We are an Easter People

We headed up to my in-laws on Holy Saturday to begin our Easter preparations. Anni oversaw the egg boiling with Nonna (which is good, because last year our beautiful eggs were all undercooked!)

The girls carefully picked out their eggs and decorated them to their hearts content with the wax crayons.



Colette dyed this orange one, and, holding it in her sweet hands proclaimed, "I made dis one for Papa!" It then rolled out of her hands and smacked onto the ground.

Luckily, it was salvageable, and we kept it safe until Papa made it home from the Easter Vigil rehearsal. Cracks or no cracks, he claimed it was delicious.

Two more eggs bit the dust in very similar if slightly more destructive ways, but the rest of the batch went swimmingly.

Easter Sunday came bright and early after a night filled with a cranky toddler who couldn't seem to get comfortable. But, you know, Easter seems to heal all wounds.

After Mass where we amazingly managed to stay in our pew the whole time, albeit with some extra chatter from the littlest, we had lunch and snuggled in for a little rest.

Then came Easter egg hunting! Anni was going, going, going, and Colette was excited to find them, but even more excited to discover that there were things inside the eggs.

Finally, we settled in for an Easter feast to wrap up our weekend.

Alleluia!

He is Risen.

Alleluia!

The Little Things...

Right now I'm loving:

Sisterly love, and our newly painted guest room. I want to paint everything grey now, I love it!

Colette's face after finally figuring out how to move the scooter on her own. So proud and excited! 

Anni's imagination. I love watching her think and create her own little games. 

Red boots. Every day, every way. 

Band-aids on every scratch, imaginary and real. Jane Austen Band-aids only make it better.

Walks around the block, the girls picking dandelions, and practicing all of their moves (marching, chasse-ing, running, skipping and all that good stuff.)

Walking out to see this. 

and, finally, getting to watch our beauties grow. I am far from the perfect parent, but I am so grateful for the chance to be a mother to two sweet girls.

St. Patrick's Day and a Baptism Anniversary

St. Patrick's Day was definitely not what I had planned this year. Colette spent at least half of the night previous throwing up (or rather, trying desperately not to throw up, and forcefully shoving the bowl away with a, "NO. I don't WANT it") so my plans to make Bangers and Mash again this year got put on hold. And these, this was the one of the few photos we nabbed. Anni cheerfully smiled for the photo, and Colette mostly just wanted to crawl back onto the couch with the ipad so that she could forget that Mommy wouldn't let her eat all the things she wanted. Let's be honest, that shouldn't even be an argument after the night she had, so we quickly moved onto the ipad (yes, they gave up screen time for Lent. Yes, grand distraction defeats Lenten resolution when you're two and sick.)

Today was also Colette's baptism anniversary. While this usually includes her pick of a meal and a fun dessert... tonight it included plain noodles with a sprinkle of cheese, "Happy Baptism Anniversary to You" and blowing out her baptism candle. She was satisfied, and I won't mention that I snuck some of the frozen chocolate chip cookie cake out of the freezer while the girls weren't looking.

Happy St. Patrick's Day, even if it wasn't the way you envisioned it.

A Piglet Party at Two

Yesterday we had Miss Colette's second birthday party, complete with three wonderful grandparents, and a slew of sweet little friends. While I know that she isn't too particular about the details: planning simple, but fun parties is something I really like to do. We're celebrating this darling little life, and we've managed to help her survive a whole two years (plus the 41 weeks she hung out in my belly)! 

The girls are both pretty into Winnie-the-Pooh right now, so we had a lot of fun crafting her party around that theme. We had a smattering of classic Pooh, as well as pieces from all of the recreations since, so I can't claim to have too much rhyme or reason in that, except that all of them are fun! The food was all a hit, and thanks to my mom being in town for several days before, included a couple of things I otherwise wouldn't have gotten around to.

 One of the fun things about the variety between the vintage Pooh and more modern Pooh, is both of my girls know who he is, no matter which version it is.

Several years ago, my eldest sister gave Anni a whole set of Winnie-the-Pooh books, sooo voila! Easy decorations, indeed. Of course, Colette nabbed them off the table throughout the party so we could read them to her, but useful and easy decorations are the best kind anyway.

While the little lady of the hour took a too-short nap, we set everything up. She was pretty stoic when we woke her up, but not upset, just taking everything in. (She knew that her party was coming, as she had told us, in a very two-year-old fashion that she didn't want to take her nap, she wanted her party!)

As all her buddies arrived, she started to liven up. Plus... food! 

With her homage-to-Piglet dress, and sweet little birthday crown, the cuteness factor was pretty high. (Anni's outfit was supposed to be a Pooh reference, I kind of adored it!)

When it came time to blow out her candles, she did it like a pro! Only a few days previous, on the actual date of her birthday, she hadn't been able to do so... growing up so fast!

Then came a pile of really sweet gifts. I loved how perfect they were for her this year! Her Baba and Deda (great-grandparents) sent her a beautiful crocheted blanket and the cutest stuffed puppy ever. Anni sleeps under the blanket she got when she was little(r) every night, so I can attest to how heavy and lovely they are. It's such a beautiful tradition that she makes one for each of the babies. And the puppy? Well, Colette is obsessed with them, and since we won't/can't have a real one, this is a darling little substitution.

There were dress-up clothes, and normal clothes galore, which she immediately had to try on.

Just all kinds of fun, sweet, things: perfect for a two year old. We also had itty bitty honey jars and dippers with some yummy honey candy for our guests. We ended up with one for ourselves as a reminder of the day, so I think that will be tucked into someone's memory box.

Even more than the gifts; though, I'm so grateful for all the people who celebrated with us, both at the party and from afar. We are surrounded with such a loving community, and I'm so grateful that my girls will grow up knowing that.