Here we are, at the end of March… gearing up for April – or as it’s known in our family, BirthMonth. Sam’s birthday is on the second and Kate’s on the 22nd. Last year, I attempted to simplify April, but then Kate and I ended up going to Portland AND she had her first communion, so there was nothing simple about April.
Have I mentioned that April is the height of Andy’s tennis season?
Yeah. This is going to be nuts.
We’re kicking off the festivities this weekend – Sam is having a birthday party for his friends at the bowling alley on Saturday. Sunday is, of course, Easter, so in addition to the eggs/basket/church extravaganza in the morning, we’re having lunch (and a birthday cake) at my grandma’s and dinner (and a birthday cake) at Jenny’s mom’s house. Monday should be a moment of calm (or frenzied wrapping of the birthday presents I’ve yet to buy), and Tuesday is the real deal. He’s staying home with Andy and Kate, who will be on spring break, and then we’ll all go out to dinner when I get home from work. And, of course, have cake.
Three weeks later, we’ll do it all again for Kate.
By the end of the month, my babies will be 9 and 5. How on EARTH did that happen?
Saturday night I had the rare opportunity to go on a date with my daughter. We were both SO excited! It’s rare that I get to spend one-on-one time with either of my big kids. Joshua had a sleepover with a friend Friday night and so Saturday, I wanted to do something special with Sophie (she had a sitter Friday night while Bobby and I went out for our anniversary.)
Sophie got to pick our destinations, and the girl has good taste, so to eat, we went to Frisch’s Big Boy!
We took turns coloring her menu while we waited for our food. And we talked! It was great. Plus, I slurped down TWO vanilla cokes and a bacon cheeseburger with no bun (darn gluten) and sweet potato fries! Mmmm! Soph enjoyed a gourmet meal of chicken fingers and fries with chocolate milk.
She was so sweet the whole time. Sweet, and funny, and grateful.
Her next choice was THE MALL. Yes! Usually I don’t care for the mall on a Saturday night but I wanted to stop by Sears to check out some Lands’ End clothes (shocker, right?) and Sophie wanted to hit the play place and then get a cookie from the cookie place that is strategically located…right next to the play place.
The play place on Saturday night was equivalent to the 7th level of hell. But Sophie still loved it! I loved being able to watch her every move and only having to keep my eye on one kid at a time. She was so cute, making sure I was watching all her antics. She was beaming.
It was crazy crowded with hooligans whose parents were not watching them, I swear.
After Soph got her cookie, we wandered back down toward Sears to find a bench for her to eat it on. We stopped right in front of the Shoes 4 the Shoeless mural. You may remember that Shoes 4 the Shoeless is an organization that I volunteer for. I haven’t been able to for about two months because of my back injury (all better now!) and my kids being constantly sick, and I can’t wait to get back into it in April! While Sophie was eating, I was talking to her about the mural. Her school just had a sock drive for Shoes 4 the Shoeless two weeks ago and so it was fresh on her mind.
There’s a drop bin as part of the mural for people to drop shoes they have bought at the mall. “Sophie,” I said, “let’s go back into Sears and see if we can find some shoes to buy and put in the box for the kids who don’t have any.”
“Okay! That’s a great idea!” she said enthusiastically. So, we headed into Sears because I had seen a bunch of clearance signs there earlier.
Shoes 4 the Shoeless mural and drop box at the Dayton Mall
Sophie carefully perused the section of markdowns. I explained to her that we were looking in this section because the shoes cost less here and that way we could buy more than one pair, so more than one child could get new shoes. I told her to pick out two pair. Happily, all the kids clearance was 60% off! Wheeee! You know I love a deal!
Right away, Sophie latched onto a pair of Skechers “Twinkle Toes” shoes. “Hmm, I don’t know if we’ll be able to afford those, I said. I wasn’t expecting them to be marked down that much, but they were only $9.99! “We can get them!” I told her. She was SO excited. Then, she picked out a super-shiny silver pair as well. What can I say, girl loves the bling! Those were marked down to $8.
We paid and the cashier said, “Are you getting some sparkly shoes?”
