-shirts in support of her.

And so the second month of the "new" year comes to an end. The hours of daylight are getting longer and the clothes we wear are lighter. We are soaking up all those days where the sun shines brightly and the skies are crystal blue and the air feels warmer while we are getting ready for Easter and Spring break.