Happy Easter 2013!

This past week, the baby and I met one of my high school friends at the Georgia Aquarium.  Although the little one has been there before, this time he was a bit more engaged and really enjoyed the big fish.

On Thursday, G's school held its annual Boosterthon to raise money for school improvements and special staff.  Our big guy ran fast enough to complete 37 laps around the track, even though the fundraising cap was 35 laps.  It was held indoors this year because it was too cold to have everybody outside.  Even with the "sports" setting on the camera, he is still a blur!

Today is Easter Sunday.  We went to the Vigil mass last night, as P rang with the handbell choir, so we had time to relax, eat a nice breakfast, enjoy the morning, and watch the Michigan Wolverines earn a spot in the Final Four, which is here in Atlanta this year!  The Easter Bunny left baskets for both boys on the front porch, right where they could see them, and he also hid Easter eggs on the front porch and back deck, as it was raining all night.  We think that he did not want the eggs to be wet or for the boys to have to look around the wet yard.  Here is what the boys saw when they woke up:

and here they are with their baskets:

We went for dinner at Bun's and Papa's house, and we will post a photo from that part of our day in our next blog entry.  We hope that you had a joyous Easter, because, as we say in Ukrainian, Khrystos Voskres!

Mairsy Dotes

The little one got tired of using utensils and had finished everything in his bowl, so he grabbed my bowl (and here is where I admit that I was using a storage container instead of a real bowl) and took charge of the situation.

Da-Da

Somebody is hoping Daddy comes home soon. Unfortunately, we will have to wait 6 1/2 hours for that, but Mommy will try to be good company for him in the meantime.

Breakfast Of Champions

Spring Chickens

Gabriel and Mommy ran the Spring Chicken 5k this past weekend.  The weather did not cooperate, as it was between the high 30's and low 40's and thunderstorming.  Despite the uncomfortable situation, we managed to dress appropriately enough that we were quite comfortable with the temperature, even though we were thoroughly soaked through by the end of the race.  We even decided to spend the last quarter mile splashing as much as possible, just to add a little fun to the run.  Here are a few photos that the race photographer took of us, and one self-taken photo:

Ready to run!

Aaaand we're off!

Home stretch

The 1-10-year-old age group leader

One should always take time to splash!

Two wet, but happy, racers in the car and ready for a good breakfast at home

A Kind Baby

Today, Ollie and I went to the West Cobb Diner for lunch with friends, and he was so kind to share his sweet potato fries with his wind-up flipping monkey.  

He has fed us before, but he has also started to care for his inanimate friends.  His other favorite friends are his talking doggie from Valentine's Day and his other talking doggie pal Scout.  He pets and hugs them, and he knows what buttons to push to get them to talk, but he has never fed them.  Auntie D (Danielle) noticed this, and I grabbed my phone to record this sweet "first."

First Step

Oliver just took a step toward Mommy from the blue table at 1:01 pm, 6 March 2013!

Snow!

It snowed a little over the weekend, and we were surprised to find snow on the ground when we woke up this morning (Wednesday).  Ollie got to see and feel it fall on Saturday, but today we went outside to feel it on the ground.

His first experience with snow

This morning

The cold didn't seem to bother him

He noticed that everything looks a little different today

Party Boy

Our wonderful friends at the Winnwood Community threw Oliver a birthday party, and we had so much fun.  When we walked in, they all sang "Happy Birthday," and they had a table in the front of the room with cupcakes, balloons, and a gift.  Ollie really loves his new baby-sized froggie Pillow Pet, and he loved playing with the balloons!

On 24 February 2013, the Sunday after his birthday, we threw a party for Ollie at our house.  Our close family and friends enjoyed a very relaxing afternoon together.  We had a chili bar with things like hot dogs, french fries, baked potatoes, and Fritos to top with either meat or vegetarian chili.  For "birthday cake," we made cupcakes for our guests and a giant cupcake for Ollie.  There were musical instruments, like kazoos, there for the kids to play with and take home, since the birthday boy loves music so much.  The kids, however, mostly played outside, since it was such a beautiful day.

Mommy finished some cute knitted pants for the one-year-old just in time for his party, and he looked so cute in them.  Later in the evening, he opened all of his other presents, with the help of his big bro, and we all took turns reading him his cards.  We thought that the relaxed "old fashioned" party at home, with homemade food and dessert, was just the perfect thing for this birthday boy.

Happiness Is...

Knowing that this is not a posed photograph.