The Lieslands

Lucia has been laughing more lately. Here she is enjoying some night-time silliness.

We had a nice Easter this year. The kids found their Easter baskets, which the Easter Bunny hides. Then they found some eggs in the back yard. We went to church and then had brunch at Mimi & Papa’s.

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With spring temperatures finally making their way to Des Moines, Susan and I were both eager to get out for a run. We decided to take the whole family along – the kids on their bikes and Lucia in the stroller. It was Lucia’s first stroller ride and first time going along with us on any sort of wheeled adventure (not counting riding in the car, of course). She did great, as usual. She fell asleep about half-way through and allowed us to enjoy the outdoors.

A couple of weeks ago the kids and I met the Reagens at Waveland for some sledding. There was an awesome ramp on the first hill we came to, and the kids immediately tested it out with our double tube. They went off successfully a few times and Nate and Hope also went off, relatively unscathed (Nate might argue this point). When Elliot and I tried it, we were not so lucky. We started to lean back too far on the landing and I stuck my hand down to make sure we landed properly. Well, we didn’t land properly, and I broke my wrist.

The first few days were rough, but 10 days later I am feeling a lot better and have pretty decent movement. I will sled again. Go off another ramp? Maybe not.

The kids put together a band today, playing various shaking instruments. In an odd, but maybe foretelling move, Andrew was the background singer while Mari took the lead. This was so noteworthy that I had to take note.

Anne McCullough Kelly, a parent in Susan’s Parents & Tots class,  made a ‘tag toy’ for Lucia. She loves it and tries to shove the whole thing in her mouth. She doesn’t have to play with it long before it is completely soaked.

Today we celebrated Elliot’s 6th birthday! We let our kids have a party with friends when they turn 6. Elliot invited a few friends and we headed to Mimi & Papa’s.  The following children were at the party.  Andrew, Mari, Ian, Cameron, Hope, Bianca, Lachlan, Laird, Bella and Noah.  We were hoping there would be enough snow to go sledding, but no luck. We still had fun.

A little bit about Elliot – Elliot is a sweet, gentle kid who likes to be silly. On a normal day he wakes up at 7 or 7:30. He spends a lot of time playing with Legos, coloring, and playing games. He still goes to school at the Bean Sprout school. This is his 3rd and final year. Next year he will be in first grade and move on to homeschooling. His favorite food is Skyline and his favorite color is blue. He goes to bed at 8:30, after a few minutes of snuggling with mom or dad. He usually likes a short back rub while we are snuggling and sometimes still requests a gentle hand laid on his belly.

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Susan picked up some new ice skates for me and the kids. Yesterday we braved the arctic weather to try them out. All of the kids had a good time and want to go back today.

Andrew had his first public piano performance today, playing the baby grand piano in the Von Maur department store. We were at the mall picking up some supplies for his Pinewood Derby car and as we headed back to our car we stopped for a minute to watch the pianist in Von Maur. We got to chatting and she offered him a chance to play. He played his version of Für Elise to a small crowd of interested onlookers. The pianist followed that up with the full version, which wowed Andrew.

Lucia is 3 months today. She continues to treat us very well – sleeping a fair amount and being generally content when she is awake. She still likes to talk and she has learned how to make raspberries.

We went to Greenwood Park today and the kids had a great time playing on the frozen pond. We also went sledding and Mari & Elliot tried ice skating.