cousin puppy

Cousin puppy got so much love with all the cuddlers in town for spring break...

hammock

These giggle guys on the hammock may be one of their favorite things.  Cousin puppy looking huge in that perspective shot with a tiny PopPop ;)

legos

Met up at Tyson's to play on the patio and visit the Lego store with our RI/MA buddies.  It was fun to see a giant Aiden greeting his favorite babysitter from when he was a tiny guy, Rebecca, and meet her two boys!

april bdays

These cousin buddies celebrated their April birthdays together with an ice cream cake!

peeps

The main attraction at the National Harbor was the Peeps store!  The cousin buddies collected a ig variety of peeps and it was declared a Peeps Easter.

hands

Check out all those hands!

harbor

We visited the American icons like a bunch of tourists... but the highlight may have been the smorgasbord of crab cakes I shared with my sister and my dad.

ikea

With a belly full of meatballs is the best way to wander around Ikea pretending that we are taking catalog photos ;) with a good faux laugh.

caboose

Family, old friends, new little buddies, and a puppy met up on a bright sunny day for dinner on the patio at Caboose Brewery... Doesn't get much better!  

peeps

Happy Easter from all these Peeps!

eggs

Decorating some eggs with with cousin buddies. Our kit that included some "gold" which had some splotchy, mixed reviews ;) - haha!

poppy

Walter Henrich, January 23, 1922 to April 13, 2019

break

We kicked off spring break with some Sky Zone action with our buddies!  Can't get enough of the sticky sock warp wall and climbers...

bunny

Baby's first Easter!  Visiting the bunny and eating at the table like a big girl...

floof

Just more of the hundreds of cute shots of this floof!

sleepyhead

This sleepy girl could not be much cuter when she sleeps... and I've been able to sneak in a few rows of knitting here and there.

deck

This pup makes us enjoy being outside so much more than normal. We are really enjoying the cuddle couch we moved up on to the top deck outside our kitchen.

hippo

Could not resist this hippo toy! Zoe loves to wrestle it while it make a sort of honking oink noise.

puppy buddies

My friend adopted her foster pup and her sister. Charlie and Ginger are almost the same age, but at 12 weeks they are already much bigger.  They love to play!

farmer's market

Zoe's first, and certainly not her last, visit to the Mosaic Farmer's Market... one of the first really beautiful spring days!

recital

The piano recital was earlier than usual because Aiden’s duet partner Juliet is going her brother’s graduation on the actual recital day. So Ms. Wallin invited us to come play at her adult piano group. The kids did a wonderful job and it was fun to hear the adults play their very elaborate pieces. Aiden accompanied Juliet on the Colors of the Wind from Disney’s Pocahontas, then played Kabelevsky’s Horseman. Keaton played Waltz of the Dandelion and Drifting on the River.

eight!

Mom, I’m out of pants! I oh-so-frequently hear you say this as you stand in front of a drawer full of not-so-favorite pants. Turns out your favorite pants aren’t in the laundry either, but are about two inches too short and are already headed off to your cousin buddies. Your legs are even achey lately because of all the growing! You were so, so excited to technically be big enough to ride without a booster seat and turned on the seat warmer in April just because you couldn’t wait to check it out.

You were so excited to pass out donuts to all your classmates, favorite teachers, librarians, and principals. I had a chance to go around with you and watch you interact, pick out treats, and express your gratitude. It is always a joy to see you feel grateful because you feel everything so, so much. I can always tell how you feel and you try to understand how others around you feel. I hope you turn your big emotions into empathy and big will power to help those around you as you get older.

marvel-ous bday!

This Marvel-ous Birthday idea was thanks to this Marvel Universe Live show coming through town at just the right time! There's a storyline which featured Spiderman a lot, one of Keaton's favorites. I thought it was neat that is incorporated a bunch of circus acts, silk flying, motorcycle stunts, trapeze, etc.

Keaton was very excited to share the fun with his best buddies and then come back home for part two which he called the puppy party ;)  J made him a big double chocolate brownie cake with the Marvel Avengers symbol on it!

bday video

mom fun!

