Happy Easter 2010

Summer, Sydney, and Joshua

Happy Birthday, Sydney!

I cannot believe my baby is already ONE year old.

To celebrate...

let's start with a cake... 

And then dress up for dinner...

at your favorite neighborhood grill

(well, my kids' favorite, anyway)

then let's open presents...

And then let's EAT cake!

Happy Day After St. Patrick's Day!

I know I'm weird, but I really love St. Patrick's Day.

Maybe because it's around this time that it finally starts to feel a little like spring.

And Easter (another favorite) is around the corner.

Plus, I have so many wonderful childhood memories of this day:

Planning a green outfit...

Grade school teachers who would leave little green footprints all around the classroom...

Setting traps to try to catch a leprachaun...

Shamrock-shaped sugar cookies...

Gold chocolate coins...

Trying to reach the end of a rainbow...

Eating lots of green food...

Now that I'm a mother, it's fun to carry on these same silly traditions.

Like yesterday -

We consumed a lot of green food-colored food.

Just a warning, though...

Lots of green food coloring in = lots of green poop out.

Happy Day-After St. Patrick's Day!

Post-Christmas Blues...

I can't believe Christmas is over.

I'm always a little bummed this time of year.

It's back to school tomorrow which means
we actually have to get out of our pajamas before noon.

And I get to put all the Christmas stuff away
(and you know how it multiplies).

We had a wonderful holiday season, though...

Our Annual Christmas Eve party with Ryan's side was
a lot of fun this year.

We hosted a pajama party with an All-You-Can-Eat
Appetizer and Dessert Buffet, Live Nativity,
and White Elephant Gift Exchange (of course!)

Below are some pics from the evening... enjoy!

the kids in their matching jammies

(hint to grandparents, click to enlarge)

Merry Christmas Ya'll

Have a Wonderful and Safe Holiday!

LOVE

The Oakes Family

The Most Wonderful (and Exhausting?) Time of the Year...

I really do have a blog, even though it has been a bit neglected of late.

We've been busy...

Christmas shopping

and

baking cookies

and

decorating

and

looking at Chritmas lights

and

making gingerbread houses

and

drinking hot chocolate

and

making snow angels

and

snuggling

and

watching movies

and

wrapping presents

and

spending time as a family

Whew... I love this time of year.

Happy Halloween 2009

We had a lot of Halloween fun this year. Enjoy the pics...

At Lagoon's Frightmares

Trick or treat

There are more pics on my facebook page. Too many to post here.

On a side note - we had to say goodbye to Rainbow House. After renting from Alisa and Tyler for 8 months (it was only supposed to be 2), it was time to start the demolition and remodel. Unfortunately we still haven't heard back on our short-sale offers, so we get to rent a little bit longer. Yes, that means we get to move our stuff once again. sigh

Anyway... we're all doing well and enjoying this wonderful time of year (my favorite!)

Bewitched...

We LOVE this time of year!

Halloween is one of our favorite holidays,

if you can call it a real holiday.

We've heard how fun Gardner Village is this time of year.

So we decided to check it out.

We had a great time - tractor ride/tour of the witches' house and garden,

pony rides, face painting, treats, treats, and treats!

Here are some pics!

Christmas Break Highlights

Seriously, there was no time to blog over the holidays.

Here are the highlights of a crazy family night we had back in December. Assembling and decorating a gingerbread house with a 2 year old was quite an adventure. Both kids ingested an almost lethal amount of frosting. Thank goodness for flouride and toothbrushes!

(Hint to grandparents... you can click to enlarge)

Back to Life...

Happy New Year!

Wow - I can't believe the holidays are over. What a lot of fun and work!

Well, we have officially put Christmas away and have started to get back into the swing of things, which has been a little tough. Our day yesterday involved a hefty dose of separation anxiety. Dropping Summer off at pre-school involved a lot of tears and hugs, but in the end she was fine. I took Joshua to Kindermusik, but instead of his usual outgoing self, he was withdrawn and glued to me.

It snowed all day yesterday, so after all our running around in the morning, it was nice to stay in for the rest of the day.

I'll be posting some of the highlights from our holiday over the next few days (time willing, of course!).

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year too!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...part 5

This little toy nativity set has been such a hit...

Not only does it teach the kids about the real reason for Christmas,

It saves them from playing with MY nativity figurines

(which cost a little bit more)

(Do you love the addition of the pretty ponies...?)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... part 4

Exciting news!

Santa came to visit our local grocery store, Dick's Market.

Of course, Summer wouldn't sit on his lap unless Mommy did, too.
(ugh, my face is starting to look pregnant... gotta love the chubby cheeks!)

What did we ask Santa for?...

Joshua - "_______" (just a blank stare)

Summer - "A dollhouse"

Shurelle - "new MAC makeup - for this chubby face"

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... part 3

(actual size = 2 feet)

The kids LOVE the snow - good thing we're getting more this weekend!

Joshua loves to take his gloves off, and then cry, "oowww, coooold..." when his hands freeze.

This Christmas season has been a blast with a 4 year old and a 2 year old... everything is so exciting for them...

Check back for more holiday fun around here...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... part 2

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... part 1

Tricks and Treats...

We had a wonderful Halloween

(that was celebrated so many times during October!)

A few highlights from the many activities and parties throughout the month...

(these are pancakes that are suppose to look like pumpkins!)

(a spooky/silly salad)

(a beautiful princess - at Emily's party)

(spooky "glow-in-the dark" jammies)

(all dressed up again - I lost count of how many times she wore this costume this month)

which is why she chose a different princess dress to trick-or-treat in...

Look at that handsome fireman!

(fighting over the doorbell - I'll be they rang each doorbell about 10 times each)

We hope you had a wonderful Halloween too!

Happy Easter

Here are some fun Easter facts to get us rolling:

Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (March 20).

This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.

Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22), but that is pretty rare.

This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives. And only the most elderly (95 years old or above) have ever seen it this early. And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier!

The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now!). The last time it was this early was 1913.

Now, don't you feel a little smarter?

And now, for some cute pics...

Saturday night... coloring Easter eggs

(Joshua retired to bed early, and so missed out on the colorfully stained fingers)

Sunday was a beautiful day...

She was so excited to wear her new Easter dress

and take her matching purse to church (full of goodies, of course)

And, Joshua looked so dapper wearing his first necktie.

We hope you had a wonderful Easter too!

(Thanks, Grandma Dorothy, for spending the day with us!)