...and she was swingin'

The beauty of this girl amazes me.

How'd I get so lucky?

More on Raising a Redneck

Life with Max surely is never dull. Since we've had some really nice days weather-wise, we've spent a lot of time playing outside. One of their Christmas presents was a Monster-traction Jeep. I'm sure I don't have to describe how happy this vehicle makes Max. However, not only does he think this truck is a monster truck, he thinks he is Randy Brown, one of Gravedigger's driver.

Max does a great job at steering the vehicle...right into and onto people and things! He crashed (on purpose) into his slide and ran over his sister (sadly, on purpose, too). After both crashes I said, "Max are you okay? You can't do that!". His response, "It's okay, Mom. I'm Randy Brown."

I wish I had pictures or video of his latest attempt, but Mark and I were too busy laughing our butts off to grab a camera. He had another one of his ride on toys out in the yard and proceeded to ride his Jeep right on top of the other car - just like the monster trucks do. While he was literally teetering in the air, I screamed, "Max are you okay?" He fist-pumped, yelled "YES! I'm Randy Brown!".

It's a good thing we have lots of land around the house. I think we'll give Max the yard to play in while the rest of us wait safely on the deck.

Easter Fun

It's the biggest day in Max and Jillian's life since Christmas and their birthday! With Easter quickly approaching, our house is abuzz with anticipation. To kick off Easter week, we spent the weekend doing fun Easter events. On Saturday morning, we headed out to a local Easter Egg Hunt. The twins collected lots of goodies, plus had their face painted, decorated a cupcake and colored eggs. On Sunday, our church held both an Easter Egg Hunt as well as an Easter Basket Auction for kids. The 1-4 year old section was packed, but they did well in collecting more Easter treats. They also cleaned up at the auction; they won four baskets total! This morning, we made our Easter countdown chart. Just six more days until the big furry bunny visits!

It's funny thinking back to last Easter. We decided that the Easter bunny would be taking their binkies in exchange for their Easter baskets. What in the world were we thinking? The kids were miserable (and as a result so were mommy and daddy) last Easter. They didn't sleep well since they didn't have their binkies and had a hard time without them the next day. I guess we have lots to make up for this year as we celebrate this Easter season.

Raising a Redneck

Last weekend, Mark and I surprised Max with a trip to see Monster Jam. We told him the week before that we were taking him on a special trip - just the three of us - while Jillie spent the day with my parents.

For anyone who has spent even a few minutes with Max, his love of all things monster trucks is pretty clear. This kid lives for Gravedigger, Blue Thunder, Maximum Destruction, Avenger...really, the list is at least 30 trucks long. So, when we heard that Monster Jam was coming to the Wilkes-Barre area, we had to get our tickets. We were lucky enough to score tickets for "Party in the Pits", a pre-show opportunity to get up close and personal with the trucks and the drivers themselves.

To my surprise, the event was a pretty wholesome, family friendly event. I was worried it would be a drunk fest, but really there were very few people there without a kid in tow. We stood in line for a chance to see Gravedigger and meet the driver, Randy Brown. He signed a hat, pennant and a truck for Max and took a picture with us. (Max's sweaty fingers erased the autograph on the truck on the way home...but Max still asks to play with the "Gravedigger that the driver colored on".) And while I wasn't exactly expecting diva behavior from a monster truck driver, I did imagine these guys to be more "tough guys" than the "teddy bears" they really are. Not only did they meet with loads of people before the show, there was an announcement made that they would stay and sign autographs after the show until "every last autograph is signed". Try and find that at a Mariah Carey concert.

Max, who is clearly turning into our little redneck, had an absolute blast at the show. It was pretty loud for his little ears, but smart planning by daddy had him pretty well protected. It's been over a week now, and he still hasn't stopped talking about all the trucks he saw...and the jumps...and the wheelies...

So, Redneck Max's love for the big loud trucks is going strong...I'm just hoping he doesn't ask for a mullet anytime soon.