Here is my play list of lullabies and songs I sing at night to the boys. In no particular order.

Daisy Daisy
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Rock-a-bye Baby
London Bridge*
Sing a song of sixpence...
Oh my Darling Clementine
Amazing Grace
Where O Where has my little dog gone?
How much is that Puppy...
Are You Sleeping?
Row Row Your Boat
Hush Little Baby
The Ants go marching...

That's all I can think of. Of course a few of these songs have been modified to include names like Joshua and Elliot, and others have been changed to have some historical relevance*. Thus, Rusty doesn't sing anymore.

Today was the funeral mass for Helen Macedon, Rusty's grandmother. She died at Anne & Russ's home on Tuesday morning with family surrounding her in prayer and comfort. It was a lovely Catholic mass followed by a reception. Elliot was quiet and in good spirits. Joshua did not attend though; he was in day school.

I did get sad during the mass but admittedly not for Helen. The funeral mass brought back my feelings of loss for my own father. I'm at peace with Helen's passing having a chance to see her before her last day, knowing she had lived a full life and was ready to end her suffering with cancer and old age. It's in strong contrast to my father's death. He was not done with life and I had not yet made peace with him in our relationship. I'm talking now to a counselor to help me sort things out in my head and find some peace. I think it's going to be a journey though, not a quick fix. Periodically Rusty will tell me he thinks I seem down or distant or unhappy.

On the bright side, we got the left over reception food including lots of cookies. Maybe I'll go have one now. :-)

We have a code word in our home to signify a major accident and/or needing backup immediately. Tonight, from upstairs while I was finishing the post-dinner cleanup, Rusty shouted "mayday! mayday! Sarah, come quick!" Joshua was getting out the bathtub, was wrapped in his towel and somehow tripped on Rusty's foot then slipped on the wet tiles. His hands where wrapped in his towel so he couldn't catch his fall with his hands. Instead, he landed face down busting his lip and chipping a front tooth. He wailed and cried for a long time (about 5 minutes) but after the Tylenol kicked in and his gum stopped bleeding, he ended the evening in good spirits and high energy- the usual. Tomorrow I'll see if his dentist or doctor can look at his teeth to assess the damage.

In lighter news, Josh started his swim class today. He did very good! Today they practiced putting their heads under water, holding breath, and reaching for toys on a ledge in the water. One girl there was a little scared after her first head dunk so she cried the entire session. She begged, pleaded, screamed for her mommy. The mom stayed in the shaded seating area watching, encouraging her some. The teacher was firm saying she (the girl) needed to stop crying. Several times she told her, stop crying, and continued the lessons. This is a tough-love teacher. She doesn't do songs, warm-up games, super enthusiastic (empty) cheers, nor does she waste time with a child who crying to her mother. After all, mom can't always be there and this is a class on how to swim which can be scary for some but it's necessary to face these fears and conquer them. The teacher finally sent the mother away so the girl didn't have anyone to call for. She kept crying but the intensity went decreased after ten minutes or so. Elliot & I watched from the shaded area. It was entirely too hot and supposed to be hotter through the week. Today Elliot told me he was too hot and cried a bit too. Tomorrow I'll bring a Slurpee or smoothie and some snacks for him.

We found an adorable bunny in our backyard this morning then again this evening. This little critter fit right in my palm (that's how tiny he is) and when he was scared he squeaked, just like a dog's chew-toy. Hmmm, bad analogy. I gave him shelter this morning in our house to keep Merlin from attacking him in the backyard. I released him in the front side yard a few hours later but he came back for some reason. Maybe he's waiting for his mother rabbit to find him or something. If he hangs around here too long I'll take him to a wildlife rehabilitation.

Elliot is making new sounds. For milk he says 'mil' and for cat he says 'may-yow'. The way he says it is sooo cute! He can now tell me if he prefers milk or juice. For juice he sometimes says 'oos' and sometimes just points and whines at the bottles. Here's a quick list of all the words he says when he's in the mood to try talking:
momma
dada
pop-pop (grandpa)
mil'
dink (for drink)
nap
night night
oos
osh (for Josh)
'nack (for snack)
nom nom (means I'm eating or I want to eat something yummy)
ewww
may-yow
'og (for dog)
'uck (for duck)
bye
Hi! (he says this clear as a bell)

He's sprouting two canine teeth but those aren't bothering him. He's also over a cold that passed to Rusty. I hope I don't get it too.

