planting

When you're almost three, there's not much that can top playing in the dirt.  So to say that enlisting Jakes help to do a little planting was easy, would be understating it.  He was ready to go.  We had tomatoes that needed planting and seed for chives and lavender as well.  

When it actually came down to mixing up the dirt, Jake hesitated a little.  He would mix a little, look down at his hands, try to wipe them clean on the grass and then mix a little more.  Billy had to assure him that it was okay to get really dirty here.  

Avery would've like to get in there too.  She probably would have jumped off the deck, head first if I would've let her.  

      

And our lilacs are starting to bud.  Hello Spring.  

lately

We're outdoors more and more these days.  That shining sun just feels so good.  Jake would golf all day long if he could.  No biking.  No kicking a soccer ball.  Just golf.

Avery's taken a couple steps on her own and had a few massive face plants.  She's a concern, that's for sure.  She's also been waving and it's just about the cutest.  Ever.

Jake is potty trained!  We gave it a quick try a while back and he wasn't at all interested.  (He even said "Mom, I just want to pee in my diaper please".  Umm, okay then).  Then a few weeks back, he just decided to go for it.  There were three accidents and he is now completely diaper free.  He's been going without my help and we haven't had a problem out of the house yet.  I'm sure something is bound to happen, my only hope is it won't be too traumatizing for myself and Jake ;)

Make Way for Ducklings is just about one of the best books ever.  A classic.  The illustrations are completely without colour but so beautiful and charming.  And you just have to love the duckling names.  Jake requested it over and over and over again.  Jake also loved The Circus Ship and Me...Jane.

And tax time... ugh, tax time!  Billy's been working twelve-hour days and Saturday's too.  Luckily it's winding down.  We will be happy to see more of that guy.

avery's first hockey game

Last weekend, Billy played in a work hockey tournament, so we peeked in on him Friday night and Saturday.

I was kind of hoping Avery would sleep in the stroller, but she's always up for skipping a nap and decided to take-in the game instead.  It was nice watching Billy play again and a little sad too.  I still miss it.    

in bloom

These are from our walk yesterday.  

Everything is in bloom here.  Lush and green.

  

We walked around looking for ponds and water fountains - Jake's favourite.  If he's going to be sitting in the stroller, there had better be some water features to look at - and then ran around in the park for a while.  Hopefully this warm spring-y-ness will get my lazy self outside! 

celebrating ten months

Ten big months! 

And we have ourselves a busy little girl who is both happy and shy.  She loves being held and loves to be exploring everything.  She's a complete delight. Such a sweet, soft little bundle of joy.       

She's always full of sweet smiles and these days she's happily munching away on cheerios and speed-crawling around with her tongue sticking straight out.  I fear that in this tenth month, she'll do away with crawling altogether but we can't help but love her busybody ways.

rainy days with peter rabbit

Jacob received the happiest gift from a dear family friend (the kind that is so much a part of your family you still call him Uncle, even though you've been an adult for a long time now).  The first 12 Beatrix Potter books!  Perfect for snuggling-up with on these rainy days we've been having.

I imagine that not all almost-three-year-olds would be thrilled with these delicate, little, pastel-pictured books, but Jake is.  Absolutely thrilled.  He has a good attention span for lots of words and little details.  So we've been reading and reading and reading them (usually until I ask for a break).   

Jake was already familiar with Beatrix Potter; we put a few of her books on the iPad and he would patiently sit and listen to the read-aloud.  Now he can sit with the Tale of Squirrel Nutlkin and recite many of the lines.  And a cute result of all this Beatrix Potter loving, is he putters around the house mumbling things like "it gave a tremendous bobbit"  

He doesn't seem to have developed a favourite (yet) but I know that I am always sneaking The Tailor of Gloucester to the very bottom of the pile.    

  

Avery isn't much into books, but she does happen to like this one.  

She can only handle sitting though touch-and-feel books, so far.  

I wonder if she'll turn into a little reader like Jake, or not?!

more highlights...

We had the warmest Easter weekend and did a big turkey dinner at our house - including all the fixings and a key lime pie for dessert.  We had more people than chairs but the whole thing worked out just fine.  Family dinners are always to be enjoyed.  

Of course the Easter bunny came and delighted, but later that evening Jake had some questions for Billy... "why was the Easter bunny in our house", "where is his car", "why did he bring presents".  Too funny!

When I was little, I fondly remember the Easter bunny leaving a trail of big (paper) bunny footprints and we would go crazy over them.  The fact that they were paper did not make us suspicious.  Never did we think they were fake.  So I found these ones here and printed them out.  Jake was thrilled.      

happy easter

Hope everyone enjoyed Easter.  

Ours was filled with family, friends and lots of chocolate too.  Jake enjoyed a little egg hunt.  He caught on right away and bounced around the yard.  Once inside, he excitedly checked for little surprises in each egg.  He was beaming with joy and was so fun to watch.   

Avery was more interested in my camera lens cover than any of the Easter eggs.  But she sported her bunny shirt to show her Easter love.     

More pics soon...