Rock A Bye Baby

I must admit, I have had quite a lousy attitude as of late. Perhaps it is the stress of life, perhaps it is the cheerful denial of much of what has occurred in the course of the last year in our family. But it seems as though the burdens have been resting quite heavily upon me. I know I worry about far too many things. Things that are ridiculously out of my control. Mostly, I worry about my kids. I fear that I have failed them. I fear that I have not given them everything I possibly can to ensure their every happiness. A fair shot of surviving the world they will grow into.

A trip to the Post Office last week helped give me some much needed perspective. As I was yelling at Caitlyn to hurry up and get out of the car so that I could mail off all of our tax information, I noticed a rope around the landscaping in front of the building. There was a small gathering of people with binoculars, and cameras. I turned around to see two baby gray horned owls in a nest their mother had build in the arm of a very old, very large suaro cactus.

Caitlyn asked why a mom would build a nest in a cactus. She feared the babies would get hurt. I thought the same thing, until I started to walk around the entire space looking at the nest from every angle I could. It was then I understood what the mother had done. She had build her nest in a large enough space for the babies to be safe, and yet they were protected by the very needles she had built her nest upon. I am sure it was painful to craft such an environment. Yet she knew the babies would thrive there. They have. They are perfectly safe in the most unlikely of places.

Like the owls, I am not sure I could have predicted the place I call home or the life I have, but I think I get it now. You can be happy in the most unlikely of places or circumstances. You just have to walk around it, figure it out, and see just how big the possibilities are.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

So what's a mom to do when the wee one brings her all of the Easter eggs that the Easter Bunny fills? Freak out? A little, but when in doubt, figure it out. We just put all of the empty eggs in the baskets for E.B. to fill. It actually turned out great because we then color coded the eggs for the baskets. Logan got green and blue, Caitlyn got pink and a few yellow and green with her name on them, and Reagan got purple and yellow. Of course E.B. left an empty one in their baskets to remind them of of why we celebrate Easter. That discussion was the best part of the day, it was led in part by Aunt Joce, who no doubt was praying for a little divine intervention herself in that moment.

Since Logan is getting older, E.B. is finding craftier ways of hiding his basket.

It took him about 20 minutes to find it.

Reagan's rules for egg coloring:

1. drop egg in cup with great force

2. pull out immediately with hand

3. inquire why the egg is "bo-kin"

4. pick off egg shell and take three bites

5. repeat until all of your eggs,

sister's eggs, and brother's eggs are colored and broken

They both loved their pink!

The apple never falls far from the tree....

The girls were happy to take a picture...as long as no boys were allowed

The sweetest part of Easter!

Caught Up

There's been quite a flurry of activity these past several weeks in our home. First up was the Pinewood Derby. Logan did great for his premiere at the events. He loved painting his car that he and his dad did together, so much so that my kitchen table is still showing the remnants of the red, green, and silver love.

A few weeks later was our annual Anthem Days here in town. It's a mini fair at the community park. There are vendors hawking their products, pre-schools, and psychology. There are all the traditional fair foods; roasted corn, snow cones, and fry bread. There are bounce houses, pony rides, and music. But best of all, it's the time of year that the carnie's descend on our little town and charge rates comparable to that of securing life insurance. It cost $12 for Nathan and the kids to ride ONE ride. The Starship 2000 was the chosen one this year. Back in my carnie loving days it was better known as the Gravitron. You know the one where they spin you around at mock 5 and then drop the floor out from under you? I thought for sure Caitlyn would bow out and Logan would puke. Turns out they are natural born spinners and loved it.

The other ride for the day was the giant train. It's a 6 car train that goes all over the community area in the center of town. It comes complete with trips over bridges and through tunnels. We have wanted to go since we moved here, and it was a beautiful day to ride.

We have also hit up a hockey game. Nathan and I have been before, and we thought that there was enough action to keep the kids entertained. Logan loved it. He wanted to ride the Zamboni. Who doesn't? As long as she was eating, Caitlyn was mostly pacified. But then there's Reagan...and Dora. To a 2 year old, a coyote mascot looks much like a fox. More specifically a fox named Swiper. She lost her mind when Swiper came out on the ice riding a four wheeler to give away a motorcycle. She of course believed Swiper was swiping the bike and was screaming at the top of her lungs "Swiper no swiping, Swiper no swiping." When the bike was securely in the hands of the winner, she replied, "oh man..." I am not sure how many more games she will be attending.

All and all Arizona has been lovely this spring. I imagine it is much like fall for those with four seasons. It is a great couple of months, but you know you have to soak it all in before the dreadful weather rolls in...but on the bright side at least we spend our dreaded months at the water park and not shoveling snow.