From Caterpillars to Butterflys...G&G's first science lesson

Papa and ShooShoo bought G&G a live butterfly tree house. It came with a cute net "house" and a live butterfly culture container. The container housed 5 caterpillars and food for them. It has been so much fun watching the caterpillars triple in size and then watch them make their chrysalis (cocoon) and then FINALLY to emerge from their chrysalis as beautiful painted lady butterflies!

The final butterfly emerged from his/her chrysalis today-the four sibling butterflies came out yesterday and the day before. I think it's rather symbolic on how the last one came out today, on Easter as beautiful butterfly!

We have taken pics along the way and although they show the stages, they by no means capture their beauty. It's difficult to get real clear pictures d/t the need to avoid flash, but I think we captured the basics. We plan to keep them for a couple of days and "feed" them fresh flowers. Sometime next week we will let them go too....we'll see how G&G react to that. At any rate, it's been fun.

Easter Party at Primrose

G&G had their Easter parties at school today and unfortunately Greg and I had to work. Ta-da...in comes the superhero grandparents Papa and ShooShoo. They attended both parties so our boys wouldn't be without a family representative. (thank you both so much!!) G&G both had egg hunts and brought their Easter baskets. They both brought home lots of eggs, candy and smiles from their party.Surprisingly they weren't crazy high on sugar either. We will attempt to dye eggs and have an egg hunt at the house Easter morning but we'll see if Mother Nature will cooperate with the plan.

Shhhh...don't tell Gavin and Grayson....

I have been, at times, accused of being type A and a little OCD. Whatever! Okay, maybe sometimes. Regardless, when you have toddlers who love their lovey and they need their little friends to sleep, you'll do just about anything to make sure one is always available. Enter the dog pound and bear's den. That's what I call it. I have a special stash of lovies for G&G. All it took was Gavin's first year and Rotovirus (for those who don't know-this is a extreme vomiting and diarrhea toddler virus) and his puppy getting soaked in vomit. No way was I going to put him back to bed with it, so I stocked up (maybe too much!) on extras. Then when little Gray came around, I already knew to buy some extras. Funny thing, though the boys don't know about Mommy's secret stash (I rotate them in/out so they are equally 'worn') Gavin realized some puppy's had more beans in their paws than others and some didn't have any at all (he pushes them around and the beans migrated into the tummy.) Almost busted I quickly (STAT) called upon some surgeons (seamstress) to perform a simple procedure. They made a small incision in the groin and pulled down the beans back into the paws, resealed the site and closed up the incision. Now, I am happy to say both puppy's are back in the dog pound with perfect paws!
Crisis diverted! WHEW!
(Quit laughing at me!) :)

Go Diego! Go Gavin!

Gavin's always loved animals more than the average toddler. He started with his love of sting rays about a year ago. He knows all different types-eagle rays, spotted rays, manta rays, etc. Then he expanded his love of rays to all ocean creatures. He can tell you about different types of whales-sperm, blue, humpback, right, etc. and sharks-great white, blue, zebra, hammer head, etc. Then for Christmas last year he wanted and I (of course) bought him Gorilla Mountain and all the accessory animals that go with it. Now, Gavin has progressed to Diego. He loves the show and the books. Greg has been reading to him at night his Diego books. Last night he made a special request that I finish the books with him. I sat down with him and proceeded to be amazed at how much he knows about animals (again!) He was telling me about the different types of penguins-emperor, chinstrap, adelie, and some others I can't remember. He also was telling me about the different types of moneys in the book- spider, pygmy, howler. bobo. The best part was when he "corrected" me when I said, "Look Gavin a hyena." He quickly said "No Mommy, that is a maned wolf!" I love it! Here are a couple of pics of Gavin pretending to be on a rescue mission to save the maned wolf, tigers and spotted bears. (He made the binoculars at school - just like Diego's, of course!)

Just some smiling faces

We've been resting around the house these last couple days. Both G&G have sinus infections-thank you weather change-and haven't been feeling good. A box of crayons and a stack of paper always puts smiles on their little stuffy nosed faces. They are feeling better now after 4 days of antibiotics and lots of cuddles and snuggles from Greg and I.

Choo Choo....Our day with Thomas the Train

Gavin and Grayson are crazy about Thomas. We have Thomas sippy cups, Thomas bath toys, Thomas backpacks, Thomas books...etc. So when I heard Thomas was making his annual tour to Grapevine Railroad Station, I immediately got tickets and planned the day! Papa and ShooShoo joined us for the fun. G&G has special Thomas shirts to wear for the day too. G&G had a blast. We took a 20 min ride on the Thomas train. The boys liked the conductor who punched their tickets once we were on the train (remember Polar Express?!) After the train ride we went to the Lego tent where Gavin played with wooden Thomas the train sets and lego sets. After that Gavin had super fun in the Thomas bounce house! The grandparents bought G&G a Thomas train whistle which they most mastered. (uhh, thanks?) We had a great time and thankfully the weather cooperated too! Since we were in Grapevine we continued the fun with lunch at The Rainforest Cafe. Grayson loved LOVED LOVED the moving animals, especially the elephant and gorillas. Gavin, however, was scared this time! G&G had super fun and enjoyed their special Sunday.

Evening out with the Kindla's

The Howard Family had so much fun tonight! We started our evening at the Kelly Circus in Frisco with Bryce, Casey and Carter (oh, and future Baby Girl Kindla). The circus was great. Gavin and Carter enjoyed it alot! They had horses, tigers, dancing dogs, elephants, clowns and much more. Grayson got bored but enjoyed the festivities going on outside of the big top. Grayson rode the ponies two times and loved it. (signing 'more pony' over and over until Greg took him for another ride!) Then Grayson rode an elephant! WHAT a big boy! After the circus we went to Gatti Town Pizza in Frisco for dinner and games. Oh, can't forget the 3 train rides before we ate dinner! Grayson also rode a carousal horse for the first time. Gavin 'played' skee ball for the first time too. He got frustrated with rolling the ball, so he just walked up and threw them in! The boys had so much fun as well as Greg and I too! Bryce and Casey are super fun. G&G loved playing with Carter. We actually broke curfew for the boys too! We always 'respect' their bedtime and have then in bed no later than 8PM. Tonight was special - we didn't get home until after 10PM! Thankfully the new Pilot has a DVD player so they were pretty content on the way home watching Jack's Big Music Show!!

PS: Gavin is doing great sleeping in his big boy bed! He continues to lay down after I cover him up and goes to sleep-no problems!! (yet....we'll see!)