Family Outing

After church today we had our Family Outing which was a picnic in the park (and my idea! yahoo!!) - it was So FABULOUS.

we headed to the store first, then home to pack up the bags and then walked over to the park. Oh glorious sunshine. Arielle provided the entertainment (as usual), Daddy provided the food (he's the money-maker), Mommy prepared it and we all ate it UP (love GOUDA cheese).

Bliss

This morning my little toughie Ari biffed it, smacked her face on the floor and let out a howl. It was one of those noises that Mom & Dad interpret as PAIN. We ran to pick her up from the floor. Blood was gushing out of her mouth, into her open hands and down the front of her dress. She had split her lip in about five different places.

Later on, after the mouth had been rinsed, appropriate pressure applied and love shown she said pointing to her swollen lip: "My bliss hurts."

Eggs & Cupcakes!

This was the first year I recall doing the Easter Egg Dye scene. If we did it last year I don't remember... maybe I wasn't involved enough? Well, we did this year! And the girls were fascinated. That leads me to believe it was their first time dyeing eggs. I too was fascinated. It was so much fun for us as a family – all four.

Pink cupcakes were also baked whilst eggs were dyed. And then MANY cupcakes were eaten before they could be frosted. Ah well! We snapped some photos to document everything expect the final frosted & decorated cupcakes (bummer, cuz they were cute and spring looking).

Mateja decided she wanted to dye the raw eggs too. What the heck. My only rule: be careful not to drop them. Why bother having rules? They get broken just like raw eggs that are dropped.

Hearts of Fathers

The girls and I went to the park yesterday early afternoon. It was a new park to us, not far from where we're living now. Signs of the times surrounded us in many ways.

Upon arrival I scoped the scene, not an unusual thing to do as a Mom going into a new environment, five families represented plus mine. OK. Get layout of play structures, number of children, parents/guardians hovering about, amount of sand I will later be cleaning out of clothing and car. Check, check, check... and then... a strange sensation. I was one of only two mothers representing six families. There was one Grandmother. And then the sensation: fathers. Fathers on a week-day in the middle of the day in shorts with their kids at the park. There's nothing particularly strange about seeing a father with his child at the park, but... being a mother who frequents parks - you just DON'T see fathers as the majority that often. Years ago when Mateja was a toddler, we'd met a group of fathers who were part of a daddy's group. They stayed home with their kids while their wives went to the office day after day. Other than that Daddy's group I have never seen so many fathers out in force @ the community parks during the week. It's definitely a different dynamic. I like it. The kids like it too.

Before we left, another father showed up with his two kids. No other mothers came.

Turn the hearts of fathers to their children.