Life Lately

Sometimes I feel like I have nothing to write because it seems like nothing happens.  Then I look back and realize that time is passing me by.  To a kid, time seems to drag on forever.  As an adult, it is speeding by.

I didn't write about Easter.  We kept it simple.  It was raining and a little chilly, so we didn't have an Easter egg hunt at home like we hoped.  Instead, the boys woke up to a trail of plastic eggs leading them to new sand buckets, bubbles, a book, and a few beach toys.  Eliot asked who brought the toys while he was sleeping.  I'm never sure how to approach the Easter Bunny and Santa....  I don't want to go out of my way to lie to him, so I kind of try to let him decide what he wants to think.  "Some people think the Easter Bunny brings toys on Easter.  What do you think?"  He said it was the Easter Bunny, so that is just fine for now.

Later we went to my parents' house for lunch with my sister's family and my grandmother.  The kids played, my mom put on an excessive scavenger hunt (that the kids absolutely love), and we ate well.  Both Eliot and Jack were so exhausted from the day that they took a nap together in my lap, which has only happened maybe once.  Eliot doesn't nap anymore--it completely throws him off.  When we came home, we knew we were in for it with him, but instead the four of us cuddled in bed and watched Transformers cartoons.  It took me almost two hours to get him to go to bed--it usually takes 20 minutes at the most.

Like last year, we took a family portrait.  As I compare the two, I'm amazed by how much we have grown and changed--each one of us.  Christopher has lost about 20 pounds since then.  He continues to work out every day and eats well.  Eliot has aged a year and matured--in the bottom photo, he threw a fit because we said we were going outside to "take pictures" and he thought we meant that HE was going to take pictures with his camera.  The only way we could get him to calm down was to let him hold a camera.  Obviously, Jack has grown because he is here now and is a visible, active member of the family with a clear personality. 

 Although it has been raining the past few days, it had warmed up for a bit.  We took full advantage of the weather with little beach trips.  We head out there and everything seems a little more simple.  Jack devours the sand and Eliot runs around building sand castles.

Chris and I have been working on yard projects.  It's kind of hard to do much in the yard with the kids around because Eliot wants to help and Jack eats (and chokes on) dirt if left to himself for even a moment.  So, one of us works while the other plays with the kids.  Chris and I managed to hang a swing, I planted some new plants, and we cleared out a bed in preparation for some new palms.  In a couple of weeks, it will all be looking completely different.  I'm so excited.

We've been lucky enough to have a few nice pool days with friends too.  Our backyard is mostly full shade, so the pool never actually warmed up last summer.  This year, we put in a pool heater, which was surprisingly affordable and hasn't affected our energy bill much.  I gotta say:  being able to swim comfortably in April has been amazing.