Beach 2012

Summer Outside Yummies

Brian has fond memories of pudding pops. So we made some for The Boy to enjoy outside on these warm evenings where he could be messy and then run through the sprinklers. I'd say he thoroughly enjoyed it.

Anything in the candy/sweets/treats/ice cream category has been called "yummies" by this boy since Halloween, which was his first bite of candy where I told him, "try it, it is yummy". Well, it stuck. :)

The Cure

So I have 3 shifts left at work until Miss Ellery joins our family in person. Today was bar far one THE most challenging. Both physically and emotionally.
Briefly-I had a 3 patients die today. All individual stories,  all spread out during my 10 hours, all unexpected. And I don't even work ER anymore!!!?? All that to be said, I came home in not the best of moods-kinda exhausted, kinda in physical pain from being on my feet for 10 hours at 35 weeks preggo, kinda a little bit of road rage (my commute was 1+ hours-normally 45 min on a weekday), kinda praying to dig deep to greet my super energetic 2.5 year old at dinner time-eww. I made it into the driveway. Departed immediately for my decontamination shower (both mental and physical) to then come out to the garage and see this:

The boy is wearing my bicycle helmet he placed on his own followed by his last years boots that are too small (and on the wrong feet). He was just smiling and giggling as he drove around our yard. Pretty much the best way to end my day. EVER. BLESSED.

Too Soon for Chores...Maybe. Maybe Not?

Russell wanted to "help" feed Samson, the fat cat this morning. Well, he accidentally dumped his entire canister of food in the cat's dish. Big mess....BUT....

He seemed even more content on "helping" sweep it up! So maybe his chore chart will exclude feeding the cat, but include sweeping the floor!

Same Little Boy?

What a difference 2 years makes in precious child's life. So much growth and development. Hard to wrap my mind around it...

Tulip Festival

My mom (aka Mau-Mau) was here for a quick little visit. I (Brian and Russell, too) love, love, LOVE having her here. We cook, shop, craft and just play. It always goes too fast. We missed her the second we dropped her off at the airport curb. I am so thankful to God travel, phone calls and skype are so accessible-it makes the distance between us not so big. We are already counting down until our next time together (June). And in June, BaPaw will join in the fun! I am just so thankful I have such fun, loving, active and healthy parents-I love watching the relationship mature and flourish between Russell and his grandparents. He is so blessed to have 2 sets of involved grandparents. Something I didn't have growing up and always longed for.

Preparation for the Easter Bunny

We have been "practicing" how to hunt eggs around the house the last couple of nights.  He doesn't quite get the idea behind finding and collecting as many as he can see and then open them. He finds one and wants to open it right away. Funny. hope he catches on before the big hunt at the Pate's house this weekend!

He kept dropping (splashing) the eggs into the cups and then saying, "where did the eggs go?"

He was manipulating the kitchen tongs like a pro! Didn't drop an egg once!

The finished product. Do the shells disintegrate...? These puppies were soaking for a very long time...  and in multiple cups. Best part is he had a blast. He made a huge mess, but no big deal. Easy clean-up. Way better than pumpkins from Halloween!