Joshua starts swim classes next week. He'll go everyday for two weeks (not weekends) to a private instructor's home. She has an indoor pool. The word is she's a teacher and does swim classes in the summer on the side. I don't care so much about Josh learning to swim per se, I just want him to learn how to not drown. I'm happy if all he does is a doggy paddle.

Finally, some sad family news. My mother's older sister's husband died this evening of a heart aneurysm. It came on suddenly and without warning. They tried surgery but he didn't respond well. Then organs began to fail. He was on life support when his wife and grown children made the decision to take him off. I didn't know him well as I think I met him maybe twice in my life. My mom's sister, Connie, has family nearby to help her through the grief. I'm sad for them even though I wasn't close. Kenny was in his 50s. I'll send a nice scented candle to Connie with a card.

My new favorite breakfast item is what I call at home Apple Sunrise. It's soooo good! And easy!

1 cup apple juice
1/2 cup old fashioned oats, not instant oatmeal

In a small pan bring apple juice to a low boil, add oats, reduce heat then simmer 3-5 minutes. Cool, garnish with cinnamon or apple sauce, and serve.

The first time I made this for Elliot he gobbled it all down then mooched off of my bowl. The second time, he turned up his nose entirely.

I've been better the last few days. I'm less depressed, less weepy. I'm keeping my appointment to see a counselor on Tuesday. I'm hoping she will help me work out my anger issues with my dad and get to the root of why I was so down last week. I've been taking fish oil twice a day and boosting my B vitamins.

On the topic of diet, I did an experiment on Friday of counting all my calories for the day. I was just curious about how much I consume in an average day. For that day, I took in 2007 calories by the kid's bedtimes. Then added two cookies before my bedtime for 120 calories. In all 2127 calories (give or take). Not bad. That explains my steady weight- not gaining, not losing. Here's what I ate that day:

tea w/ sugar
raisin toast
1½ tbsp peanut butter
2 tsp honey
1 Owens sausage biscuit
½ serving Apple Sunrise
chicken thigh
pear
bottle vitamin water
1½ cup milk w/ 2 tbsp Ovaltine
shot of espresso
small ice-cream
chicken casserole*
iced tea
2 chewy chips ahoy cookies

Chicken Casserole
* 2 skinless, chicken breast halves, cooked
* 1 can mixed veggies or 15 oz. frozen mixed veggies, thawed
* 1/2 cup cooked rice
* 3 ounces sour cream
* 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
* 1/8 teaspoon celery salt
* 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
* 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 cup crushed buttery round crackers
* 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces.
3. In a large bowl, stir together sour cream, soup, celery salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix in cooked rice, vegetables and chicken. Spoon mixture into a 9x13 inch casserole dish. In a resealable bag, shake together crushed crackers and melted butter. Sprinkle crackers over the top.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes.

It's only 7pm and I feel wiped. It's been an emotionally wrenching day for me. Funny thing is (that was a pun), I don't have a tangible reason to be sad, yet I cried off and on throughout the day. Silly things brought it on like walking into Elliot's room, grocery shopping, thinking about being depressed, even little frustrations I normally shrug away. I have a doctor's appointment on Wednesday morning to figure out why I keep clearing my throat (I've been doing that for months and it's straining my vocal cords) and while I'm there I'll bring up my new state of depression. It runs in my family in varying degrees. I've been through depression before lasting several weeks, but this was before kids, before impressionable people watch my every move and question everything I do. I can't break down in front of them without a concrete reason, nor can I shrug my cheerful motherly duties like playing and patiently teaching them. I want to avoid medication if possible. I don't trust medication, I don't want to be dependent and I don't want the expense. I've bought some fish oil and brought out some left over prenatal vitamins to boost my diet. I generally don't like talking to just anyone because I don't know what to say. It's not like one event has caused me sadness that I need to talk to someone about. It's just chemicals or neurons that are making me feel less cheery, dull and sometimes weepy. The best thing for me, for now, is to keep busy. And get plenty of sleep.

Elliot is showing the first signs of actively trying to communicate beyond shrieking and crying. Sometimes he'll say 'dink' for drink, 'nack' for snack, 'cra-cra' for cracker, 'wa-wa' for water, and 'osh' for Josh. Words he's got down are 'mom-ma' and 'da-da'. He's learning a handful of useful phrases like "give it to", "put it", "go to" and so on. So I can say "put the cup on the table" and he'll do just that. Then he'll bring the cup back smiling as if to say, now what? He delights in helping like putting folded diapers in the diaper bin, putting plastic dishes away, cleaning up toy and Tupperware messes, and wiping up with a damp cloth. The last one has to include playing with the cloth as part of the bargain. Giving a hug involves leaning his head in (not using his arms) while giving a kiss is a slimy open mouth experience that only a mother could love.

