Carlisle hung out with her bud Lindy for a while after the party finished up (the Kirks were kind enough to help us clean up for a bit). Here, we have Carlisle sporting a very nice mustache.
Easter egg hunts don't happen without preparation, and I quickly want to say thanks to Jenn and my girls and everyone else who stuffed the 1500 eggs we hid this weekend. All of the kids had a great time hunting them down, and the time spent was well worth it.
Yup, that's a pretty serious party folks. While I never got a real count, I know that I made about a hundred hamburgers today. I think we had about 115 people milling around our yard looking for little plastic orbs... so it must be Easter.
Anybody know who's running with my girls here? Evan and Lauren Vertuli are cruising down the driveway. I didn't bother to get any artful pictures while the Vertuli's visited, but this is better than nothing... at least it proves they were here.
Any visit from the Vertuli's, who are responsible for Jenn and me meeting, is welcome. We were thrilled when the emailed to say they might be in the area and we talked them into staying the night. The reason for the proximity, though, isn't a great one. You see, Mark is deploying with the 101st Airborne this Thursday. They're headed to Afghanistan for 15 months.
The wars, for me, have been completely theoretical for me to this point. I haven't known anyone who was involved... for me, the wars have basically been the source of disagreement for other people's arguments.
Well, now I'm going to be paying more attention. I hope to keep up with Mark and what's going on through email and perhaps a game of online chess.
Elisa probably won't play chess with me, but she's going to be in our thoughts a lot as well. She's about to embark on 15 months of parenting a 2 and 4 year old without Mark around. It makes me tired just thinking about it. And not once did I hear her complain at all. That, to me, is as impressive as what Mark's about to do.
So, we're continuing to read many of the Magic Tree House books that we started prior to Christmas. They were the inspiration for our tree house and often lead to questions. Tonight, we read a chapter from Midnight On The Moon.
Aspen: Daddy, how big is the moon. Tim: It's big honey... smaller than the earth, but still huge. Oakley: Is it bigger than me. Tim: Yeah. Aspen: It's bigger than our house. Tim: It's bigger than Tennessee at least. Oakley: Is it bigger than Pennsylvania? Tim: Yes. Aspen: Is it bigger than China? Tim: Well, that's a country, not a state, but yes. It's probably about that size. Oakley: So Kiana's an astronaut?
Seriously, that was the leap of logic. Pretty impressive, I say. I mean, I can sort of see how she got there, but it is a pretty funny leap. And no, Kiana (our niece/cousin who was born in China) is not an astronaut, at least not yet. Although a little bird told me that she has started reading the Magic Tree House books with her mom, so we'll see what happens when she reaches book 8.
For those of you wondering (I just did the "research"), the moon's size, in comparison to the earth is as follows:
7.4% of the Earth's surface area 2.0% of the Earth's volume 1.23% of the Earth's mass
Aspen: Daddy, what's "lorice" mean? Tim: Huh? Aspen: What does "lorice" mean, like on the CD? Tim: Lorice isn't a word, honey. Aspen: Like in the song, "....and a thousand churches, 'lorice'"
I'll leave it at that until someone accurately names the song (or words) in the comments...
We had one of our big Tuesday's yesterday... Oakley had school, Aspen had school, both had soccer practice for the first time this year, and we finished it up with this... Oakley's spring show at BUMC Day School. I've spared you all the other classes and boiled it down to the 3+ minutes featuring Oakley and her friends. Enjoy it here by clicking play or click through to Vimeo for a higher definition version.
After tonight's bath, Aspen said, in describing the pajamas she'd selected, "Daddy... I chose these pajamas on purpose. Pants, so that we could keep having bad weather and miss more school, short sleeves, so that we could get some flowers going."
I caught one of my children hiding things in her room today. She had intentionally placed these items in a place where she thought that I wouldn't find them so that she could use them inconspicuously during nap time.
Note to Oakley: If you don't want your father to find something, don't put it under your pillow when you know he's about to come in to give you a hug prior to your nap while you lie in bed. His hand might happen to bump that item.
Second note to Oakley: While the princess had to have a special talent to notice the pea, the skill to notice five chapter books stacked on top of each other under a single pillow is far more common.
Yup, we just had what they call a winter storm here in these parts. I would call it 3 inches of snow overnight. Our girls were excited, and we had a great time today sledding twice and goofing around in general. It was pretty excellent, and everybody is wiped out now. As is the snow... a warmish day meant that sledding ended not because we were done but because the snow was done.
And for those of you hoping for some photography, I apologize. Today I was more focused on playing than documenting. Another time, perhaps.
Jenn was cleaning out Oakley's school bag tonight, as she often does. I'd like to share with you the text... (Oakley, the writer, refers to herself as Iris.)
__________________ to: Joyce. From: Iris
If clowdy can come to school tommorrow cand you sind me in e-mail. That would be good.
If you read this blog regularly, I'm sure you've heard about consignment season. Well, tonight was the mother load. Two sales today... Oak Hill and Brentwood United Methodist.
This picture doesn't even really do it justice. So, I'll be sure to post another.
A note, later: Jenn just looked at this post and said, "Three dollars? That's such a good deal!" So funny that she saw right past the pile of hangars to the deal.
So Oakley and Lindy get a fair amount of time at home without Aspen. Monday, Wednesday, Friday... that's their time. It's one of the cool parts about having three girls spaced as we do... there are different relationships.
Lately, they've really been enjoying playing "Kindermusik". Lindy has a class she attends with Jenn each week, but this is something a little different. Oakley gets to be the teacher, which she loves, and Lindy gets to be the mommy, which she loves. It's pretty cool. Check out Lindy's bear and how well it does in class.
And yes, Lindy does pull up her pants a lot... Her bottom is so little, it fails to hold up the pants.
OK, I know I sound crazy sometimes when I tell people that Oakley can read and that we didn't teach her, etc. No, she hasn't started Kindergarten yet. I swear, she watched Aspen learn. She feels she's Aspen's equal, so she decided she needed to know how. So she learned.
Lately, she's been working on books of her own. This one, for example, was created in the early morning while Jenn and I were asleep... No help with any spelling or anything.
In case you can't read it clearly due to the scan... The title page calls the book, "Iris and Sean and there family" by Oakley (Editor's Note: We have punished Oakley for her poor use of the "there")
Once upon a time there was a girl who begged for a baby then one stormy night she had one. And she had 15 and the last one's name was purple iris.
And her older one's where Jaerd, Big Linsey, Blaire, Gabrel, Caroline, Amanda, Ryan, Collier, Audrey, Kevin, Baby Hannah and she loved them. So when her older one's went to school, she would say good-bye to them.
Today was one of those excellent pre-spring days here in Nashville. While summer blows, these days are awesome. Highs around 70, every window in the house open, it feels like vacation.
I went to the Little Course, the local par 3 course at which I am a member. (Many have heard me refer to "The Club". This is it.)
Well, on the second hole of my first 9 of the year, during which I was playing two balls, these were my tee shots. I am a good golfer, not a great golfer, but this is quite a pair of shots...
As Dan Stuck notes, because it was the second ball that went in, it is by no means official. But I'll still count it as one of 6 that I've made in my life...
The 6th? at Lincoln The 3rd at Lake The 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 9th at the Little Course
I am not one to recount details of childhood minutiae. Weights, heights, etc... I've forgotten most of it.
I am also not one who likes to tempt fate.
But today... I celebrate the removal of the last of the diapers from our fair house. They are all gone, every single one. Today, I thank Lindy for waking up with a dry bed every day this month. Today, I celebrate.
