Easter celebration

First task was coloring some Easter eggs....a first for the little man. He got all smocked-up with one of Pa's shirt and away we went!

Dipping in the red one.....check out his look of concentration.

Keeping a close eye on his eggs.......

This was hilarious.....we almost ended up with a orange colored and vinegar flavored tongue!

The eggs got to dry overnight and then he got to decorate them on Saturday morning. Markers and stickers rock!

After Easter Mass, everyone came over to Gram and Pa's house for some Easter brunch. We spent some time playing while we waited for our meal to be ready.

Gotta love the See and Say!

A day wouldn't be complete without some choo-choo playing action! Uncle Chris is such a good sport!

And then it was off to eat, eat, eat.....and then hunt for eggs! Paul actually enjoyed the indoor egg hunt this year. It was just too cool and too wet to hold it outside.

And one of the hits of the morning was a 99 cent toy from Aunt Jean.....a chicken that "lays" eggs when you wind her up. It was a riot and he played with this for a long time.

Check out the funny egg-laying chicken.




After all of this weekend fun, we headed home. Jason was lucky with a very quiet car as both Paul and I slept most of the way home. We layed pretty low the rest of the day - Paul played with lots of his new toys. He's pretty excited about the cool new kitchen set he got from GranJo. It's neat kids stuff to help their parents in the kitchen. And I think the kitchen timer is his favorite part so far!

Do you think he likes the timer?

What a blessing to be surrounded by so much family this weekend - from near and far, we were overwhelmed by all that took the time to celebrate along with us!

Hey Paul, how old are you?!?

I'm 3! Well, not quite yet but we celebrated like it was his actual birthday. Some might call me a little OCD and some might say I am too much of a perfectionist.....and I will admit that I was disappointed in how several of the details worked out for the birthday bash. You see, we planned this party to be held back in the QC since we were planning to make the trek back for Easter - it turned into a combination celebration weekend. Anyway, since we don't live there anymore and we didn't want to impose the decent sized group of party revelers onto one of our parents......we booked a party "room" at a local pizza joint and ordered the cake from our local bakery.....but more on the cake later. We arrived at said pizza joint to find that the party "room" is more of a party vestibule with a long table in it. We rallied and made the best of it, but I was not pleased.

Birthday boy in his special party hat!
Cool curly ribbon on my present momma!

Playing with some of his new toys!

Given Paul's love of Max and Ruby coupled with a combo birthday celebration and Easter weekend, it seemed appropriate when GranJo suggested a cake decorated with our favorite cartoon bunnies! I called our favorite bakery to order the cake and they indicated that due to copyright, they couldn't do actual Max and Ruby, but they could do Max and Ruby look-a-likes.....under the impression that the bunnies would LOOK like Max and Ruby (since in my simple mind, that's what look-a-like would mean), I went ahead and ordered the cake. Much to my surprise, when I picked up the cake, the bunnies were most certainly NOT anything like Max and Ruby other than the fact that they were bunnies. We ended up with Easter bunnies with clothing that sort of resembled Max and Ruby's clothing. I was peeved - just ask Jason who had to listen to me complain and bemoan the cake the entire drive back to Gram and Pa's house....seriously, the entire way back. Not much we could do about it and we knew the cake would taste good so I tried to rise above it and move on (mind you this was still before I knew that our party "room" was actually a party vestibule). Here's the best part - when we got back to Gram and Pa's house and I showed Paul his cake....he immediately yelled out MAX AND RUBY! So, it didn't much matter to him that the bunnies didn't look a darn thing like Max and Ruby because in his 3 year old mind they were close enough to count. I could have hugged that kid right then and there!

So, for those of you that are not familiar with Max and Ruby, please go G**gle them now so you can see just how much the bunnies on this cake do not resemble our beloved cartoon bunny friends. I would post a picture of them here, but I would hate to be accused of copyright infringement! HA!

Hey momma, look at my cake!

Blowing out his candles.

The sugar high starting to wear off.....

Somones is the master present opener......and got a pretty cool gift to start off the present opening fun!

Perked up to play with some of his new toys with Pa.

After the party, we headed to GranJo's house to spend some time with my family. After a quick outfit change, it was down to business of playing with choo-choo's! Paul was excited to see himself on Uncle Chris' camera!

Taking a picture (with a fake camera) of me taking a picture of him! CHEESE!

Playing with his new Leapster (thanks Auntie Jen)....which he promptly started calling his new "iPad". Hilarious.

It was a very fun day.....we ate way too much and were exhausted by the end.....that's definitely the sign of a good celebration.

Lots of fresh air!

