What Big Brother Doesn't Know....

This little red Radio Flyer car was a birthday gift for Henry last year from Grandma, and it's one of his most prized posessions. It's hard to believe that at 3 yrs old I'm already hearing the words, "Mum! Bee's trying to get my car!" coming from my oldest son. LOL! Well, technically it's more like, "Bee's fwying to dit my car!" ....but you know what I mean.

The problem is, Jack LOVES the car. A lot. So, sometimes when Jack wakes up early in the morning or after naps, or when Henry is outside with Papa, Jack gets to take a spin. Here he is, in all his glory:

......how *you* doin'? ..........

bwa ha ha ha! :o) At least he has a nice ride!

Ice Shoves

We live a few blocks from the shore of Lake Winnebago, one of the largest inland lakes in the country. As long as I can remember, it has been a ritual every spring to go down and look at the ice shoves. As the ice melts, the waves push the broken ice to shore, and it piles up almost like a snowbank. Sometimes the shoves are taller than the nearby houses. This year they're actually pretty low, but still fascinating (at least I think they are!).

Here is a picture of Henry sitting on a chunk of ice. You can see how thick the ice still is (about 15") when it shoves up on land.

Another picture of Henry in front of a larger pile. This tree root is right on the shoreline:

The ice breaks off almost like shale, in these long, thin, pieces:

The shoves are strong enough to push boulders inland:

Here you can see the shoves up against the shore. Beyond that, you see some open water and what looks like flat land. That part that looks like flat land is actually more ice waiting to come to shore. Just past that you see a darker line that might look like a treeline far off in the distance. That's the shore on the other side of the lake.

We took these pictures on Sunday, and when I was out at the park today, as far as I could tell all of the ice that had still be in the lake had now either melted or come to shore. The piles are melting fast, but are still pretty substantial.

Interesting, or no? I think so!

It's Bee's Birtay!

On Sunday, March 29, Henry woke up and came downstairs to a house filled with Winnie the Pooh. The first thing he saw at the bottom of the stairs was our table, all decked out (sans food, at that point):



In the cutest, most amazed, voice a child of two and three quarters could muster, he said, "It's my birtay!!" :o) hee hee. I said, "No honey, it's Jack's birthday!" I thought maybe he'd be sad that all of the fanfare wasn't for him, but instead he just repeated in the same voice, "It's Bee's birtay!" Seriously, a.dor.able!

So, above you can see the little luncheon we had. That was only about half the food. I kept forgetting to put stuff out. Doh!

See those bumble bee cupcakes? I made those! Here's a close up:

They are actually "diet" cupcakes (one box of cake mix + one can of diet coke, then make and cook per package directions) with non-diet toppings. The base frosting was tinted yellow, then I piped the three brown stripes on. The wings are made of white chocolate. I drew a template on a piece of paper, and then put waxed paper over the top and traced over the template with melted chocolate to form the wings. I let them dry all afternoon (the day before), and then peeled them off and stuck them in. It was a little tricky, and I did break a few (in case you're wondering the broken pieces went in the garbage - if there's one thing I won't eat, it's white chocolate!) in the process. The white part of the eyes is a miniature marshmallow (cut in half) with a little more chocolate frosting piped on top. Cute, no? I was happy with how they turned out!

Unfortunately, our camera battery died after only a few pictures. We did get quite a few pics from my mom, but they're all from a film camera, and I don't have the patience to scan them, so all you get to see are the few we got before the battery died, and one that my cousin emailed me.
Jack and Mum:

Here we tried to blow out the candle, but Jack was more interested in dipping into the taco salad:

And my favorite, Jack's great-great-great (!!!) Uncle Dan jammin' out on Henry's "ahtar"!