From the mouths of babes (or an almost 5 year old)

Wednesday night we were watching the American Idol results show. Comedian George Lopez was "roasting" the judges. When it came to Simon's turn, the audience did their obligatory "booo." Addie said, "mooooo." I corrected her and explained they were saying "Boooo, not Mooo." She looked at me like I just don't get it, and said, "No, I say Moooo because he's a cow. You know, Simon Cow?" I couldn't help but smile, laugh and hug her tightly. That's right, Simon's last name is Cow, not Cowell.

Trip to the dentist

Look at that form, casually resting arms--- and is that a SMILE?


Mr. Cool in the dental chair.

Addie and Ben had dental appointments this week. This was Ben's first time. He did superbly well; which I totally expected, because he's such a laid back child. He goes with the flow, is brave and can manage his emotions/fears. Part of the reason for his success, my guess is at least, is because he really is a fearless child. He falls off of something/crashes into something/hits his head on something and his response almost immediately is "I'm ok." So I fully expected him to be a solid patient. He chose mint as his tooth paste flavor.

Now Addie, on the other hand, has anxiety about procedures of any sort. She flips out at vaccines, can't watch any depiction of needles of any sort, etc. The dentist doesn't involve needles, but in her mind there was something scary. In fact, when she was at our old dentist, she didn't even let them clean her teeth all of the way, because the "tooth counter" looked sharp, even after she felt it was a dull edge. Anyway, she worked really hard on being brave and combating her fears. Luckily Benjamin got to go first, so I held Addie on my hip while Ben opened wide, etc. Her eyes filled with nervous tears, but she was trying to hold it together. Then she started saying, "I'm a little bit nervous." Her hygienist came in and said she was ready for her. Addie took the dental chair bravely and did so well! Carina, the hygienist, was awesome with her. In typical Addie fashion, she had to stop every few seconds to speak, and Carina went with the flow. Addie chose cookie dough as her tooth paste flavor. She did super through the whole thing. She got to hold the suction thing in between uses, which she really enjoyed too.

Addie's most exciting news is that Carina told her her two bottom front teeth are starting to get wiggly!! Addie, after hearing that news, is ready to hook a string around her teeth and pull them out now...they're not quite that ready yet. But seriously, how is it possible that my little baby is old enough to have her teeth start falling out???? Amazing.

New room for Benjamin

And you can't get more appropriate than Uncle Jeremy (giraffe) and Aunt Amanda (tiger) living with him!! That's Ben hiding his head down, not wanting to participate in the photo-taking. Looking forward to some fun murals on the walls too.

Delaware Children's Museum gala

Brian and I went to the Delaware Children's Museum's gala on Friday night. Delaware is one of the few states that doesn't have a children's museum, until now! The gala was the first time anyone was allowed in the building without a hardhat! It was a fun night, filled with getting to explore the museum and play with everything (really awesome stuff). The best part was the fact that the VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and his wife arrived mid-gala, mingled, did a little speech and then left. I have pictures of me with Senator Joe Biden from years ago, but this was my first chance to meet VP Biden. He was so warm (as is his usual style) and engaging. He and Jill mingled with guests for about 45 minutes before being announced and taking the stage. Pretty damn cool.

I was like a freaking nut! I was so excited. In fact, so excited I kept my eyes closed, apparently. To the left in the red tie is his son, Beau Biden, our Attorney General.

Just hanging next to the VP- lol

Everyone was crowded around Joe, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to pose with Jill. She's teeny tiny and very tan, as you can see.

Me playing in the construction area of the museum. Really fun!

Easter

Some of the fun of our Easter festivities

Addie and Ben received bigger bikes from the Easter Bunny. You may remember that last Easter they got their first bikes, and now it is already time for them to move to considerably larger bicycles. Hopefully these will last a few years and next Easter the bunny won't be putting bikes out!

This picture makes me laugh. The Easter Bunny hid 6 eggs with candy in them.

Aunt Kim and Tom gave them each a huge chocolate bunny. Here's Ben posing with his. And yes, he's still wearing the same shirt from the day before.

This is Aunt Kim demonstrating the straw glasses she and Tom gave Addie and Ben too.

One of the center pieces that Muddy made with the eggs we decorated. Cute.

Addie working on her puzzles right away. This child can put together a serious puzzle in no time flat.

After changing into her Easter dress, Addie and Aunt Amanda had to dance their heart out in the backyard.

Meanwhile Bub enjoyed the moon bounce...

Ben practiced riding his new bike...

And then the Easter Bunny showed up and led everyone around the front of the house to search for goodies. The Easter Bunny got everyone to line up and do the bunny hop around our property. It was quite a sight to see. That's Ben, Addie, Aunt Kim, Brian, LouLou, Bub, Aunt Wendy, Guppy, Richard, Tom and PopPop, Aunt Amanda and Uncle Jeremy (kind of blocked by the bunny).

Addie excited to show her "The Princess and the Frog" dvd. Yes, Muddy made her dress. She also made Rosetta Pickle the exact duplicate.

Claire came down for her first meeting with the Easter Bunny. She managed to sleep through the whole thing.

After three picture tries, finally a good one with the three of them.

And equally so with these three

Look closely at Addie and Ben's hands, you'll see these stretched rubber band propelled helicopter thingies. Notice how Addie and Uncle Jeremy are both pointing up, while Ben is looking up--yeah, that's because one was stuck on the roof. Within an hour, I bet they had those things stuck ten times places. Currently there's only one still stuck, at quite possibly the highest pine tree branch on our property, like at the tippy top. Addie shot that one off and is so proud of herself for how high it went.

Overall we had a lovely Easter holiday, filled with family and fun. The weather was picture perfect and we spent most of the days outdoors. It was really nice to have LouLou and Bub down for a visit. We had a great time.

Sesame Street Live

For the fourth year in a row, we went to see Sesame Street Live on the Saturday of Easter.

Scott and Graham have come with us the past three years.

Ben wore "spiky green dinosaur hair" which happens to also to look like a tuft of Easter grass.

Doesn't she look beautiful here?

We sat in the front row, which lent itself to some amazing things...

Like getting to hug and dance with the characters, except for Oscar and Big Bird.

This is them jamming at the end, they had the floor to themselves and the character joined in.

Clearly the best seats in the house. They had such a great time. Even Scott was enjoying himself!

Many updates

I have so many updates to share, and yet no pictures to post...but that's not because no pictures have been taken, my friends. Quite the contrary. This weekend alone there were 137 pictures and videos taken. I had every intention of loading up my blog with all of these wonderful memories last night, but then mother nature decided to give us 80 degree temperatures which translated into the four of being on a neighborhood walk until 8:15! By the time we got home, did baths and teeth brushing, it was time for bed.
We had a fantastic weekend with Uncle Jeremy, Aunt Amanda, LouLou and Bub making the trek to Delaware for Easter. Believe it or not, it was LouLou and Bub's first time visiting us. It was so nice to get to spend time with each of them. They all hold a very special place in Addie and Ben's lives.
Swim lessons are off this week for spring break, so I may have an opportunity to load pictures tonight. But then again, it's going to be 84 here today, so I expect another long walk around the neighborhood and catching up with Cooper, who we haven't seen since the fall! We got reconnected last night and Ben couldn't be happier.