Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter! I was so glad that the weather cooperated...it was beautiful! We told the kids the Easter Bunny was going to visit our house AFTER church. So, after church, Kev and I and helped the Easter Bunny fill the baskets. The kids had a lot of fun and we all ate entirely too much Easter candy!

Derek's "run in" with a poisonous plant!

On Friday morning, Derek woke me up bright and early and whispered, "Mom, why do I look funny?" I looked at him and immediately knew he was having an allergic reaction to something. His eyes and whole face were red and swollen. He also had a big red swollen handprint on the side of his face where his hand was while he slept.

I gave him a dose of Benadryl and a bath. I wasn't overly concerned because other than his red face and eyes, he was doing fine. Also, Tyler used to get all kinds or weird allergies. He would get hives and swollen red eyes quite regularly.

A little while later Brooklyn woke up and she had 3 or 4 small yellow blisters on the side of her face! Kev and I were wondering, "What is the world happened to our children!?" Brooklyn's looked completely different than Derek's though and didn't look like an allergic reaction at all. I took her to the Pediatrician and she was prescribed some bacterial ointment.

Well, we went on with our day and Derek's symptoms slowly started to improve. However, while Brooklyn was outside playing, she noticed that the neighbor girl who lives next door had the same red face and rash like Derek! We quickly compared notes and realized that the day before the kids had been making "soup" out of a plant in our front yard! We called our other neighbor, and sure enough, their little girl had the same symptoms. Our neighbor brought the plant to a local nursery and found out it is in deed, poisonous!!!

So, here's the skinny...the plants name is Euphorbia Myrsinites also known as "Burro Tail" or "Donkey Tail". I personally think the plant is ugly...it was planted in our front yard before we moved in and we had been meaning to rip it out. I've actually seen in planted in other yards too. Here are some pictures...

Derek is doing fine now. He did end up getting a few little blisters. One of the neighbor girls had it pretty bad. She had a reaction similar to Poison Ivy and had blisters all over her face! Brooklyn said she played with the plant too, just not as much as the other kids. I think her little blisters were definitely from the plant as well! So...that is our latest drama!

Benjamin's new favorite "trick"

Benjamin is such a sweet, sweet boy and he is getting so big! He is starting to talk a ton. He says; mom, dad, Ty, ball, dog, car, uh oh, all done, more, baby, and several other "words" in his own language. He also likes to sing. He sings along to the hymns at church and starts to sing whenever I'm singing around the house. It's sweet. He is so much fun. Anyway, one of his new favorite tricks is to take everything out of the bottom drawer in the bathroom and climb inside. He is so proud of himself! What a cutie-pie!

Easter Egg Hunt

On Sunday, my parents had an Easter Egg hunt for all the grandkids. They had a lot of fun finding eggs all over the yard. I'm glad it was good weather! Happy Spring!

Brooklyn and her cousin, Erika

Benjamin looks a little scroungy...I think he enjoyed the Easter candy

Brooklyn and Ty