Worth It.

So...after all that exhausting preparation of eggs, etc. for the bunny??!? I awoke to a trail of marshmallows...

What could it mean? Zara helped me follow them (and fend off the portuguese who were equally- if not more interested than I)...

And at the end of the trail (which had already been confiscated by those darn portuguese before momma could even shoot the above photo) was a basket marked with a B! B, of course, stands for Blayne, so this loot was all mine!

Between the bunny, my Zara, Tia, a basket that was sent by Mia, Bucca & Aunt Haley, Aunt Quinny and Uncle Dave and even Tracy and Mr. Mike who brought me those hot ears to wear- this whole Easter thing turned out to be worth all the confusion in the world!

Hippity-hop!

Which came first- the bunny or the egg?

I'll be honest...the obvious religious overtones aside, even with the imagination of an -almost- 2 year old, I am not quite sure how we got from eggs- to marshmallows- to bunnies. We seem to have completely written off the chicken, done away with carrots, and, well...I don't really know where a marshmallow comes from, but I am pretty sure that neither bunnies nor eggs or- heck!- chickens for that matter, consume or produce them?!?

However, please don't think this confusion will hinder my coloring of eggs, eating of marshmallows or accepting of the bunny's gifts. After all, I am only human ;-)

Confused or not, we had lots of fun coloring all the eggs for the bunny to...what? Hide? You're killing me...

Every holiday needs a pre-game

Clear Lakes Shores has an annual pre-Easter extravanga for the neighborhood children. This year was our first year attending and I was lucky enough to be accompanied by my Zara and Tia!

We did a practice Easter-egg hunt...

played lots of games and got a tatoo (temporary, this time)

And, well, it just wouldn't be an Easter party without a little chocolaty goodness to get you in the mood.

CAUGHT! Red(cup) handed

Conundrum:

Dr. Murphy: Yeah, uh Monte looks good, but Mulligan is pushing 70 lbs.

Ian: Really?!?

Dr. Murphy: Yes, and I am afraid that puts him at about 15-20 lbs overweight and into the obese category.

Ian: Huh? We know he's big, but wow, I had no idea.

Dr. Murphy: How much do you feed him?

Ian: Well, that's the thing, we only feed the dogs once a day- 2 cups of food- to share.

Dr. Murphy: Could he be getting food from any other sources?- Eating Monte's portion of the food? A neighboring dog? Table scraps?

Ian: I don't think so. Monte always eats first; they are confined to our yard; and we really don't feed them much table food- I mean Blayne drops her food here and there and we let them clean up after her, but other than that, I just don't know...

What?!?

Whatever you're thinking...it wasn't me...

I don't know what you want me to say...they're hungry. They told me.

Everyone, meet Mao...

This is my best friend Mia, but you can call her Mao (m-ou, like 'cow' with an 'm') ...

Since we haven't been doing a very good job at updating our blog, we'll fill you all in on a few changes we've made in the last several months. The biggest of all is that back about the time of my tubal surgery mama decided she had had enough with daycare and all the lovely bites, bruises and sicknesses that came with it and began exploring other methods of childcare.

We are fortunate to have some friends who previously employed a nanny to watch their son. She had quit because she was on bed rest with a baby herself and unable to continue working. Lucky for us, that was about two years ago and when we contacted her, not only was she interested in coming to stay with me, she also has a daughter about my age to come too!

Mao is 6 months my junior (almost to the day) and as you can see, much smaller. (We laugh b/c in real life I don't look quite as gigantic beside her.) I have re-named Mia -hence the Mao comments- to the point that now even her own mama calls her Mao. We share toys (sometimes), a secret language, pudgy extremities and cheeks, and a classic 'just starting to grow' bob hair-do.

Mia and Rocio (I suppose she deserves mentioning too ;-) leave around 3pm- while I am often still sleeping. When I awake, you can bet that the first words out of my mouth are "where's Mao?". Later in the afternoons I continue to look for Mao, and often pretend-call her on mommy's cell phone. I spend most of Saturday and Sunday calling for Mao as well, until she returns Monday morning and all is as it should be. It is hilarious, yet heart warming to see one of us spontaneously hug and or kiss the other - no doubt followed by a scream or a push.

We -of course- have our moments, as do any siblings (b/c essentially that is the nature of our relationship) but despite the silly jealous arguments over toys and mamas, at the end of the day we really do enjoy each other's company and have grown to be the best of friends.