St. Patrick's Day, Hooray!

Every year our town has a St. Patricks Day parade the Saturday before the holiday. We finally were coordinated enough to make it, and low and behold, the boys LOVED it!

Most of the participants in the parade were kids - a soccer club, dance studio, preschool - which made it fun for them to watch. Plus, EVERY float was throwing candy. Families that had come to the parade before were prepared with grocery sacks. We didn't know, so we ended up filling up my big purse, and our pockets. You know who should have been handing out cards? Not the guy running for office, but a dentist!

Burke Brother's Best Day

Yesterday was the best day to be a Burke brother! They woke up to a surprise dusting of snow on the grass. Quite exciting. Then Gramma Bobbie came and took them to OMSI - sparkling sand, water tables, counstruction machines, air vents, reptiles - little boy heaven.

Next came lunch at their favorite restaurant, Sweet Tomatoes. Croutons, crunchy sticks and pizza for all! Can't forget the ice cream, either.

They came home for a mom-free nap, which meant play time with Gramma who never tires of pick up sticks and sticker projects the way Mom does.

AND then they were off to Gramma Bobbie's house, where the snow was still on the ground! A few inches of it! Enough to make 3 snowmen, two of which Bayley promptly trampled down. Then it was hot cocoa, and Dad brought Chinese food, including Haydens favorite orange chicken, and Bayley's favorite, steamed rice.

Life does not get better for a Burke Brother!

BUY MY MOM'S BOOK

Egad!

I almost forgot Dr. Seuss' birthday! Phew. Close save. Today is Read Across America Day, in honor of everyone's favorite children's author, Dr. Suess. I'll revise this post and let the world know how many of our Seuss books the boys and I got through today.

Which Dr. Seuss title is your favorite?

Haircuts

"Mommy, mommy, mommy," Hayden squealed as I steered the double stroller down the sidewalk past Great Clips on my way back from the morning jaunt to the library and Safeway. "Go barber shop. Get haircut. Get strawberry ice cream and a balloon."

Hold up, here. "You want to get your hair cut?" No one has touched their hair since Halloween. Both boys have styles resembling shaggy mops.

"Yep." Yep is the word of the week with this kid. "Get strawberry ice cream and a balloon."

At breakneck speed I steered up into Great Clips and asked Bayley if he too wanted a hair cut.

"No way, Mom."

I called Jeff to see if this ice cream promise was legit, and sure enough, I was on my way to a sugar high. We waited, watching as a man got his hair cut.

"Do they have to use clippers?" Bayey asked squeezing my hand.

"No, they can just use scissors." The stylist roared a blow dryer to life. Bayley tensed his grip.

"No blow dryers."

"They don't have to blow dry your hair."

"And I want chocolate, not strawberry."

Well, all righty then. Ice cream all around. I put Bay's name on the list. We tried to read some of our library books (Eels, Elk, Elephants, and Explorers) but Hayden couldn't sit still. He wanted to sit in EVERY chair in the place. Grrreat.

After all the hooplah, when he was invited to sit in the chair, complete with a booster and seascape kids cape, he threw a signature Hayden tantrum. Bayley pulled through, deciding he could indeed go first. The stylist was magic with him, and he was on his way to a shorter do in no time.

Hayden however, decided it would be a great time to poop his pants. A front-seat-of-the-car diaper change later, we were back to watch Bayley. When he finished, he got the promised balloon.

It took five (5) tries to get Hayden to believe I would really not buy him ice cream if he didn't get the haircut. In the end, he wiggled in my lap while our lovely stylest worked her magic.

After a big tip, it was back to Safeway for ice cream. Next time, this is Jeff's job. I'm exhausted!

WonderTime Magazine

When we were in Medford, Grandma Evie did the cutest thing. She pulled Bayley aside and showed him a collection of "presents" he could give me. It was especially sweet because I could remember her doing that for me when I was a kid and wanted a gift for my mom. Shopping from Grandma Evie's collection is such a great idea, I wrote a little blurb about it, and it's in WonderTime magazine's March edition.

I apologize for being so behind on posting pictures.

D-lightful

D is for decongestant. The boys and I got sick this fortnight. No fun, I tell you. The suffered through my croaky voice reading about Dragonflies, Dogs, and Deer, but definitely preferred Dora The Explorer on DVD. They liked reading about Dinosaurs, but the movie Dinosaur was deemed too scary by Bay.

The Dog finally got a walk, thought not as often as we planned because it went into Deep freeze here, the temperature hovering in the teens. That killed the Daffodils I was planning on taking them to buy at the Tulip farm. And it has been much to chilly to go and feed the Ducks. At least we see them when we drive out to Grandma Bobbie's house.

Bayley is trying to figure out Dominoes, but he doesn’t have the patience just yet. Plus, he lost two already. I went to the Doctor, but thought scheduling appointments for everyone just to D-up the week would be a bit much. Pop-Pop is handling the Doughnut outing with a Krispy Kreme excursion on Saturday. I wish we could have had Dessert more often, but alas, I’m on a Diet.

D foods presented another challenge. Hayden came through, making Devil’s food cupcakes, but beyond that we were stumped. Dates? Dill pickles? Not really the Burke Brother’s thing.

C week is closed

No need to get too Creative with C-weeks. The grocery store abounds - celery, carrots, cucumbers, croutons, cheese, cilantro...

all leading Bay to one conclusion: Mom, C is a very tricky letter.
Tricky?
Yes, it sounds like a K or an S, and if you put it with an H it's a 'chuh' Very tricky.
WOW.

Anyway...his brilliance has also realized C isn't always a healthy letter. chips - they begin with a C, Mom. And chocolate chip cookies are 3 C's. Chococlate cupcakes get the same treatment. Candy too. If only he would use his powers for good and not sugar...

There are some great C games for kids. Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, Cootie, cards.

And best of all? Our C activity? Chuck E. Cheese. Bay LOVED it. Hayden liked running around and eating crackers.

MAGIC

Our library had a fun winter reading program - read 20 books to you kid. Took us 2 days. Then you take the little worksheet back to the library and get a ticket to a Community Celebration to Congratulate the kids who Completed the program. It started out with Cake - Chocolate Cake at that! Then there was storytime, at which point Hayden took Daddy on a library tour. Next came a magic show. Hayden stopped by just long enough to tell everyone the secret card was a 3 (supposed to be secret) and then he was off again, making new friends.

Bay had fun, so I think Come M week, we'll check out some magic.