Feels Like Spring

In February I was under the belief that my sister was dating Guy X. Then one random evening in early March, purely out of the blue, I got a text from her: "I'm getting married! To Guy Y!" Wait, who?! I had never even heard of this guy. The next text was even more shoking: "We're getting married in two weeks!"

WAIT. WHAT?!

Imagine my parents' shock when they got similar news--but not from my sister, from Guy Y. He called my dad at work one day and said, "Hi, I'm Guy Y. I'm going to marry your daughter." Like the rest of us, my dad had no clue who this guy was. He might have freaked out just a tad. He called me immediately afterward. It was an interesting conversation.

And, as promised, that is exactly what happened. They got married! In their home. Before some kind of minister. After we had only met Guy Y one time. With only two witnesses in attendance. And my parents found out that it happened nearly a week later. Although I had some insider knowledge, it was pretty much a secret.

And although there is a part of me that balks at all the suddeness of things, there will be absolutely no judging from me. Heck, I eloped. It was a true elopment, even. We weren't even engaged. We just flew out to Chicago, got married, and didn't tell a single soul-- not even my two lawschool roomates who accompanied us for the first part of our trip. (After we eloped, I called up my roommate and said, "Hey, we just did something crazy! It starts with the letter E!" Her reply was, "OMG. Where did you get ecstacy?!" Ha.)

Today, after waking up to the most gorgeous Pacific Northwest weather that we have had in at least seven months, I packed up the kids for a short trip to visit my sister in her new, married home. She lives next to the most amazing trails and parks. The highlight of the trip was this crazy, long slide:

Even the adults enjoyed it:

 

 

We played in the sun, chatted, and did the goofy things that sisters do. BTW- this whole thing about my sister and I getting along, is a very recent phenomenon. We are four years apart and have never really gotten along, much less held a friendship. It's amazing how things change as you get older.

Taking advantage of my sister by sneaking in some rare shots of ME with the kids.

 

He loved the swing....obviously, you can't tell

 

 

The advantage of big brothers

 

 

My handsome 4 year old

When we left my sister's place, there was plenty of daylight and sunshine. We continued to soak up the first spring-like day when we arrived back home. I made some dinner and then it was time for coloring Easter eggs.

Jacob had asked me all day about coloring eggs. "When do we get to color eggs?" "Do we have to cook them first?" "Can I put glitter on them?" "How many eggs do we get to color." He broached the subject at least once an hour, perhaps to make sure that I wouldn't forget. Like I would forget something THAT important!

I'm pretty sure we didn't color eggs last year. I was scheduled for my c-section the day after Easter and it was a prerty chaotic and emotional time. But the year before that I vividly remember our egg-coloring experience. Jacob was 2 and kept transferring the eggs from color to color, much to my horror. He didn't have the patience to let them sit in any one color for long enough. As a result, the eggs all ended up looking the shade of grey-ish purple. Jacob was just as colorful as his artsy eggs. I'm pretty sure we had to throw the clothes he was wearing in the trash.

This year Jacob was very methodical. He wanted to color the eggs the "right" way: one color per egg and he patiently let them sit in the dye for the proper amount of time. He didn't crack or break a single egg and when they were ready, he carefully removed them from the dye and rolled them in glitter. I was a very proud mama.

After we colored eggs, I marched Jacob off to bed and tucked him is. Right as I was about to shut the door, he spoke up, "Mom, make sure you tell Dad that you both have to go to bed early so the Easter Bunny will come!" I assured him we would go to bed promptly and then proceeded to spend the next two hours doing a load of laundry, tidying the house (can't find eggs in a messy house!), filling and hiding plastic eggs and baskets, baking my favorite recipe for apple pie for Easter dessert, and decorating Jacob's bedroom door with streamers (the Easter Bunny just may have overdone it this year).

How is it that I always manage to squeeze in a full day's worth of chores and activity after the kids go to bed? Ugh, I'm so tired!