We had several days of wonderful weather - a little on the warm side for April, but we'll take it! Needless to say, we spent as much time outside as possible. Someone was having fun....waiting for Daddy to finish smoking the rack of pork ribs! Paul's choo-choos had to come outside to play with us.....and the picnic table became a tunnel!

Hey Daddy, I'm gonna need some ice cream in this bowl please!

Sunday brought some bubble fun......this was a cool gadget with a battery operated fan that blows the bubbles out...I was skeptical but it actually worked really well. Oh, and it was only $3! What a deal!

Daddy was teasing Paul - that's not a happy face.

In addition to the bubble fan, we also got a giant bubble wand.....I kept waiting for him to spill it all over but he actually did pretty well.

Dip.....

And blow.......

This is so much fun!

Good hand/eye coordination there Paul.

Bubbles got boring so we went down to play on his fort. Pretty proud of himself.....

Trying to figure out how to climb UP the slide......

He made it!!

I think I will try to climb on this rock wall......

Such a great little helper....I love this picture.

Overall it was a great weekend although Paul is definitely back in his unpredictable and feisty moods. It can be very frustrating and certainly takes both of us sometimes to deal with his tantrums. I wonder if he is going through another growth spurt - this seems to be what happened last time. I hope it ends quickly as he can be very exhausting and SO unpredictable!

More Easter Bunny train.....

The love of trains sometimes outweighs the fear of the Easter Bunny......and a little someone was talking non-stop about going to the mall to ride his beloved train once again.....and we had to oblige after several days of illness, it seemed only fair. Yes, our typically healthy child got some sort of virus this week and was home for two days feeling pretty crummy. Once strep throat was ruled out, all that was left was staying hydrated and eating plenty of ice cream to calm his sore throat. Before we got dressed and headed to the mall, it was time for some shenanigans in the kitchen. Someone found the mini cups and spread them all out....he was counting them so the mess was worth it. And then it was off to the mall.....someone was patient while we made a few returns and then headed to the train. Check out the cool decorations - very cute!

And if you look REALLY close, you can see Paul in a green shirt in the locomotive.

It was off to grab lunch....someone was feeling like sharing with daddy.

I wonder how many more times we will hit the mall for train rides before Easter!

Oh the weather outside....is awesome!

So the weather last weekend was so very nice - it actually hit mid-80s which is unheard of this early in the spring season. Needless to say, we were outside enjoying every moment. It was so warm that we even had to find shorts and a t-shirt for the little man.....awesome. We decided to hang on the back deck and be a little artsy. We taped some paper to the picnic table and pulled out the stickers, markers and crayons. Oh, and then we had to pull out the Cars "paint" with water book. Thanks again Rebecca!

Time for a drink. If you look closely, you can see one of the cats hanging out just inside the screen door....he was keeping a close eye on all of us.

The pure joy!

I think I will share my water with Maya......

Happy to be such a good sharer!

So we have recently purchased some new furniture for our home. It's not all here yet but the majority has arrived. We love it all and can't wait until the remaining pieces arrive. Anyway, Paul has really taken a liking to our new storage ottoman. Instead of getting a coffee table, we ordered a cool upholstered ottoman that also provide additional storage. Somehow he decided that it would be cool to setup his car race track in the bottom. And here's the best part - he will start the car in there and get it going around the track and then close the lid and let it run. That's not annoying at all! We caught some video of him in the act.

Completely random

Usually I try to have some theme to try to tie my posts together....but not this time. This is all going to be completely random but all in an effort to get some pictures out there. Paul has always had a little fearful thing of the play place in the mall. The germ-phobe in me never minded this fear, but the rational thinking person wanted Paul to overcome this fear since some of it was due to his slight shyness with strangers. We seem to have turned the corner on the play place fear.....we were at the mall and lo and behold he walked right into the play place and had himself a grand old time! Climbing the turret of the castle. Hey momma, can I go down this way? Uh, NO Paul - feet first please.

I'm king of the mountain!

There was a local boat and camper show in town last weekend - Paul enjoys checking out the newest campers and boats and it's a great indoor activity to blow off some energy. Paul was the captain of the boat.....hey mister, move it so I can see!

Some quality time on the couch with Rascal....Paul was being so loving and petting his kitty.

The mall has transformed into a spring wonderland.....with the Easter Bunny and a cool train too! Here's Paul checking out the fountain which is now filled with rubber duckies and flowers.

Heading in to enjoy his first Easter Bunny train ride. This is the same train they have for Christmas and it was one of the highlights of the holiday season for Paul. It's a mere $1 per ride and Paul is obsessed with this train!

And finally - a shot from today. It was a gorgeous day and we spent it running errands and then playing outside. Here's Paul showing off his kicking skills in front of the house.