Crafts, Pajamas and McDonald's

This is going to be quick because it is late and I am tired.  However, I wanted to make sure I go this recorded.  Brian has been away for the last week and the kids have been reacting to it this weekend.  I have learned to be extra patient with them, when possible.  So I decided that they were going to get to choose what we did today.  This morning after breakfast I asked them what they wanted to do today.  They both thought that having a craft day would be fun, Mackenzie asked if we could stay in our pajamas all day and Isaac wanted McDonald's.  So I got out a couple of things I had hidden away (a paint with water book and a foam train kit) and I got started on a project for Isaac's birthday party.  We all stayed in our pajamas all day, even in the car on the way to McDonald's to get lunch (from the drive-thru).  We had a good day and the kids went to bed very nicely tonight, still in the same room.

ONU Weekend

Brian and I spent most of this weekend at ONU.  The chair of Brian's department, Nils Riess, is retiring.  He was one of Brian's professors when Brian studied at ONU and Brian holds Nils in the highest regard.  It turns out that most everyone does.  On Friday there was a reception/open house in the early afternoon at the theatre and then that evening the formal event occurred. I got to meet a lot of Brian's friends from undergrad including a few that I had met before.  There was a reception following the event at the Inn on campus, where we were staying, and then we decided to go to the bar just off campus, which is called the Regal Beagle (my sister loved Three's Company when we were kids, and I assume that is where the name came from, but who knows). I can't remember when the last time was that I closed down a bar, but we did last night.

The kids had a funweekend with Grandpa Butch.  After we got home we did some chores at home and got the house cleaned up.  Mackenzie got a new quilt from Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Mike for Christmas and we decided that despite it still be ing a little chilly, it was time to put her spring quilt on her bed.  She took this picture to say thanks to Grandma and Grandpa:

Then we went to 577 for a quick outing.  We had a nice corned beef dinner to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.  The kids love corned beef.  It is a favorite in our house.  I don't know why, I don't even remember when we first had corned beef and the kids decided they liked it so much.

The kids are still sleeping in the same room and it is really very cute.  They are getting much closer as well.  They are playing together nicely, helping each other, and even saying "I love you." to each other.  It is super cute.

Brian is headed to USITT on Tuesday and will be gone for a week, so we will see if the good behavior sticks around : )

In like a lion . . .

It has been a long time.  We haven't been doing a whole lot with the unpleasant weather we have been having, but hopefully this weekend is the turn around and March will be a lamb soon.  I keep thinking that I should put up a new post, but then forget or am too tired at the end of the day.  We finally had a full day home today so I promised myself that I would find time to put up a post.  While the roomba is running in my cleaned up kitchen and dining room (I love the roomba) and Mackenzie is playing Play Doh and Isaac is playing with his Trios, I decided it was my chance to sneak to the computer.

 

One evening this week the kids and I played with the marble run. The kids (and myself) are finally getting adventurous and making our own runs rather than using the guide that came with them to make the runs.  I believe that Mackenzie and I did a marvelous job on our run:

 Isaac also did a great job creating his ramp:

 

This weekend Mackenzie went to a birthday party at the Toledo Zoo.  It seemed to have been a great venue for a party.  They spent the whole party in a secret room attached to the African carousel.  We have a membership to the zoo, so while she was at the party we took Isaac around to the animalsy he wanted to see (elephants, tigers, lions, polar bears and penguins).  The weather seemed to be perfect for most of the animals.  We got to see this elephant playing with a giant tire, which was very entertaining for the crowd:

Once we actually got to the live lions, Isaac barely stopped to look, but he was earlier extremely interested in the statues of the family of lions.  After we picked up Mackenzie she was also very interested in these statues: 

 The polar bears were also very lively.  They were splashing into the water just before this picture was taken and then they were walking around together:

I wasn't able to take a very good picture on the carousel since I was moving, but the kids rode the African carousel, Mackenzie and I rode on cheetahs (I believe that one was a jaguar, but Mackenzie thought that they were both cheetahs) and Isaac rode on a gorilla with Brian standing next to him.

After the carousel ride we had to stop and check out all of the statues on our way out.  The wolves were one animal that was not very active when we were walking around, the two wolves were sleeping the whole time, but when we went back with both kids they at least both picked their heads up and looked at us. 

Last night I went to a reception for All ND Women Connect, celebrating 40 years of women at Notre Dame.  When I RSVPed, I thought it was going to be about an hour from me, since it was hosted by the Detroit chapter of ND Women Connect, but it was actually an hour and a half away.  It was a lovely reception and I got to hear Haley Scott DeMaria talk about her experience in the fatal women's swim team bus accident in 1992.  I began my education at Notre Dame in 1994, when Haley had made her miraculous recovery from a spinal cord injury that left her paralyzed for a week and she swam her first race after the accident that October.  So I knew the story, but not well.  It was pretty great to hear her tell the story.  Although I must say after seeing pictures of the bus accident and her in the hospital, it made me a little nervous during my drive back home in the rain.  It was also pretty great getting a chance to meet and talk to other ND women in the area, especially those that were among the first classes of women at Notre Dame.  Although I know that Theresa's mom was there the first year, I never really talked to her about what it was like.

So today we are hanging out, Brian is finishing up Isaac's room, which he painted this past week, the kids are playing, and I am cleaning (although I hope to finish up soon and get to work on my quilt).  A pretty good day.