Easter Morning

(I had a video here but it was too long.)

Maia was loving Easter this year. In the morning, she went through her basket to find stuff that the "Easter bunny" left, or what mom and Maia picked up at the store weeks ago. I thought she didn't see me buy the sunglasses. Oh well. At least the Easter bunny left her some original stuff. She loved her packet of Swedish Fish (just like the ones Amy used to give to Maia in California). Maia was thrilled. After seeing her basket, she got to go on a little egg hunt to find some plastic eggs filled with some chocolates. She loved finding the eggs more than the chocolate inside.

The next day we hid her dyed eggs. The day after that, she wanted to do it again. We had loads of fun hiding and finding eggs. (Mom, don't worry, all eggs have been accounted for and will not be lost in someone's closet in months to come when they begin to stink.)

We went to church that afternoon and we had great lessons. Both Joe and I felt like we celebrated the true meaning of Easter at church. We learned more about the atonement and the mission of the Savior. Maia also loved her Easter lesson in nursery about Jesus' resurrection.

I can't believe how big Maia is getting. She is growing way too fast. She talks and talks and talks and has an amazing vocabulary. She describes things incredibly well. My baby is no longer a baby. Sometimes it makes me sad to think that one day she'll be too big to hold and too old to play with me. She's my little buddy and my sweetheart. I love her so much. There's nothing quite like your firstborn, the one who taught you how to love more than you've ever loved, and live like you've never lived.

Easter Eve

This year, we dyed Easter eggs the day before Easter. This year was fun because I Maia is understanding more. She loves to experiment with anything new too. This was the perfect project. Look at her cute little face.

(above) One of my favorite pics of her silly smile. Love it.

In the morning we had a ward Easter egg hunt. It was very cute. All the nursery-age children were put in one room to find eggs while the older Primary children looked for eggs around the building. It was so fun for Maia.

Here is Maia's new pal Porter (aka Portah! His parents are from Arizona and Tustin. They hate it when Bostonians say Portah. We just think it's funny.) Even though Porter is Maia's new pal, there is no way she can replace her friends/cousins in CA.

We were coming home from our fun playground here and I asked Maia if she likes being in Boston. She said, "Uh-huh." I then asked her, "do you like it here in Boston or California better?" She said, "California." I asked her what was in California that she liked so much. She said, "Andi." Melt my heart. She is always thinking about her cousins in California and always has plans to go to grandma's, go to the beach, go to Disneyland, go to Lyla's house, etc. "tomorrow."

Here is the Easter bag that Maia made for the hunt.

Are You My Mother?

One of Maia's favorite stories is Are You My Mother? It's a story about a baby bird that hatches while his mother is gone from the nest. The baby bird is on a quest to find his mother. We read it often.

When we read this story Maia likes to change some of the words so that she can relate better. Ex. The "kitten" is not a kitten. It's a "kitty." The "hen" is not a hen. It's a "chicken." When the bird comes to a "dog," it's not a dog. It's "Buddy" (Grandpa Voof's adopted dog). If you try using the words "kitten," "hen," or "dog," Maia will be sure to correct you. FYI, Buddy is probably the only dog Maia likes. She met Buddy last Thanksgiving and continues to talk about him.

Last time we read the story, I came to this page that poses the question, "Could that old thing be his mother?" Maia listening to the question said, "No! That would be too dangerous!" I was happy to see that she is understanding how dangerous cars can be.

Grandpa Voof, this post is just for you. I think you're probably one of the very few that still reads this blog. :)

Amy and Chris Got Married!!!

This is the best pic that I took of Chris. Sorry Chris. But he still looks handsome.

March 26th Amy and Chris were sealed in the Newport Beach Temple. After 9 years of dating Amy, Chris is officially part of the family!!! We couldn't be happier for their union. Their sealing was absolutely beautiful. I had a hard time looking at my beautiful sister because I just wanted to cry. (I really didn't want to cry mostly because my sweet cousin Jeanette did my make-up too. She's a professional make-up artist.) But Amy looked so beautiful and I just love her and Chris. I am so happy for them.

Andi and Michael

My mom and me

Maia and cousin Abram dancing (This was not staged. It just happened. I just love these two.)

Gorgeous bride (might I add that Laura and Amy did all the flowers themselves!)Cute cousins

Pretty Amy

Halyn wanted some of the attention too.

Lyla and Alli

Maia in her pretty dress.