It's upsetting that the abortion doctor George Tiller was gunned down at his church this weekend. I've given this some thought over the last couple days and think the person who should be to blame for late-term abortions is the customers, not the doctor. It's like being mad at prostitutes who are serving men who want to pay for sex with strangers or being mad at the person who slept with your wife/husband when it's your spouse you should be taking issue with. It makes no sense to shoot a doctor who is trying to serve his customers in a safe, healthy environment. It makes better sense to advocate better adoption services, to speak to young women about choices and consequences, and to have outreach and compassion for mothers who might be faced with a legitimate reason to have a late-term abortion. It saddens me that in an age of advanced education, free access to literature and an age of reason that some Americans still turn to rash violence to make a political point.

After dinner this evening...

"Joshua go upstairs now for bath time. Hurry up." I said this because he was laying on the stairs whining about not wanting to go up. "I'm going to count to five backwards and you better be at the top of the stairs: fiiiive, foooour, threeeeee, twoooooo, oooooone, now getyourbuttinthebath!" He made it to the top by one but he wasn't happy with me rushing him.

"Mommy, you don't count backwards from five," in a pouty tone.
"Fine, I'll count forwards then."
"No, you don't count forwards either," same pouty tone
"Then how should I count?"
"You don't- you should count sideways." And as if on cue, Rusty chimed in,
"Three, three, three, three, three."

This confused Joshua but highly amused me. :-)

What a week- what a weekend!

I spent most of my idle time last week planning Joshua's birthday party. We celebrated on Sunday, the day before his actual birthday. It was a good ole' party with homemade cake, little ice-cream cups, pinata, balloons, food, games, jumping toys and so on. I tried to have a no-gifts birthday but everyone who attended either snuck in something or blatantly disregarded me. After people left Joshua opened his presents, played with everything, then helped me deflate the bouncy house before rain started. He had a great day until dinner time when he proceeded to meltdown. Sadly, he was sent to bed with almost no dinner and no story time. His meltdown was that bad!

But the next day, his actual birthday, was Memorial Day and we all had fun chumming around the house, everyone got extra sleep, and the evening went smoothly.

Today, Joshua went to his four year pediatrician visit. He measures 39 pounds (75th percentile) and 43¼" tall (95th percentile). They tested his vision (about 20/30) and hearing and a few other milestones. He got four vaccines which really hurt. It didn't hurt so bad the last time he got a shot but this time he reacted at the first injection swiping the needle across his leg. For the other three we laid him down while I held his hands and covered his eyes so he couldn't see when it was coming. Poor guy. He was so sad by the end of the ordeal it nearly made me sad! By the time we left the office he was back to normal.

Elliot is beginning to assert himself. It's not always fun. When he gets frustrated at someone he screeches at the top of his voice. I think he sees his brother scream at, well, everyone and decided that was the thing to do. He also hits when he can't have his way. At eighteen months he's too young for time-out so I usually sit him down abruptly and say sternly "no hit!" a couple times then let him be for a minute. That seems to get the message across.

Here's pictures from today.

I took down the rail off of Elliot's crib. Now he's in a toddler day bed, like his brother. I was expecting him to make a break at bedtime with his new found freedom but he didn't. He rustled around a bit then fell asleep, just like normal. Soooooo not like Josh who escaped every moment he had a chance. I'm sure Elliot will catch on to being ornery like his brother at some point but I do love the easy bedtime tonight!

Famous Joshua Quote of the Day

This morning he put his shoe on the wrong foot. I pointed this out saying two wrongs don't make a right, but two Wrights make an airplane. A joke more for myself than for him. He responds:

"Yeah, and two lefts make a train!"

Elliot was diagnosed today as having hand-foot-mouth disease. It isn't really a disease in the sense of ongoing illness or debilitation. It's a viral infection that runs its course for a week then goes away on its own. He's not contagious unless you come into contact with his blood or saliva. Right now he has sores on his tongue and bottom lip and some spots on his butt, knees, feet and palms. He has a distinctly decreased appetite and sharply increased crankiness.

Other than that, he's a healthy boy growing by leaps and bounds. He's nearly 24 pounds, measures 32" tall and hits all the milestones except speaking words, with which he's still short on. The doctor warned that sibling rivalry will increase over the next 6 months as Elliot exercises his will and challenges his brother.

