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oops. sorry. i was typing a post and guess i got bored.

i can assure you. you haven't missed a lot around here. last week was spring break '08. or you might recall its other names -- Parade of Malls or Five Malls In Five Days.

much to my surprise, we only hit three malls in the five days. we set our expectations high, only to be disappointed. i will say, however, that we were able to spend five days with various close friends, some of whom we don't see on a regular basis. so it was good.

and we may or may not have watched one or twenty-six movies.

and we concluded our week with Easter Weekend. Good Friday was good. the service was a bit of a challenge. when we arrived at church, we realized that the nursery workers were all paid volunteers, not the usuals. maybe you don't know much about big h's personality, but let's just say the out-of-the-ordinary didn't fly so well with our ULTRA STRUCTURED four-year-old.

we took a deep breath and prepped him for going to big church. let me preface by saying big h has been to one big church service. christmas eve of this past year. because the nursery of the church we went to that night was only "accepting" children three and under. don't think i don't still feel miserable about maybe telling a little white lie in church. but to no avail. big h busted me.

but mama, i am POUR!

right. of course you are.

and he did exceptionally well. course, he had buz's blackberry with him. i would do exceptionally well if i had a blackberry.

and the pyromaniac in him loved it all the more.

anyway, we prepped him a lot for the Good Friday service. he did awesome. all things considering. like everyone wearing black. and everyone singing a lot about death. overall, it was a pretty gloomy service. i mean, Jesus dying on the cross is not the most upbeat topic. (luckily, the story doesn't end there.)

but big h's comments were fascinating. during the drama, they were depicting pontius pilate. when he stopped talking, the room went dark and totally silent. it was then that big h decided to speak. loudly.

mama, that man sure isn't nice.

and then at the end of the drama, there was a shadow on the man who was depicting Jesus. and big h's comment?

(said in a very loud but very, very sad voice) mama, all of his priends left him by himself.

priceless.

overall, he did fine. but seems church really wore them out.

sunday rolled around. and i don't know if any of you suffer from something i like to call "holiday expectation."

(k, i know you're rolling your eyes. you are so proud of me for putting my expectation problem out there for the whole world to see.)

for some reason, big h has a tendency to put a bit of a damper on holidays. i don't know if it's because he senses something out of the ordinary. but church was tough. wouldn't tuck his shirt in. wouldn't wear his new summertime church shoes. wanted a mini water bottle that one of the church volunteers had. the list goes on and on.

and then. then, i decide it would be fun to take pictures. insane. this woman i am. insane. he refused. shocker. and the straw that broke the camel's back? goo fell down the stairs at the little park we went to. big (Easter) egg on her forehead. she's definitely our delicate flower.

we did a little Easter egg hunt in the backyard. they both seemed to enjoy it. but there was just a general damper on the day.

can we talk about big h' attire? can we? huh? untucked shirt. the OLD shoes. the coat that is THREE SIZES too small? and the odd look on his face?

and because i'm a perfect mom who always holds her tongue. i may have said something about what a wonderful day it was supposed to be and that a certain someone may have put a damper on the day.

see why i haven't posted lately? :) truly, i've been a ray of sunshine.

school is back in session. goo is sleeping better. and things are generally looking up.

and just to prove how i truly live on the edge...

see look. i take pictures of my children eating cereal.

any suggestions for this unruly hair?

this was big. big h hanging from the monkey bars.

unruly. and not just the hair.

teaching big h the benefits of good lip balm.

telling goo how wonderful apples are. straight from the produce market.

oh, and don't think we didn't make at least one trip to dr. g. i promise you, we are single handedly funding his summer vacation. just one co-pay at a time.