Escape Artist

Maggie came running down to the basement while I was trying to figure out how to turn on the Wii for a neighbor boy, saying, "Mom, Mom, you have to come see this...!" So I gave up on the Wii and followed her upstairs.

And there was Becca crawling around outside on the patio.

Apparently, Maggie and her friend had left the back door open and Becca decided that after weeks of climbing up stairs today was the day she would learn how to go backwards down stairs. And so she just scooted herself out the door and down the back steps and was having a ball playing in the dirt with the big girls. And Mom had no idea.

Forget swinging from the chandelier, I think the next misadventure may involve crawling off down the street.

Beau-tee-ful

Maggie: "Nathan, do you like my new sweater? Is it dumb or is it beau-tee-ful?"

[No answer from Nathan focused on his computer game.]

Maggie: "It's beau-tee-ful, Nathan! I look beau-tee-ful!"

My Post-Feminist Modern Daughter Finds Every Woman's Dream Job

Maggie: "I'm getting ready to take my baby to work. 'Cause she's allowed to go."

Me: "What do you do for work, Maggie?"

Maggie: "Eh, sometimes I take a nap."

And she can't even walk yet!

I think we have a climber on our hands:

I keep finding Becca standing on things: a cardboard box of clothes, the toilet, and a stool that she pushed up to the counter herself and climbed on top of. And she's so proud of herself, "Ohhhhh!" One of these days, I'm going to find her swinging from the light fixture above the kitchen table.

If Only It Worked That Way

Me: "Maggie, clean up your card game and then you can play on the computer."

Maggie: "I already cleaned up."

Me: "No you didn't. The cards are still all over the floor."

Maggie: "Yes I did. I 'tend [pretend] cleaned up."

Me: "Pretend cleaning up doesn't count."

Maggie: "Why not?"

Easter Bonnets

Nathan is too cool for pictures in coordinating outfits now--and Matthew takes his cues from his big brother--so we took Easter pictures without the boys this year. You pick your battles as a mother, remember? The Easter Photo Front was surrendered before it could escalate into much more than a small skirmish. No casualties reported.

But the girls looked absolutely darling in their orange check cotton dresses and Easter bonnets. (The boys had contrasting turquoise blue ties, Nathan even wore a real tie-it-yourself-tie for the first time!)

Maggie May and Becca Bean

I had to post these last pictures so 1) you could understand how Becca really felt about her hat, and 2) you would know how she looks as a pirate, "Argh, mateys!"

Easter Morning

Unlike the Tooth Fairy who never remembers to come to our house until she finally just hands the kid (Matthew) his money on his way out the door to school in the morning, the Easter Bunny visited Saturday morning! (Easter egg hunts and getting four kids ready for stake conference by 10:00 am on Sunday? No way.)

That crazy egg-laying bunny left Easter baskets of goodies and plastic eggs filled with candy all over our family room.

Becca was the first one to find an egg.

And then, a little while later, she discovered what was inside the eggs. Let it be remembered that this was the day another choco-holic was born.

Oops

Going through the pitifully few photos we've taken so far this year, I realized I never posted Matthew's birthday. In order to keep this record of my family in reasonable order, I back dated the post. You can view it here, if you like.

Smarter Than the Average Preschool Princess

Me: "Maggie, you need to clean up your mess."

Maggie disappears for a few minutes and reappears wearing a Snow White dress.

Maggie: "Look, Mom. I'm not Maggie anymore, I'm a princess!"

Me: "You are?"

Maggie: "Yep. And princesses don't clean up."

Paradise Island, Bahamas

Brian and I just got back from a four-night stay in the Bahamas, thanks to his company who sends the top sales people on fantastic tropical vacations every year. (I missed last year's Mexico trip, remember?)

This year's trip was absolutely wonderful: the sunshine, the warmth, the ocean, the sleeping-in and lazing-around... Yum. We didn't want to come home. Actually, we wanted to come home, pick up our baby Becca who we were missing very much, and go straight back to the islands. But here we are with all the kids (who we also love and missed...they're just a lot of work) and the messes and the laundry and the responsibilities...and I think I'm just going to take a minute to remember our lovely peaceful vacation and the warm, warm sunshine...

The resort we stayed at, called Atlantis. It was really, really nice (and expensive, the food and everything else was outrageously priced! We were glad we weren't paying for it.) Our room was just below the arch and to the right.

The next few pictures show the view from our balcony. This is the entrance to the Royal Towers where we were staying at Atlantis and the marina (which was full of huge yachts). Those colorful townhouses are timeshare condos.

This is one of two bridges to Paradise Island from the mainland, Nassau. Bus and taxi rides were really crazy because, having once belonged to Great Britain, they drove on the wrong side of the road and you were never sure exactly what traffic laws anyone was following...if any. The people were wonderfully friendly, though, and were very proud of their independence from the British in 1973--I heard that date repeated at least once a day.

Looking out at the capitol of the Bahamas: Nassau.

In the background, you can see a cruise ship docked at Nassau and the end of the island where Nicolas Cage lives (Oprah and several other celebrities live at the other end of the island). In the middle of this view is the dolphin cay where Atlantis guests (for an astronomical fee) can touch and swim with dolphins. It was fun to just watch them jump and play from our balcony.

Besides the beach (which was sooooo much fun), Atlantis is sort of a large water park and aquarium, too. We rode the Current (a mile-long lazy river with big waves and rapids) at least once a day. It's a lot more fun to work on your tan floating in an inner tube than laying out on a stationary lawn chair, we decided.

In spite of everything there was to do at Atlantis, we did manage to get dressed in real clothes every once in awhile and visit the mainland. This is me riding the ferry.

The infamous straw market. We spent a whole lot of money here...and time. It just so much fun bartering down the stall owners for their tourist junk wares.


Kyle Brown (who works with Brian and also won the trip) and his wife Maveny hung out with us a lot. I think they loved the straw market more than we did.

Here we are on the pier at Nassau, with the tail end of Paradise Island across the water behind us. Oh Bahamas, we miss you already!