Why do we dye eggs?

Every year my sister dyes Easter eggs with my children.
They get all excited about the colors and designs - its
pretty cute to watch. But Johana asked why we dye eggs?
What is the tradition all about? Why so many rabbits and
eggs everywhere in this country? I tried to find the
history of it all, but not much made sense? More retail
merchandise with eggs and bunnies as opposed to heavy wooden
crosses?

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Italian Easter Bread x 2

We made Italian Easter Bread a few days early this year for
both girls to bring to school. They each made their own
from start to finish, and I must say I was really impressed.
They kneaded, twisted, braided, placed eggs, and baked.
This is clearly why they invented double ovens. For 18
minutes, Adelina and Isabelle moved from one oven to the
other watching each of the breads bake. "Ooooo - look at
mine!" and "Wow - mine is brown on top!"

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Thirty Toes in my Tub

There aren't many years left where the kids can take baths
together. I love that there were thirty little toes in my
tub at once. They have such a great time in the bath.
Forty toes soon? I'll need a bigger bath tub.

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Hippity, hoppity, Easter's on its way

Choo Choo! Spent the afternoon on the Easter Train in
Phillipsburg, NJ with the Cooks. Joseph loves trains but I
think everyone enjoyed the special train ride and time with
the Easter Bunny in his egg patch. Each child was allowed
to find 3 eggs. Try to explain that to Joseph. "More eggs!
Me more eggs!" So we let him collect a basketful and then
dumped them out before we got back on the train :)

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Jack's 1st Food

Jack had his first food this morning. He did not like it at
all! He was more interested to play with the spoon than to
have any of the food in his mouth. Jack clenched his jaw
closed when he saw the spoon coming. Oh well - we will try
again tomorrow!

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Jack rolled over!

Here are some action shots - druel and all!

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2009 Family Yearbook finally done!

Come on - it is only March 2010. That's only 3 months behind, ha ha! But yes, it is finally done and ordered.

To view it, click here: http://community.shutterfly.com/gallery/post/start.sfly?postId=/gallery/1/post/GMGDBg2atmzZu2bAfvxWYC

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Welcome Home Johana

We welcomed home Johana today from her trip to Spain to see
her sister. The kids were all so excited to see her so we
all went to the airport. Welcome home!

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Happy Spring!

We will take March any year if the days are like today.
Sunny, warm, and fun! After naps we took a late ride down
to Long Branch and set the kids free on the beach. The
girls loved it. Joseph? Not so much. First, in his
defense, he was a little under the weather and wasn't
himself at all. He had a bad morning but I couldn't sit
around inside during this outrageous day. But then Joseph
the little scared-y-cat stood in the same exact spot for 30
minutes. He didn't even move. You can check the pictures -
he is in the same spot the whole time. Yes, he may not have
been feeling great and yes, he had sand issues, but today
was not is day - but the rest of us had a ball. Bring on
the warm weather please!

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Time to get some Girl Scout Badges

This week Adelina's Girl Scouts troop had a special guest
Mrs. Jenny Logus. Mrs. Jenny is a dance instructor who
helped the girls work towards their red petal badge -
courage and strength. She talked to the girls about the
courage it takes to perform in front of a group, and also
about strong, healthy bodies. It was really cute! She read
them a story about a shy girl learning to dance on stage,
did some dance steps, and then did improv for "wind" in
honor of last weekends storms. Adelina was so excited to
get her special ballet dance badge for her uniform!

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Happy St. Patrick's Day

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Disney Memories

Arrived home safe and sound, just very wet and tired! All
of the Disney pics are now posted - look on the right side
under "Our Photos" for "2010 Winter".

