Tell your Torsion Spring you appreciate it before it's gone

I am one of those people who don't ever think about how things work. There was a reason I majored in the social sciences and not in engineering. Anyhoo, our garage door broke this week and now I am well versed on the Torsion Spring and it's purpose. I also know it will cost more to fix than it's worth. I also know that it's a pain to not be able to access your garage. I hate having to go outside to get in the car. I don't like bringing in the groceries from the driveway. What if someone sees all the candy I buy?

When we built our house 8 years ago we made some silly decisions. Each decision was justified with telling ourselves repeatedly that this was a 'starter home' and we only had to endure bad choices for a few years. Obviously our starter home has turned into a retirement home and the mini-mantle over the fireplace and the cheap carpet we can live with. However our biggest regret is the fact that we didn't think we needed an outside door to the garage. How dumb is that? The only way to get into our garage is from our house or the now broken garage door. So until we pony up the money and have a garage door repairman come over we are dragging our garbage, strollers and bikes through the house and out the front door. So lame.

On a completely unrelated note, here are a few pix from Ethan's party. Please appreciate the 'plank' Hub came up with and the fancy pulley system for the pinata. Obviously Hub was the one in the fam to even know where to look when things are broken....

Ethan turns 5 and some Easter pix

Spring break has been rockin' with all the rain, cold temps and Easter candy we've been eating. Fortunately we've been able to keep busy because we have a party to plan. Ethan's been waiting for this occasion for about, oh, 364 days. He's having a pirate party and here is some of the evidence of our craftiness:
Obviously you are viewing a cannonball pinata and some mini cannon balls. Maybe you can sew and scrapbook, but I can make an awesome balloon shaped pinata.

Ethan had Torticollis as a baby which made it look like he couldn't hold his head up straight. He had to go to a physical therapist and endure lots of exercises that made him cry. He also had to have an MRI and x-rays and other things that little babes shouldn't have. Now 5 years later his head is nearly straight:

Just kidding. We fixed him before his first Birthday. Unfortunately our digital library doesn't go back far enough to show how crooked he really looked.
Here are just a few random Ethan pictures to celebrate his life.





And here a few more pictures from Easter because that's what you do on blogs.

Don't tell Sydney but the stuffed bunny she got in her basket was actually a present given to her at her birth. This one looks like Isaac has Torticollis


Off to finish up a few more cannonballs. This party is going to rock.

Easter goodies

We are eagerly anticipating our two annual Easter egg hunts tomorrow. I'm especially excited to take out some family members during our adult hunt. Nobody gets in the way of me and my Reeses p.b. eggs.
These hunts are great fun for the family but the kiddies get waaayyy too much candy and treats and then I am at a loss as to what to fill in their personal baskets via Easter Bunny. I just can't condone that much sugar in one weekend. Especially when 75% of the children have no self control on candy consumption. (Mitch is the abnormal one. He still has good Valentine's Day candy hiding in his room).

So I got a little creative this year. Here are some items my kids will find in their baskets:
Some quick processed foods! My kids will be in heaven. I even got the brand name Mac 'n Cheese for Ike. I will generously tell them they can eat 'their' meals for lunch that day and I won't have to take time to make them lunch! Win-win for everyone. I know I am a genius.

My Fun-ness

The other night I had some wakefulness after my 2 am bonding with Syd. I tried to force myself to sleep because it is such a rare resource but instead Britney Spears 'Circus' song kept on going through my head. Then I had to wonder how I knew most of the words to it.
Then I tried to think of some really great April Fools jokes for the next day. All I came up with was having the phone ring (gotta love having your cell phone call the home phone for authenticity!) and pretend the principal was calling asking Ike to take his job over for the day. Ike knew it was a joke and basically rolled his eyes at my fake phone conversation, but Mitch bought into it and then I felt mean when I had to tell him it wasn't real. The only other joke I came up with was saying there was a spider on Ethan's head. Pretty sad, I know. I shouldn't even try. This St. Patrick's day I dyed the mashed potatoes green and nobody would eat it because it looked like playdough.

On another note...having a baby is like the gift that keeps giving. Literally. It's awesome because she is 5 weeks old and gifts are still trickling in. Even an occasional dinner has been delivered. The wonderful gals in the YW gave me a surprise shower and I'm stocked with diapers for awhile (actually with Syd's energetic bowels I will be lucky if they last the week). The moral of the story is to have a baby and think about all the generous people you know while you are wide awake in the middle of the night.

Sydney wearing all her new hair flowers at once.