Traveling to TN

My first trip with the kid this year was down to TN for a birthday celebration for Papaw! Lots of family and friends gathered to make his day extra special. We had a great visit and abram had a ball playing with his cousins and his little TN friend Judah! Here is a picture of Papaw with most of his grandkids and great grandkids...



I hadn't been home since Christmas and hate I don't get to go more often...

And here is Abram & Judah riding in the wagon together...

OUTSIDE!!

Abram is so so obsessed with being outdoors its almost ridiculous. Lately, he's been crying through dinner, refusing to eat, because he wants to be "ou-ide, ou-ide, ou-ide". We've tried eating the moment he gets home and then going out. Doesn't work. We've tried letting him play outside till late then doing dinner. Nope. Still doesn't work. We've resorted to complete distraction from the moment husband pulls in the drive with him. I run out and whisk him inside with promises of something 'interesting' and 'fun' and then launch right into ohhh "yummy dinner" etc... it sorta works. especially if its raining lol...! but we usually end up spending many evenings outdoors throwing ball, playing with the neighbor, hunting eggs (yes, still! ha), mowing the sidewalk....

collecting flowers...


waving to neighbors...


drawing with (but more often throwing into the bushes!) sidewalk chalk...



And another obsession of his - HATS. Sometimes he wakes up asking for his hat! A few nights when its time for bed, I remove the hat, and a meltdown occurs - "HATTtttttttt" he cries, as if I've just set it on fire!! He tries to put on hats that are way too small, way too big, and if it fits him just right, he won't take it off. He adjusts them, wears them backwards, and just adores being in a hat. Here are a few hat pics that I loved...




Under the hat, you can't see that huge blonde head of hair. Yes. He's still got the growing blonde hair that I still haven't cut. Its getting longer and remaining just as blonde. I suppose sometime soon, he'll get that first haircut!! well see!!

Happy Easter!

Easter morning was so fun at our house this year. Not that its usually NOT fun but this year was especially fun I suppose. I made homemade carrot raisin muffins for us to have before church and then when the kid woke (or ehh we woke him!) the Easter Bunny had dropped his basket on the back deck... the basket was filled with stickers, coloring books, an insect book, insect putty, a flashing squiggle ball, a shovel for yard work, a shirt for church, sandals, eggs filled with yummy candy, boo-boo cleaner, bandaids, and some Clif Bars the kids loves too. The Easter Bunny not only got things the kid could eat on but some practical things too - smart Bunny:)

Here he is - just spotting the basket...


waltzing out to take a look....


later posing with his basket... he's begun to 'smile' and say 'cheese' for pictures.... its hilarious because he holds his mouth all funny and squints his eyes so much you can't even see them! We have lots of pics like this these days haha...


eating some chocolate before church - yep! and that is some good organic fair trade chocolate that must have cost the Easter Bunny a pretty penny I'm guessing!


All of just after church... before changing into our 'grillin out' clothes and 'backyard egghunt' clothes...


Since the kid froze during the township egg hunt and ended up with 6 eggs that mom threw in his basket, we thought we'd do our own little backyard egg hunt for him and he loved it! He took his time pointing at the eggs, putting them in his basket, and saying more more more! we've actually staged a few more post-Easter egg hunts since, because he loved it so much!


i love how this pic makes it look like we live in the country haha...


he had great Easter!!!

Township Egg Hunt

Our township offers an egg hunt each Easter along with a visit from the Easter Bunny at the local park thats within walking distance from our house. We took the kid down this year with his basket to collect eggs, wrapped up in a fleece outfit, down vest, and hat! It was a chilly egg hunt day.

He was ready with anticipation... as you can see, the eggs were strategically placed, aka thrown all over the wide open grass area. This was for ages 1-3 so, not a challenging hunt per se. haha.



Though the kid was so ready to go pick up eggs, he froze when "GO" was yelled and a mad rush of kids raced for the eggs. He finally started moving and threw a few in his basket before it was over and all the eggs were claimed.



He finished up with 6 whole eggs and grinned at the sight of them in his basket.



Examining the eggs to see if he won the grand prize. NOPE. Just candy he couldn't eat. a bummer. but we replaced it with some good stuff he can have!



A quick visit with the Easter Bunny...



And finished up the afternoon with some park playtime with the other 400 other kids who mobbed the play areas. fun.