Happy Easter!

We had a very interesting Triduum. Good Friday, it snowed 14 inches up here and most services were cancelled. (If you'll remember, Ash Wednesday was our 17 in snowstorm and services were cancelled then, too.) Joe and I made pretzels for the occassion. He was very proud of his work.

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Saturday, Patrick was a little puny looking and threw up in the afternoon, but continued to be pretty puny. Sunday morning, he was still a little off, so Scott and I decided to tag-team Easter Mass just in case we might have some sort of virus. It was a bit depressing to go to that Mass alone, I must say. It was also depressing to have to intercept the Easter Bunny's candy in the interest of a healing tummy. Patrick recovered by naptime, so everything is better now.

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Patrick playing with his bunny sunglasses.
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Luke checking our his haul of new toys.

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After a rousing Easter Egg hunt inside (again, depressing...) we made deviled eggs and had lunch. Luke decided to relax and put his feet up. Who taught this kid table manners?
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Daddy and the boys made Frosty the SnowBunny. Luke must not have gotten enough lunch since he needed to have a bite of the snow.
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By dinner time, Patrick was feeling much better and was excited about eating the much-anticipated cupcakes. Yum! A happy Easter was had by all.

Our "Warm Summer Day"

Today, Joe said, “Mommy, it’s a warm summer day!” Certainly, the spring thaw has at least started here in Wisconsin. We've had several days in a row with highs above freezing!

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The boys have been having so much fun dragging all of their old toys out of the recesses of the garage. Poor Daddy will have to start parking on the driveway like he did last summer. It takes too long to line everything up just right in the corners and sides of the garage for both cars to fit, so Daddy graciously parks out of the way.

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Joe has gotten much better at basketball this spring - maybe he just grew.

Patrick was getting pretty frustrated with his heavy ball and short stature. Maybe next year, champ!
. Luke found the cones we used to mark the line on the driveway past which they are not allowed to go. He apparently thought it was a birthday hat since he kept saying, "Happy birthday, Mommy" while he was wearing it.

.Patrick and Joe planted a "tree" from a branch that fell in our neighbors yard.

. Joe was delighted to find "Scoop" and the big pile of rocks in our driveway that had been hidden all winter. This kept him busy a full 30 minutes. I would have thought the concrete was a bit too cold, but he toughed it out for the sake of fun.
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One way we've been "helping" the snow to melt is by chipping the ice in shady parts of the patio (still up to 2 inches thick) and tossing it into the sunshine. I like to think of it as our own way of promoting the "calfing" of our mini glaciers. Luke is getting into the action with his tiny shovel.

Luke again, proud as anything trying to ride big brother Joseph's bike.

Back inside for lunch, Patrick said to me, "Mommy, I'm Mary!" with my dishtowl over his head. Kids say the funniest things.

Furry Patches

I’m sorry I don’t have any interesting pictures of the kids lately. We’re working hard to get ready for the next baby – laundry, packing, lining up sitters (a very difficult task), buying new supplies, etc. We are also trying to decide on a preschool for Joseph for next year. We have two great options, but in the end, we will probably go with the one that is on Daddy’s way to work, and therefore, much more convenient for Mommy.

Our snow is slowly melting away. We probably have about three inches left in the yard, although some spots are bare. I’ve learned of a new hassle of living in Wisconsin – snow mold. We’ve had a furry patch on our law already. I guess the next step is finding a fix for it. So, speaking of furry patches, the funny thing about the spring thaw is that you find things in your yard that were inadvertently left there before a big snowfall. Some of these things have been there since November, since we haven’t had a complete thaw since then. So far, we’ve found balls, cups, buckets and kids toys, but the latest discovery came yesterday. A dead rabbit. Poor little thing has been buried in snow and ice for maybe months. Things are too snowy and muddy yet to give him a proper burial (ala Barbie and Pepper, the pet rabbits of my youth) so he will probably just go in the trash. Yuck. Aren't you glad I shared that tidbit?

Snow Day

Like I said, Scott was out of town for 5 days last week and we were fortunate enough to have my dad come and stay with us. The boys were thrilled, of course, but they didn’t even realize the half of it. It saved them from having a weary and frustrated mother all that long while.

.Good old Papa juggled, did magic tricks, made balloons and took us all out to eat (not to mention all of the ironing and laundry he helped me catch up on). I even worked up the courage to get all of the boys snow-suited up – boots, mittens, hats and all – for a little romp in the snow.

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Fortunately for the boys, they didn’t sink all the way down all 12 inches that we had on the ground (I finally had a chance to really measure it), but their slight weight only pulled them down 4 or so inches. The got around with quite a lot of effort and got stuck more than once (Mom’s weight pulled her a little further down than 4 inches on her rescue missions!), but they had a great time – for 10 minutes anyway.

Joe makes a snow angel

The final product

"Let me back in! I'm freezing!!"

Stomach of Steel

My camera is temporarily MIA, so we'll have to wait and search before posting new pictures. In the meantime, we've had visitors!

My dad came to stay with us for a few days while Scott was on a business trip and Scott's brother Chris and his friend Michelle visited for a quick weekend.

After Joe's cookie dough debacle, I thought he would have learned his lesson about overindulging. Not so much. Yesterday, he came to me with an empty gum package. "Where's the gum?" I asked. "I ate it!" He produced 7 or so crumpled wrappers. I must admit that while being a little nervous about the old wives' tale that gum stays in your stomach 10 years, I was a little glad that he swallowed in instead of just chewing it before depositing it who knows where. It should also be noted that Joe had to do some significant climbing to get to the gum in the first place. The struggle never ends.