Easter Breakfast at the Mall

So, at the last minute - I happen to read that the Chik-fil-A in the mall was having a breakfast with the Easter Bunny on Saturday. SO glad we went!

They had free meals for the kids (chicken biscuits), color sheets, Easter baskets with goodies and the Mall's Easter Bunny came to visit with the kids.  They told parents to bring their cameras for photo ops.  FREE! I'll save $30 bucks any ol' day.

FYI - They do Breakfast with Santa at Christmas too. Good to know!

We met Nate and his Mama. 

And a rare pic with Mommy.

St. Patrick's Day

Had a sweet little St. Patrick's Day party at our friend's house on Sunday.  So creative and fun.

Had an awesome spread of lots of fun (green) food.

A trio of little leprechaun's added to the magic.

Made a few cute crafts.

Super awesome treat bucket and cake.

What a fun afternoon.

Confidence

I love that this little four year old is jam-packed with confidence.  She's raised by a mother who is lacking in this area - so I am pretty impressed that she enjoys an abundance.  Yesterday, Gianna was emphatic that she would wear a particular outfit that I really didn't expect would be worn in public.  She usually doesn't make a fuss about what she wears, so I figured I ought to give her a little on this one.  It was a beautiful outfit from Thailand, sent by my friend in the Peace Corps. 

I was hesitant because I never would have worn anything to make me look different or draw attention to myself.  Gianna asked if I thought the other children would make fun of her.  I told her I couldn't say for sure, but I asked her what she would say if she was teased.  She said, "No, no, no. This is a special outfit that children wear in Thailand.  We don't make fun of that."   Wear it, girl!!!! With pride!  And so she did.....

She was adorable.

And in her words, "...the children LOVED it!"

God love this child!

May we all be so confident and self-assured.

Spring Chicks

Well - I guess you know spring has sprung when you are invited to see some new baby chicks!  Our sweet friend Brenda lives in my favorite country home ever.  They have chickens and this week -- baby chicks!  What four year old doesn't love baby chicks?  You bet we went!

 -- and Gianna's little friend Jayda was there too.

Gianna acts all big and brave and country-like when she follows the chickens trying to pet/hold them.

She's very excited to pet one that Brenda's holding... 

...and then does a little bit of a freak out dance when the chicken frantically flaps away!

We all laughed so hard.

How sweet is that baby chick?

Jayda is much more a country girl than Gianna.

I think even the baby chick sensed that...

Brenda's cousin, Paula, made the mistake of telling Gianna to not be afraid if the chicks peed or pooped on her...

...this poor chick ended up on the floor shortly after this picture.

Chelsi and Brenda helping with the chicks.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Getting some agression (or sillies) out on the punching bag.

Gianna was excited to feed the chickens ----

UNTIL, of ourse, she stepped two feet inside the chicken pen. That's when she smelllllled the chickens.  She started gagging and ran out as fast as she could.  "IT SMELLS LIKE POOOOP!!!!" 

You betchya, little city girl!  I swear, that child somehow has my DNA. 

A couple of other silly birds. 

Brenda has a lovely little snack for us on the back porch.  So idyllic. 

What a wonderful spring afternoon.

Thank you Brenda and Chelsi for being such great hosts.

The Little Astronomer

We never know what our little munchkins will have an interest in as they grow and learn, but I have noticed that if if you give attention to these areas of interest, they seem to soak things up so quickly and easily.

Gianna is completely intrigued by anything having to do with the Earth and Outer Space. I think it may have begun around the time she saw this video of an awesome female astronaut giving a tour of the space station (FASCINATING!! )  She would ask me dozens of questions daily, and then one Sunday morning she watched an entire hour of NOVA on PBS: Earth from Space.  She was mesmerized.

I set out to find some helpful resources. Nothing fancy - just couple of books on space for kids on clearance at BAM.  She is really eating this stuff up.  Here she is giving a little lesson about the planets and solar system....adding enough creative fluff to keep it interesting.




She says she wants to be an astronaut.  If she can manage to work out the whole Jupiter explanation, she might make it.  (FYI - Back up occupations are a doctor or Disney princess.)

A Whimsical Breakfast

Last year we attended a fundraiser called Wands & Whimsy to benefit the St. Nicholas Center (A Resource Center for children in the Autism spectrum) and Gianna had the time of her life.  This year I made sure to get tickets and we went to the event with my friend and her niece (same ones we went to Disney with.)

I drove up to the restaurant at 7:55 and there was a full parking lot and a line around the building. Yikes!  Word has apparently spread abou this great event.

As soon as we entered the building, Gianna started hyperventilating and darting toward the holding area for the characters.  It was SO hard to help her understand that they would come to us.  We got our breakfast (Gianna had three bites in two hours) and found a table which happened to be the

Dr. Seuss's Birthday Week

It was Dr. Seuss Week at Gianna's school in honor of his birthday.

There was silly hat day....