Easter in Photos

This past Easter was one of the most fun I can remember, minus a major mishap for our Drew.  He suffered a broken collarbone while quad riding on Saturday.  Needless to say it was not a fun weekend for him.  Poor kid.  He is doing much better today and is quite resilient.  Hopefully he will be back to normal in no time!

But the weather was fabulous, my sister (& bestie) was in town, the cousins were reunited and in less than 24 hours we managed to squeeze in as much candy eating, egg hunting, cousin loving, Pop hugging, scavenger running and laughter as we could.

Later in the day we had a much more subdued dinner at Nan's house.  Since our other cousins are in high school those get togethers tend to be a little tamer, but fun all the same!  It was truly a wonderful day to celebrate our risen LORD.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.  He is not here, he has risen, just as he said."

~Matthew 28:5-6

A Cement Mixer, a Footer & Other Exciting Things

Last week a cement mixer pulled up on the side of our house much to the excitement and amazement of two little boys.

They watched as the concrete was poured into the bucket of the skid steer and then transported over to the addition to be placed in "the big hole" as James calls it.

It's pretty cool to watch this whole process up close and personal and to know that Paul is doing much of the work with his own two hands.  I love that the boys are getting to see their daddy in action doing what he loves.

Once they poured the footer it was left to dry for the weekend, but not before we wrote our names in the cement.

Monday morning another delivery arrived on a big truck... the block for the foundation, a big pile of sand and some other heavy looking stuff that came in big bags (very technical terms here!)  Our neighbor, Logan, from across the street is right between the boys in age.  He is also a lover of trucks and all things construction.  He has been coming over a couple of times a week to check out the action. How cute are these three?

It has been non-stop action around here the past few weeks!  We're hoping the weather stays nice so we can keep moving along at this pace.  The foundation is in process and soon the framing will begin.  Stay tuned for more pictures!

Easter Eggs

I have never understood why we dye eggs for Easter, so I googled it.  There are all kinds of thoughts and ideas as well as quite a bit of history behind the tradition.  Generally speaking they are a symbol of renewal and rebirth, which we celebrate with the coming of spring and Easter.  They can also be seen as a symbol of the resurrection.  They have ties to both pagan and Christian tradition.

I think they are quite pretty and I have always enjoyed decorating them.  Last year I attempted to do them with James and he had little interest beyond taking the paper wrappers that came with the decorating kit and throwing them over the second floor balcony.  This year was definitely more fun, though a little harrowing with him handling the eggs and trying to paint them.  It was just a wee bit messy!  I bought a kit that had little rollers and paint, which I knew he would love because he loves to paint.

He did an awesome job and only lost interest about halfway through the second batch.

He was super excited to get started.  This is his "cheese" face.

He was very serious.  I was able to snap this picture before my hands were needed to keep the eggs steady.

He really did a pretty nice job.  I thought for sure they would all end up black from mixing all the colors.

I love it when he is really concentrating and he sticks his tongue out.

These ones were much less messy and not nearly as much fun.  You put the egg in a bag and then squeeze the dye into the bag and mush it around.  They turned out really pretty, but he lost interest quickly and went outside to ride on the skid steer with daddy.

Finished product!  Beautiful!

Pittsburgh International Children's Theatre

Last Saturday my mom and I took James to see a play downtown at the Byham Theatre.

The Pittsburgh International Children's Theatre is a division of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and from October through April they offer one children's play each month.  They typically put them on at local schools around the area and offer one production downtown at the Byham.  I have taken James to most of the productions over the past few months at our local middle school.  This was the first one we went to downtown and it was so fun!  He has loved all of them.  This one was especially wonderful because it was done entirely with puppets.  It was very unique and absolutely adorable.  We have read all of these sweet books by Leo Lionni: Swimmy, Frederick & Inch by Inch.  A special bonus was that the theatre company was from Nova Scotia.  I told James that this is where his Nan was born and raised.

His favorite was Swimmy because a bunch of little fish get eaten by a big fish and only one survives.  He then spends his days exploring the ocean floor discovering all of the wonderful creatures of the sea. We have been acting it out all week!  They encourage the children to be comfortable and ask questions; it is a non-shushing event.  I love that they are free to be kids while starting to understand the creativity and imagination of the world of theatre.

After the play we took James out to lunch at Bravo.  He had fun eating chicken fingers while coloring on the table and playing with his trucks and we got to enjoy a lovely adult meal.  There won't be any more productions until next fall, but James and I can't wait to go again!

It Begins

Look what arrived at our house this afternoon!

For a three year old boy it doesn't get much more exciting than this...

