Max's view of me

Max brought this drawing home from school yesterday! I love the umbilical cord! He realized when he got home that he forgot to give me arms- so they are a more recent addition.

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It's a Girl!

As most of my readers already know, we found out yesterday we're having a girl! Here are some photos of the new little sister:




Here she is in profile!



And here are her little arm and hand!

Our Easter Weekend

We had a busy and fun-filled Easter weekend!

On Saturday, we went to the egg hunt at Nettles Park, which is sponsored by the city of Clemson. We go every year, and the kids really enjoy it! They divide up the hunts by age group, so Max hunted with the five and six year-olds and Claire hunted with the seven and eight year-olds.  After the hunt, they waited in a long line to go into the bounce house.


This morning, we had our traditional egg hunt here. We hunt for real and plastic eggs at home, and they are much better hidden than the ones at the park.  The kids also got some special treats in their Easter baskets, which they enjoyed after the hunt. We had Easter lunch with Joey's parents at their house. The kids enjoyed playing with an anole and a skink that had been unlucky enough to be on the screened porch at the time. I'm sure the lizards were relieved when we went home!   

Max before his hunt



Claire after her hunt



Yay! It's finally their turn!



Coming out the other end of the bounce house. Looks like they enjoyed it!



Easter morning egg hunt



comparing eggs



Taking my zoo to the Greenville Zoo

It's spring break this week for both kids.  We have a few fun activities planned, and today was the first- a trip to the Greenville Zoo!

We finished our morning chores, packed a picnic lunch and headed to Greenville.

The zoo borders a city park, and this park has an amazing playgound. The kids practically drooled as we were finding a place to park the car.  The playground was completely mobbed. I guess I wasn't the only mom wanting to take her kids to the zoo over spring break!

We ate our picnic in the grass and the kids went to play on the playground.

About ten minutes after they started playing, Max came over to me with another little boy. "Mom, can I talk to this boy? I know I'm not supposed to talk to strangers, but he's really nice." "Yes, Max. It's okay to talk with kids on the playgound." 

Max and the little boy ran a few feet from me and I could hear Max say: "That's my sister over there- let's go play with her." Then the little boy said: "do you have a brother, too?"  "No," said Max, "but my mom has a baby in her belly right now and it might be a little brother!" Then they ran off to play. 

I love overhearing kid's conversations (most of the time). 

After a good long playtime, we headed over to the zoo.

I found some photos from the last time I went to the zoo with the kids, which was September of 2008. Joey has taken them several times since then, but it was fun to look back at the oldest photos to compare! 

The first exhibit is the elephants. The kids love them.

Here are the kids admiring the elephants today.

Joey and Claire with the elephants in 2008



The kids posed with the giraffes today.




and back in 2008.



This is a once-in-a-lifetime shot I got today of a giant tortoise smiling for the camera. The kids love this photo.

The kids pose in front of the little waterfall.

A resting Ocelot

The kids riding the bronze bear sculpture this afternoon.

They needed help getting on the bear in 2008!

Claire jumping down the outdoor seating area.

Claire thinking about jumping down the outdoor seating area in 2008.

I never would have considered taking both kids to the zoo by myself in 2008. Today it was relatively easy. Fun, even! 

Early birds' morning walk

Claire is my early riser. It doesn't matter what time she goes to bed- she's up by 7. This morning, as Joey was leaving for work, he asked me to take some photos of one of his sculptures in the morning light. So my early bird companion and I went out to the hayfield together.

Joey's Catfish in the morning light



Claire waiting for me to stop taking photos




On our way back to the house, we came across Mud. She wanted a pat, of course.
Claire is squinting because the sun is in her eyes.




Then was saw one of our Barred Rock hens, also out for a morning stroll. 




Claire and I made a stop at the studio to check on our chicks. They are one week old today!
We have 15 Leghorns and 7 Bovans/Rhode Island Red mixes.



Claire holding a chick.

Our First Easter Egg Tree

Claire came home from school one day last week and said she would really like to make an Easter egg tree. One of the teachers had made one and she thought is was lovely. We decided it would make a good spring break project. As soon as spring break officially started, Claire started asking to make the tree. The kids hung all the eggs themselves!

The kids are very proud of their tree!

The tree from the other side.