Speaking of his brother, we're planning Josh's birthday party this week. Today Elliot & I bought a couple 2x4 plywood planks and some scrap pine wood. Tomorrow we'll visit a cloth store and get some corn kernels from the grocery store. Can you guess the game we're making?? :-)

In other news, Rusty & I scored another client to host with us. He's a patent lawyer who has three websites, one of which needs a face-lift. We'll meet with him in early June to get ideas for restructuring that website. I also have another web page to put up for Crossley Axminster. This week is busy for us while Rusty takes a Linux certification test, but next week he'll be back working with me on client stuff.

This weekend was the hardest part of grieving for me. Even more so than my trip to Denver right after he died. I was sad to say good bye to three people, three generations of the Stinson family:

Betty 1935-2007
Terry 1952-2009
Jason 1973-1976

We arrived at the cemetery to do paperwork, our make payment, etc. right before they closed Friday. Before we even arrived, I was already welling up with emotion. I broke down a few times, got through the paperwork, visually confirmed Jason's grave then broke down again. Saturday we arrived around 2pm at the cemetery office then drove over to the grave. They had already dug the hole, set out chairs and a table. I placed the urn vault on the table for everyone to see Terry's urn and Betty's box before they were sealed away. The cemetery director sealed the vault, they placed it in the hole then began shoveling dirt. Everyone there cried some. I think I cried the most. Nobody buried in that plot died peacefully, nobody died right.

I'll never forget the sound of the shovel scraping the dirt or the sound of dirt clumps landing on the vault. It's an awful sound I don't want to hear again for a long time. After the crew drove off, we were still standing there taking in the moment in our own mournful ways. We exchanged hugs and well wishes, then the party split. The Roschetzky family went back to their homes while my family and Molly went to a nearby bar for drinks. This place had a huge patio and enclosed playground for the kids, so everyone was comfortable. We looked at pictures one more time, reminiscenced one more time, and exchanged promises to get together more often before finally going home.

I've been less mournful since then, less sad. I have closure for Terry and Betty and feel comforted that they are near Jason. The headstone will have to wait a year or so. It will replace Jason's stone with one that has the family name on top then each person's name and years under it. Jason's headstone will go to Carlean who can choose to give it to Pam or keep it herself. I have pictures and a few items from all three, and these are all I need to hold on to.

How to Put Two Boys to Bed at the Same Time

While it seems like a daunting prospect, it can be done without tears or tantrums. First bathe them, brush their teeth and get them into pajamas. Some quiet play time and/or children's TV time will help them slow down. Limit both to about twenty minutes max. Explain to the oldest that book time will be read to both at the same time. Repeat this statement until it sinks in and he stops bringing you books. Read one page then pause to get water for both. Resume reading. Three books is sufficient unless you're on a roll and want to go for a forth. Then, make your eldest turn off the lights for song time. Sing two or three songs to the youngest. Lay the younger one down in the crib, say good-night then walk out, with the other kid, leaving the door cracked an inch or so. In the older child's room, turn off their light, sing a few more songs while rubbing their back and/or tummy. Say good-night then walk out leaving the door cracked an inch or so. Linger around the vicinity a few minutes in case one of them has an excuse to get out of bed or make noise. Lastly, reward yourself.

I sent three letters to my legislators this morning pushing to keep Medicaid coverage for birth centers.

Dear John Cornyn, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Honorable Kenny Marchant,

Medicaid is threatening to cease payment to birth centers, which will negatively impact poor and uninsured patients, their midwives and the birth center industry state-wide. Hospitals, clinics, and nurse-midwives are listed as eligible to receive funds, but birth centers are not. Nor is it clear why they should be excluded from payment. Birth centers provide the same level (or better) health services as hospitals and clinics, at a fraction of cost!

The only permanent solution for birth centers in the Medicaid program and with other insurers is to pass legislation making birth centers an official mandated facility, without a federal requirement of having a medical doctor part of the establishment.

Until recently, some states paid birth center charges above and beyond the midwife's professional fee, but did so based upon an interpretation of the Medicaid law. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) top officials, at the present time, have a new interpretation, which leaves out birth centers, and no longer accept the former interpretation. This means that if the birth center is to get paid for the facility, the birth center must be added to the Act as a distinct category of provider, like hospitals or clinics.

Some states might still be paying the facility fee at present, but this payment is threatened. Texas has been denied payment for birth centers—even after paying them for over 20 years.

