Free as a bird.

With a week's worth of free days ahead of us, and too much free time leading to nothing but trouble, the kids and I headed downtown for some activities where the price was right--FREE! That's right, folks, we had a great morning and (besides the cost of gas) didn't spend a dime.

Our first stop was the Cleveland Museum of Art. There has been a lot of renovation going on, so not all of the exhibits are open yet. But there was just enough for us to see everything before a couple of the kids started asking, "OK, are we done yet?" There were also two special exhibits open that were kind of fun, if you don't count the entire wall of nude photographs in one. Good thing I noticed before we had to walk by so that I could shield a young boy's eyes and caution the girls to look the other way. "Why'd you do that, Mom?" "Never mind. Keep walking."

Striking a pose in front of The Thinker

After a quick snack in the car, we headed a couple of blocks away to Lakeview Cemetery, the final resting spot for such notables as James A. Garfield, 20th president of the United States, John D. Rockefeller, and Eliot Ness. The memorial to Garfield was cool yet creepy. The kids couldn't understand the whole idea, and quite frankly, I didn't entirely get it myself. Why does he get this big thing but other people don't? Why do we have to be so quiet? What is in those vases? Why do they burn bodies? Why are their caskets out just sitting there? Yeah, down in the "crypt" the caskets of James and his wife are just hanging out, almost 130 years later, along with the remains of their daughter and her husband. Nice. Kids, let's just look and move on, OK?

Exploring the Garfield Monument

We spend the rest of our time there walking among the old gravestones and memorials. I was surprised how much the kids enjoyed it, even in spite of the constant drizzle.

John D. Rockefeller monument

Andrew (that morbid little guy) wanted to find a grave from 2009, but the most recent we found was 2006. He was satisfied with that, thank goodness, or we would have been there all day. That place is enormous! In fact, I got turned around trying to find my way out...but this is a good thing. Because I exited onto Mayfield Road, which happens to be the main drag of Little Italy. I would have totally stopped at one of the bakeries for some cannoli, but there were no parking spots and this was a FREE day, right? But now that I know it's not too far away...well, that can be an adventure for another time. Because the freedom of summer vacation is just around the corner....

STOP! Gramma Time!

Grandma Brooks just couldn't let six months pass between visits to Ohio. And oh yeah, 7/8ths of her grandchildren. She was able to swing a quick trip for Easter weekend. Key word? Quick. It went by much too fast, but we made good use of our time together.

There were games, gifts, shopping, and Grandma's award-winning storytelling.

We took advantage of free Mondays at the zoo and saw lots of animals putting on some good shows.

Grandma treated Emma and Leah to a trip to a real beauty salon for their birthday.

(Don't be fooled by the smiles--Emma is the one showing her teeth this time!)

Andrew had a Mitchell's gift card burning a hole in his pocket, and was slyly bugging Grandma all weekend to take him out for ice cream. What a surprise that she caved! And while I personally have visited the establishment several times, we actually have never taken the kids. So they were way excited to get their double scoops. The energy was so high, in fact, that there was quite the giggle fest among the three oldest tweens.

And the girls decided that when they are grown, they are going to give their kids hot dogs for dinner, put them to bed early and go get Brown Bag Burgers and Mitchell's. I wonder where they got that idea?

Bellies full of ice cream, hearts full of Grandma's love!

We love you Grandma!

A little R & R

Last week Emma and Leah had more laser surgery on their cheeks and noses. And this time, the doctor really turned up the heat, leaving them with bright red dots on their faces. Kind of like Pippi Longstocking freckles. So I, being sensitive to being in that kind of situation, offered to let the girls stay home from school the next day. They took me up on that.

I called Melissa later that afternoon to give her the report. Once she caught wind of the fact that Emma and Leah were going to be home from school the next day, she immediately snatched them up to "babysit" Porter. She had a bathroom that needed some major attention--difficult with an energetic, attention-hungry 3 year old. It was a win-win situation. Melissa could get something done, and Emma and Leah had something to do.

The girls, I hear, were very helpful. Not once did Melissa have to come downstairs to put out any fires (both figurative and literal), and Emma and Leah even made lunch for Porter and Macey after Macey got home from school. And in the end, there was even a little monetary reward. All in a day's work.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with Dancing with the Stars, a trip to Walmart for some fabric, and working on the assignments their teacher had emailed me. By the end of the day, they were both ready to go back to school.

***Side bar*** Andrew's comment when finding out that Emma and Leah to play with Porter all morning? "That's not fair! I want to play with Porter!" Do you also want to have painful laser surgery that leaves embarrassing marks all over your face? Way to overlook the negative and accentuate the positive, Andrew!

The next morning, the spots still hadn't faded, but armed with some quick answers to anyone who might try to make fun, Emma and Leah left for school with smiles on their faces. And they survived. There were several comments, but they rolled right off their backs. What a pair of troopers.

I'm dreaming of a white Easter....

High Tolerance

There's another Franklin hand print in the school cafeteria--this time it was Leah's turn. This month she was chosen as the most tolerant person in her classroom. This pretty much describes Leah to a T (except when it comes to her sister Emma--no one else can rile her up quite as much!). In fact, there are a couple of girls at school that she puts up with that would drive any other person insane. I don't know how she deal with all their garbage, but she does. And she is very nice about it too. I, on the other hand, would have told those girls to take a hike long ago. So being chosen to represent "Tolerance" is very fitting. What a great example she is to those around her!

(I had to pick the girls up early from school yesterday for a doctor's appointment so we snatched a picture--this just HAD to go on the blog!)

Flushing the Fish

photo courtesy of Leah

After more than a decade of homemade-foamie-stamp-painted fish swimming over our heads, I decided it was time to update the kids' bathroom. I found (quite a while ago, actually) a California poster that served as my inspiration piece (along with Porter's bedroom). And with a visit from Mom coming up next week, there's no time like the present.

So with just one minor mishap (the mirror crashing down which smashed a couple of lightbulbs and left some notches in the countertop) and with the colors just slightly different than what I had envisioned, we end up with a nice homage to Cali and the beach:

We have had several discussions about what this bathroom should now be called. Some are insistent we still call it the fish bathroom. But should it be the California bathroom? The surfing bathroom? The beach bathroom? The name that sticks remains to be seen...

Breaking the law.

I did a bad, bad thing.

I bought this......something I never have in the house. We don't drink much soda at all, let alone caffeinated ones. I know it is not a commandment for Mormons to abstain from all things cola, but just that's the way this Mormon family happens to roll.

But I saw a recipe for Cafe Rio Pork Salad that I really wanted to try. And it called for a Coke.

When I walked through the door with the bottle of illegal liquid, bought covertly as I skulked into the corner gas station, there was a collective gasp. Emma flat-out refused to eat whatever I was planning on making with it. But with some reassurances that lots of Church members drink Coke (c'mon, everybody's doing it) and that it was only for this one recipe (just once won't hurt), everyone was ready to give in to peer pressure.

And when this is the end result....


...how can you not give yourself fully to the addiction? The end result had everyone hooked.

We might need ourselves an intervention.

{Not knowing what kind of chemical reactions take place when you cook with Coke (Does it cook off like alcohol?) Glenn and I briefly wondered if the caffeine would have some sort of "energizing" effect on the kids. We couldn't see a difference. Because I think their bodies produce the stuff naturally.}