Easter

XX looked forward to Easter as she does every holiday ... with gusto.

She couldn't wait to dye eggs.  It is always a serious business.

Finding the Easter eggs was beyond ... well, beyond any imaginable excitement.  XiaoXiao even took her periscope and looked 'round corners to see what she might see.  Red helped her find the last egg to her great joy.

Before Easter, we had a few discussions about the Easter Bunny.  Was he a rabbit or a person? 

She asked how tall he was.  She thought he was probably about two feet tall.  Taller than a rabbit, but smaller than a person.  She knew he could reach the high counter, where she leaves the dyed eggs for him to hide along with a note and a carrot.  

Ah.  The carrot.  He must be a rabbit.  

She thought further.  At the river, she sees lots of, ahem, signs of rabbits.  "If he was a real bunny, why aren't there any poops in the house?   He must be a person."  

On the dog walk Easter morning, she found something left by a very small dog on the sidewalk.  It looked to her, however, like signs of a large rabbit. "He's a rabbit!"  

But finally, she studied a picture of her adored Baby Miranda (another of Grandma's grandchildren) with the Easter Bunny.  You know the one.  "Oh.  I got it now.  He's a person."  Case closed.  

She found that even the fairies left her a tiny basket with one egg.

We had a bit of a rush that morning as she wanted to make an Easter dress.  She's not up to zippers yet, so I helped with that part, but she learned to gather and finish seams and is doing a good job negotiating the machine's speed with straight and even some curved seams.  The size 5 we opted to make looks like it will fit for some time.

The best part of Easter was that the family came for brunch.  We had such a great time that I neglected to get one shot of any of us.  One of these gatherings, I will have to get a group shot.

We had a cake for Suzie's birthday.

The candle has been going on and off randomly all week.  It's high-pitched and weak so the first few times I thought I was losing my mind.

Then I found the culprit candle.  I removed the battery and life went back to normal. Of course, it amused XX to hear it so she put it back in.

Need I say more?  

A Month

I've got to get more organized so I can write more often.  Alas, here comes another giant post ...

XX took a carpentry class.  She was disappointed to find there was no summer session of this class; it'll be a must in the fall.

She spent much of a week in a shamrock headband. Through math, violin, walks, outdoor play, the bobbling clovers were there.

I'll spare you the videos of wild, St Paddy's Day improv pieces.  At the end of every violin practice, she likes to continue to practice ... being on stage, that is.  She waits for the stage manager (me) to tap her on the shoulder when the stage is empty.  She strides out to the middle of the room, introduces herself and her piece. These pieces are full of enthusiasm, discordant notes, newly found technique, and are actually pretty interesting. Applause is mandatory, of course, and she bows before marching off, head held high.  Then she does it again and again, sometimes for as long as 25 minutes.  Every day.  

Violin lessons often necessitate funny headgear.

On occasion, a lesson takes place sans hat or silly shoes or crazy outfit.  But it's rare.

We cleaned up the garden in preparation for planting.

We found our first asparagus shoots.

My favorite "never say never" peach tree bloomed.

XiaoXiao also got the fairy garden ready.

She wrote them a note and left them some "jewels." The next morning, she found they had taken the note, left fairy dust all over, especially in the dance room she made for them, and gifted her with some tiny polished rocks.

She got her first sewing machine, courtesy of Grandma.

Her first project entailed ironing (and that meant a stepstool and two hands).

The ducks stopped by one morning.

XX is now self-appointed Enemy #1 of the dirty dishes that pile up.

She recently gave up the booster for a pillow and/or her knees.  Kind of a big day.

Breakfast time has become game time, looking for world news stories or weather patterns.

A story on Egypt prompted a discussion on a possible future visit to the country.  "I'm not going.  There are mummies there."  Daddy said, "But there are wonderful structures to see ... the Pyramids."  "And THAT's where the mummies are!  Don't try to fool me.  I'm NOT GOING!"

There have been science experiments.

The last experiment led to some faces drawn on balloons, then, as it was the first day of Spring, she decided to share them on the evening dog walk.  I reminded her that we don't run into that many neighbors (she had a big bag full), but this was no problem.  "Then I'll knock on doors."  And she did.  There were many surprised faces as she handed out the small balloons and said, "Happy Spring."  Passing out smiles in more than one way.

There was some reading and writing at Chinese school.

Grandma came for a visit with Jordan.  XiaoXiao enjoyed having a cousin her age. Daddy enjoyed having a child who listened to him.

There were walks to the river, rock skipping lessons, park time, play time and best of all, Granny time.

As always, there has been lots of time with Red, training and otherwise.

We get really busy now.  She's started another round of acting classes and swimming starts next week.  I should be on top of life enough to post again by, oh, the end of Summer.