The Vallecillo’s

Yes, it is that time again when all of us parents get together to see our children perform for us. It is the day when we get to see if we really got our money’s worth for school; the day when we all hope our children do not embarrass us…but secretly wait for some other kid to do something so embarrassing so that we can all get a good chuckle out of it. OK, not really.

OK, yes really

Lucky for us this year we dodged the bullet once again (yes!!!), but there is always next year. At one point I caught Larsen tugging at his pants and I started to panic, but luckily it seemed to be an itch that was easily accessible without the need to pull his pants down to his ankles. Good one Larsen! You had me going there boy, you really had me going. I’m not sure what the hands-up-in-the-air thing was, but suffice to say this is not the place for that kind of thing if you want to just “blend-in”.

The whole thing was very nicely done and very cute (believe me, it is MUCH cuter when your child is part of it), so you can rest assure he is going back to Kids Kingdom of Vista Ridge again next year.

Nothing like waiting 4-months after getting your bicycle to actually show interest in learning how to ride it. OK, so it really wasn’t by his doing, but we recently started showing Larsen how much fun it is to ride his bike. He has been a bit apprehensive about this new non-electronic contraption without a mouse or a keyboard attached to it, but I believe today we had a breakthrough and actually saw him enjoy learning that he can actually tame this beast.

Hopefully this won’t turn out to be one of those unbearably hot Texas summers.

After years of terrorizing the dogs, Larsen decides to take a day-off and be nice to post-op Belle. If I didn’t know any better I’d say he is doing what he can to nurse her back to health in order to ensure many more years of dog-terrorizing-action to come.

For the last few months we have been noticing a growing lump on Belle’s (our beagle) hip. After having a veterinary look at it we decided the best thing to do at this time is to surgically remove it. That day was today so Belle is a bit on the mellow side (thank God!) if at least for just a day. I’ll admit that Belle is a real pain in my rear, but seeing her this way almost makes me feel sorry for her

Unfortunately the lump that was removed is cancerous and will most likely come back within the next few months. We hope it doesn’t happen that quickly, but only time will tell.

I have to say though, Belle is one tough cookie. Even after just having surgery, and God only knows how many stitches, she is jumping out of the sofa and running outside like nothing happened. Oh wait…did I say tough? Darn it, I really meant dumb…I get those two words mixed up all the time!

See, I told you it was all about the candy! Not a single boiled egg to be found in this easter basket!

Well, the easter bunny came last night and brought Larsen a very nice basket full of sweet goodies, a new game cartridge for his Leapster and a nice letter. That easter bunny sure is getting creative with his/her computer and color printer!

Today we decided to celebrate both Easter and grandma Judi’s birthday here at the house, so the whole family showed up late-morning for brunch. From waffles to eggs (no, not hard-boiled), we had it all! Food was great, and the company was even better! The kids kept themselves entertained, for the most part, while the Vallecillo Easter egg hunt preparations took place.

This year Mandi went with the “marked egg” approach, one that should be adopted by all parents who value their sanity. It is so simple, yet so effective. All you need is a an easter-egg-hunter head-count and create an equal number of easter egg groups. Then, before hiding the eggs, label each egg in each group with a group number (1, 2, 3, etc.). The kids then draw numbers from a hat and are ONLY allowed to grab those eggs that match their number. That’s it! That’s all there is to it! No more crying because Bobby got more eggs than Jane, or fighting over that one egg they both happened to find and grab at the same time.

Needless to say, we all had a fun-filled day with the family.

I’m not sure where or how this whole colored eggs delivered by a bunny business started, but we still do it year after year. This year will be no different, so unnaturally colored hard boiled eggs we made.

I’m not even sure why we bother with the eggs because it is all about the candy…isn’t it? I mean, what kid gets excited about an hard-boiled easter egg hunt? I don’t know about you, but I’ve never heard: “Mommy, mommy…look at all the eggs I found! Can you please peel one for me?”

It is that time of year again, and we are excited about another T-ball season. Excited about the potential of Larsen making up for last year’s lack of enthusiasm, random and unprovoked crying fits, plenty of attitude, lack of sportsmanship and rudeness. I’m sorry, this is suppose to be about the kids…right? I’m always forgetting about that. OK, let me try that again…we are excited for Larsen and all the fun he is going to have playing and sharing with all his friends out in the field.

I hear practice has been going well, so there is hope yet for this season. Today was the first game and boy what a difference a year makes. The kids now, well…have a clue, and seem to be more into the game than picking their noses or playing with the grass (for the most part).

Batting has improved dramatically from last year, but throwing is only marginally better. But whereas batting has turned serious, throwing has turned comical. There must something about throwing a ball that requires a much more involved mental process than batting, because it takes most of the kids more than just a few seconds to figure out how to get that ball to 1st base. Catching the ball is easy, but then they have to figure out which hand they are going to throw the ball with, which foot they are going to step forward with, and in what direction they are going to throw it in. They have all been taught to use their other hand to point towards their intended target, and how this gets interpreted by a 4 year old is nothing short of hilarious.