Pie Face!

We finally took the opportunity to break out our Pie Face game from Mimi.  The kids had a great time getting whipped cream splattered on their faces.  Here are their looks of anticipation......

 
And Paul's aftermath.....

 I haven't laughed that hard in quite a while......what a scream!

A whole lot of random

Lots of fun activities to catch up on.......with plenty of silly pictures.

Paul and I headed out for lunch together after Lillie's first soccer game.  He clearly had some hat head.

And then he put the hat back on and made some great funny faces.  He looks so OLD to me in this picture.

Heading into church together.....

She was loving her dress, jean jacket and pig tails for church.

Someone had fun coloring when we headed out for breakfast after church.

The bookworm read a few chapters while we waited for our food.

Girls selfie.

My boys.

It makes me laugh that he still does this.

Lillie and I headed out for sushi on Friday night....just a girls dinner.  She wanted to sit at the sushi bar so she could keep an eye on the sushi makers.  We started with miso soup.

Loving her california roll.....they gave her a special fish shaped plate this time.

Three different flavors of mochi for dessert.

This weekend was lovely - the weather heated up to 75 degree temps with plenty of sun.  Jason decided we should pack a picnic lunch and head to the park......so we did!  The kids had fun playing on the equipment.

 Bunny ears!

The boys were ready for lunch.....

Thanks Paul for making that weird grimmace face for my photo.

We even packed the popsicles.....but I didn't snag a pic of Peter eating his.

The kids spent a ton of time after lunch picking up sticks and making a pretend campfire.

We finally got Paul's birdfeeder hung up in the tree.  He made this with Pa and is pretty proud of it.  The birds found it VERY quickly and we have had to refill it once already.

This kid loves to ride in the car....and loves to help run errands.

Paul and Daddy had to head to church for a first communion activity so the littles spent some time outside with Mommy.  Spiderman bike helmet and big wheel.

Helmets are clearly needed for bubble blowing around here.

Everyone likes to lay under two layers of blankets to watch tv when it is 80 degrees outside, right?

And with that......we are officially caught up!

Medical stuff

We've been anticipating the date of Peter's outpatient surgery for a few months.  The day finally arrived and it was an EARLY morning for Peter and Mommy.  He was in a pretty good mood because he didn't really understand what was about to happen.  He had fun in the waiting room before we went back to his pre-surgery room.

Looked cute in his gown!

Staying busy while we waited for the anesthesiologist and the doctors to arrive.  Pororo with his dinosaur.

I had a whole bag of tricks to keep us entertained. Say CHEESE mommy!

His procedure went well and he was under anesthesia for about 90 minutes.  We got to a post-procedure room right as he was waking up. As expected, he was pretty out of it.  Here's the picture we sent to Paul's teacher to show him that everything went well.

If you have to have an IV in your foot, at least make sure it is secured with a dinosaur bandage.

Cuddling with Daddy and a little more screen time.

Finally we made it home.....and on a day like this you get as much screen time as you want.  Within about 10 seconds of getting settled and starting the first of many episodes of Paw Patrol, Rascal decided to come and provide some comfort.

We got some smiles at lunch when I made Korean juk.  He ate about 8 bowls over the course of the day!

It was a long day for everyone but we are so glad to have it behind us now.  Peter really is a trooper and has a great spirit even when he isn't feeling well.

Two weeks of spring soccer - Lillie style!

Lillie started participating in the Happy Feet soccer program through her learning center - just like big brother Paul when he was there.  She asked if she could play spring soccer in their league and of course we said yes.  Lillie has not really been ready for team sports but we were hopeful this would be good timing for her.

Her first practice and game was last weekend - it was a brisk 32 degrees for the game.  We bundled up and headed to the game....at least it was sunny?!  She started off very excited with plenty of smiles.

Mommy and Paul were the cheering section.

The tongue out must make her run faster?

Soon after this, it all just sort of fell apart.  She got knocked down, started crying and never went back in the game.  She wasn't hurt at all but Lillie is our sensitive one for sure.  She stood on the sidelines and refused to go back in even though I encouraged her to go back and have some more fun.  She wouldn't shake hands at the end of the game or get her stamp for participating. It was pretty sad actually.  Then she just randomly freaked out and refused to leave the sidelines.  It was pretty embarrassing but I was finally able to get her to the car and get home.

