A teacher, a learner, and an egg cracker

Hope is spending Easter and spring break at her mom's this year, so I knew that if we wanted to dye eggs, it had to be done early. On Monday we pulled out the boiled eggs, dug around for the dyes, and sat down to dye eggs together.

The older Hope gets, the more I am impressed with her. Her personality is that of a teacher. I find myself invisioning her as a teacher one day-- or maybe just a really good mama. After I explained to the boys how to put the eggs into the dye and leave them there, she took charge of the situation. We kept the dye a bit out of reach so Ezra wouldn't be taking a bath in it, and she would bring a cup to him and hand him an egg and he would go for it. She is growing up so much and has been asking about taking babysitting classes this summer!

                     Hope holding the egg for Ezra so he could color on it with the crayon.

I finally gave Ezra a bowl of water so he could feel like he was in on the action all the time-- not just when he was setting an egg in. He loved dunking it in water, and then after a little bit decided to try to crack it on the edge of the bowl-- must have seen mama or daddy do it a time or two! (good thing they were hardboiled!) He loves watching me cook dinner, so it made me laugh and then invision HIM as a chef when he gets older.

And Judah? He was soaking it all in, placing eggs in different colors, learning and loving doing activities with his favorite people.

St. Pats

Today was the day for the annual St. Patty's parade. We headed to an early lunch at a favorite brewery around our house (kid friendly, even better!). After lunch we grabbed a few coffees and found the perfect spot to parade-and-people-watch. So fun to watch everyone sporting kilts, green, and leprechaun outfits. Thankfully, I had the foresight to buy us all green coats this year just for the parade. (kidding... we were on a walk one day and I looked around at us all and realized we were all in dark green. Not planned at all, I just must have a thing for it : ))

                                                                    Coloring at lunch

                                       Pretty sure most shades of green are being represented!

                                                                 Lunch with my loves!

                                 Ezra loved the parade, he did such an awesome job sticking by us!

                                                    Jude not so sure about the loud trucks

                                                  Ezza boy holding out his hand for candy hah!

luck o' the irish

One thing the hubs didn't know about me before we got married was that I love me a good parade. I think that being a mama has only amplified my love for parades and crazy people walking around. It's almost telling my kids, "look at all the crazies dressed up for st. patty's day! they are being themselves, be yourself!" ok, maybe a stretch but holidays and parades give an excuse for not following everyday social norms.
For example:
The man in the kilt
The dog owners with their dogs that-- I kid you not-- were bigger than me. They were pretty much small horses.
The ability to wear multiple shades of green and not be looked down upon because you do not know how to match colors.
Wearing an orange wig, ok! Wearing green pj pants, ok! Wearing piles of green mardi gras beads, ok!! All of this out in public, you look fabulous! How festive! OK!!

All that to say, on saturday the hubs and I took the boys (H was with her mom) to the st. patty's parade. Dressed in green, we first hit up a local restaurant and then parked ourselves by the road along with tons of other people looking for a good time. J was pretty nervous throughout the parade and kept wondering if fire trucks were going to have loud sirens. :) Baby E just waved his little irish flag, tore the flag, watched a little parade, and just took it all in. He was a wonderful little parade-goer, and believe it or not, this was his 5th (at least) parade. See, I told you I liked parades!! :)