Resurrection Sunday!

This was a good Easter Sunday, and it was fun to spend it with family. Lincoln had an Easter Egg Hunt this morning, and he ate more candy today than he has over the past 4 weeks combined. He also received a very nice coloring book from good clients of mine from work.Then we went over to Grandpa Doug and Grandma Paulette's house for a great meal and some good photos.
Lincoln got a head-start on his birthday presents when Great Grandpa & Grandma Mullen spent Easter Sunday with us.It shouldn't be left unsaid that Lincoln did a great job entertaining Lydia last night while Jenn was out and I was straigtening up the kitchen. He was a big help and Lydia has such fun watching him be a silly boy.

Bubble Bath!

It's Easter weekend! Lincoln colored eggs for the first time today, and he did very well doing most of the things himself.
He's also been into crafts and drawing......and Legos. Today he wanted to take his own pictures of his Lego steps that he built. I've been pretty impressed at his budding creativity. It's also neat to see him show an interest in taking photos. It's a slow process, but he's got to start somewhere!Jenn and I were quite motivated to put something up on our big, plain walls after spending the weekend in Franklin with Auntie Em and Uncle Jeremy. Their house is decorated so nicely that it made Jenn and me want to get off of our fannies and get decorating. So we've been going through our photos and deciding what to print, and Jenn's beend finding some neat art for various places around the house. Lincoln's been helping...Next time you're over for a visit, you'll see our work in progress. The next real big project is painting the dining room! I'm actually looking forward to that.

Happy Easter! Remember Jesus.

Manicotti

Jenn and Lincoln made a great manicotti dinner yesterday!It's been a sick week at the Gates Home. Lincoln started coughing about 10 days ago, then his nose started running, and he wasn't sleeping very well at night. That meant that we weren't sleeping well, either. Then Lydia started getting it, and she was looking better Friday morning. Then something went wrong and she cried and screamed for hours on Friday afternoon. After some wrangling on the phone with the doctors' office, she was seen and they suppose that she's got an ear issue. Since starting Tylenol and Amoxi she's been much better. Today she's her pleasant little (?) self!

On Friday Jenn was talking with Lincoln about Mickey Mouse. She said, "When we go to Disney World, you'll be able to meet Mickey, Minnie & Goofy, plus go swimming and ride rides. Doesn't that sound like so much fun?!"

Lincoln replied, "I don't want to go and give Mickey my germs." A budding public health advocate, he is.

Lincoln has also been really into Big Rock Candy Mountain.He and Auntie Haley will have lots to talk about when we are in Scottsdale in a few weeks. (And thank goodness they're getting this sickness out of the way before we get on the plane!)

On Saturday evening we spent a great evening with friends. Two of these friends are moving to Johnstown, PA, soon and Jenn and I are very sad to see them go. We had a bunch of laughs and told a bunch of good stories. It was one of our more fun evenings out in a long time.

Gretel has really been filling out. She's starting to take on a more Bridget-like build, and she's been improving a bit in the "naughty dog" department. She's also been making us laugh lately, like when she takes any lap that she can find, even when there's a baby on it.Update on the robin's nest: Let's just say they didn't get out of Robin Engineering School. The wind (and we've had a lot of it lately) kept blowing down any progress they'd make, and right now there's not a shred of a nest up there. Oh, well.

First Hike of 2011

Today was the first actual spring-like day in northeast Ohio and we didn't waste any time getting out on the trails!Lydia isn't getting any less cute.Funny story about Lincoln last night. I mentioned in the last post that he and Lydia have been a bit sick. Last night he came into our room and asked to sleep in our bed. This is a slippery slope that neither Jenn nor I were interested in starting. So we said, "Lincoln, your bed is for you to sleep in. Would you like for daddy to get a drink for you."

"Yes," he said. So I went to his room with him carrying a glass of water and Vick's Vapo Rub.

Then I said to him, "Lincoln, I'm going to rub some of this medicine on your chest and it will help you to feel better."

Without missing a beat, and with his tired, middle-of-the-night voice, he said, "I understand." Too cute.

Lincoln's Fort

There are a few interesting things that have happened in and around the Gates home over the past couple of days. All of this has been happening in the midst of coughs, sneezes & runny noses, but Lincoln and Lydia have not been letting their symptoms stop them.First of all, Lincoln and Mommy built a fort in his room! He's napped and spent the night in his fort, and he's really into it! The details are in the video below.This morning Lincoln made a finger-paint piece for his fort, and that was a lot of fun.There are a couple of robins that have made our back yard their home, and one of the females is trying to build a nest on our deck. She's not having much luck right now, but she's persistent, so we're waiting to see if we'll have a finished product along with eggs then nestlings.As far as Lydia's solids go, there are some times when she's interested and other times where she's not. Today was a "not."Her coordination is getting better, though, and she's been taking her pacifier in and out of her mouth with better skill.Also, she's been experimenting big-time with her voice. She's funniest after she wakes up, and we'd laugh in the morning if she didn't wake us up 1 hour earlier than any of us really need to wake up.

Also, Atlas Shrugged pt.1 comes out in less than a week. Here's another scene from the movie: