Stay Out of My Way

I've come to the conclusion that the earlier I go to bed and the more sleep I get, the grouchier I become.

Maybe it's my body's way of telling me how sleep deprived I really am. Because on more than one occasion this week I have either fallen asleep the second I sit down after dinner, skipped my walk with the dog, and gone to bed at least two hours earlier than normal. Then dragged myself out of bed later than normal and struggled all day trying to stay awake. And be happy while staying awake. 

It goes against all scientific fact.

Today was no different. I went to bed at the same time as Jeff... which he absolutely HATES! Hates! He likes me to come to bed a few hours after he's fallen asleep. Then I could barely open my eyes and shut my mouth which was drooling all over my pillow when the kids woke up. It literally hurt to get out of bed. I drug my feet getting showered and dressed and after going with the family to look at playgrounds {Jeff told Fern he would buy him anything he wanted if he started to work on potty training... even if it kills us in the process}, sat down on the couch, fell asleep, and drooled all over my sweatshirt. 

Attractive.

It wasn't until 2 in the afternoon that I finally got a spark to do something. 

I told Jeff, "I'm in a cleaning mood. Just stay out of my way."

He smiled. A really big smile. And he stayed out of my way all day, happily plopped on the couch watching NCAA tournament games.

Cole and I - my always eager helper - managed to vacuum, dust the living room and dining room, sort the laundry, get out the Easter decorations, plan the week's meals, make lasagna, go to the grocery store, and buy the dog some food and treats at the pet store before we both petered out. 

I wish I knew what set off that cleaning mood. Because I have yet to find myself a house elf. Or finish the laundry.

Green Popcorn

I wanted to make something fun - and green - to eat on St. Patrick's Day. But with 9 a.m. church, there was no way in Hades I was getting up before the sun to make green eggs or green pancakes. And I'm not a fan of corn beef and cabbage either.

Which left my creative juices to try the Our Best Bites' St. Patrick's Day popcorn. Aka green popcorn. I thought it was good. Next time I will sift out all the un-popped kernels before making it green though. The kids thought it was really cool until they ate some. They weren't real fans of lime flavored popcorn.

Oh well. More for me. And a perfect excuse to finally use my trifle bowl that I adore! {If you have winner trifle bowl recipes send them my way! I want to use this gorgeous dish more often.)

Even if they weren't super eager to help eat the popcorn, they were more than eager to help take pictures of it. 

I need some work on my food photography. Hint, hint a new lens or camera would be nice. But it was nice of those leprechauns to put a green tablecloth on the table... how did they know?

The Leprechauns are Coming!

Does anyone remember some saying or book or song I can't be sure now, "The Lemmings are Coming! The Lemmings are Coming!" 

That's what just popped into my head writing the title of this post... the Leprechauns are coming! And let me tell you, now that Pearl understands time and has a calendar she brings home from school each month, she knew exactly when those little Leprechauns were coming.

And she wasn't going to let us forget.

She even left the leprechauns a note on her chalkboard in anticipation of their arrival. It even had a cute thank you note.

As luck 'o the Irish would have it {I can't help myself}, we read two St. Patrick's Day books about leprechauns the night before "Leprechaun Day" as Pearl calls it which I'm pretty sure secured our scavenger hunt the next morning. Our leprechauns don't cause mischief or make messes. With the exception of turning Jeff and Cole's milk green in their cereal. No.... Jeff told Pearl he pays them gold to be good and that's the real reason there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Instead they leave us pictures clues that lead us to a little treasure. Only this year, those lazy leprechauns' camera broke so they just wrote down different words. 

They made up for the broken camera though with their the treasure they left behind. Books, Legos, toy horses, and green shirts {no one wants to get pinched}.

Walks

I've been taking the kids with me on my walks with Blu along our favorite walking path. It's been fun and I'll admit, slightly stressful trying to wrangle not one but three little beings who have more energy, curiosity, and willpower than I do. Especially when they insist on bringing their bikes... you can probably imagine who ends up carrying at least one of the bikes the entire walk!

I've quickly learned that the glorious Spring days with sunshine and warm temperatures also have a slightly stressful impact on our walking adventures because my favorite walking path becomes everyone else's favorite walking path. Not to mention it borders the local golf course which doesn't have a fence or barrier between all those rolling golf balls and people that Blu finds fascinating. And geese. She likes to chase them too.

The trail has taken on a whole new life now that the snow is gone. I kind of miss my quiet, peaceful alone time on it.

Until I see these little faces running in front of me.

Or in Blu's case, slobbering in front of me.

We're Going to Disneyland

We're going to Disneyland!

Not really.

I've never been to Disneyland and sadly for my own children, don't ever plan to go. It helps that Jeff gets sick on amusement park rides. And that we don't have cable T.V. to remind them of any Disney channel commercials promoting the happiest place on earth. 

But...

We do go to Disney on Ice every year. I almost didn't bother {fine, remember} with tickets this year but then had the thought that I'm probably only a few years away from Pearl being totally appalled at the idea of going or even being seen with her mother. So I sluffed work, had my sister-in-law and niece sluff work and school and off we went. 

What in the world is up with Pearl's face? In both pictures? It must be the excitement. 

And as per tradition, each kid got their own tub of popcorn. And of course, a ridiculously overpriced toy. It's a scandal. Pearl got a Tiana or Cinderella horse which was actually less overpriced than I originally guessed. Ruby got a Little Mermaid necklace. And Fern, well, in a see of pink and purple and sparkly princesses as far as the eye could see, somehow that boy spotted the one, single toy for boys. A sword. You can imagine the fun we had with that.

The show was way better than last year. Rapunzel flying around in the air with her hair was pretty cool. Even Cole liked that part. He barely squeaked through intermission, declaring he wanted to go home. Luckily the Zamboni was entertaining enough during intermission to give him the boost he needed to make it through the end of the show.

The kids humored Emily and I afterwards with a few pictures. They were saying, "Disney on Ice!" They make me laugh.

Seriously! Can we not have one decent picture together?

Compare to E.Z. and Ruby-juby. 

At least Rue-bug always has a smile for me! And E.Z. don't kill me! I am totally having baby hunger pains seeing that cute belly! Seriously. Isn't my sis-in-law amazingly beautiful pregnant? I can't wait to meet my new niece at the end of April!!! Gah! My uterus is screaming for a baby.... don't worry, Jeff doesn't read my blog.