Balancing out all the boys stuff with some fun adult stuff too... J’s been playing bass for a band called Hello Newman, a nod to the nineties and Seinfeld. It was fun to go see them with a bunch of friends and we made it into a welcome back party for a good friend that just moved back! I didn’t think this ever happened but there will be another good friend arriving back in July too! Woot!

 I went with a big group of moms to a cooking class - best part was the lemon souffles! It was more of a demo and eat class so can’t say whether I can repeat anything but yummm!

 I absolutely loved the Needlecraft Show at Woodlawn (close to Mt. Vernon where George Washington’s nephew and Martha Washington’s granddaughter married and lived). They hosted a “Painting with Wool” workshop which I was a really fun challenge. It turns out punching a mat of wool over and over is very meditative.

good list

Puppy playdate friends with giant baskets of toys and fun friends!

This roller coaster game - all the possibilities!

Knitting and friends who love to cuddle sleepy puppies.

Her first peanut butter cup treat - given by the sweetest friends who took care of her while we were out celebrating Keaton's birthday!

fluff

Look at this fluff ball!

one week in video

spring

Someone has some spring in her step!  She learned to sit on this day.

visitors!

So fun to have old friends visit for spring break!  They explored all around town and we had a table full of milkshakes to rebuild energy ;)  I hope they will come back to visit again soon!

walkie

Ms. Zoe is very social and brave around all dogs. She is a friend to everyone including the garden hedgie.  Sometimes they say you start looking like your dog, and here is Aiden with matching fluff hair.

sleepy head

This fluff is so cute when she sleeps!

puppy dog eyes

This girl has the art of puppy dog eyes down!

heritage night

The boys had fun showing off their school work and stopping at all the different country booths put together by families. Aiden's diorama with the Irish sheep - love it!

pup 24 hours

The first 24 hours with our pup... no shortage of photos here...

sweater

We knew Zoe was ours and while we waited I had plenty of time to knit her a tiny sweater. It fit to come home on a very windy day!

meet zoe!

After what seems like years of debating and trying to convince the boys that all they needed were "bus stop dogs" to visit, we finally broke down my giant pro and con list and found the perfect pup. She's a cross between a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a Bichon Frise. She might be the cutest, sweetest dog I've ever met. Playful and sweet while she throws you one adorable look after another... I think we are all just so in love with her!

room decals

Spiffed up the boys' rooms with some specially requested paint colors ;) and I though the purple requested by Aiden might be a challenge - but I really like what they picked out!

good list

These goodies from the Leprechaun, no tricks, just treats! Very green waffles and green milk ;)

Our new Uncle Paddy, Nana and Grandpa's new silky terrier puppy!

Birthday volcanoes for Keaton's friend Maddy at the nature center birthday!  They also hiked over an hour to snake island and all the cool rocks.

new glasses

Keaton has new glasses he is very, very excited about! I think he may have been more excited than a new lego set ;) He's such a good patient and he especially enjoyed the ophthalmology appointment since she wears a "space helmet" part of the time. He waited a whole week for his glasses to be delivered and was excited to go over to show them off to the neighbors when we got home ;) 

pi day

Happy pi day!  This year Aiden celebrated by memorizing over 70 numbers of pi for his class party where they recited them - He came in third place with the top memorizers remembering over 300 numbers of pi!  His class shared over 16 different pies and he brought his special request - oreo crust with chocolate chip cookie.  After dinner we had a chocolate cream with meringue topping - yummy!

bedhead concerto

Aiden's latest songs are some of my favorites to hear in the morning... The first one is an accompaniment he plays as a duet.

thinkabit lab

I was lucky to join Aiden's class on a field trip to the Thinkabit Lab... It was a highlight to watch them create computer programs to control circuits with creative structures. They really all did an amazing job being creative and working together!

one sec road trip 2018

one sec fall winter 2018-19

one sec summer 2018

king cake

Aiden found the baby this year! This cakes says that you are obligated to buy the next king cake if you find the baby ;) Not as much of a thrill if you have to save your money for next year.