We were ready for the bunny!

I know I have said this a thousand times but man are holidays ever fun with the kids at this age!  The holidays still hold all the magic associated with them and there is just so much excitement in our house as we prepare for them. 

The boys did countless easter crafts this year and enjoyed every single one of them!  They brought home bags and bags of projects from daycare and begged to do more every night.

This was the first year that I actually let them do the dipping for our eggs.  Every other year they watched but this year was the first year they actually asked to do it.  So we brought out our trusty craft tablecloth and kept our pj's on (just in case we had an accident with the dye ).

I couldn't believe it they were pro's!  They sat patiently and very carefully put the eggs in the dye.

We just couldn't get enough!  If we would have had another three dozen eggs I'm sure they could have convinced me to dye them too :)

We made an easter tree this year!  It was a project that my friend and I actually started a few weeks ago.  We would get together for an hour or so and prepare a couple of eggs together.  I will say that embossing the eggs was taking absolutely forever and we kept messing up.  We didn't care though because the time was spent full of laughter and mommy non kid fun hahaha! 

 After the boys and I had dyed a thousand eggs we decided that we better just add some "jewels" (as they call it) because that embossing process was taking way too long!

Here is one of the ones that we had embossed.  They turned out good once we got the hang of it!

Jason and Zachary were in charge of picking the perfect branches for our easter tree while Mathew and I got the eggs ready on the strings.  It was nice for it to be a project we were all part of!

                                                                                     With some of the remaining eggs we made little craft animals.  All you had to do was stick the cardboard pieces to the eggs so it was the perfect difficulty for little hands.  The only casualty that we had during the entire egg experience was making one of these.  Mental note for next year:  Mommy needs to hold  the egg because even three years olds have too much force and can break an egg in their hands when they are trying hard to get a sticker to stick :)

The house just seemed so relaxing and happy once all our decorations were up.  Every single one was prepared by us this year!

We have decorated eggs everywhere :)

As we waited for the easter bunny we might as well enjoy some great, relaxing adult time :)

As we enjoyed a little glass of wine, the boys cuddled up with their stuffed bunnies as they dreamed of the fun on easter morning!

Another note..

I know... crazy... two posts in one day....two post's in one hour even, but there is something I need to note.

Just when I had all the winter stuff washed, hung on the line and put away......

Just when the easter bunny was about to come.....

Just when we were starting to love the new season.......

Mother nature played a cruel cruel joke!

Oh well, we will try to make the best of it........at least it's the first easter I can remember with SNOW!!!!!

When something is good….share it with friends

This week has been absolutely flying by.  Not sure how life is getting so busy right now but we are trying our hardest to make extra effort to enjoy the little moments so they don’t pass us by.  For the past few months we have been discussing friends with the boys and how important it is to be nice to our friends.  We have been talking about how they can be a good friend (not pushing, being nice, sharing etc).

Monday night after gymnastics the boys had the idea that we should decorate cupcakes to bring to their friends.  It had been a long day, mommy was starting to get tiered but I thought this was really their way of showing their friends that they cared.  So while daddy was at work the three of us set out to make cupcakes.  Am I ever glad we did….it was definitely a memory worthy evening. 

They were so interested, listened so well and the whole activity was just fun for all of us.  The best part was when they insisted on bringing a few cupcakes to our friends in the neighbourhood.  It was nice to see them get so excited about giving to others. 

Before bed that night we packed up a container full of cupcakes to take to their daycare friends.  They insisted we go through all the names at least three or four times to make sure each friend was going to get the perfect cupcake. 

What a great memory, showing their friends just how much they mean to them J    

 

A snipet in time

This is just a quick snipet in time that I don't want to forget.  A few weeks ago I wrote a post about things the boys say that show's they are really growing into kids. Something that ties closely with that is viewing the world through their innocent child eyes.  Jason and I got a quick glimpse at the world as it occurs in Zachary's mind on the weekend at the pet store.

We were out buying some more fish for our acquarium and as we always do we were talking about all the other animals there.  We went to see the cats and we're convinced he wanted to come with us because he kept meowing and putting his paw up towards us.  Of course we didn't bring him home because I don't think our cat Mia would be very impressed at all.

We then went to look at the turtle.  He is always in the pond at the front of the store and Zach runs to make sure he is there every time we go.

Then we watched a dog get a hair cut before proceeding to the tiny tiny bunny rabbit.  He was the cutest thing ever and the twins and I sat for a long time just watching him.  We were talking about how he was just a baby and commenting on how cute it was when he hoped because he was just learning how.  That's when Zach leaned his little face right up to the side of the cage where the bunny was and said "Don't worry baby bunny, one day you will grown up to be a big Easter bunny and you can bring chocolates to everyone's houses and have so much fun!" 

Ahh the innocence of a three year old brought huge smiles to our faces and it's a little snippet to keep in our back pocket to remember this time.

The Magic Dinosaurs

The nice weather last week was just a teaser I guess.  We were just getting used to being outside more and the cold returned which means having to find more activities to do indoors.  We have a special stash of activities/crafts that the kids don’t know about that we can pull out on rainy days or when we have extra time. 
About a week ago Jason decided to get out a new activity and wow this one sure was a hit.  Not sure where we got these little dinosaurs actually but they turned out to be so much fun. 

They start out being about 2 inches big and you have to place them in a covered container of water and they grow. 

It's not like the normal things that grow in the glass in a few minutes....these dinosaurs take about 3 days to get to their full size, which the package claims is 600 times the original size. 

