Easter Weekend

What a wonderful whirlwind our Easter weekend was!  Family came in from out of town and all week long the boys talked about the cousins coming - it was a bit like the British are coming.  Finally Friday arrived - and so did the cousins!

 We took it easy Friday afternoon with a visit to the park and pizza for dinner.  Then the fun began!  We dyed Easter eggs.  The kids got a huge kick out of it, and the mess wasn't too terrible.

 Saturday included more fun before the main event on Sunday - Easter!  The cousins were up bright and early and eventually the grown ups were ready for the big backyard egg hunt.

 Each kiddo had a color to look for in the yard.  Jack's yellow ones were the easiest to find and they got progressivly tougher to find for the older kids.  Uncle Tim joined in on the fun and his were pretty tough to find!

Everyone hunts for eggs in their jammies, right?

 A perk of having family in town is that we were able to get a family picture of everyone dressed up before church.  I love Jack in that little bow tie!  The boys just looked too cute all dressed up!

Poor Jack was crushed when we got to church because there was no 'little church' which is where they spend their time every week when we go to mass.   He loves little church and was disappointed that he had to stay with mom and dad.

The celebration continued at Great Aunt Carm and Great Uncle Mike's house.  Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate, but the boys were still able to hunt for their eggs in the basement.  They didn't seem to mind the change of plans at all.

Hope your Easter was as relaxed and as enjoyable as ours!

A Bowling Birthday

This afternoon we celebrated eight years of Max with some friends at the bowling alley.  I'm pretty sure a great time was had by all.

The boys played two games of cosmic bowling - which was just enough.  We had a few that didn't

We took a short break inbetween games to sing to Max and have some cake.

 As you can see Will really took the cake part seriously.  I have tried scrubbing his face, but it is still just a little bit blue.

 This is a great group of boys.  Max has lots of fun and I was amazed at how old they all seemed!  They were all great sports and really cheered each other on.  It was cute to watch.

Once this guy had his ramp he was right in the thick of things.  I'm so grateful for that ramp.  Without it we were waiting just about a full minute for Will's ball to make it down the lane.

One birthday down - now two more to go!  Love my spring birthday boys!

An Eggciting Easter Egg Hunt

We were slightly underwhelmed by last years egg hunt, so Mom was in search of a new one and I found that our favorite pick your own farm was holding egg hunts this weekend.  Perfect.  While Dad balked at the price a bit (I agree $12 per kid is a bit steep) we registered any way. 

After all we could take our own picture with the Easter Bunny - I think Jack could have skipped this part.

 It was chilly this morning!  The weather has been beautiful the past week or so, but oh my it was cold today!  Luckily everyone was bundled up and willing to wait for the fun to begin.  Nonna was even able to join us for the adventure.

I love this shot of my two biggest boys. 

I loved the way they had the eggs laid out between the rows of apple trees.  It helped to keep things in control as there were just a few kids per row.  It was perfect. 

Last year Jack didn't really get it.  Eventually he saw other kids picking up eggs so he did too.  This year he was the man!  He knew exactly what to do when he was released into the orchard.  He was so proud of himself!

 

Then it was Will's turn.  The hunt was well enough organized that Jack and I were able to head down a couple rows to see Will complete his hunt.  He is an old pro.  He was so good in fact that we actually had to put a few eggs back - there was a 12 egg limit (which Brian pointed out was $1 per egg). After Will we all moved down a couple more rows to watch Max hunt.

 This guy played it cool.  He couldn't show that he was too excited.  After all he is eight years old now.  He got his 12 egg limit within seconds. 

 Our $12 did include a few other things that were pretty neat.  The highlight was the baby animal petting area.  The boys LOVED petting the duckling, chick, and bunny. They couldn't get enough.  This poor little duckling was almost loved to death. 

The joy on their faces was well worth the price of admission.  I really think the boys would have been content to spend an hour snuggling these sweet little creatures.  They were so gentle and loving that it just warmed my heart.

We finished out adventure with a tractor ride and cookie decorating before we headed back to Nonna's house.  Days don't get much better than this!

Now we have spring break ahead of us and Easter next Sunday - including a visit from Aunt Kathy, Uncle Mark, Paisley and  Graham.  The boys can't wait! 

Eight Years

So how in the world did that happen?  How did we get from here

to  here in the blink of an eye?  I just don't see how it is possible!

 What a wild roller coaster ride this has been.  We are so incredibly lucky to not just be parents, but to be Max's parents.  He is growing into an intelligent, thoughtful, inquisitive, sweet kid and it is a pleasure to watch.

So here are some things I love about Max right now. . .

His perseverance - this is a new one.  In the past Max wasn't wild about trying new things.  He wasn't comfortable doing things if he was 'good' at them.  Wow has this changed.  He went to a skating party for a buddy a few weeks ago and we were a bit nervous about how it would go since Max has never been skating before.  He was far from the best skater out there, but he was on the rink the entire time and had a blast.  I was so proud, not of his skating ability :), but of the fact that he didn't quit even though it was tough for him.  This quality was also evident today when he tried out his birthday present from mom and dad - a new bike!  He pretty much mastered the two wheeler thing by the afternoon and it was so fun to watch.  He just needs to work on getting going without help from mom.  It's spring break so I'm sure he will have that figured out before we know it.

Watching him read - I was a voracious reader as a kid, I still am when I can find the time.  Max's reading has really taken off.  He loves nonfiction and has found a few chapter book series that he loves and just devours.  He asks me every day if I picked up his most recent request from the library.

How he interacts with Jack - he is so incredibly sweet with his littlest brother.  He looks out for him, , helps him anytime he needs it, and just loves him.  It melts my heart to watch the two of them together.

How he plays with Will - don't get me wrong, these two have their moments, but they are playing together more and more.  They head outside and play with the two kiddos next door and it is adorable.  All four kids run between our yards having a great time. I think these two were outside a total of about six hours today :)

There are so many more things. . . He loves pokemon and tells me a millions facts that I can never remember, but it always makes me smile.  Every morning he opens the door to our room to check our clock because he knows he can't get out of bed until 6:00.  He is all excited about baseball season starting up soon and he wanted me to pitch to him in the yard yesterday.  Max is super excited to take a robotics class this morning to help stretch himself.

I just can't get enough of him.  We can carry on real conversations at dinner and it's pretty fun.  There are still times when he wants to cuddle up and feels like my baby, but those times are fewer and farther between these days.  I look forward to the adventures that eight will bring for Max.  It's so fun to watch him grow and learn.

Happy Birthday Max!  Mom and Dad love you more than you will ever know!

Jack and Aunt Anna

Jack loves his Aunt Anna.  In fact every night at bedtime we send her videos and pictures.  Usually of Jack wandering around looking for her.  It's pretty cute.  He loves it when we can facetime her before bed - I think it's the highlight of his day.  The other night during one of our calls I told Jack it was time to say goodbye to Aunt Anna and go to bed.  He made this face every time I said it was time to go.  Aunt Anna was on top of things and even got a screen shot of it.  Hilarious!