Happy Birthday Trevi and Happy Easter!

Last night, everything was set out for the Easter Bunny: empty plastic eggs, a carrot, and a rather cryptic note from Clara telling the Bunny that he should slow down and try not to be in a rush all the time....
Both kids waited quite patiently until 7am, when Chad and I (with coffees in hand) finally announced the official start of egg hunting season.
Clara has a bit of an advantage over Trevor, since she doesn't feel compelled to stop and examine each egg as she finds it. She feels the need for speed. Fortunately, the C vs. T egg system works like a charm to keep things even steven.
It was a chilly morning (I like it better when Easter is in April, where it belongs), so we bundled up and headed outside to search some more.
Before long, baskets were overflowing, and Chad and I were almost completely caffeinated. We headed back in to see what the Bunny had stuffed in those 86, 000 eggs.
Okay, ya, so the Easter Bunny at our house is maybe just a bit mean....There is no chocopalooza, no fountain of jellybeans, and not a marshmallow peep in sight. Our Easter Bunny fills most of the eggs with cereal - Fruity Cheerios, though - a total treat, and Quaker Oatmeal Squares. Also, some fruit snacks (a rare delicacy), goldfish crackers, and stickers. This year, some mega bonus items: little plastic frogs, a whole set of dominoes (divvied up into a dozen eggs), twist-up crayons for Trevi, and Clara's very own scotch tape to keep in her room (how did the Easter Bunny know that she kept taking the tape dispenser from the desk and Chad could never find it when he needed it???) Finally, the biggest, most awesome surprise of all: GUM! The best thing about never letting your kids have gum is that they feel like they have won the lottery when they get a few pieces in an Easter Egg. And while our Easter Bunny may sound a little different, Clara and Trevor totally accept him for who he is, and completely appreciate his gifts despite the lack of chocolate. And we don't have to spend the next month negotiating candy intake. Thank you, Easter Bunny.


Once we had all spent a good deal of time eating cereal and lining up and knocking down dominoes, we made the mental shift from celebrating Easter to celebrating Trevor's Birthday.
Trevi's cactus collection is growing. This biggie is called 'blue candles'. It may seem, again, mean, to give a four-year-old a cactus for his birthday, but it's what he wanted, honest! Clara chose two new jigsaw puzzles for her brother, but was most excited to give him his own robot (Here you see her taking it out of the box). I believe Trevor decided he wanted a robot because one of his favorite songs is called, "Robot Parade" (by They Might Be Giants). When Clara and I stumbled upon a battery powered robot-looking toy at Target, we were elated. Ten bucks. It walks, its eyes light up, and you can move its arms and hands. Sure enough, the pseudo robot was a giant hit. It is all Trevor wants to play with. Guess we can return the bike....
Although it looks as though Clara is trying to wrestle the robot away from her brother in this picture, what she is actually doing is opening its claw? hand? pincer? so it can hold a piece of paper. Most of the next hour or so was spent sending notes back and forth across the kitchen floor, by robo-courier.
Our kitchen looks pretty festive now that it is purple, and we jazzed it up last night with a collection of streamers, balloons, and Happy Birthday signs. The big (cactus-themed) kid party will be in a couple of weeks, but this was a perfect little family celebration. Four years old. Happy Birthday, Manny. We love you!