Life's Hard Lessons

We went to see the movie "Earth" yesterday and it went about how we thought...Collin fell asleep after there were no animals chasing each other (plus the sound of James Earl Jones' voice just has that sedating effect) and Maura was fascinated. I was a little worried at some parts, because it seemed to me that there was lots of large, predatory animals killing and eating the smaller, cuter animals. I kept looking over to see her reaction, but she seemed unphased. There was one particular moment when a cheetah is chasing a gazelle and, well, you can probably guess how that one ended. I asked her if she was okay and she said, "Ya, most of them lived, so its okay." Good point. So it got me thinking of one of the major dilemmas of parents. Where do we draw the line on wanting them to stay innocent and pure, but not completly pulling the wool over their eyes, so to speak. A part of me wants them to believe in magic and imaginary friends, but I also want them to understand that the world is not all sunshine and rainbows and I think it is my job to prepare them for this. I don't want to traumatize them or anything, but I have a hard time lying when the tough questions are asked. At what age to you just lay it down and tell them the truth, that no, they won't be able to fly...no matter how hard they wish for it. And yes, the lions will go after the baby elephant because it is weaker and they have a better chance of killing it.

Hippity Hoppity

So I thought I would post some updates. Sorry for the long boring post, but inspiration has been escaping me as of late. I'm pretty sure some brain cells are missing along with it.

...little Max tried to make an early appearance, but after some injections of something that made me feel like my skin didn't fit and my heart would explode, everything calmed down. I am increasingly uncomfortable and still surprised that none of my ribs are broken. Only 4 more weeks. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. The doctor said he wouldn't stop my labor now, because everything from now on would be "icing on the cake." I don't even like icing. I just like well-baked cake. Who needs icing??

Yes, Rand won the name game. I guess telling your husband that a name is too masculine makes him want the name more, not less. So even though I still think Max Bruno sounds like a comic book villain, at least we don't have to argue about it anymore.

The kids had a blast on Easter. Easter is kind of confusing for me. Growing up, it was made very clear to us that the Easter Bunny and Eggs were Pagan traditions. You could call my dad now and he would be happy to give you a lecture on the pagan origins of the holiday. So now that I have my own kids, I have mixed feelings. But deep down, I just like my Pagan rituals, what can I say? So we do the baskets and we hide the eggs. We do stop short of the Easter Bunny, so I guess you got your way a little Lars. Here are some pictures from the day. Nobody put an egg in my tailpipe this year, so all in all it was a very good day. Olivia is missing from the picture because she was upstairs throwing up. There is something with holidays and our kids, but one of them always ends up puking. I'm glad it was Em's turn this year and not mine.

Here is Maura helping me make cupcakes. She likes to cook a lot more than me, so I'm hoping to get her trained early so I don't have to anymore.

Grandma and Grandpa Bruno's house

Emily's House

"I have a mouthful of chocolate and life is good"

Two seconds after I took this picture they spilled the dye all over and I yelled at them. Good times.

Maura got nail polish in her Easter basket and gave me a manicure. I thought she did pretty good.