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Thank you for visiting the Magic Kingdom Water Park

Wet Wednesday! We woke up to rain and a tornado warning.
It was a very very wet day. Actually, that doesn't even
begin to describe our wet day. So we stayed in our hotel
for breakfast with Chef Mickey and then headed to the Magic
Kingdom in between down pours. At first, it was fine.
Adelina, Joe, and I went on Space Mountain (or Space Matador
as she calls it) and then did most of the attractions in
Tomorrowland. Just as everyone got on the Speedway the
storms rolled in and the skies opened up. They got to do
one lap on the track, and then the ride was over. We tried
to do a few more "indoor" attractions like Philharmagic, the
Pooh ride, Snow White, etc but we (and everyone else in the
park) were soaked, cold, and just grumpy. So it was a quick
end to our wet day. At one point running back to the front,
Adelina and I took off our flip flops because we were
hydroplaning on the water as we ran. It was deep over my
ankles, so we knew enough was enough. As we got to the
front the security guard joked "Thank you for visiting the
Magic Kingdom Water Park." If you don't get that joke, the
Magic Kingdom is NOT a water park Ha ha!

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'Ohana means family

Hello from Disney Day 3.  Our day started with breakfast at 'Ohana with Lilo and Stitch.  After breakfast we said goodbye (about 20 times) to Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop as they headed home to NJ and we headed to Epcot.  Inside Epcot we all enjoyed Spaceship Earth and Joseph really enjoyed the dinosaurs at Ellen's Energy ride.  Later the girls took a whirl on Test Track with Aunt Geneen, Uncle Goo, and Daddy.  Then it was Soarin', Figment, and Nemo before we made our way to the countries.  Dinner in Italy wrapped up the night but Joseph had another doozie.  He tried to play Houdini with the tablecloth and sent all of our plates flying onto the floor.  It was a sight.  That was followed by warming up his pitching arm by throwing bread or whatever he could get his hands on at me (I was across the table from him).  He rounded out the fantastic dinner by throwing my water glass on me, and yes, it was full.  All that said, it was a fun day.  It was sunny and 78 and in between rides the kids enjoyed running in the grass and picking all of the flowers - oooops!!!

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Bibbidi Bobbodi Boo

Bibbidi Bobbodi Boo from the Magic Kingdom!  Tuesday was a fantastic day.  We started the day at the Magic Kingdom.  The first ride of the day was the Magic Carpet Ride, followed by the usual Pirates, Jungle Boat, Splash Mountain, and the rest of the standards.  After lunch all of the girls went to meet Tinkerbell, her fairy friends, and then princesses Aurora, Cinderella, and Belle.  The highlight of the day was definitely Adelina and Isabelle getting make-overs at the Bibity Bobity Boutique!  It was so sweet!  Adelina chose a Tiana makeover, and Isabelle was transformed into Belle.  They had a fantastic time and loved all of the compliments they received the rest of the day.  One little girl even asked permission to come talk to Isabelle because "she is so pretty" and another woman asked to take a picture of Adelina for her grand-daughter.  Joseph and Jack are also doing well.  Well, are they?  Joseph is a complete terror and has scrapes on both elbows, both knees, and he split he lip at dinner tonight.  Jack is being great and just taking in the sights.  More pics to be posted when I get home!

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Family Fun at MGM

Aloha from Disney!  Today we visited MGM and the kids had a blast on Tower of Terror - yes, Tower of Terror.  Well, technically they call it Tower of Terrace but none the less they went on and enjoyed it.  I would have bet Isabelle would have taken the chicken escape before they got on, but she didn't. I asked Isabelle if she liked the ride (I stayed on the ground with Joseph and Jack) and she said "Mom, I liked the up part but NOT the down part" - ha ha. Next, Joe and Grant took Joseph and Jack to see the Playhouse Disney show and were picked to be the "special family" for the show. 1st row and all. But how "special" did they think Joe and Grant were? Joseph is talking more and more each day. Word of the day today was alligator, so every body of water he sees from a puddle to a lake he yells ALLIGATOR!!! Later in the day we were surprised by Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop who drove down to join us for two days.  Dinner was at 'Ohana and then fireworks on the Contemporary patio observation deck.  A very full day!

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Travel Day

Hello from Disney!  Travel went smooth today.  On the flight to Orlando both Jack and Joseph slept - nice!  Once we arrived we got settled at Bay Lake Towers and had dinner at Chef Mickey's.  Tomorrow MGM!

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Adelina's Investiture Ceremony

At girl scouts this week they had a special Investiture
Ceremony. This is a ceremony in which a new member makes
her Girl Scout Promise, receives her membership pin, and
becomes an official member of Girl Scouts. Congratulations
Adelina!

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