Easter 2012

This year, the Easter Bunny gave each boy a wind-up construction vehicle

(driven by a rabbit and a chick, respectively);

a light-up spinning wand;

and a big old hunk of chocolate, of course!

He/she also left this note in each basket.

I love the explicit mention of a 6-egg maximum.

Off they went, searching high...

 

 and low...

for their soccer/foot-/basket-/baseball eggs.

They were eggs-pert hunters!*

Also very proud of themselves.

Mommy and Bridget were recovering from some nasty colds,

but they loved watching the boys have so much fun.

Happy Easter 2012!!

*Sleep deprivation brings out the bad puns. Mea culpa.

Happy Valentine's Day

Last week, Dave's uncle passed away suddenly. I wanted us all to go, but it wasn't going to happen at eight months pregnant, so I stayed with the boys while Dave traveled to New Jersey for the wake and funeral. Will has been talking a lot about Uncle Bill and Heaven, drawing pictures for him at preschool. Finn will randomly say something like "I miss Uncle Bill"--obviously parroting one of us, but still pretty sweet.

On the same day (within minutes) that we got that bad news, we also got the wonderful news that my friend Mindy was in labor. A few hours later she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.

I guess that's fitting, right? I'd like to think Uncle Bill gave baby Grace a high five as they passed each other in opposite directions.

Losing a member of the family and gaining a member of our (and our kids') inner circle has made this Valentine's Day a little more special, and easier for us to count all of our blessings with infinite gratitude. Case(s) in point:

Will wore this shirt today to school and informed me that his nickname was "Heartbreaker--because that's another language for 'I love you.'"

Christmas Eve 2011

We celebrated Christmas with my sister's family on the 24th this (last) year. I brought over a couple of gingerbread houses from our favorite local bakery, and Will and I worked hard to decorate it with some mini-Twizzlers, Skittles and holiday M & Ms.

Rachel and Bella also did a little exterior work on theirs:

As usual, both boys loved trailing Joe around and doing whatever he was doing:

My mom made a delicious dinner, we exchanged presents, and then we hustled our kids home to get ready for Santa!

After the kids were asleep, Dave got to work on construction:

Santa actually brought this table a few years ago,

but we just now were able to find a place for it (and a use for it).

We laid out their Santa bags--

anything from the Jolly Old Elf that won't fit in their stockings

goes directly in here, still unwrapped.

As I've mentioned, there's a definite bald spot on the side of our tree;

thankfully, it's not as noticeable in person.

You can see (if you squint) in the above picture that our stocking holders

are four silver reindeer. We bought them to match this one, which my parents gave me a long time ago:

And then all we had to do was crawl into bed and wait for St. Nick ourselves...

Will's Third Birthday Party, Friends Edition

We had animals on our cupcakes...

...and in our backyard!

Thanks to all our friends for celebrating Will's third birthday with us!