Big boy bike

We've been working with Ben for a while off and on with potty training and finally this last time seems to have gone better than times past.  After a week of telling him that if he had three good days in a row without accidents then he could get a new (slightly used, but he doesn't know that) bike.  So finally last week we were able to give him his new bike.  He absolutely loves it and although it took him a little bit to learn how to ride it without using the breaks nonstop he rides it every day.  Now if only we could get him to use the potty for poop instead of waiting for his diaper at nap or bedtime.  I'm sure I'll find another bribe to work that one out.

And although he's not wearing a helmet in these pics he does have one.  He wears it almost all the time but when we're just in our garage area he sometimes takes it off.  I figured I should clarify for any people who may have wondered.

Happy Easter

I'll start off by wishing everyone a great Easter.  When I was younger I remember drying eggs with my cousins, Easter egg hunts and getting all dressed up to go to church.  Basically a lot of time with family.  As the years pass and I am no longer near my siblings or parents I think back and cherish those times I had for my kids don't get to see their cousins as often as I did.  However we are lucky enough to have a lot of Brian's family around and he gets to see those cousins at least a little more regularly than we see my nieces and nephews.  I've also started to think about the new traditions I get to start with my own family since Brian's family all goes to the lake which leaves us on our own to celebrate Easter.


So our first tradition happens to be with my work.  Every year they have an Easter Egg hunt at a park a week prior to Easter weekend.  Ben has loved to go, but has still been too terrified to get anywhere near the Easter bunny.  (I have a feeling next year will be different, but that remains to be seen.)  And normally kids get all excited and run from one egg to the next, but not Ben.  Of course not - this is Ben after all.  He found his first egg pretty quick and then proceeded to open it to see what was inside before moving on to find any others.  Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but all of them are taped shut so the candy or prize inside doesn't fall out so it took some time for him to get each egg open.  He was supposed to grab 10 eggs and as I watched him slowly open one egg after the next I counted the eggs in his basket and only saw three.  I looked around and sure enough almost all the other kids were done with their quota and diving into their eggs to see what they got.  Luckily, there were plenty of eggs and after some persuasion he grabbed a few more and we were set.  Ashley just walked around and grabbed one egg or Ben's basket.  She didn't seem to care too much what she was supposed to do, but enjoyed people watching.  I think I'll claim her as my kid.

Egg #3 while other kids are already done.

Finally a basket full!

  

Enjoying her one plastic egg

Now she's trying to steal his eggs....

Then on Good Friday we grilled some fish and then dyed Easter eggs.  Ben had a blast and really got into it this year as compared to last year.  In fact, by the time we were done he had green hands which were impossible to the dye off of.  (He still has green on his hands today even.)  But this just reminds me of when I was younger and having my mom trying to get the dye off as well.  Turpentine, paint thinner or vegetable oil were always the methods used, but I couldn't bring myself to do that to Ben since he's still pretty young.  So vegetable oil it was all I tried and no luck.  I started calling him my munchkin since he looks like he belongs in the wizard of oz.

stickers!

As for Easter, it's a pretty laid back day now.  We had breakfast casserole and enjoyed what the Easter bunny brought us.  Ben loved getting new cars and searching for Easter eggs.  In fact, we had to hide them all two additional times so that he could find them again.  Ashley just followed behind Ben and would take the eggs out of his basket which was pure enjoyment for Brian and I.  She doesn't really understand too much, but definitely can understand more than we think especially when we tell her 'no'.  If you watch closely you can see that Ash really is the instigator and Ben only reacts or acts out once she starts it.  I'm definitely going to have to keep a close eye on her in the future.

For the rest of they day we are going to go to the park since it's so nice out and come home and make a chicken dinner.  It's kind of nice having a laid back holiday to actually enjoy the time instead of rushing from place to place or trying to keep your kids from getting in trouble with their cousins.

Happy Easter everyone.  Hope you get to enjoy your time with family as we are today.