So I guess I’ll do this chronologically...
Early in April, Bryce had Nursery Rhyme day at his preschool. We chose “Three Blind Mice.” I made glasses for 2 stuffed mice and made Bryce some ears and a button with a crossed circle over a “carving knife” and put Band-Aids on all the mice’s tails. It was really cute.
Mid-April, my mom ordered a butterfly kit for the kiddos. We had a BLAST with this kit!!! When the caterpillars came, they were in 2 jars with 5 each inside. They were little critters when they arrived. They had food inside their jars and at the top there was a small circle of paper (like a coffee filter) where, when they were ready, would attach themselves and hang and turn into cocoons. We observed them so closely and marked the special days on a calendar. Their chrysalides were beautiful and seemed to be tipped in gold. They were Painted Lady butterflies. It took about a week to 10 days or them to grow and turn into cocoons. It took about another week to 10 days for them to emerge. We kept them for about a week and then released them. It was soooo much fun!!!!
You can see here how the one on the left is sort of in an in-between stage of caterpillar and cocoon.
Look at how the points seem gold-tipped.
Just before emerging - see the colorful wings inside? The bottom is where its eyes are.
Bryce having a "visit"
See their nectar stations and the carnation? I would put spoonfuls of nectar into the flower for them.
They loved it, too!
See how pretty their wings are?
Towards the end of April, I invited my mom to go with me to the nursing building dedication at my college. The main campus of the college I’m attending is an older campus and is really nice. However, since the nursing program is the one of the main things going for the college, they decided years ago to begin plans on a new building that is incredibly technologically advanced. Well, I was blessed to be part of their ribbon cutting ceremony (as a supporter, not an actual participant, that is). The new building is AMAZING. They have a simulation area for the students that looks EXACTLY like an ER triage. The patients in the beds are breathing, talking, blinking… You can check pulses, temperatures, pulse oximetry… On the back wall of each of the patient’s rooms is a huge 2-way mirror. On the other side of the mirror is a darkened room with computers and microphones/headsets where the instructors sit and control the patients’ vitals and can speak for them. They can put the patients into a crisis mode or code them and whatever the students do will cause a response. It’s MIND BLOWING!!! Everything is just so clean and modern and new. I’ll be part of the second class EVER to learn there. My mom was so cute and kept going on and on about how proud she was. Watching the ceremony and touring the building made it even more exciting. I simply canNOT wait!!!!!
At the very end of April, of course, was Easter! The kids started off the festivities when Papoo and Bonnie sent them a package in the mail. They LOVE getting stuff in the mail!
I also went to Bryce’s preschool for his Easter party. I felt bad that it poured and rained that day and they couldn’t have their egg hunt outside. Bryce was also feeling a bit under the weather, but he really wanted to go, so off we went! The Easter Bunny visited his class, and they had their hunt indoors. It was still really fun, and I’m glad I chose to miss class to join him and share this memory with him.
Sweet boy...
Can we guess which homemade "decorated" egg is Bryce's hanging on the door? (It was made with crushed cereal, feathers, sequins, and more...)
EB came to visit!
Ready for the egg hunt...
Then the kids and I decided to make cascarones. Instead of making traditional boiled Easter eggs, we hollow them out, let them dry, dye them, stuff them with confetti, glue tissue over them, and then crack them on people’s heads for good luck. This year, they actually left a doggone BRUISE on my head!!! We had such luck with the dye this year. The eggs were absolutely beautiful. We dyed them and then decorated them. I saw a little tip on the Martha Stewart Show where they glued similar eggs into tulip-shaped candy papers. They looked like sparkly, colorful flowers!
Rinsing out the eggs...
Sweet girl...
Sophie meant business!!!!
Aren't they beautiful?
A daffodil for Easter!
Finally, it was EASTER! We had an Easter Saturday instead of Sunday since I have to work Sundays. Even the Easter Bunny cooperated! Sophie got a swan and her baby in her basket, and Bryce got Mario and Yoshi in his. They loved their baskets.
Chris and I grilled out and had Sandra, Mamie, my mom, and “Aunt” Bridgette over for a late lunch and some outdoor fun. I put all sorts of toys outside – balls, hula hoops, the bubble machine, sidewalk chalk. We had a huge basket of eggs to hide, as well. It was a really nice afternoon!! The kids got baskets each from Bridgette, my mom, AND Sandra (on top of the one EB brought them). Yikes!!! My babies are WELL loved!
Finding the golden egg with a dollar inside!
Doesn't this look like a shampoo add? Sophie finds another golden egg!
Grammy gets cascaroned!!
Sophie gets cascaroned!!
This girl has some MOVES! She was walking all over that backyard WHILE HOOPING!
With Mamie on Grammy's back porch...
The following weekend was Bryce’s birthday. I can’t believe my baby is 5 years old already. Since he wanted a Super Mario Bros birthday party, we had it at Chuck E. Cheese again (video games, pizza, you get the idea). He only listed 3 little boys in his class when I asked him who he wanted to invite. Ironically, these are the same 3 that always pretend like Super Mario Bros with him. Two of them showed up, and they had a great time!! Bryce got to get into the TicketBlaster this time, as well, and overall had a wonderful birthday. He got SO MUCH Super Mario Bros things! The kid has like 7 tshirts, bedding for his bed, figures, plush toys, a new Wii game, a baseball cap, a poster… It’s INSANE and he LOVES LOVES LOVES it all!
Bryce and his buds...
Sophie and "Uncle" TJ riding the coaster...
Baby Jude saying, "CHEEEEESE!" while I'm taking the picture...
Birthday BOY!
AWESOME!!!!!
Waiting for the TicketBlaster to turn on...
Grabbing for tickets!
Memaw wears the birthday hat...
Oh, and just to prove how sweet my BABY boy still is – I had to include this one of my fat, furry baby and my sweet baby boy, as well…
Chris and I also recently went out and took some pictures downtown… Yes, they’re both suave and all too-cool-with-sunglasses, but here are a couple of them… the one with me is a TTV shot (through the viewfinder), one of Chris’ newest hobbies – using a digital camera to shoot a photo through the viewfinder of an older camera. Fun!
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