Since Paul and I got married and our family has expanded, we have talked at length about ways we could improve our home.  We have a beautiful home in a great location!  We have a huge walkout basement, a nice fenced flat back yard with ample play space, five large bedrooms and a big three car garage.  We are a quarter mile from the grocery store and within ten minutes of every amenity you could possibly need.  However, are kitchen and family room are a little cramped and with four growing boys... we just need a little more elbow room.  When we found out I was pregnant last fall we made the decision once and for all that we want to stay put.  So Paul started planning for an addition to the side of our house that will give us a new, larger family room and the potential to use our current family room as extended kitchen space.  I am so excited!!  I have always wanted to have a table in our kitchen.  I know that's a small thing and not really a big deal, but it's something I have dreamed about and that dream now has the ability to become a reality in the near future.

The next few months promise to bring lots of mud, potential problems and frustrations, plenty of hard work for daddy and plenty of entertainment for two little boys, but we are blessed beyond measure and I couldn't be more full of joy!

Here it is in the window until the completion of the project.

P.S.  The boys progressed from watching out the back window, to playing gleefully on the deck.  They have been out there for the past hour... nevermind it's so chilly you can see your breath!  I am enjoying a cup of tea and solitude here in the kitchen.  I am really going to enjoy this project!!

30 Weeks and Growing!

Today marks 30 weeks and I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of this sweet little boy.  I can't wait to hold him, to smell that wonderful newborn smell and hear that little cry.  I can't wait to see what color his hair is and how big his eyes are and kiss his little nose.  They told us when we went for our sonogram that he was very photogenic and had the cutest little button nose!  If he looks anything like his big brothers, he is going to be one adorable little guy.

The countdown is on, but for now you stay snug and warm and know that you are so loved already.  We can't wait to meet you!

"God is preparing us and has things in store for us that we can hardly imagine.  No matter what we are now, no matter what lowly tasks our days are filled with, God is preparing each of us for futures beyond what we can imagine today.  Our futures (and our present) are full of promise, full of wonder, full of amazement.  And God is preparing us right now for those futures he has in store for us."  ~Known & Loved

Caryn Rivadeneira

Long Overdue

So I've taken a long hiatus from blogging... I don't even know how long it's been!  The reasons are endless and I won't bore you with them, but I'm feeling guilty and sad that I have not documented many of the milestones that have taken place over the past several months.  This has driven me to set myself down in front of the computer this afternoon rather than taking my siesta (I'm 7 months pregnant people!) and do a little catching up... starting with the present:)

We just got back from a much anticipated trip to Florida.  We were able to escape the cold and snow of a March spring in Pittsburgh and travel to my parents' timeshare in Orlando to spend a few days in the warm sunshine.  We had a wonderful time minus a short vomiting stint!  I will spare you the details... and now we are settled back in to our comfy routine enjoying the beginning of longer days and warm-ish weather.

I was really nervous about flying alone with the two boys, but they did awesome!  They absolutely loved the airport and the plane ride and were mesmerized by the whole experience.  Ethan kept shouting "Whee" and laughing gleefully when we landed, much to the amusement of the people around us.  They watched shows and snacked for the entire two hour plane ride and I even got to read my book!

They slept well, which was a huge accomplishment for Ethan!

We swam, ate lots of ice cream, rode the Merry-Go-Round, went to the Rainforest Cafe, visited Sea World and just enjoyed the pure pleasure of being able to be outdoors.  It was awesome!

James absolutely loved the pirate ship pool and could have swam every moment of the entire five days. I was able to see the benefit of the past twelve weeks of swimming lessons.  He has gained so much confidence and is swimming like a fish!

In Downtown Disney we visited the Lego Store.  I wanted James to stand in front of something really cool like the life size seven dwarfs display or Woody and Buzz Lightyear, but no, he wanted to stand in front of the Sidney Opera House.  Three year olds!

They loved the Merry-Go-Round!

And "Tick Tock croc" at the Rainforest Cafe.  It kept them quite entertained while we waited for thirty minutes to eat overpriced burgers and listen to the waiters shout the volcano song every two minutes as they walked by with ridiculously enormous chocolate desserts.  That place is a well oiled machine that makes you feel a little bit like you are eating in a factory, but the kids loved it!  It was well worth the trip.

I thought they might be scared of the thunderstorm inside the restaurant, but they loved it and wanted it to go on and on!

We got to sit right next to the elephants... best seat in the house we were told:)

The train was a big hit, except the second time around James didn't get to sit in the engine and then it was a tragedy!

The kids loved just playing outside.  We did bubbles and played basketball and thoroughly enjoyed talking to the birds!

The last day we went to Sea World.  It was a bit crowded, there were no whale shows because the theatre was being renovated, we missed the Sea Lion show because we waited too long to go in and I'm pretty sure we ate bad hotdogs that later made the kids sick, but we made the best of it!  The boys favorite things were the Elmo show (go figure) and their Shamu bubble blowers, which were totally worth the $26 I spent on them!

The plane ride home was no where near as fun as the trip down, but it never is when you're coming home.  It was a fabulous week and we're so thankful to my parents for letting us tag along on their vacation.

Now that I have my first post in five months under my belt, I hope to not be a stranger to blogging!

More to follow... soon.