Easter 2011

Hoppy Spring!

I think this is the third year we've done "bottom bunnies" to celebrate spring and the Easter bunny. The kids sit on top of a poster board on the table and I trace around their bottoms and legs. Then we use whatever we can come up with to decorate.

So here they are in their pajamas on a Sunday morning (we don't have church until 2) with the final product.

Little art projects are fun around here lately. Caleb of course is the most independent and creative while the girls like to steal an idea but then want to use the glue and scissors all by themselves. It definitely takes a lot of patience and supervision on my part, but when they are proud of what they do in the end, it makes everything worth it!

Megan and Pete

It's funny, as I start writing this I am thinking about when we picked Megan and Pete up from the airport and then the afternoon when we took them back. When they first arrived, I remember specifically telling my kids on the way to the airport that Pete might be sad and tired because he had been on the plane for such a long time. He surprised us however and was so pleasant and fun in his stroller, eating the last of some m & m's, when we first said our hello's. He then surprised us again on the day we took them to catch their plane back to Italy - he was so delightful when Megan swept him up from the crib in the middle of his nap and put him in the car seat. We had never once seen a happy Pete after waking up from his nap the whole time he was with us! Oh, the joys of having an almost two-year-old! Everything is so unpredictable...

For us, the month of March was definitely joyous! Having Italian guests for three weeks was a refreshing change from the normality of our routine, and we have struggled a little bit getting back into any sort of a routine now that they've gone. Because my last post was really lengthy and because Megan knows how long it takes me to get one written, here are some highlights from March:

the kids tried to get accustomed to saying "pasta" instead of "noodles" when referring to most of Megan's cooking

loading up the mini van and Pete having to go under the legs of my kids to reach his seat

we love that Pete repeated everything we said (or at least the last word of the phrase or sentence). His English vocabulary definitely improved while he was here!

Pete calls me "Nae-nae", he definitely says "Caleb" really well, he says "Avery" and "Presley" although he didn't know which was which most of the time, and by the end of his stay he was finally saying "Aaron" instead of "Brian". Oh, and he switched from calling Megan "momma" to "mommy" halfway through his time here!

Megan's tummy was a little more pregnant when she left, and my clothes were a little tighter too! Between chips, ice cream and Trader Joe's snacks we both enjoyed the American food.

I now use more lotion on my skin and more olive oil when I cook and I know how to be a more effective eyebrow plucker.

Pete's smiles

Cars, cars, cars. Pete's whole life revolves around cars. And for the weeks he was here, ours did too :) We got cars thrown at us, pushed across the table at us, we stepped on cars, lost and found cars, and bought more cars.

We consumed food from Great Harvest, McDonalds, Panera, Chick-fil-a, and even had Sushi one night after kids were in bed. Now it's believable that my pants are tight, right?

Megan's singing, reading, coloring and just talking with my kids. There were so many moments when I'd walk in the room and they'd all be attached to her and I'd have to peel them away...

I loved getting to know Pete better. He smiled at me and let me grab his hand more and more as the days went by. I never could shake him out of his after-nap blues, but I don't think anyone can do that! It was so fun to have a sister around all the time to talk to, complain to and laugh with. I feel so blessed to have spent so much time with both of them and am so glad our kids will have so many happy memories! Thanks for coming to NC Meggie!