easter weekend

A snapshot of our Easter weekend follows (pictured above is the start of the Capitol Easter egg hunt--two of my children are somewhere in the sea of kids while number three is strapped to my chest):

Before the chaos of the hunt, we enjoyed a nice picnic lunch on the Capitol grounds while listening to a local steel drum/calypso band. Here Scout is discussing her strategy for gathering eggs. Catcher is checking out the competition.

I'm glad I packed a "healthy" lunch since they discovered free cookies upon entering the gate. Tillie didn't get a cookie, but she had free reign on the cheese and crackers I had packed.

The hunt started with a mad dash of preschoolers racing down the west lawn of the Capitol. When I recovered two of my missing children, I was pleased to find them together (phew!).

In Catcher's estimation, he had not collected enough eggs this year. But after the first two he opened contained chocolate--the horror!--he decided that maybe he did have enough.

p.s. You might think that dressing Catcher the same color as the lawn would have worked against me when trying to find my "lost" child, but he stuck out surprisingly well.

While Scout tries trading with a friend, Catcher glances over his shoulder to make sure there is no egg left unclaimed.

Scout doesn't understand why her pink egg is empty (you already ate the candy inside).

We made it home from the egg hunt. The girls napped. Catcher began plotting his own hunt in our front yard.

He looks for the best hiding places in our 2'x5' patch of grass.

He thinks he's pretty clever.

The girls have to close their eyes while he works his magic.

Scout peeks. She's wearing pajamas now, by the way, because she threw up on herself during her nap. Gross, yes, but these are the consequences of eating all your Easter candy in the car on the way home.

(Below) Scout finds an egg. Hurray!

Watching her big brother, Tillie decides she can get in on this whole egg hiding thing. No one will ever look in Catcher's helmet.

Check out the two faces below. Any similarities?

Someone is really excited about something.

Today (on the actual day of Easter) we went to brunch at a friend's. Prior to leaving the house, I found it my duty to get the obligatory "kids dressed up in their Easter best" photo. Here's what I got:

THE END. Happy Easter.

waiting on the bunny

The kids are in bed. The baskets are lined up. When does this bunny thing arrive? And do I get anything?

we're both catcher!

Strike two with that brilliant idea of the sibling sleepover. This time the pajama party lasted just shy of 20 minutes and it came to an end not because Scout was talking, but because Scout had more blankets than Catcher. The injustice was enough to drive Catcher out of the teepee in tears. 

Even though I feel bamboozled for falling for the sleepover stunt again, they looked precious while crawling in for story time in their matching pajamas (matching because both sets belong[ed] to Catcher and are transitioning to Scout as he grows out of them). Next time, I swear, I won't fall for it. Even if Catcher promises he's really ready for a sleepover this time...

p.s. The quote of the night was from Scout saying, "Look! We're both Catcher!" upon realizing they were wearing the same thing.

sunshine in my corner

Nobody puts Baby in the corner, but you can put me in this corner in our living room any day of the week. An extension of my "reading corner" idea that never quite came to fruition in the apartment last year, this is my favorite spot in the house. In an ideal world, I sit in this chair with my sunrise coffee and watch the morning light pour in through the windows. In the afternoon, I sip my midday coffee while reading a great book (the girls are napping in this scenario while Catcher is playing quietly by himself). Below is my view from this corner:

From here I can watch the leisurely traffic on the street and see the postman deliver the mail.

I can also keep my eye on whatever is going on in the dining room from this seat. I'm not sure how much trouble Catcher can get himself into while doing a 200-piece puzzle at the table, but just in case...

The only thing missing from my corner was a little bit of sunshine to reflect the actual sun coming in across the room. I had been dreaming about a sunburst mirror to spruce up the naked wall, and then I found this one on Gilt. I "saved" more on it than I spent, so I figured it was a decent deal.

Voila! Sunshine in my corner.

breakfast with dad

Alex got home from Lubbock (that's in Texas for you non-Texans) yesterday afternoon. But before he was even grounded in Austin for 24 hours, he was on another plane to Michigan. From there he goes to Chicago and then to Las Vegas before rejoining the family in 12 days.

After he dropped Catcher off at school this morning, however, there was time for Alex to take his three favorite ladies for coffee and croissants at Quack's 43rd Street Bakery. There were no iPhones allowed at breakfast--except to take this picture, of course--and we laughed as Tillie tried stealing Scout's food and Scout, in turn, stole mine. It was a great 27 minutes.

target deal of the day

I went to the Target today to stock up on candy for--or rather from--the Easter bunny, and I bought these shoes for $23. I repeat: shoes. For $23. How do you even make shoes for $23?

Love ya, Target.

(sc)outfit of the day

Maybe it's a sense of style. Maybe it's a sense of purpose. But there's something driving this two year-old's fashion choices. After we made it through the whole "everything has to be pink" phase, Scout started experimenting with different colors and patterns, and she surprises me almost daily. When she put her sweater on backwards this morning, I didn't even question it because I knew that she knew what she was doing. Besides, you should never repress an artist's creativity.

i'm with the band

Kids love music. Kids love dancing. Kids love banging things to make loud noises. We got to experience all of those today at the Honk!TX Festival of Community Street Bands. Sound like fun? It was. We met our friends on Austin's east side for a parade of brass bands that began at noon. Watching from the sidelines, Scout jammed along to the beat of her own drum:

And then one of the street bands invited us (not just us...everyone who was watching) to join in and march along in the parade. Duh, we were so there.

(That's the back of Catcher, who ironically dressed in the same color as the band, and his buddy.)

It may not have been the Rose Bowl or Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but our little march down East 3rd Street made us feel like quasi-celebrity band geeks. Oh, and there were Storm Troopers:

soccer mom

I don't drive a minivan and I don't live in a cul-de-sac, but you can now label me a Soccer Mom. Catcher had his first soccer game this morning. We had the 8:00am time slot, which meant I had to have three kids fed, dressed and out the door by 7:30 ("practice" started at 7:45). We made it, and Catcher fell in love with the game. So did I, because watching four year-olds play soccer is fun(ny).

Catcher works on his skills before the game. The "older woman" playing goalie had a brother on his team.

This is how Scout felt when she found out she couldn't go out on the field and play soccer today.

I'm not sure what Tillie is thinking/feeling in this picture, but that's a funny face she's making.

At times the game looked more like the start of a race than a soccer match.

Catcher stayed close to the "tall guy" on his team. Nice move: I think this guy has played before.

There's not much going on in this picture, but pay close attention to the following sequence of events:

Catcher may have gotten away with a foul. Scroll up one more and check out 44 with his hands in his pockets.

Kicking the ball out of bounds is almost as exciting as scoring a goal at this age.