All Things Bunny and Birthday

Today was the celebration of the pagan rituals of Easter and the birthday of an old, old woman.  After breakfast we brought the girls downstairs for the egg hunt.  We read "Duck &Goose, Here Comes the Easter Bunny" to set the mood.

Then we set Kate loose to find the eggs.

Last year Kate couldn't find the eggs even though they were all in plain sight.  I hoped that this year she would be able to find them in plain sight and didn't bother with trying to hide them.  She found them all very quickly.  I think next year I might just really hide the eggs.  Kate found of all her eggs and Alice's while Alice ate the contents of the eggs, and tried to eat the foil bunnies while still in their foil.  (Oh Alice, not in your mouth!)

Then it was off to Mom and Dad's to celebrate Mom's birthday, on her actual birthday!  We had Swiss Chalet for lunch, Mom's favourite.  Mom received a number of bouquets of beautiful flowers.

 Kate and Alice got more chocolate... those bunnies look familiar!

And Mom had gluten free chocolate cupcakes for dessert.  She and Kate blew out the candles a few times for good measure.

Grandpa and Grandma posing for a picture with Alice, who until then, had been entirely left out of the photos.

And one of the happy couple celebrating the birth of a baby a long, long, long time ago.  Oh wait, Mom only turned 66, that isn't very old is it?!

Happy Birthday Mom/Grandma.  We're so glad that you were born!

And not to detract from all things birthday and bunny, but seriously, how could I resist including these pictures?  Look at the devilish glee!

One Day Down...

My first day back at work...

We're all still smiling.  If I don't think about it, I'm doing just fine, so don't ask, unless you want to see tears.  (Wow, that sounds terrible doesn't it.  Let's see, I like my job, I do, I'm grateful for it, I am.  But my heart is at home with my little ladies. There are now 65 schools days left until summer!)

Uncle Stanley Turns 95!

I love being part of a big extended family.  Family gatherings on my father's side are few and far between so it was so nice to be able to see some family in honour of my Uncle Stanley turning 95.  Maribeth (Stanley's daughter, my father's first cousin) had a lovely party in her home.  Her home was filled with lots of people.  We came and left quite quickly, but still managed to exchange lots of hugs and take some fun pictures.  

(For more stories about Stanley read about his 90th birthday here.)


Adrianna and Alice

Dad, Alice, John, Wendy

Lenny, Dad, John

April and Kate

Stanley and Dad

Stanley and Dad

John, Stanley, Dad

Back row - Jennifer, John, Stanley
Middle - Lenny, Maribeth, Wendy, Leah, Dad
Front - Eva, Kate, April

Stanley, Kate, Wendy and Alice

Two Weeks

On Monday, March 19, reflecting on the fact that I had two weeks of maternity left, I decided that I was going to blog every day.  Our days would be full of fun and I would record every minute of it so that when I was back at work I would have lots of happy memories to look back and remember.  That was the plan... we did have long, fun days which in most cases were so full I didn't really have time to blog.  So here it is... my last two weeks of mat leave.

Monday March 19
-Spent far too long putting kleenex back into box
-Went to surgeon to talk about my gall bladder
-Kate had her first hair cut at Silly Scissors (A fun little coincidence - it was in the same plaza as the doctor and when Kate saw the sign she announced that she wanted a haircut.  We went in and I, fully prepared to shear her beautiful tresses, told the hairdresser that she wanted a cut, so go ahead, was then so happy when the hairdresser suggested a little trim!)
-We met Mom and Dad (aka Grandma and Grandpa) at the McDonald's playplace in Newmarket and then went to Fairy Lake
-In the evening we went to Alliston

 

Tuesday, March 20

-Marisol came over to play

-We walked to Foodland (which takes a really long time... Kate started to break down half way there and she was in the stroller!)

-Kate and her Dad played "fire fighter" with the hose in the backyard and made mud

Wednesday, March 21

-Alice is 13 months

-we were supposed to have a playdate with our friends Michelle, Marisol and Amelie, but it was one of those days where our schedules just didn't match up

-the girls had a fun time playing in the backyard (Alice might have eaten sand... okay fine, Alice ate sand, I'm a bad mom.)
-birthday oreos are AWESOME, if you haven't tried them you should... if you like oreos that is

Thursday, March 22

-Ken took the day off

-I had an ultrasound (gall bladder fun)

-We went to MEC in Barrie

-We went to the beach in Barrie

-(We forgot to bring the camera... so annoyed!  The photos are of Kate crawling like a crab and proof of Alice's obsession with her dirty diapers... she is seriously obsessed, it's gross. She likes to get the pee ones out of the garbage and she enjoys carrying the "special ones" that we individually wrap around the house - and sitting in chairs with them?  Seriously!)

Friday, March 23

-We went swimming with Grandma at Grandma and Grandpa's building and had lunch

Saturday, March 24

-We went to Upper Canada Mall in Newmarket and Ken played with the girls in the play area and the toy store while I did some shopping

-We attempted to eat dinner at a sit down restaurant... disaster (Must not sit in a booth even though 3 year old wants us to as 1 year old MUST be in a high chair or it's a disaster!)

Sunday, March 25

-Went to church

-Decorated Easter eggs

Monday, March 26

-Luke and Maya came over to play with their Mommy, Diane (Sweet Diane is a teacher that I have known and worked with for almost seven year now.  We were married within six months of each other, and had our first child within one month of each other.)

Tuesday, March 27

-Went to Chapters in Newmarket to buy an "incentive" Toby train (As in Kate you need to poop in the potty, here's a prize for when you do - still some potty/poo-poo fear issues to resolve.)

-Took the girls to Annie's house (after dinner) to say hi (Kate pooped in the toilet at Annie's and earned her Toby train - she was one happy lady!)

Wednesday, March 28

-Went to Fairy Lake with Michelle, Marisol and Amélie (Thank you Michelle for being such a fun friend!)

-Took pictures of Alice while Kate napped

 Thursday, March 29

-Visited with Annie for an hour and then left the girls with her (practice for Monday...)

-Met Zorana at the Windsor Arms hotel for tea (Bliss, absolute bliss!  I know that I will cherish the memory of our chat, the relaxation, the everything for a long time.)

-Did a little shopping on Bloor Street

Friday, March 30

-Went to lunch at the Fairbairns (I taught the kids piano for a few years, they are such a special family.  It was so lovely to see Margy.  Margy kissed the car as we were leaving and Kate thought it was the funniest thing ever.  Someday we'll wash her kiss marks off the car.)

-We had a tragic time at IKEA (On January 10th the girls and I met my friend Ruth and her daughter Ava at IKEA for lunch and shopping.  Ava was already toilet trained, so she got to play in the playplace.  I told Kate that when she was toilet trained we would go back and she would play.  I had hoped that I would be able to take her while I was on mat leave and the toilet training just wasn't going, and then it finally clicked.  And well, I thought today was going to be the day, but I forgot about the height requirement... oh sadness, such great sadness.  The sign on the wall said she had to be 37 inches, and when she stood next to the line, she didn't measure up.  When we got home I had Kate stand against the door in the office - I drew a line to measure her and then I started to measure out 37 inches... and guess what, she's 37 inches tall... STUPID IKEA breaks my kid's heart for nothing!   The picture is clearly BEFORE the sadness.)

-Kate proves why sippy cups are still a good thing - spills or not

Saturday, March 31

-(happy birthday Jon)

-Shopping in Alliston in the morning

-General Conference

-Went to the park in Tottenham

I am so, so grateful for my maternity leave.  I wish I was home full time forever, but I am thankful that I was home for a full year and six weeks.  Now to try and hold on to happy thoughts!