There will be Cadbury Mini Eggs in Heaven

It's a good thing these suckers are only available for a few months each year.
Note to Cadbury: the dark chocolate ones are just not good - I don't know why, but they just don't float my boat. Plus, the dark chocolate colors are ugly.

Spring Cleaning!! Virtual Yard Sale

I have been cleaning out the house in an ambitious spring cleaning effort. Maybe some day I'll actually get to the garage! I went through all of the kids closets and had them try on every piece of clothing they own (tedious) and feel somewhat organized in that regard. Now I have a huge bin of clothing for cousin Soren and bags and bags of stuff for the boy scout garage sale.

I've posted these on craigslist, but thought I'd post them here as well.

$10 Wooden plane rocker. Could use a bit of sanding and paint touch ups or you could think of the paint chips as rustic charm.


$5 Old wooden sturdy child's rocking chair which I painted white.

$15 Little Tykes art desk and matching chair. Has a light up work space as well as an overhead light. Both are working. Desk has crayon marks and needs some elbow grease and a Mr. Clean magic eraser. Has storage for crayons, markers and coloring books/paper.


$75 Lot of 37 men's dress shirts. Bryan recently lost 95 pounds and no longer fits in any of his clothes. This is a group of very nice dress shirts from Calvin Klein, Gap, J Crew, Nautica, Monsieur by Givenchy, Banana Republic, Perry Ellis, Hathaway, Geoffrey Beene and Ralph Lauren. Most of the shirts are XL (one or two size large but they fit big) or size 16 1/2 neck and 34/35 sleeves. There are a couple of 17 inch necks. That's $2.00 per shirt!


$9 Lot of 19 chapter books for kids.

Peaceful

Don't they look so snug and peaceful? Too bad they're both in MY bed!

Third Grade Music Program

A little late, but here are some photos from Max's third grade music program. Max was very excited about this night and worked hard to know his music. There are 8 third grade classrooms at Red Pine - that's a lot of kids! I have been very impressed with this music teacher - they put on a great show every year with speaking parts, musical instruments and lots of choreography.


This was Max's favorite song - I was trying to record with my camera while holding Calvin.

Como Zoo - Spring Flower Show

We have not been up to the Como Zoo in St. Paul for a very long time, but after reading about the spring flower show in the paper, I decided we needed to get up there and smell some spring! It was cold, rainy and dreary on Tuesday (like every day this week) but we brought gloves and hats and braved the cold.

Once inside, it was not cold at all, in fact it was humid and damp and really hard to take a photo since my lens kept fogging up!



We stayed by this koi pond for a very long time. There were so many fish and they kept coming right up to the kids and making kissy faces at them!


This is the main arboretum space - so beautiful! It smelled warm and springy and delicious.


After lunch, we braved the outdoors to see the monkeys, tigers and lions, zebras and giraffes (they always look so sad in their small enclosed winter spaces) as well as the penguins and sea lions. We were very wet and a bit chilly by the time we left, but everyone had a great time!

Last Day

It is the last day of spring break. Sad. We have spent a lot of time in our pajamas because it is cold and alternating between rain and snow.

Etsy Love

If you ever need to waste an hour or just need to take your mind off of life, try the pounce feature over at Etsy. It will show you what has recently sold and what new shops have opened. Here are some of my recent finds while wasting time pouncing.

I think these are stinkin' cute!


I think this shop is delightfully clever!


This seller has the most beautiful jewelry!


I love this pillow.


If you need a little laugh, check out this shop. First of all, I admit, Sophie would love a dress covered in feathers, but really?!? Also, the head bows are some of the largest I have ever seen - out. of. control.

Boys and their Toys

Did you know you could borrow one of these from the University for free? Me either. Bryan spent the last five weeks or so enjoying glimpses into the evening sky with this beauty. The kids thought it was pretty cool too and they already know far more than their mother about the lights above us. When I peeked through the lens, I thought Saturn looked like a perfect, tiny little sticker.

Views from my window - a nest

We have a nest! I think it might be new.

Wardrobe Malfunctions

Bunny Season

My little rabbits helped me dig out the Easter decor.


These little chicks are my favorite. I found them in a hospital gift shop several years ago. The little vintage bunnies are from a garage sale.

Warm Wacky Weather

Last week we had a couple of days where the weather actually got into the 60's!! It was sunny, it was slushy and melty and it was glorious! The kids had to be dragged into the house at night.


We like to multi-task around here. I packed the kids a lunch which they ate on our walk to the park - Tristan was not quite done by the time we arrived.


The kids played baseball with sticks and plastic garden hoes.


If you are a mother, you are looking at the photo below and thinking "those tights are never going to be clean again". You are right.