Since CMS is taking the position that the birth center, as a facility, is not a Medicaid-eligible provider, the poor and uninsured are the very folks who stand to lose the most. Hospitals and obstetricians have higher costs than care with a midwife at a birth center, but without Medicaid's support, families will feel they have no choice. Birth centers have an outstanding record of providing safe, women-centered births and all women should have access to them, regardless of their income status. In addition, the ruling could easily lead to denial of other insurance payments to birthing centers, as other insurance providers often follow the lead of CMS.

I think government agencies have no place in dictating where a woman should receive care. I ask you to please support the new bill to be introduced by Rep. Susan Davis (D- CA). This bill will include birth centers as eligible providers for Medicaid payment.

Thank you for your service and support!

Sarah Nejdl
Texan, mother of two

Today was a good Mudder's Day, as Josh says it. We started the day with breakfast at Poor Richard's, then I got my car cleaned by Rusty & Josh (mostly Rusty), I got a pedicure, then a hair cut, then a semi-round of disc golf followed by our usual shenanigans for dinner and bedtime.

Elliot has entered the tantrum phase officially. He's taken to climbing on EVERYTHING! Chairs are only useful to getting on the table. He pulls out the step stool in the kitchen and explores the house, or what area isn't gated. If you take him off a chair enforcing the "no standing" rule, he's likely to either repeat the attempt or yell at you, hit something/someone and/or throw himself to the floor crying. He gets over it pretty quickly. This week he's learned to say 'uh-oh' and 'cra-cra', which means cracker. He knows how to sign 'more' and if he's really thirsty he remembers how to sign "milk". We think he's also said 'ouch' a couple times for minor bonks and bumps.

Elliot is still very different from Josh. Today we took the boys to a nearby park for disc golf and exploring. We pit stopped by a sand box/volley ball court to let Josh play with a couple Hispanic kids. They built a tower that looked like a sand hill. I put Elliot in the sand box too but he walked out, dusted his hands and began climbing on the bleacher seats. He has no interest in getting dirty unless it's splashing in water. Showers? No. Sandboxes? No. Dirt piles? No. Mud pits? No. Puddles? Yes! He likes water to be under him, not shooting at him. He also doesn't like messy food. I'm hoping someday he won't like messy pants and will be potty trained quickly. I can hope, can't I?

"Hey Josh, would you someday like to learn how to dance or learn how to do kung fu?"
"Um, I don't know."
"Well think about it."
"I can't think about that." Then he ran outside and climbed onto the play set.

I received the urn vault in the mail today. I'm thinking I'll write his name on the lid inside and leave the outside unmarked. It's very plain, very unassuming. And a bit larger than I expected. In fact, it's large enough to house two urns comfortably. Maybe someone somewhere someday will want to share his space in the urn vault.

Rusty's birthday was celebrated last week. He had three days of birthday. Wednesday he came home surprised to see workers cleaning the house. It was spotless for about 15 minutes. Thursday we bought his big present, a Kenwood in-dash navigation & digital music system. It also plays movies, which will come in handy during road trips. We had lunch at Jaspers in Plano then margaritas on the patio at Nico's Cocina for dinner. Friday evening I surprised him by taking him out to sushi with some friends while the kids played at Kids Play Two, a drop in child care place. The owner of FujiYama brought out gobs and gobs of sushi. The last two plates had sushi arranged in the shape of 35 with "Happy Birthday" written at top. That was an awesome awesome dinner!

Then I got a cold the next day, Joshua broke the downstairs toilet, and it rained almost all day that Saturday.

By the way, our new toilet is da bomb! It's flapperless (one less part to replace), it's super water efficient, quiet and quick. And way cheaper than the Kohler model. It's a Pegasus Cottage. I give it two bums up! :-P

First of the month is a time for spending in our house. This weekend we bought a new toilet for the downstairs (Joshua broke it on Saturday morning, the punk), Rusty's birthday present (he wanted a car navigation thing), and an urn vault.

The cemetery in Corpus Christi originally wanted to charge us $1600 to place my dad's ashes in the ground. I pointed out that this was a ridiculous price which made the lady review the charges and drop a few things. They're charging us $600 to open the grave site. They require an urn vault to place the urn into before it goes into the ground. I'm not sure why other than to keep the ground from sinking over time or metals polluting the ground?? Anyway, they were going to charge $650 for that. After a quick search online, these are as low priced as $124. I called back to say I'd bring my own vault. I don't want to be cheap about things (if I were I would go at night without permission) but I was also don't want to be swindled. Someday I'll spring for a small head stone or marker of some sort.

