Spring Break has come and gone with not much fanfare. We stuck pretty close to home which was just as well since the kids tag-teamed being sick over the first eight or ten days. We still managed to have some fun what with all the dinners out, the playdates, the sleepovers, and the what-nots.

(Photo Break #1: Here are a couple of pictures of the kids with their various missing teeth)

There have been some changes around here in the past little while, the most notable of which is the fact that we've stopped doing piano lessons for the time being. In discussing the kids' progress with their teacher, we realised that they were both at the point where they would need to get very serious about their practice regimes to make any forward progress. As it was, we were experiencing a little resistence to the practice schedule and it was either start being piano Nazis or stop lessons for now. I've always believed that learning music needs to be fun and as soon as it becomes a chore, there is no point in pursuing it further. It was sad saying goodbye to Bruce. He did a great job with the kids and they loved him.

To fill the gap left by the end of piano, we are looking at a couple of possibilities. Chloe is interested in taking horse riding lessons and Sam is up for some karate, so we will see how it all pans out.

(Photo Break #2: Here are a couple of pictures of the kids just being kids)

Well the good news is that the leprechauns did indeed show up. The bad news is that they used the old trick of buying their way out of captivity with candy. So, we had 'em and we lost 'em, but the kids both ended up with traps filled with gold wrapped chocolates. I'd say the score stands at Kids: 1, Little Green Guys: 1.

The only down side was that the dog got into Sammy's pile of chocolates on his desk when no one was looking. Don't be alarmed though, we researched the effects of chocolate on a dog and the amounts required to do any damage and she was never in harm's way. To make up for the tragic loss I gave Sam my super-secret stash of foil covered mini-eggs and that seemed to smooth things over.

So, for those of you keeping track at home, the revised score is: Kids: 1, Little Green Guys: 1, Dad: 0. C'est la vie, as the Irish say.

Well, St. Patrick's Day madness has once again descended on our house, and as so many families do, we put out the tradtional Leprechaun Traps^™ in hopes of catching one of the wee folk. I'm not 100% sure what exactly we would do with a leprechaun if we actually caught one, but I know it has something to to with tiny little rubber hoses and the locations of various pots o' gold. The sad thing is that this actually constitutes a more substantial long-term financial plan than anything I have in place right now, so I'm kind of hoping that something comes of this little exercise.

The design, as you can see, is the classic Elmer Fudd/Wabbit Hunting box-and-stick affair. The idea is that the leprechaun follows the path of counterfeit gold, grabs the fake coin attached to the toilet paper tube with string, pulls it and the box slams down, trapping him or her. The beds are in the traps just to provide a nice place for the little guys to rest while incarcerated. If things all go according to plan, there should be two little pissed-off green guys spilling their guts around 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. I can't wait to spend some of that fat leprechaun cash!

It remains to be seen which approach will work better: the calm, rational sign stating simply "Stay until 8:00 a.m." or the life-like leprechaun decoy acting as bait. Either way, I love the fact that both of my kids are so willing to give themselves over to these flights of fancy, and I hope that both of them will hold on to a little of this faith as they grow. There's always room for a little silliness in one's life, no matter how old you are.

(Click on the pictures to make them bigger!)

I am very, very tired and I am in need of going to bed, but I just wanted to write a quick post about the fact that I am glad Spring Break is finally here. I know this is in direct opposition to the sentiments expressed in my last post, and I am equally as tired as I was when I wrote that one, but I am nonetheless relieved. The last couple of weeks were a bit of a gong show and I am looking forward to the opportunity to regroup, reassess, and relax...not necessarily in that order.

Besides, now we can make some serious headway on those leprechaun traps we'll need for St. Patrick's day...

Yep. The day after I set up the trampoline it snowed like a bugger. Of course.

I am so done with the winter and the snow. I need it to start being warm and green. Seriously, warm and green...that's all I'm asking for. Is it too much, really? No, I didn't think so.

Anyway, only two more days until what we will euphemistically call "Spring Break." More accurately I think we should call it "Two Weeks Off From Work That Will Essentially Be a Waste Because You Can't Go Outside Without Freezing Your Nutsack Off Break." Don't get me wrong, if I had the money to be taking the family to Disneyland, I would be shooting rays of sunshine out of butt about the break, but, as is, the farthest away from home I can afford to go is to the Overwaitea and even then I'll have to be careful that my basket of bread and mayonaise doesn't exceed what's in my wallet. M-m-m-m-m...can't wait for those mayonaise sandwiches.

Did I mention I'm tired?

Well, the first official sign of Spring has finally arrived. You can keep your groundhogs and the like, I'm talking about turning the trampoline out for full duty. It only took about fifteen minutes to strip away the tarp and insert the dozen or so support rods in the safety net and we were in business. Granted, the first and last jumping sessions required slippers, mitts, and jackets, but we were jumping nonetheless. This winter was a particularly long and potent one, and we will definitely still have snow on the ground this time next week when Spring Break starts, but we aren't going to let a little setback like that get us down. $10 bucks says it snows tomorrow.

One of the bigger highlights of the winter season was the kids both losing teeth like they're going out of style. Sammy lost his first one and Chloe lost her bazillionth, but the Tooth Fairy thankfully showed-up to purchase the reuse rights to the kids enamel. I say "thankfully" because in the past the Tooth Fairy has had trouble getting here on the first night that a tooth has been placed under a pillow. Word is it's because she hits the sauce pretty hard in between collection runs. I'm just saying.

The kids both got Nintendo DS's for Christmas so they were pretty excited. This move had the added benefit of keeping Sam occupied in the mornings when he wakes up at 5:30 a.m. and wants to get on with his life. We are usually good until about 7:30 a.m. now. Sam seems to be drawn to the action games like Pokemon Diamond Version and New Super Mario Bros., while Chloe seems to like the more imagination driven titles like Nintendogs and, rather fittingly, the Imagination series of games. Sadly, my Xbox 360 was nowhere to be seen under the tree on Christmas morn. Maybe next year.

More recently (as of today in fact), Chloe has become a certified babysitter, scoring a whopping 87% on her test at the end of her course. We're, of course, very proud of her, but this is just one more milestone in a seemingly endless procession of big events that keep pulling my little girl further from my protective parent arms and closer to the young woman she will one (not very distant) day become. Pride and sadness mix making me feel like I need a drink. I wonder if the Tooth Fairy is doing anything tonight...