I made these from images found when googling “Easter coloring”. The first 2 worksheets are completed using bingo dauber type paint markers (you can buy a variety of colors at Hobby Lobby for less than $2 each).

Use the daubers to make candies in the basket. Count them.

Use the daubers to color the dots and then circle the number that corresponds to the correct number of dots on each egg.

Letter writing practice.

Help your child write an Easter sentence such as “I like hunting for eggs!” or “Chocolate bunnies are yummy!”

Purely for artwork. I made 2 copies- one for each of us. 😉

Whooooosh. It’s over. I feel like I just finished my last final exam of the semester. LOL.
Brendan- 4 year well check
42 5/8 inches (75th percentile)
44.8 lbs (95th percentile- up from 90th percentile at 3 years)
Our scale said 45.8 last night so this one was a pound or so lighter. Thank goodness because that pound would have put him off the charts (and that matters to me because I’ve been fat all my life and don’t want that for him). I am happy where he is right now. 95% may be high but so is 75% for his height. He’s proportional! Yay!
I am so proud of him!!! We talked to him both last night and this morning about the visit and gave him ideas of what to talk about and the heads up on what to expect (namely, NO SHOTS). He was Mr. Social 😯 with the nurse and the Dr got a good look at them interacting so had no problem when he was somewhat shy with him. Somewhat shy- but not hiding his face in a chair any more! He’s definitely at the shy end of the pendulum, but back in the realm of normal! Wheeee! 😀
He got his blood pressure taken (92/48), had a visual exam where I was very proud because he was able to do the big kid letter chart!! He kept turning to look at other posters and stuff to read the letters so the nurse switched to the shapes eye chart and he was so cute… the hand symbol was a “paw print” and the coffee cup symbol was “drinking” and the plus sign was an “X”. 😛 His eyes checked out fine. She attempted to do a hearing test but he would only tell her “yes” (for hearing the beep) after she asked him if he heard it. Didn’t go too well, but I’m not in the least worried. I was annoyed to find out they actually charged us $60 more for the hearing and eye exams. Since when did those basic things start costing extra??? :/
All in all he is great. The pedi’s only suggestion was for him to drink more milk- he suggested 20 oz skim milk a day. I think his 10-12 oz is fine especially since his favorite food is cheese. He was very happy that he doesn’t wet the bed.
Andy- 6 month well check (@ 7m1w)
28 1/4 inches tall (Bren was 27 3/4 @ 6m1w)
19.3 pounds (Bren was 19.1 @ 6m1w)
Head was 18 1/4 inches (Bren was same at 6m1w)
I got a high five for breastfeeding him this long! 😀 He did ask when he had last seen Andy and I replied “right before 3 months with reflux issues” and he didn’t say anything about missing a checkup. Everything is great with Andy- he eats well, sits well, plays well… 😀
Both the nurse and the pedi confirmed with me that they got their shots at the health clinic and the pedi even gave me a curious look but I didn’t offer up any additional info. I think he asked me about it not to confirm the actual shots a second time but as a way to open up conversation if, say, I was upset with how the nurse performed the shots last time or some other thing like that. He does things around-about like that- opens you up to talk about something you may not want to bring up- it’s a good thing generally.
Total cost for both check-ups, if you are curious- $280. Considering I saved $1100 last week I am not complaining.
Andy’s next appt is for 9 months but unless I am worried about something, I just don’t see the need to bring him in again in only 7 more weeks.
****And Andy cut his first 2 teeth last night!! I just checked yesterday and pop! Now he has the two bottom middle teeth popping through.****

These are the cutest things when wrapped and taped around Hershey’s miniature candy bars!!! 😀

resulting in a sperm extraction that didn’t find any. They are moving on to adoption.
Azoospermia Blog

New research in the science of male infertility…
Some isolated mouse stem cells that had begun to develop as sperm cells were injected into female mouse eggs, successfully fertilized, and implanted into a female mouse. Seven baby mice were successfully produced (though the baby mice has some issues…).
In Vitro-Differentiated Embryonic Stem Cells Give Rise to Male Gametes that Can Generate Offspring Mice

I just heard on the news that 69% of the residents of my county are overweight and 25% have no health insurance. That’s some scary numbers peoples!
In other news…
Today was immunization day. Andy got his 6 month shots and Brendan got his 4-6 year shots. They also turned his MMR shot into the MMRV because they believe by September a 2nd varicella shot will be required. Both did well and we tried hard to make a distinction between “clinic” and “doctor” but he told me when I put him in the car that he didn’t like the doctors. 🙁 He sees his pedi next week and I really want him to be socialable- and he certainly won’t be if he is afraid he’ll get another shot. His pedi is a no-fuss doctor and ALL I need right now is him to be sent off to some high cost specialist to be evaluated further. Seriously, he NEEDS to be around other kids- that’s all. We’re working out the kinks on a plan to send him to Pre-K up at his grandparents’ house for the last few months next year, before he starts K that fall.
Thank goodness he doesn’t need any more shots until he’s 14!!!! And there aren’t any 9 month shots for Andy either. Wheee- a breather!
We took him to a place called Chacho’s for lunch that has a really nice 3 story indoor playground and he worked on conquering his fear of heights. In 1/2 an hour he had managed halfway up on his own! And his fave food is chips and queso so in the end it was a good day for him! We even shared a homemade giant pecan praline.
Oh yeah- and the clinic gave each of us a coupon for free DQ cones!
*****
The baby bug has hit me again. LOL… groan. I have a chubbily wonderful baby and dream already of being pregnant again. I’m crazy. I’m barely hanging on to my wits as it is. But I made it about 6 months longer than I did with Brendan, haha. I think I am in this evil, evil neverending PMS stage (grumpy, angry, tired, oily…). I think my body is STILL trying to ovulate because I feel ovary twinges right now as I am typing. Grrr. Come on AF- at this point I’ll welcome you with open arms. I’d take an hpt but- honestly- what breastfeeding mother with PCOS who has a husband who makes no sperm just ups and gets pregnant the easy way??? Besides… I’m not nauseous.
A good friend of mine just announced that she is 8 weeks pregnant with twins!!! The OB is pretty sure they are identical. How exciting!! She is living my dream- and I know her own as well. I’m a bit envious but totally ecstatic for her! 😀 She has had a bit of misfortune recently so if you are the praying type, please send up some positive thoughts that her and her little ones stay safe and healthy. God’ll know who she is.