This week I'm working on making paper announcements inviting a few people to attend with us. There's a picture of him fishing that everyone seems to love best. I'll have that scanned and printed on cardstock with the announcement folded inside.

We took a day trip to Hugo, OK yesterday. I had stuff to give to Caroline. I also needed some way to physically confine Joshua. His allergies flared up Friday giving him breathing problems that were exacerbated by running and high activity. He's much better today.

I talked to the Roschetzky family several times since this weekend. Robert first called me back on Sunday then Dennis today. These brothers are overwhelming receptive to helping me get Dad's ashes to Jason's grave. Today they signed paperwork putting Jason's plot in my name. I look forward to meeting Robert, Dennis & Fred when we visit the area next month. Meanwhile, the funeral home lady I've been in contact with quoted me a cost of $1650 to do an ash burial ceremony. That's with a tent, chairs, someone designated to place the ashes in the hole, etc. I'm going to push that cost down as far as I can without sacrificing dignity. We probably don't need a tent, don't need chairs, I sort of prefer to pour the ashes myself... I'll be negotiating with a sweet tone. I already explained that we've had a memorial service already so hopefully they'll be accommodating.

It's never as easy as it seems. That's how much of life is like. In this case, I'd like to place my father's ashes in the ground next to Jason, his deceased son. However, the plot of land for that burial is owned by Fred Roschetzky, a somewhat step-father figure to Terry about 40 years ago. He didn't marry my grandmother Betty but he was close enough to the family that Jason's burial plot was put in his name. Now, 35 years later, I'd like to add another family member to that space but I need Fred's permission, or his next of kin's permission. I've found two sons that live in the Corpus Christi area with some help from my Aunt Laura. She remembered a son, Dennis. I left a message with him and will try again tomorrow if he doesn't get back to me.

I got a little sad again a few days ago after talking to a lady from the memorial home in Corpus Christi. I'm not sure what it was that set it off in mind, but I thought about how my dad will be placed next to his first tragic event in life. The next tragic event being his brain tumor. He said he wanted to be placed by Jason and yet later in life he distanced himself from those memories. He once told me that was so long ago it needs to be left to the past. But I think that's his peculiar way of showing how much he cared about him. You see, my dad distanced himself from people he cared about the most, as if his life was some plague that could poison his loved ones. That distancing included me, which as endearing as it may sound with this interpretation, it actually leaves a huge hole of hurt in my heart.

Some day I'll come to better terms with all this. Until then, I've got runny noses to wipe, diapers to change, and little boys to feed.

Tomorrow is Easter so I'm planning to stuff a ton of plastic eggs with various goodies and sprinkle them all over our upstairs. The idea is Josh will wake up, find eggs and start collecting them (and I'm sure eating some of the goodies) before breakfast. I decided a good trade-off was if he gets to have chocolate first thing in the morning, I get to have mimosas with breakfast.

We're expecting rain in the morning. Two lines of thunder storms starting around dawn. This could mean Josh will be up well before I'd like him to be. I just hope he doesn't get scared of thunder, thus ruining the Easter cheer.

The champagne is chilling.

In other news, I've been trying to find some street wear shoes for a couple weeks. After visiting half a dozen stores, I still haven't found a pair. It's not that I'm picky (though I am a little), but rather it's that I have wide feet and I'm tired of stuffing my feet into too narrow shoes resulting in unbearable pain. My minimum requirement is to walk two miles without getting a foot ache. My slip-on shoes from Skechers are too loose and my street shoes, also Skechers, are too narrow. I like Skecher's style but I've struck out two times in a row. The six stores I've been to carried only a couple of wides, limiting me to "ugly" or "jogging" shoes, neither of which I'm looking for. And don't get me started on color choices of pink, white or pink. Ugh! Today I decided it was time to try the men's side. I started looking for men's shoes that would fit me but my search ended abruptly when Josh started running around the store and knocking down boxes.

Also new this week: we got a new bedroom! Furniture arrived on Wednesday. Our bedroom went from college grade furnishing to "grown up" furnishing. Ya know, furniture that has a wood back, not cardboard. A bed frame that is solid and not secured with a few zip ties. Stuff that we didn't have to assemble! Lamps and art work from Ikea to tie the room together (no rug), and a new duvet cover coming from Amazon next week. We've been planning this and saving for it for a long time. Thank goodness for Norwalk Furniture's going out of business sale and our stimulus from Uncle Sam.

Today was the neighborhood's Easter Egg Hunt. Elliot doesn't trust the bunny and I had to tell a joke to make Josh smile. But this picture came out just right.