We talked all week about whether or not she wanted to play and she seemed excited again. This time Jason took her.....he was lucky and had much nicer weather.....30 degrees nicer!  She had some rough moments near the beginning of the game and he thought it was going to be a repeat of the first week.  And then something sort of clicked and she got right in there.  She had fun, she hustled and she even almost made a goal.  I hope we are on the right track now and she continues to have some fun with this.

Good kicks during practice before the game.

Best pig tailed soccer player.

Getting in there and making a move on the ball during the game.

A great high five for her coach!

April Fools

Mimi decided this would be the year to get Paul involved in some April Fool's pranks....so she sent him some very realistic plastic cockroaches.  He isn't a very good secret keeper so I knew about the bugs within 24 hours after they arrived.  He planted one in my jewelry drawer that actually didn't startle me.  But then he planted one in the shower that made me jump and gasp....thankfully I didn't scream because it was at 5:30am.  I wasn't mad but I did politely ask for the pranking to stop.

Jason decided we should turn the tables a little so he hid a bug in Paul's bathroom drawer....right next to his toothbrush.  I stood in the bathroom with my phone to video his reaction - I hid it so he thought I was just holding my phone.  It wasn't quite the reaction we were hoping for but it did make me laugh. He's such a character.

Easter 2016 Part 2

We got up early on Sunday morning to eat breakfast and get cleaned up for Easter Mass. Peter had a super tough night so it took a little more effort to get moving on this particular morning.  Oh, and Jason woke up feeling sick. Somehow we managed to get the kids ready and out the door for pictures before church.  We even left early!  Amazing.  Jason stayed at the house and I took the kids with Gram and Pa to Mass.

I think they clean up pretty well!  It is always fun to figure out how to coordinate their outfits - more complicated now that there are 3 outfits to coordinate.  After Christmas, Paul mentioned that he would prefer to not match Peter so I tried to find different outfits for them.  Unfortunately, Paul wasn't a huge fan of the pink shirt and bow tie that I chose for him this year.....but at least he didn't match his little brother!  So next year has now become more complicated because I will need him to approve his outfit.

Mom jumped in for a picture too....

New annual tradition of snagging a few pictures in front of the church doors.  This picture really depicts each of their personalities so perfectly. Paul, the compliant one who will smile through the pictures so we can get done.  Lillie, standing like a princess and rolling her eyes at Peter knowing he is not doing what Mom asked.  Peter, our little ham ball still learning how to stand and have a picture taken.....and still learning how to listen.  I love this picture!

The ham ball in full effect.

Finally I got smiles and no tongues sticking out. Mommy for the win!

Daddy was such a good sport that when we returned from church, he had gotten cleaned up and dressed in his church clothes so we could take a nice family photo.

Gram and Pa got it on the picture action too.....

Inside for the first round of Easter baskets.

Hey Paul, you've got a little Peep in your teeth.

Enjoying his first Peep.

We headed over to GranJo's house for our Easter egg hunt and brunch.  The weather was cold and rainy so the egg hunt had to happen inside this year.  Each kid had their own color eggs to find....Lillie's were pink.....of course.

Paul getting in the egg hunting action.

Paul's color was blue....we was SO close to this egg.  Can you spot it?!

The little man was pretty excited for his pack of cars from Auntie Jen.

Auntie Jen with her niece and nephews.

GranJo with her grandkids.....love Paul's hands in the pocket look.

The boys hanging out with Gram and Pa before brunch.

Check out the Easter basket loot!

GranJo made these cute Peeps driving cars (aka Twinkies).

Our beautiful tablescape.

We changed the kids clothes and ate a great meal.  Lots of good food and laughs were shared. Peter sang us some Row, Row, Row Your Boat which was cute.  And we all laughed when he guarded his treat from Daddy.

Selfie time!

We enjoyed the rest of our visit and then hit the road.....lots of sleeping on the way home.  We unpacked, ordered a pizza and called it a day!  It was nice to spend time with family and see so many smiles from the kids.  Mark it down as another set of firsts for Peter.