Kimball- not stoked about all this.

Preschool

This week in "Jammie School":

Tumble Bunnies. This was fun. I found this at http://familyfun.go.com/easter/easter-crafts/all-easter-crafts/tumble-bunnies-1001208/. Easy. It made a fun little toy that Maia played with over and over and over again. We have a stack of boxes that made a nice ramp for the bunny to tumble down. You might have something better than boxes.

We started this but never finished. I traced Maia's body (kind of hard when she's wiggling) onto butcher paper. I cut it out and she was going to put clothes on it and a face but we never quite got there.
We did make some handprint bunnies and sponge painted the grass on. This was fun. Anytime we deal with paint, it's fun.
We also went to the Malden Public Library close to our home. This was interesting:
I've never seen a failed elevator certificate. Maybe because if it has failed, they don't let people ride in it. Hmm...no one stopping this elevator from being used by the public.

Anyway, there is a puppet show corner of the kid's section of the library for kids to play with. Maia especially liked the dragon and crocodile. She put on a little show for me.

We also did some "paint with water" pages for fun.
Maia colored a pizza. She made sure I knew that there were BLUE pepperonis, BLUE pickles, BLUE cheese and THAT'S IT!
We did some counting again. I actually found some cute counting cards at http://mamasmonkeys.blogspot.com/2011/04/pizza-tot-pack.htmlWe also played a "Cars" alphabet game. (I found this at the same blog above) I would call out a letter and Maia would have to cover the letter with a peanut.
This is a rare occasion. So, I wanted to remember that she does take naps...once in a while.

We went to Costco! It felt so nice to go somewhere familiar. We had a good ol' hot dog and soda lunch.
We made these little Rice Krispy treat nests and put a little Peep birdie in it along with some Reese's peanut butter eggs.

http://www.food.com/recipe/chick-egg-krispies-nest-easter-treats-116299I'm pretty sure I got the next idea from http://oopsey-daisy.blogspot.com/. Maia did some number matching with plastic eggs and an egg carton too. She rocked it. It's the letters that we're still working on.Here's a little clip of her Tumble Bunny.

Battle Reenactment Failure

So it was Patriot's Day last weekend. We had every intention and plan to go see the reenactment of the Battle at Old North Bridge in Concord where "the shot heard around the world" took place. You can see some of the pictures of this reenactment here:

http://mserfass.smugmug.com/History/Battle-at-Old-North-Bridge-in/5763429_RhpNz#356428670_CX2bC

Maia and Heidi were still sick with colds and at 8:30 am on this particular Saturday, it was in the 35 degree range. We decided to do something else. So we went to the mall.

Maia wanted her picture with Jeffrey the Toys R' Us giraffe so we did that. The Easter bunny was a little scary-looking and quite expensive so we didn't do that. But, we did want to do something that was touristy. So, we gave in, and stopped at Dunkin' Donuts IN THE MALL! Yes, they have them everywhere! It might be worse than Starbucks on the west coast. When you ask for directions, people will respond in terms of Dunkin' Donut locations. "Head north on hwy 1. Turn right at the third Dunkin' Donuts."

Here's the touristy part. Not only is it a Dunkin' Donut donut, but it's a BOSTON CREAM donut.

Maia thoroughly enjoyed her strawberry donut. I'm not sure if she's ever had a donut before but she loved it. (Last week we had a play group and there was an Easter scavenger hunt. At the end, there was a bucket of Dunkin' Donut "Munchkins" (aka donut holes). I think Maia ate 4 of them!

I'm so glad that we were able to check Dunkin' Donuts off our TO DO list. Phew!

Personally, I would have loved to see the battle reenactment but maybe next year. We'll probably have to pack a few "Munchkins" to keep the kids occupied and quiet. Nothing says battles like donuts.

Heidi's Baby Blessing

Little Heidi Marie was blessed in the Wood Canyon by Joe on March 13th. Joe was assisted by my dad, Cory, Cameron, Chris, Michael, Jared, and Bishop Todd Keller. We were lucky to have Joe's mom, sister Marla, and her husband Jared in town for the blessing. My mom, Sadie, Kimball, Alli, Lyla, Autumn, Laura, Andi, and Maia were all in attendance. It was a great blessing and fun to see family. Joe was able to record the blessing so we are grateful to have that record to reread and to remind us of little Heidi's potential. She is a blessing to us.