So late...

Last Saturday we attended two birthday parties.  The first one was for Parker.  I failed to take any pics (I know...bad blogger) but it was raining and I didn't think about it until it was too late.  It was also at a park and all Owen wanted to do was play.  He was not interested in eating or watching her open presents.

That afternoon we went to Dylan's party.  It was also supposed to be outside, but was moved indoors due to the weather.  And then back outside, and then back inside.  You get where I'm going.  I don't have too many pics b/c the ones inside did not turn out well.  I think there was too much motion and not enough light.

Here's Owen thinking about taking this for a test drive...

 

 And the pinata...I didn't know they made pinatas that you could pull open like this.  When Michelle said the little kids could go first I thought she was crazy.  I can't imagine all these two-year-olds wielding a bat or big stick.

And here's Owen waiting for his turn at "bat"...

Happy Birthday Dylan and Parker!

Christmas in April?

Right before bedtime, we read books and sing songs.  Sometimes I pick out the books and sometimes Owen picks them out.  Tonight I did, and one of my choices was this:

On the very last page, there is a scene inside the bear cave and outside you can see snow.  I don't know what prompted this, but Owen asked a question and this is how our conversation went:

Owen:  "Santa lost?"

Me:  "What did you say?"

Owen:  "Daddy, is Santa lost?"

Me:  "Santa?"   "You mean Santa Claus?"

Owen:  "Yes.  Is Santa lost?"

Me:  "No.  He's not lost.  It's not time for Santa."

Owen:  "Frosty lost?"

Me:  "No, Frosty won't be here for a long time."

Owen:  "What about jingle bells?"

and before I could answer...

Owen:  "What about reindeer?"

Me:  "Owen, it's not Christmastime.  They won't be here for a long time.  Now it's time to go night-night."

Owen:  "What about Connor?"

Me:  "Connor is at home.  He is going night-night too."

Owen:  "Oh...right."

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Spring planting

We have crappy soil...if you can call it that.  No need to beat around the proverbial bush.  And we have two small decorative trees in our front yard that don't do much for the yard including providing us with any shade.  In the past, we've just put mulch or pine straw around the base(s) and called it a day.  This year we decided to go a different route and spruce them up a little.

This is the before:

During...with a little help from Mr. Owen:

And after:

Just in case you're curious...those bricks are heavy...and we needed 52 of them.  It's not as easy as it looks, but it makes a huge difference in our little yard.

U pick 'em

Our local strawberry farm opened this week, so this morning we took Owen to pick some.  I can't tell you the last time I did this, but it only took us 15 minutes.  PERFECT activity for a two-year-old...especially considering it's right down the road.  I highly recommend it, and they will be open for the next two months.  I see lots of trips in our future.

It's a celebration

We attended two birthday parties over the weekend.  Well...one actual party and one birthday dinner.

The first was Mason's second birthday.  Here's Owen riding one of the presents.

And Corbann and Mason having a water fight.  Not really a fight when one of you just stands there and gets soaked!

All the kids loved playing with these water guns.  They aren't really guns...more like water pumps?  I don't know, but Kim said they came from the dollar store.  Perfect for an outdoor party.

Later that afternoon, we went over to Josh's house for present opening.  His party is this weekend, but it's an Egyptian theme at the museum and it's for older kids.

After he opened presents, we had dinner at China Town, his favorite restaurant.  Then back to the house for birthday brownies and ice cream.

Happy Birthday Mason and Josh!

Nap time project

Owen's bathroom, aka the main bathroom in the hall, has lacked artwork for quite some time.  There used to be a huge black and white picture I took in there, but since I painted the master bath, it went better in that bathroom.  I have struggled with what I wanted...and I didn't want to hang something just to have something on the wall.  Brig prefers that I use my own art (if you can call it that) but I just don't have the time to go out and take pics like I did in the past.

We bought a map of St. Lucia while on our honeymoon four years ago.  And it's sat with several other unused frames and miscellaneous pieces of mat board in a corner of our office.  I've always intended to frame it, but it's an odd size and would require a custom mat.  I could pay a framer, but that is very expensive.  Or, it used to be.  I haven't priced something like that in 10+ years. I'm getting off track...this was supposed to be a quick post.  

I do have a mat cutter and I do know how to use it.  I finally bit the bullet and framed it during nap time today.  And of course it turned out so well I can't believe I waited so long.

I knew it would be too small to fill up the entire wall, and that was part of my hesitation.  I found several shell prints (for free!) online from old books and I printed and framed them too.

The wall is complete and it feels so much nicer and warmer now.  I waited to hang these until after Owen got up since his room is on the other side.  He even helped me with his Handy Manny tools.

Easter weekend wrap-up

We had a busy, yet tremendously fun Easter weekend.  Friday morning Brig took Owen to Kim's for a much needed haircut.  Afterwards, I met them at the mall to take a pic with the Easter Bunny.  Owen cooperated and the pic is actually good, but really bright.  In fact, I tried to scan it and it's even brighter so I didn't include it with these pics. 

Saturday morning my parents hosted an egg hunt in their backyard.  All of the younger cousins on my side of the family came to look for eggs.  We were the first to show up and the eggs were already hidden in plain sight.  Owen immediately started collecting.  I think he found all of them and we had to re-hide them later.

Here's Owen waiting patiently for Uncle Chauncey to finish grilling the burgers...

All the while eyeing these delicious cupcakes Aunt Sibby made...

Before we ate, the kids changed into tye-dye t's so we could dye eggs.  My mom made the shirts ahead of time.  We're glad she thought ahead, b/c if not they would all be sitting out there in nothing but diapers/pull-ups.  Well...all the kids under three.

After lunch, we cleaned up and everyone dispersed for nap time.  That night, right before bed we put out carrots for the Easter Bunny.

No surprise here, the next morning he had nibbled them down to the nubs...

The Easter Bunny did leave Owen's basket in his room, but we don't think he noticed until we pointed it out.

We headed to Aunt Sibby's house for lunch, but before that we stopped by my parents to see what the EB left there...

And then we had an impromptu photo session in their front yard.

And since I'm trying to keep it real, here's a few outtakes of Owen being silly for the camera...

After lunch, the cousins splashed on the steps of the pool, but Owen wasn't interested.  We went home for nap time, and then headed to the MIL's house for dinner.  The EB left another basket of goodies at her house.  We were all wiped out last night.  I don't think I've eaten that much food since Christmas.

Fun at the festival

We're a little behind around here.  It's Easter weekend, and I am just posting about last weekend.  

We headed out to the Azalea Festival last Saturday morning to beat the crowds.  It was great.  We got there when they opened and there were no lines and hardly no traffic.  The only downfall was the temperature.  It wasn't quite 50 degrees so we were pretty cold until around 11:00.  Owen was still leary of the carousel, but absolutely loved the huge slide.  He didn't want to go down but I forced encouraged him to try.  As soon as we took off he said "wheeee!".  We went through so many times the attendant wouldn't take our tickets at the end.  Hopefully his boss isn't reading this.