 I loved how the boys ran to the container every morning to check on their dinosaurs.  It was so fun, we looked up their dinosaurs in dinosaur books and researched facts about them. 

 

Overall it was quick set up and little effort and the kids really enjoyed it.  Best part, you remove from water and they shrink back to their old size after a few days.....and will grow again :)

Spring cleaning

I love spring.  I love the smells, the flowers and most of all being able to spend a lot more time outside.  This might sound crazy but I also love the spring cleaning.  I love going through the entire house and purging and just giving everything a good organization and cleaning.  For the last week we have been working on the indoor cleaning but today it was finally warm enough for the family to head outside.  We raked the front yard, organized the garage and brought all the summer stuff down from the storage and swept up all the sand.  We did it as a family and actually had a great time.  The boys were very interested in helping this year so of course we let them.

They helped for a little bit but were so excited to have their bikes out again they couldn't focus.  So off they went!

I forgot just how much the boys love it outside.  We went for a nice long walk (them on their bikes) tonight, and they were as happy as could be.  When I tucked them in tonight Mathew said "I sure hope it doesn't snow tomorrow so we can play on our bikes again".  Me too sweetie me too!





Boys!!

This is quite fitting after yesterday's post! 
Some people get excited over coffee in the morning....
Some get excited about what they are going to do that day.....
Some get excited about all the places they will go and what they will see....

At our house we get excited because it's thursday morning....which means......



GARBAGE TRUCK DAY! 

                                                                                      Boys!!!

Boys will be boys

This has been something I have been thinking about for a few weeks now.  Are boys just born knowing guy stuff?  How does a three year old know to laugh when his brother burps?  It’s crazy that boys just love typical boy things and they seem to pick it up more and more.  We have no guns in our house, not that we have done this purposely just up until now they have not really been an age appropriate gift for the boys and yet they have recently started making guns out of every toy they can imagine.  Just yesterday Thomas the train was the new gun of choice for hunting down bad guys.  Where do they learn this stuff?  They recently played with a nerf gun at a friend’s house and have become obsessed talking about how they want one for their birthday.  I know they have other friend’s who they play with who are teaching them this stuff, it’s just amazing to see how much they truly enjoy the stereotypical boy stuff.  Another example is spiderman.  We have never watched a spiderman show, we don’t normally talk about spiderman in our house and yet they are in love with him.  They talk about him every time we are out shopping and pretend to spray their nets on each other when they play tag.  This mommy who only had one sister is totally not up to speed with all this “boy” stuff. 

It's cute to see them developing their interests right now though.  After our ice fishing this winter they can't stop talking about going fishing again.  They talk about how they want to get a fishing rod and catch big fish.  They want to go down the fishing isles at every store possible and see all the fishing gear.  Jason is in his glory browsing those isles and this mommy again has learned more then I thought I ever would about fishing.  Perhaps that is why we were blessed with boys....because there is an entire world out there comprised of dinosaurs, dragons, spaceships and more that I didn't know about :)

Easter Prep

Easter is slowly sneaking up on us.  It has been spring for a few weeks now but it still feels like winter around here.  This past Sunday was a beautiful day, we enjoyed some nice walks outside and we really started to get into the “spring” spirit.  We decorated our patio door with our easter stickers.  For anyone who has small kids we buy the stickers that go on the windows from the dollar store or walmart and the kids have a blast helping us get ready for every occasion.  They love sticking them on and we talk about the upcoming special day while we do it.  It’s a great, cheap, easy way to have the kids learn about the different holidays.  This Sunday we also decorated our easter gingerbread house.  I know you think I’m crazy when I say that, I had never heard of a an easter gingerbread house before either.  We were out shopping last week and saw the kit and the kid’s went crazy. 

Who doesn’t love a making a gingerbread house......

                            lot’s of icing.......

you have to taste test the candies of course......

                             and at the end it makes a cute little decoration J 

Our little gingerbread house has a Mattie bunny on the left, a Zackie bunny on the right, a daddy bunny above the door......and well the mommy bunny was involved with the taste test :)

Birthday!

This last week has just   flown by!  Finally a minute to sit down and reflect on all the great things we did last week.  The main thing.....MY 30^th BIRTHDAY!!  Yeap that’s right I entered my thirties less than a week ago and I can’t believe all the fun I had.  Yes we celebrate adult birthdays but it’s usually a low key affair but wow this year I was spoiled rotten.  Two days before my birthday a group of great family and friends threw me a surprise birthday party. How the heck did they pull it off, I have no clue because I had NO IDEA.  We showed up at a friend’s house to drop off some paperwork on our way out to dinner and SURPRISE!!   There were sooo many laughs and it was just the best adult company time I have had in a long time!  The next day we had a family birthday at my parents where I was spoiled with a second cake and more presents.  My coworkers gave me another cake and more festivities.  I know there are pro’s and con’s to social media and social networking but man it was sure nice to get so many birthday wishes from blog friends and facebook friends.  I know everyone says that your thirties is supposed to be even better than your 20’s but man I have trouble believing that.  As I reflect on my 20’s I can’t help but think about university, marriage, moving to Europe, traveling throughout Europe, having twins, buying a house etc.....just don’t know how I will top it.  I don’t ever back down from a challenge so I guess I am going to challenge myself to find ways to make my 30’s even more memorable!  Better start planning !

On a side note...the twins think it's the best thing ever because now we all have a 3 in our age.  Oh the things that amuse them!