“We’re giving them to the girls who don’t have any.” she said. I explained she meant the Shoes 4 the Shoeless drop box.
Of course, the cashier was delighted by her cuteness and giving spirit. As was I.
Proud of her picks!
Soph proudly put the shoes in the drop box and then we headed home. I was so proud of her because not only was she excited to give, she never once asked for anything for herself. She was totally content with her Frisch’s and her cookie, and her mom. Sophie is not by any means a perfect child, but her sweet spirit about the shoes really touched me. She was really into those Twinkle Toes, and she was really happy that another child was getting them.
After that, we arrived home and popped in the movie Annie, which I’d gotten from the library just for our special night. She’d never seen it and she loved it, which thrilled me because of course it was one of my favorites when I was a kid! She stayed up til 10:45 even though she was sooooo tired. I couldn’t believe she made it!
We had the best time together. It was such a gift! I love my little girl and I hope we can have another girls night really soon.
How do you “date your kids”? How often are you able to get in some one-on-one time?
Even though it’s still FISHING freezing up in here, Easter is upon us. We’ve got a little over a week until we celebrate Christ’s resurrection with our families. Personally, I am pretty excited because I L-O-V-E my weird family and our get togethers. And, my parents, having recently fled for the mountains of Virginia due to their retired state, will be home for the holiday. Woot!
But, I haven’t done one darn thing about getting an Easter basket together for the kids. Since I am typically under-prepared, I’m not stressed, but I DO want to get it done this week. I don’t want to do a lot of candy or spend a lot of money. Have you seen the giant pre-packaged Easter baskets they sell EVERYWHERE for $20 and up? That be cray-cray, people! Dial it down a notch! I want to give the kids a treat to look forward to but I still want to emphasize that this holiday is about something more – redemption, salvation, rejoicing, kept promises.
And seriously, the big kids both just finished off their VALENTINE candy stash. They don’t need much more! So, I’ve got some ideas!
Games, games, games! We are a GAME-loving family, and recently my kids discovered Mad Libs and we have been having SO much fun with them. So, methinks they’ll each be getting a Mad Libs set. We’ve already got LEGO Star Wars Mad Libs, but thankfully the selection on Amazon is endless so I know I can come up with something for each of them. Recently my pals at the Wonder Forge, who make the BEST GAMES EVER, sent me a couple to review as well. They have a cute Disney Easter matching game available at Target which is perfect for a preschooler’s Easter basket:
I love matching games, especially for speech and vocabulary. You know me! Always trying to make a game do more!
They also sent me a great new game for the big kids that has been a HUGE hit! Also available at Target, it’s a bit more pricey at $16.99 but your big kids will adore it. Both Joshua and Sophie LOVE it and it was a big help to us during all those SICK days we’ve had recently. It’s the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Clash Alley:
It is a little complicated at first, but my kids quickly got the hang of it. Sophie is only six and she even taught her favorite babysitter Krisha how to play:
Another game type by the Wonder Forge that would be perfect for Easter baskets are their game cubes. We’ve had the Busytown and Curious Georges ones for a long time and they are awesome! Four games in a cube and they’re just right for travel. They have several others, including Chugginton and Seuss:
Love ’em!!
So – my kids will definitely have a game of some sort for Easter.
Other ideas: I love these no-candy Easter basket ideas from my client Girls Crochet Headband’s blog (notice the Mad Libs, woot!). One features girls accessories and the other all manner of boyish items. Check out the post for more ideas (lots of dollar store ideas, too!)
Finally, I think my kiddos will get something to READ in their baskets! They both love books and the “I can read” and similar books are really reasonably priced- $3.99 or so – so I think we’ll do that. Like I said, I don’t want to spend a lot or distract too much from the real meaning of the holiday, so I think we’ll go with two items and one chocolate bunny or the like.
What are you putting in YOUR kids’ Easter baskets this year?
____________
The Wonder Forge sent me the Easter matching (which we’ll be gifting) and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games to review. All opinions are my own. And my opinion is that I LOVE THE WONDER FORGE!