Bren plays real Mario type side-scrolling games now!!
He more often than not starts up conversations with “Hey there buddy!”
After hearing us say “hey guys” so much he now calls either of us “guy”.
He says he is scared a lot and STILL talks about being scared of birds.
He saw a can of Raid on a shelf in the garage and because of the pics of the bugs on it he assumed it was frog food. LOL.
Bren has suddenly “noticed” Andy and will touch him, kiss him and interact with him on his own now.
*****
Andy shakes his head back and forth a lot as if he is saying “no”.
He eats finely diced carrots, bananas, green beans and cheerios now. Green beans are not his favorite at all. Which is hilarious because it is the only veggie Bren will pretty much eat.
If you stand him up in front of you while sitting on the bed facing him, he loves to put his head down and have you kiss the back of his neck.
He loves his exersaucers but his love for the swing is declining.
He loves Baby Einstein movies and will often watch a whole 20 minute episode giving me enough time to shower.
He watches Brendan’s every move and thinks he is just hilarious. 😀
******
Funny story:
I went up to Brendan as he was playing his game boy on the floor beside the couch. I laid across the couch, put on a cheshire cat grin and stared at him until he noticed me. He giggled and went back to playing. Looked at me, giggled and went back to playing…
After a bit I leaned over, knocked on his headphones, lifted them up and whispered, “Wanna go get the mail with me?”
He said no.
So I said, “Okay, I’ll go. See ya later.”
Brendan replied, “No!!! You can’t go! You gotta watch me.”
Hahahaha.

We decided to go visit the in-laws for a week. We leave tomorrow so today is the last detox day for me. A whole week! Too bad it couldn’t have been Tuesday we went. I was so close to the 9 days…
Do I feel better? Actually, no. :/ That may have something to do with less sleep that usual this past week though. I should have been able to catch up by today but Darrell has been crazy-busy at work.
Do I feel normal? Yes, I finally got to where I feel normal without the sugar, caffeine, etc. No headaches, not so tired. And my cravings for them have lessened considerably. Day 1 I was a mess by bedtime. Last night I calmly ate grapes. BIG difference. 😀
Now if I can just minimize sugar and caffeine for awhile it’ll all have been for the good. And I’m pretty sure I lowered at least my cholesterol with so many oats and no meat. Go me! And DH too!
I have a long list of Bren-bits and Andy-dotes but they’ll have to wait. I’m Solo Mama right now and I have lots to do before we can leave in the morning! Be back in a week or so.

Here is a great idea from a homeschooling mama:
Math War with cards
Now play the classic game of War, but lay out 2 cards at a time. Add your two cards, and the player with the highest sum wins the turn. I have the student add my cards for me as well.
If your sums are equal, you have a battle: just lay two new cards on top of your first two, and winner takes all.
Since your deck will be smaller than with the usual War and since you each use two cards/turn, this game will usually end far more quickly than the neverending card game that we all dread.
For an older child you could use the whole deck, or practice subtraction or multiplication. To make it a little harder, you might try using 3 cards at a time. The possibilities are endless and easily tailored to almost any child’s level.

I’ve made it through 48 hours now of the detox- very little wheat, no non-naturally occurring sugar, no meat, and I cut my caffeine down about 75% (now one can of diet cherry coke). Lots of brown rice and oats and beans.
I eat plenty of carbs and protein and calories though my fat is probably less just because I’m not eating meat.
I have actually had withdrawals!!! I’ve had headaches the past 2 nights- probably from the lack of caffeine but maybe sugar as well. I’m amazed at how much the caffeine apparently affects me and I know a diet coke always helps when I *have* a headache. It’s kind of a vicious cycle. I can just imagine how many people would be out sick for a week if they ever made coffee illegal!! I actually thought by allowing myself 1 soda a day I wouldn’t be affected.
I heard yesterday that Pepsi and Coke are releasing the amount of caffeine in their drinks (can of Diet Pepsi- 36mg & Diet Coke- 45mg) and that Pepsi is now making a Diet Pepsi MAX- with MORE caffeine.
Anyway… still waiting to feel BETTER from doing this. I wonder if Andy got a headache from me skipping the soda?
I have to hand it to vegetarians who do it for their beliefs- it’s hard to stay away from meat! I wonder if I will lose the cravings or if they are going to dawg my every move this whole time??