Normally, the lapse between updates is due to a lack of interesting things to report, but this time can be attributed to too much!! We have been busy like crazy cakes the last couple of weeks, and I have not been able to find time to write--our weekends have accounted for since the last in March.
As I said in the last post, Michael went to Houston to attend Casey's wedding. While he was gone, Rhonda took the kids and me shopping to outfit Emerald's room. Other than that, I mostly crocheted--a hobby I recently picked up from Beth--and cooked. I made homemade chicken nuggets with a wheat breading that they just loved, and we had brownie sundaes and apple cinnamon pancakes...it was a fun weekend. I had greatly doubted my ability to watch the three kids all by myself with Michael gone, but we had so much help that I handled just fine.
The next weekend was Michael's birthday and Easter!
This was Michael's 27th birthday, and I knew that he didn't want anything too big especially since I had all ready gotten him the PSVita as his birthday gift before he left for Casey's. Collaborating with Rhonda, we decided to just combine his birthday dinner with the Easter dinner we all ready had planned at her house.
The Easter Bunny came while the children were sleeping that night and left their baskets hidden in the house. Benjamin got a stuffed soft ducky that said "My First Easter" on his belly, Cinnamon Teddy Grahams (which are good snacks for little teethers), a new Easter outfit in light blue, dark green, and white, and soft basketballs and footballs for him to chew on.
Gabriel found his basket hidden in his room, with a Toy Story coloring book and markers, a frisbee, a slinky, a new polo shirt in dark blue and green, and a bubble blower that unfortunately seems to have had its fan installed backwards so instead of blowing bubbles it tried to suck them...obnoxious, but really--what kind of workmanship can you expect from a bunny? :-P
Emerald was the last to locate her basket (seeing as we made the kids watch as the others looked) in the nightstand in her room. Inside was a stuffed puppy wearing bunny ears, a doodle pad, a slinky, a jump rope, stamps, and a Disney Princess coloring book and markers.
We didn't have to be at Rhonda's until eleven, so the children played all morning with their new presents and I got ready for us to go.
Rhonda was making ham for Easter lunch, as well as grits and mashed potatoes and strawberry shortcake. I was contributing for Michael's birthday, so I brought black pepper turkey breast tenderloin, stuff to make green bean casserole, and a homemade cherry cheesecake. Michael's favorite dessert is cherry cheesecake but I have never attempted to make one before. All in all, it was tasty though a little ugly, lol.
Lunch was awesome. Benjamin ate grits and mashed potatoes like he was starving, Emerald greatly enjoyed the ham and rolls. Gabriel of course ate less than we would have liked, but he picked at ham and green beans and the roll before we gave up and let him eat mixed nuts and peanut butter crackers.
An aside here: There is something very strange with Gabriel that he loves all things nutty. It makes sense to some degree--the occupational therapist said that he seeks oral stimulation because of an underdeveloped sense of taste. Basically, food tastes abnormally bland to him, so he seeks textured things to chew to make up for it (things like chalk or cardboard). An acceptable alternative: the orally-appealing mixed nuts have those grooves and crunchy texture as well as a salty taste that is easier for him to detect. Either way the end result is a child that loves peanut butter and almonds, cashews, pecans, walnuts, and (especially) pistachios.
Back to my Easter story. After lunch, Ben crawled on Pawpaw's chest and fell into a very deep sleep so Michael and I....errr, I mean the Easter Bunny, of course....hid eggs in the backyard for the older kids to hunt.
Emerald got after hunting the eggs, but Gabriel did not feel so inclined. I think quantity did not matter so much to him as much as the knowledge of what the eggs contained. He gathered about 10 eggs with assistance, and then promptly started handing them to me to open. Once he had his stores, he was uninterested in seeking out more. Of course, Michael and I always divide the eggs equally between the children so if Gabe is not enjoying the actual seeking, I see no reason to force him.
We all came back inside for dessert and to let Michael open his presents. I wanted him to have something to open from us while he was there so the kids got him the Blu-Ray copy of HBO's "Game of Thrones". Having watched an episode, I can tell you that it is going to be a great show, if not a little liberal with the amount of bared breasts.
The next weekend, my parents came and got Emerald to go to Abilene for the weekend so that she could attend my nephew Andrew's pirate themed birthday party and to go to the play "Alice in Wonderland". The boys and I stayed home and had a more or less quiet weekend with Michael, as at the moment I cannot recall what we did other than play outside and enjoy each other's company.
--Andie
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