Easter...

 

So our egg hunt was somewhat of a train wreck this year, at least in the beginning.  I snuck out the back door to hide the eggs early this morning while Riley was watching TV and Jackson was just waking up.  Inside the eggs were various types of chocolate candy.  But before we could get out to look for them (about an hour later), ants decided they would have their own egg hunt first.  After putting several eggs in her basket, Riley noticed she had ants in her basket.  They were all over it.  As it turns out, they had gotten inside most of the eggs.  After mommy went through all of them to clear out the ants, we were able to go back to hunting, and the kids didn't really seem to miss a beat or care that the ants had almost derailed Easter.   Jackson really got into it once he figured out that the idea was to bring the egg to the basket, or in his case bucket.  From that point on he was pretty thrilled to find one and put it in his bucket.

We also had an egg hunt last weekend.  Mommy and Jackson went down to cousin Maddie's second birthday party.  Riley and I stayed behind so that she didn't miss her very first blastball game.  The next day we met up with Olivia and Tyler and Tonise and Craig for an egg hunt at a local church.  Aside from the egg hunt, from which she gathered a year's supply of tootsie rolls, there was also a petting zoo, pony rides, and several inflatable slides.  The tallest one, perhaps the tallest one of these things I've ever seen, was her favorite.  She and Olivia went down "one more time" at least twenty times.   While there she also ate her first hot dog.  She has eaten her fair share of the hot dog weiner, but never a true hot dog complete with the bun.  As the picture shows, she was not quite sure what to do with it, and after a few bites she pretty much gave up. 

Several days ago at their school we had yet another egg hunt.  Jackson's class was up first.  He was not sure what to think about it.  It was somewhat of an ordeal with parents scurrying around to get close up shots.  Smart phone cameras may be convenient, but if you have to crowd right up on what you want to shoot...no thanks...I'll stick to my zoom.  He pretty much cried the whole time, but I think part of that was because I was there and he wanted me to hold him.  I finally put him in the class wagon and he was content from there.  Then it was off to watch Riley's class.

Hers was interesting.  There were two schools of thought:  Go for the eggs or go for the candy.  Riley clearly chose the latter.  Her basket was full, from bottom to top, with nothing but various types of candy.  There may have been 4-5 eggs in there, maybe.  Needless to say she was pleased with her haul, which I do believe may have been more than her loot at Halloween.

(Getting an early start)

Finally, as touched on in the previous update, Friday was hair cut day for both.  It was Jackson's second cut in the past six months.  There were no face plants into metal steering wheels this time, so that combined with sitting in mommy's lap and eating a sucker made for a much better time for him.  For Riley it was the second cut since August 2009.  Crazy to think how much she has changed since the last time she had it cut (http://adivaandadude.blogspot.com/2009/08/first-haircut.html).  But one thing remains the same and that is the stylist wishing she could bottle Riley's natural hair color and sell it. 

(That is definitely keeping an eye on the ball)

Blastball and other stuff...

It has been a while since the last update (again).   Riley is playing Blastball now.  Basically a version of tee-ball but with only one base and with a squeaker inside the base.   She bats lefty (like daddy) and actually has a pretty solid swing already.  Her team is the Purple Crush, made up of several other 3-4 year olds, including her pal Olivia.  It has been a lot of fun going to practices (and feeding the ducks while there), going to games (two so far), and to the parade to start the season.  She and I rode in the back of Coach Scott's truck with the rest of the team while mommy and Jackson waited along the route.

As for Jackson, he's still holding steady with four teeth (top and bottom fronts).  His teeth came in much earlier than Riley's but once those four got here they came to a halt.  He runs around like a crazy man now though, and it is a blast to chase him around (or have him chase me around) and have wrestling matches with him.  He is 100% boy, and sometimes a brute, but always a lot of fun.  He already has a finely tuned radar for how to annoy his big sister.  If he senses he is getting under her skin, then watch out.   As for me, if he sees me in the floor he knows it is go-time, and proceeds to pounce on me.  I treated Riley like fine china, but with him I love to roll around and get rough (although not too rough of course).   He is saying "dada" (usually very loudly while looking for me), uh-oh, and signs for "more".  We are pretty sure that we have heard "light", "dog", and "duck" as well, although not too consistently.

They both love to be outside, no matter what they are doing.  Jackson loves to just explore and get into anything he possibly can.  Usually the things he doesn't need to get into, but he especially seems to enjoy anything involving water.  He already knows how to put the baseball on the tee and knock it off with the bat though.  That is a guaranteed sign that he is going to make millions.  :)  Riley loves to get out and hit the baseball, play basketball with me holding her up to the basket of course.  Probably her favorite thing is to look for bugs under the rocks along the flower beds. 

Several weeks ago we took our trip down to Nana and Granddaddy's house for our annual spring-break crawfish boil.  It was a good time as always.  Riley and Jackson were not sure what to make of the crawfish, even though Jackson was completely ready to hold one if I had let him.  Riley called them "bugs" and when I told her we were going to eat them, she informed me that "We don't eat them, they are for crawling!".  One day soon they will both learn how tasty they are.

(Jackson - March 2012)

(Riley - May 2010)

Riley has a new friend these days as well.  His name is "Bug".  While driving one day, about a month ago, I reached back and made a crawling motion up her leg with my index and middle fingers.  She asked if it was a bug and I said yes.  She then wanted to talk to him, and just like that we had "Bug", who she asks for frequently, and even asks to sleep with.  It's an interesting imaginary world for her sometimes, and one of which I am somewhat envious. 

Just yesterday they both got a hair cut.  It was the second for Jackson, and it was a much better experience than his first.  He only had a few snips in the front, but still, considering the previous experience several months ago it was smooth sailing.  Riley had her first cut since she was around 8 months old.  Over 2 years of growth.  We only had 1/2 inch or so taken off, so you really can't even tell, but it was enough to even it out.  And regardless of the amount taken, she did very well, though she wasn't quite sure what to think of the hair washing at first.  Pictures to come in next post.

We were also very fortunate just this past week to dodge all of the 13 tornadoes that touched down in the DFW area.  We picked up the kids early from daycare just in case, and it was a tense afternoon around our place watching the radar and watching the clouds rolling by for the better part of two or three hours.  It was ominous looking at several points, but we were spared any damage unlike some of the areas not too far from us.  Hopefully we don't see any more of that this season.