Names

Recently we've had two funny discussions related to names.

Elizabeth and Mom were talking about her name recently. Mom was practicing with E how to say her first name since it is so long. It sounds like Bizzybeff right now. She says Ellie or Sissy really well though. :) During some of this name talk, Mom asked Elizabeth if she knew her middle name. Elizabeth quickly answered, "Yes, it's Ben!" She wants to be just like Brother! Guess we need to work on full names eventually. Who knows what last name she claims!

Ben was competing yet again (everything is a contest and he strives to be the winner!) and decided he was jealous that Elizabeth was a way longer name than Ben. Mom explained that his full name was really Benjamin and it had nearly the same number of letters as Elizabeth. Mom said, "Your full name is Benjamin and your nickname is Ben." Ben's confused response was, "No, my name is Ben and my nickname is Dino." What? Not sure where that one came from, but apparently Ben thinks nicknames have to be more descriptive or something you like. Guess he gave himself one. We finally agreed that his full name was Benjamin, his everyday name was Ben and his nickname was Dino. Whew!

Good Friday

The kids were off on Good Friday and we tried to pack in lots on our extra day. We started by getting a raised bed and supplies to plant a garden in the backyard. Ben is most excited about watermelons. Mom focused on the vegetable selection and we may have ended up with some flowers too that the kids picked. It will be an interesting mix and a surprise if anything grows!

The next stop was the mall for Build-A-Bear. We thought it would be fun to get the kids a small animal for Easter and then were surprised when they had a promotion for free Easter baskets as well. The kids were thrilled and ended up with the same animal, but different accessories because E wanted to be just like Brother. Ben had the most fun using the grooming station and fluffing up his new dog. I think he would like to get a bathtub like that at home!


After a morning of running around we went home for lunch and nap. The kids needed lots of rest so they would be pleasant for their first trip to the movies! Ben is four and a half and he still hasn't gone to the movies. Either the right one hadn't come along when we wanted to go or the timing didn't work out. We decided with a day off and a new G rated movie, that this was our chance. We also decided to make this E's first movie as well. This will be one of the things that the second kid gets to do earlier than the first, but she may not be invited back for a while. We went to see Rio and it was really cute. Ben was not a fan of the bad guys, but enjoyed the movie overall and really liked the colorful birds. Elizabeth enjoyed parts of the movie, but took at least three potty breaks and decided she would play with the movie seat for a good portion of the movie as well. We saw posters for Cars 2 and may end up leaving E at home for that one this summer so Ben can enjoy it solo. Although Ben told Mom that we would be seeing a movie each week in the theater now since he liked the experience so much. He tried to stay for another showing of Rio, but we convinced him it was dinner time. At least it is something we can add to our repertoire and enjoy now and then. The kids are free for now, so it isn't really even that expensive yet.

We finished our fun day with Taco Bueno, a quick call to Grandma Elaine and playing some more with the new stuffed dogs. We all needed and enjoyed this day of vacation!

School Egg Hunts

The kids are getting lots of egg hunts this year. Ben has been counting the weeks and days for a while now ready to participate in them all. He started with the first hunt of the season at school on the Wednesday before Easter. His class had an egg hunt and then a family picnic. Ben was so excited that both Mom and Dad were able to attend. The class lined up and Miss Anita counted down to the mad dash for eggs. The kids had so much fun and did really well. There was no fighting over eggs and they cleared the place out within just a few minutes. The big talk was about all of the different egg designs and who brought which eggs. We all sat down for picnic lunch afterward and it was also fun to see the kids interact and visit with the other families during that time. Ben was so pleased to open his eggs when we got home that night. He relished each new candy and carefully moved them from the eggs to a plastic bag. He even laid out a bag of fruit snacks he received in a special place so he could have them the next day.

Elizabeth’s school hunt and party was the following day. Mom was able to go and help hide eggs and watch the kids. It had to be inside because of rain, so the motor room at school was used and the eggs were hid around all of the big inside toys. An egg hunt with two year olds is quite different from an egg hunt with four year olds. The two year olds likely didn’t remember doing this before and there was a definite learning curve. Some had no idea what was going on, some got the idea quickly and wanted every last egg in the room and then there was Elizabeth. She got one, showed Mom, then put it in her basket. Then she went for another and was pretty satisfied with completing her task. Mom talked her into a few more and then she was done with the experience. There were too many extra adults and lots of other kids to watch so E was content hanging out with Mom until it was done. She had a class party following and spent the party in Mom's lap eating a little of the party snacks, but mostly ready to go home and open her eggs. She was not understanding why we would stop to eat and play when there were surprises waiting to be discovered in those eggs!