Easter Birthday Fun

Yesterday was Jeff's birthday in addition to being Easter. We incorporated the Easter and birthday activities into a day full of fun.

I woke up at around 5AM, so excited about all of the plans and work I had put into this day I could not go back to sleep. I got out of bed and made some coffee, Mandy was already in the shower as she had to be at work by 7AM. I hid the boiled eggs that Lily and I had dyed and covered in stickers the night before. Mandy came into the living room to check out her Easter Basket, she mumble her thanks and hid her spoils in her room.

I was certain that Lily would wake up as I was driving Mandy to work. I was worried I would miss her face as she saw her basket, miss her looking for and finding all the eggs. She did wake up while I was on the road, but Jeff kept her from the living room and the two of them patiently awaited my arrival before beginning the Easter morning fun.

Later I picked Mandy up from work and when we got home we had the present opening portion of Jeff's birthday party. Lily and I had baked him a cake and wrapped the presents together. Mandy had taken Jeff to see wrestling at the coliseum. Jeff enjoyed his presents, Lily was bad and had to take a nap. We had to sit and watch two DVDs about through hiking the Appalachian trail while we waited for dinner to cook. This is Jeff's favorite weekend pastime.

Next was the Easter dinner followed by the birthday cake, complete with candles and song. Jeff sometimes complains that all this hoopla about birthdays is weird but he seemed to enjoy his day.

Lily got her first Barbie doll for Easter. It was headless by the time she went to bed. This surprised me to no end because she has never before broken a toy, and baby dolls and stuffed animals are some of her favorite things. She loves her babies and takes them with her everywhere. The Barbie is the one with butterfly wings. She sees the commercial all the time and Tuesday at the playgroup she dresses up with the butterfly wings. I thought she would just love this Barbie, but she bashed its head on the side of the table until the head popped off. No more Barbie's for that child.

I know I talk about what a rough and stubborn and willful little four year old Lily is quite often. But, she is usually very sweet to her babies. She loves them and takes care of them. They come with her everywhere and she is always making sure they are dressed and have a toy to play with. I have never seen her just purposely destroy a toy before especially a doll. It was weird. Maybe she was a feminist in a previous life? Our latest attempt at behavior modification is going well. She is getting better at not hitting me when she is upset, not completely resolved but more of a once in a blue moon thing than a once an hour thing that it was.