The Joy of Running

When was the last time you experienced the joy of running?

Birthday Fun

Did you think I had forgotten how to post a blog? Not at all. I was just trying to get caught up in life and then would update my friends and family on the exciting life and times of a Happy Mom. Alas, I have come to the realization that catching up is not in the cards for this gal. Instead, I just will keep playing along and do my best. From now on, my best will include blog posts. If for no other reason, I really enjoy it.

Despite how this first picture may look, Little Guy had a wonderful birthday. His actual birthday was on Thursday and a few close friends and family joined us on Saturday. I took both Thursday and Friday off from work...sorta, I rebelled and wore jeans to the office on Thursday morning and then picked up Little Guy early from school. Big Poppy, Little Guy and I had a relaxing afternoon and enjoyed homemade mac-n-cheese and a little cupcake for desert. When asked, Little Guy would proudly declare it his birthday and let us know he was TWO, just in case we had forgotten.

On Friday, Little Guy headed back to school and I focused on party prep. Mainly baking and frosting (more on this on a later date). A Mickey Mouse pound cake was baked and then some carrot cake cupcakes hit the oven. Lot's of frosting was whipped up, plenty of it sampled (I still have a tummy ache) and coloring added. All in all, I think my first venture into the world of cake decorating went rather well. Little Guy was very excited to see the Mickey cake. If nothing else, I got to see lots of smiles and more than one "MICKEY". 

Little Guy has a little friend in BabyMack. Although I'm not sure if BabyMack was all too thrilled to be hugged so tightly but my blue babe.

As per the norm, Little Guy was spoiled. Water toys are always a big hit with him. Dancing Mickey found his way back into our home - thanks GrandB - and his songs and dance are filling up my head.

No party is complete without ballons. You cannot imagine how much fun it is to take the weight off a helium ballon and watch it dance on the ceiling. Little Guy would "jump" to try to grab the ballon string, however this boy cannot jump to save his life - the 1/2 inch vertical just does not help you get things up high.

Little Guy had two of his favorite play mates to help him.

After everyone left, Little Guy proudly declared:

"It as a party for me!"

Yes it was.

Easter Eggs

On Tuesday night I boiled water - twice. It appears if you try to save time by putting water on the stove to boil while you eat supper, odds are a person is going to forget about the high flames and water evaporation when you leave to go to the dining room. Just about the time supper is over and you are thinking about clearing off the table, guess what, there is a smell you can't quite place and then the sprint to the kitchen stops everyone else in their tracks. The only harm, water evaporation and pride - apparently I can't boil water properly despite considering myself a pretty good cook. The next time I am going to save time, I will be sure to set a timer.

With the now hard boiled eggs we were ready to dye our Easter Eggs last night (here's Wikipedia's take on why we have Easter Eggs). At first Little Guy had some other ideas on what we should do. Can you see the marker on the floor, not the paper. Thank you Favorite Aunt, until now we used washable crayons, colored pencils and these things I can't recall the name of but the markers only color on special paper; you are lucky the markers on the floor washed up rather easily.

It didn't take long after Little Guy saw the white eggs turning different colors before he was ready to join in on the fun.

Having a not-quite-two put eggs into water gently is a bit of a feat. I did find it comical that soon he caught on. You just have to say "gently, gently" and Little Guy will start to whisper "gently, gently". Now we just need to work on what gently actually means. We may have a few cracked eggs from Little Guy, but the colored splashes are quite spectacular.

As I was looking at the Easter Eggs this morning, I wondered what I did differently when I was younger. It seems to me I had even colors on the Easter Eggs. Is this a product of lack of patience last night? Or perhaps my family was a little smarter than I was and purchased more than one dye kit to allow more water in the cup and allowing the eggs to be fully immersed in the color? (I think I am going that option next year.)

Now the wait for the Easter Egg Hunt!

Confused

I think I'm confused. Perhaps I got up to early this morning and I'm not quite awake but I think it snowed.

Did I miss spring?

How about summer?

Fall?

It's winter again?

I'm so confused. It might be time to crawl back into bed.

These Boots

More often than not Little Guy wants to be just like Big Poppy.

However, there are times when he likes what Mommy has, especially when shoes are involved. Or in this case, boots.

Last night, Mommy took her boots off and Little Guy flew over to take of his shoes. In one swift motion, the shoes were off and the boots were on.

He did surprisingly well in heels.

I'm thinking I may need to take walking in heels lessons from Little Guy.

Parks Are Fun

Have you ever noticed how parks are fun?

You go to the park, you have fun and you go home in a great mood (at least you leave in a great mood if there isn't a melt down because you are leaving the park - something I would never do, however Big Poppy has been known to have a melt down or too).

There are so many things that are fun at the park. A quick walk and we are at the park to have fun.

Slides are fun.

Swings are fun.

Tunnels are fun.

Pelicans are fun.

Mommy's are fun.

OK, maybe I just wanted to show-off a little bit that Little Guy was captured giving Mommy a kiss...which is always fun for me!

Weekend Ice

Little Guy is waaaaay into hockey. He likes other things but loves hockey...and Mickey and Nemo. A perfect day for Little Guy right now is one spent watching hockey (or shooting the puck in the house) with Mickey and Nemo at his side.

Earlier this year Big Poppy and Little Guy went skating for the first time. There were big grins as Big Poppy hunched over and helped Little Guy along. Needless to say, it didn't take long before Big Poppy's back was sore and he needed a break. However, Little Guy wanted none of that. He carefully made his way out to the ice.

Yesterday we all went skating together. Let me point I grew up in state where hockey was only seen on tv. People who skated did so on 4 wheels and may or may not have had a big old round break on the front of the skate. (In college I did purchase my first pair of roller blades and a few summers ago I got a second pair. Big Poppy and I would skate the bike trails and he will do circles around me - literally. The showoff also likes to skate backwards much faster and safer than I do facing forward. This has a point - maybe.)

As I was saying, yesterday we all went skating together. We brought the camera to capture the fun times. And it was fun. But I learned that I need to take some skating lessons if I am going to be out on the ice. Little Guy prefers to have Big Poppy hold him while going really fast than to sit around and wait for a normal speed with Mommy. I will be purchasing a helmet for Little Guy before we go out on the ice again. The visions of him slipping and Big Poppy not catching him where too much for me. No pictures will be taken when I cannot trust my skating skills with camera - there was no way I was going to be helping Little Guy.

And I do find it odd that I wanted to go skating as the season is changing to spring.