Ella's first SPRING BREAK!

Ella had the week off, so I took a couple of vacation days. Despite some seriously cloudy skies and muddy ground, we made the best of it.



We got to visit baby Owen...



had a few dance parties...

and joined the Metroparks Department for a Nocturnal Amphibian Hunt. The sound that night was above 90 decibels. Amazing!



And my very patient and loving family supported me in my new "clean" diet; no refined sugar, white flour, or processed foods. It was a big adjustment for me, but a bigger one for the kids. Kale, leeks, beets, fennel have all been put to the test. One of the four actually passed my tiny sous chef's palate without an overly dramatized gag reflex.


Her favorite part of break? Having her cousin around. Ella is begging to find some friends her age who might live nearby. Makes me think of living in Hillcrest, when we could all hop on our bikes and disappear into the afternoon hours, with only the evening buzz and blink of the awakening streetlights to guide our way home.

Easter

I am beginning to realize that I use holidays as an excuse to display and photograph things I would normally think are strange. Poor Derek; I demanded that he wear these bunny ears "to entertain Carson," but the bigger payoff was a shot of the two men in my life, donning pink velvet and fur.

And then there's the ridiculous porcelain, decoupaged bunny which was handcrafted in the 70's. She sat on my grandmother's antique cherry table every year at Easter dinner, atop a bed of plastic grass and a few shiny glass eggs. I remember gazing at her as a small child, thinking how beautiful and sparkly she was. 30 years later, I have decided she's a vixen in disguise.

Look at that booty! Those lashes!


Ella shares my admiration - Carson, however, robbed her of her false eyelashes on many occasions this year. Ella and I found them in the dog bowl, the silverware drawer, stuck to the leg of a chair... and yes, on Carson's eyelids.


Lastly, we got Mimi back! My parents—all FOUR of them—returned from their winter homes in sunny Florida. How nice to have them back in our daily lives....every month means a milestone when the kiddos are this small. It's great to have a circle of family who can be here for all of it.

Party On...Excellent!

I keep a small whiteboard in my car so Ella can draw on road trips. Usually it's a tree or a sunshine, our family, or a rainbow. Today it was a "rock star," complete with the striped tee, a nicely rendered guitar (for a 5 year old), glitter and lights on the stage, and headbanger hair. Hilarious!

Welcoming Owen

Welcoming Cindy and Ben's new addition: Owen Henry!

We headed down to Lexington to welcome our new nephew and to help Cindy and Ben with their bigger boys during their hospital stay. Leif spent most of his time hanging on to "Uncle Dude."




Mimi had been down there for a week helping them get ready. She served as Cindy's go-to gal, and Leif's wrangler during the process. What a help!


Carson in the hotel room, ordering room service for us. I believe he ordered a ki-coo, (cookie) a bakaball, (basketball) and a caw (car).


My beautiful family...funny thing is, Carson started this pose and the others joined in.


The one person I didn't get a photo of is my sweet sis. I am so proud of her. Three happy boys! Wow!

Ella and I treated her to a well-deserved post-op foot massage.


Leif was so happy to see his Daddy come home from the hospital.


OWEN!!!



Amblen/2004_________Leif/2009_________Owen/2011

simply perfect.
God is good.

Playdate with Luke & Avery

Funny how some of our best friendships are the oldest ones. Hillarie and I have known each other for 18 years, and have only lived in the same city for 2 of them.

We are the exact same age and met as we landed at the same company, fresh out of college — Miami for me, UD for her. Since then, the parallels have been pretty amazing. She has a lovely 6 year old little lady named Avery, and an ornery-yet-adorable two year old named Luke.

Sound familiar?

We headed up there last weekend and proved our theory right; good kids love other good kids.

Father/Daughter Dance

Medlar View Elementary School hosted a PTO Father/Daughter dance last weekend. Derek was a true gentleman—armed with his lovely date, dinner plans, and some cash to buy her a single rose and some promesque photos, set against a backdrop of tulle and twinkly lights.

v


They say your father sets the precedent for the kind of man you'll marry someday. Ella asked me the next morning if it's possible for someone to have two wives.

I stared in silence as my imagination immediately took me to a vision of Ella at age 19, standing in her kitchen in an ankle-length skirt, cooking dinner with her sister wives.

{Panic!!} I snapped, "Ella! Why do you want to know THAT??"

She answered, "I just wish we could both be married to Daddy."
Whew. Of course.

Well done, dude. Well done!

Party of five

What do you do when your 5 year old spends an entire day getting ready for her favorite babydoll's birthday?

As I see it, there are three methods of dealing with this situation:

1. smile and nod politely...then keep folding laundry
2. discuss the differences between reality and fantasy with daughter
3. throw caution to the wind and just celebrate.

Who cares if the birthday girl is made of plastic? The real treat was for Ella, who got to be the proud mommy for a night, as the kind (and slightly confused) staff of El Rancho Grande sang happy birthday to little baby McKenna.

Ella's expression was priceless as we finished dinner and Derek pulled a cupcake and candle out of his bag. I found random things from around the house and put them in gift bags with a card for McKenna (the doll) from Grandma and Grandpa (um...us).

Yes, winter is boring.

Ella was absolutely thrilled, but my favorite part of the night was spent watching Carson's plot unfold in the midst of all the sombreros and singing.

He was the smart one — he got the cupcake.