Legos, Art, and Butterflies

At the end of March, we went to Lego Club at the library.  This month the theme was Castles!

Dominic and Joseph built one together.

Anne and Catherine each made their own.

Anthony was too young to join in, but he liked to watch the others at work.

Catherine with her "castle in ruins."

They had a great time.

One morning, Anthony spent a long time turning an empty cereal box into his own little creation.

"Cheeeeese!"

Kept him occupied for a long time.

One Saturday, Catherine and I went shopping for an Easter dress for her.  While we were there, Catherine picked out a tie for Daddy and we sent him a picture of it.

Silly tie!

The Christmas before last, we got the kids a live butterfly garden kit.  Included in the kit were a netted enclosure and a coupon to send off for the caterpillars.  I finally remembered to send off for the caterpillars at the right time of year and in March we got a container with 5 caterpillars.  Inside the container was all the food they would need as caterpillars.  The kids were fascinated, watching the caterpillars get bigger every day and frequently shedding their skins as they grew.  When the caterpillars were big enough, they attached themselves to a paper at the top of their container and each one formed itself into a chrysalis. 

We moved the paper with the chrysalides to the netted habitat.

Thus began the waiting game for butterflies!

Anthony, Eggs, Beets, Boys and Kittens

A funny little video of Anthony:

In March, we put some hard-boiled eggs (peeled, of course!) into the beet juice left from a jar of our pickled beets.  After a few weeks, we tried them and they were pretty good.  Something else to do with our plethora of eggs!

They look rather pretty.

Dominic was reading Curious George to Joseph and Anthony in this picture:

Three boys not fighting is a good thing!

On the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25th, we came home from somewhere in the afternoon.  The dog came into the garage when we drove in and started acting weird, barking and sniffing and trying to get up high. I instantly suspected what was going on. 

See our double stroller hanging high on the garage wall?

Mama cat found a snug place to have her kittens!

When mama cat left for a bit, I took a picture of the five little kittens.

After a while, I moved them down to a box with some old clothes.  The kids were highly excited by all of this.

Pics From Anthony's Birthday

The evening that the girls and I drove back from visiting my brother, we brought back a birthday present for Anthony from Grandma and Grandpa, as his birthday was the next day.  He got to open it before he went to bed.

Yep, he liked it.

The next day, he kept begging to open his presents.   After we got home from attending Mass, and ate lunch, he got to open two of them.

A new coloring book.

Dinosaur catapult PlayDoh set!

He immediately had to stand up and roar like a dinosaur.

And get them out and start playing!

Cheese!

Anthony and Joseph played with this for well over an hour.

He chose to eat dinner at Burger King because they have an indoor playground.  But he was in a hurry to get home and open his other two presents, so after he ate, he didn't even want to play!

They've never all had kids' meals before - exciting!

Star Wars cupcakes came first, though.

He had to help Luke Skywalker use his light saber.

Stab that cupcake!

And finally, happy boy got to open his presents:  new castle blocks and a sidewalk chalk set.

Time With Fr. Brian

In the middle of March, the girls and I drove up to my parents' house on a Friday evening to visit with my brother, Fr. Brian.  As you may recall, he is currently serving as a chaplain in the Air Force.  Last July through January, he was deployed to Qatar, and I had not had the chance to see him since he got back to his home base in Omaha.  Not long after he came back from Qatar, he received new orders:  he was being moved to Germany and he was to report there April 1st.  So I was glad the girls and I were able to see him before he left.  

Fr. Brian with Catherine and Anne. 

On Saturday, we had a big meal together.  All of my siblings and their families were there.

While the bigger kids went off exploring, the little girls got Fr. Brian to play with them.

I found out they were playing "Zombie."

Run, girls, run!

My little niece, Elizabeth.

Taking refuge from the "zombie" in our truck.

My sister, Beth, and my mom.

My goddaughter, Emily.

Elizabeth, Emily, and Clara.

Game over, the girls went to play on the see-saw.

My siblings and me.

Back:  Eric and Fr. Brian;  Front: Heidi, me, and Beth

An Afternoon At The Zoo

We hadn't been to the zoo since October as I had let our membership lapse, so the kids were super-excited to go in mid-March.  The only thing they didn't like was that the jungle was closed for updating.  They love the jungle!

Started with picnic lunch!

The girls made lots of notes and drawings.

Joseph and Dominic and their friend enjoyed watching the penguins.

The King Cobra reared his head - hate to meet that in the wild!

Cannot miss out on the lion statues!

Best buddies.

All the kids but Joseph.

Curious meerkat.

Lion on the move.

They are huge.

The giraffes were close.

This one got really close!

Checking each other out.

We had a great time at the zoo!