317 is the answer. The question; how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. Noah counted. And as he put it, “the world may still never know the answer but at least we know!”

Noah and Katherine went to spend their vacation with Grandma so I met Mom and Lynne in York yesterday. They were very excited. I heard them scheming, “We can stay up as late as we want because Grandma has no idea when we are supposed to go to sleep!”

I drove home thinking the whole way about pulling off the highway and buying a new car. As soon as I got home I went right online and looked at the invoice amount for each vehicle, figured out the cost difference in fuel for each one, and even looked at what consumers had to say. Then I decided on a specific model and even which dealership I planned to but it from. We looked up trade in values and I was sure we had it all figured as close as we possibly could. We were ready to go buy a new car. Then I thought about it and remembered that I don’t want to have the debt. Why can’t I just do things without thinking about them!

I really want a brand new car that needs only car washes and oil changes. I really don’t want to pay for it for the next 5 years, nor do I want to give up my gas guzzling party van. I LOVE that I can stand up inside it. I do not love that it needs work, and I don’t want my life to turn into the storybook tale, “if you give a car a tune up…” Okay, enough about that.

Noah is trying to figure out if the Easter Bunny really exists and has made a list, an argument for and against the Bunny. The argument against the bunny; Mommy was seen eating a Reese’s Peanut Butter Egg and actually has a box of them in the cabinet! This proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am responsible for putting RPB eggs in the baskets. Nobody believes me that I bought them for myself to eat. I don’t understand why, it’s not like it’s the first time I bought myself a box of peanut butter eggs!

The part time neighbor girl spent the night with us. He mother had told her earlier that the bunny wasn’t real and she stayed with us so her mother could go out and see what was left for candy on Easter Eve. She ended up wanting to spend the night with us and before the girls fell asleep we overheard her tell Katherine that “the Easter Bunny is magic, and I bet my basket will be here when I wake up.” I had her mother bring it over and the kids were all amazed that the Easter Bunny knew that she had slept here. This is the biggest argument for the bunny. The bunny knew she was here!

I think kids want to believe in the magic of Santa and the Easter Bunny, and fairies and the like. Children are so magical to begin with. I know families that have told their children from the very beginning that there is no Santa, no fairies, no bunny. Others have gotten so into the magic that Santa is entirely responsible for Christmas.

We have never wanted to steer our kids wrong and LIE, but we have wanted them to enjoy the magic. Now, I don’t want to ruin it for them. I want them to come to the full understanding on their own. I imagine that it’s traumatic to have that belief in magical cut short. I came to it on my own, deciding to believe that the real magic was in the spirit.

We rented a four pack of movies last weekend, including Narnia, the original Yours, Mine, and Ours with Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda, Just Like Heaven, and Waiting. I am still cracking myself up over Waiting. I can’t say that I would recommend it, as it is very juvenile, but it was so funny! Especially the gag reel. O.M.G.
I miss my kiddos. It is much different without them here. It isn’t any easier, but it is so much quieter. They are having a great time with their Aunts and cousins. I think they are too tired to miss us.