"children become readers on the laps of their parents."
- Emilie Buchwald

brudders.

it is more common to find them annoying each other. hear one fussing at the other. one snatching a toy from the others hand. although lately, more and more, i'll find them together throughout the day.

i'll peek in a room and hear lane reading to evan. i'll look over in the playground and spot them sliding, or throwing, or climbing right next to each other. i'll step outside to check on them and find them intrigued by the same thing: lane explaining whatever it is to evan.

i know i have many more years ahead of me as referee. i also know one day i'll have to step aside and let them work it out on their own.

for now, i'm wishing i could keep them right here, as they are, for just a little bit longer.

spring break.

for a stay-at-home-mom, i think the best way to spend spring break is close to home. i imagine one day, when the boys get older, we might venture farther away, but for now, we made our own fun right in our own backyard and in our own town.

a lot of our time was spent with our favorite set of sisters in our own backyard:
catching caterpillars, swinging in the hammock and eating popsicles.

lane picked up a frisbee one night while we were at target. and played with it in the backyard each day. when he couldn't convince his papa, brother or a friend to play with him, he'd play
with the short hair.

evan invented a new game: sliding down the hill in the bucket of the big tonka truck tractor.
the older boys stole his idea and perfected their technique.

the short hair soaked up a lot of sun.

we dyed a lot of eggs. and ate almost as many as we dyed.

toward the end of the week, the weather cooled a bit.
i met lanna for a night out on thursday.
james and i spent a little time alone on friday night.
on saturday, the boys and i ventured out for a while to visit with some of our favorite family friends. we enjoyed a pizza lunch, a walk around the square, playing on the train and, of course, making penny wishes in the fountain.

val wished for a passing grade. my mom wished for a day off each week to spend with the boys. lane wished for a monster truck.

i kept my penny.

i've got everything i could ever want.

converse covered feet.

two years ago, i purchased a tiny pair of converse for my sweet baby lane. his first pair of big boy shoes. the stitching ran uninterrupted on the bright red canvas. the white laces shined bright. there wasn't a scuff to be found any where on his size five sneakers.

those one stars logged some miles on my little lane's feet.

and when those tiny feet grew an inch or so bigger, i washed the red converse one last time and packed them away with intentions of saving them for memory's sake and hopes that they would one day find their way to another little boy's feet.

two years later, and my boy has never been without a pair of red converse for his always growing feet.

last month, i pulled a box from storage and found a pair of perfectly worn red shoes for the little boy of my hopes. the stitching runs loosely on the faded red canvas. the shoelaces are worn. and the size five sneakers are full of scuffs.

those one stars are logging even more miles on my little evan's feet.

all of the boys' shoes lined up on the back porch to dry.

dye and crack.

in a first for us, we've stayed home all week. all week, i tell you. three whole days without leaving the house. that's my way of avoiding all the places we usually go that are full of kids on spring break this week.

we've invited a few friends over and spent lots of time playing outside.

on sunday, i boiled a dozen eggs. good for snacks, lunch and tie dying.

we've dyed a few at a time over the last three days. at first, lane didn't take to it. then yesterday, he decided it is his new favorite spring craft. i think we might continue to dye our eggs well past easter.

if you haven't dyed your eggs yet, here's an easy way to color your eggs using items you more than likely already have at home.

tie dyed easter eggs

items needed:
white vinegar
boiled eggs
paper towels
liquid food color

pour vinegar into a bowl. cut a piece of paper towel in half and dip into vinegar.
wrap towel around the egg one time.
using the food color directly from the dropper, drop one color at a time onto the covered egg.
rotate egg and colors.
remove towel and place egg in holder to dry.

to keep work surface free from dye, i placed the wrapped eggs on a plastic plate covered with extra paper towels. to keep kids hands free from dye, plastic gloves would work.
i, however, thought the dyed hands were almost as cute as the dyed eggs.

you are what you eat.

if the old saying is true, and you are, in fact, what you eat, then today i am a dark chocolate mint m&m.

i've been popping a few at at time since our day started at 7 am.

she's cute, right?

cheerio compromise.

i came to a compromise. the boys can have their fruity cheerios for breakfast a few times a week.

while it might not be my favorite food to feed them, i've found a way to live with it. i simply mix two thirds of their bowls with whole grain cheerios and then fill in the rest with the fruity cheerios.

the boys don't even notice. and, i feel somewhat satisfied with their first meal of the day.



i can't argue with two smiling faces. even if lane is at that stage where he makes such a goofy face every time he sees the camera pointed his direction.


i've also found that serving the cereal in brightly colored latte bowls makes for quite a pretty display and makes clean up just a bit more enjoyable.