St. Patty's Day!

Before I get to the day, I've got to recount something Dani said to me this morning.  When she was born, a friend sent her a Mr. T rubber duckie--it's literally a rubber duckie with Mr. T clothes and beard and jewelry.  We've always called it Mr. T.  Dani apparently saw Mr. T doing an Old Navy commercial recently, and announced to me, "Mommy, Mr. T isn't just a toy, he's people!"

Now, on to St. Patrick's Day....our little leprechauns started the day off by sleeping late!  Woo hoo!

 Beautiful spring day filled with outside play, and mugging for the camera, dressed up because, even if they're not Irish, their names sound it!

 My traditional fare of corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes was soundly rejected in favor of the rainbow cake Dani and I made.

Since they couldn't have green beer, they had green cake!

It's time to be a knight and do it right.

Dani's been more than a little obsessed with Mike the Knight lately.  She's always pretending to be Mike, and assigning each of us characters on the show.  (Like usual, I'm always the mommy, but everyone else in the house gets to be a dragon or something fun!)  It's been weeks, so I had to spring for some knight gear for them, which arrived tonight.  (Somehow this face reminds me more of Zoolander, though.)

She fought, and won some epic battles today.

 Exerted dominion over her serfs.

 And had an all-around knightly good time!

By the king's crown, it sure was fun!

Outside, Outside! Outside everybody, Outside!

Poor Tommy--he had his first two trips outside this weekend; Saturday was windy and cold, and I put him on the swing to get some fresh air.  He was not a fan of being bundled up and swung.

 

Fast forward one day.  It's 60 degrees and we don't even need coats.  So we take the posse to the playground.  At 12:45pm, we step onto the playground and are the only 5 people there.  Literally, within 5 minutes, there were 15 kids who showed up with their families and the place was hopping.

 We swung. We ran.  We played.  Even Big Man chatted with other parents. 

The only awkward moment was when Tori walked up to someone else's daddy and hugged his leg and wouldn't let go.  I was standing there telling her it wasn't daddy and we needed to go, but she was clinging on to this tall man.  He was there with his kids so seemed used to random toddler attention.  Tommy just chilled in his carseat, and when he got bored, I walked him around and he loved watching Dani and Tori.

We had to drag them off the playground for lunch and naps.  It's nice that it's only a few blocks away so we can go back a lot!

Pee pee on the potty!

Somebody is making real progress! Unfortunately, it's Tori, not Dani...

Forty, a Tori guest post.

Hi Daddy, it's Tori! I'm posting tonight to wish you happy birthday! Mommy says you're 40. I don't know how many that is because I can only count to twelve. I don't think DiDi can even count to 40, so I know 40 must be a lot because she can count really well.

Me and Dani and Tommy want you to know that you're the best daddy ever. We hope you liked the card we picked out because it plays the Mickey Mouse song and that's our favorite. We opened it and played it for you dozens of times today and it was so fun to hear over and over and over, don't you think? It was fun until you put the card up on the mantel where I couldn't reach. I think if I move my high chair I can get it all by myself and play it for you again tomorrow, so don't worry!

Your cake was really yummy too. But I don't understand why there are only four candles on it. I am not a big kid but I know four is not forty. I heard mommy say something about a fire hazard if we used all the candles but I don't really understand what that meant.After your cake, it was snuggle time. Then you and mommy took us upstairs and got us ready for bed. Mommy was still taking pictures. Mommy's always taking pictures. Why does she take so many pictures, Daddy?

And, I even peed on the potty tonight, just for you. Don't tell DiDi but I think I'm going to be out of diapers before she is. Anyway, Daddy, I smiled extra pretty in this birthday picture for you. I love you Daddy! Happy Birthday!

Snow angels.

We got our first measurable snow today. It was nice, wet and heavy, so perfect for snowmen. Dani and Tori have been so excited about the prospect of snow this year--and none really came, until today. They were already scheduled to go to Miss Ruth's for the day, so we packed their snow gear. I was little disappointed that I wouldn't be the one playing outside with them today...but Miss Ruth cheered me up by sending pictures to my phone while I was in court.They had a blast. This was Tori's first time playing in the snow, as she was just a baby last winter. They made snow angels, and rode on sleds, and probably consumed half their body weight in snow.

Dani told me she made five snowmen, but that one was a snow bunny and one was a snow Mickey (mouse).

I'm really hoping it doesn't all melt before Saturday so I can go out and play with them too!