Happy Easter

Up from the grave He arose. 

Hallelujah! 

Walk Around the Block

Three wonderful things are happening in this photo...

1. It is finally warm enough to be outside without 126 layers on.

2. Marshall is staying in control of himself- mostly.

3. This particular walk marked Calvin's first official stroller-less walk around the block!

(A major milestone for a family who goes out 5+ times a day with their dog and is beyond sick of the whole wrangling-a-small-child-and-getting-them-into-a-stroller-for-a-2-minute-Marshall-potty-break thing.) Cal did so well walking and was beaming with pride the whole time. Next up- teaching him to stop, stay, and avoid running into the street like a crazy puppy boy. 

Easter Eggs

Dyeing eggs for Easter was always one of my favorite holiday traditions. Fingers stained bright blue, the scent of vinegar and eggs in the air.. what's not to love? Hah! Delicious aromatics aside, I have nothing but fond memories of dyeing Easter eggs with my family as a kid. This year, with my mom in town, it felt like the perfect time to bring the egg dyeing tradition back. It's been years since I've dyed eggs and with the genius Pinterest idea of using a wire whisk to hold the egg in the dye I figured Cal could join in on the fun as well. Much to my amazement, even with a rambunctious one year old,  it was total success! 

Thanks for the fun afternoon, Grandma! We love you!!

Play Cafe

A few days ago we spent some time at a nearby park. It was Calvin's first trip to a park since he had learned to walk and he was more than ready to enjoy this rite of toddlerhood. He loved it- no surprise there. Cal ran around like a total fool, stumbling over himself with excitement and climbing onto anything he could reach. I've never seen him so happy. 

Then it was time to go home. 

Absolute devastation. 

The poor guy finally got to enjoy some quality park time outside and then Mother Nature decided that she would throw a few more weeks of freezing winter at us. Ugh. Thankfully, I thought back to a few friends who had mentioned bringing their little ones to a "play cafe". Whoever thought up the idea is an absolute genius. Endless indoor entertainment for Calvin and a bottomless cup of coffee for Mom. Seriously- genius!

1. Calvin and Matilda carefully playing in a burning home (and by "carefully" I mean almost killing themselves climbing a ladder to enter the home and then exiting by literally shooting out of a slide so steep I had to hold my breath as they went down)

2. Sending love letters the old fashioned way

3. Putting out a quick fire before lunch

4 & 5. Whipping up a little somethin' somethin' in the kitchen

6. Creeping

7. Channeling his inner "Schroeder" on the mini piano 

8. Playing with light switches and doorbells, aka: toddler heaven!

Thanks for saving the day, play cafe. 

As for you, Mother Nature, my boy is waiting to get back to the park so get your act together and show us some spring!

Happy Go Lucky

Calvin has been all smiles lately. This past weekend was a particularly giddy one. I don't know whether it was the luck of the Irish or having Grandma Sali in town but he could not have been happier! A few of Cal's new happy tricks include showing off the cheesiest, toothiest grin of all time (see above) while clapping and flapping his hands so fast that it's impossible to photograph anything but a blur (see below).  

I'll take it!

Thanks for a great visit Grandma!!
 

Fudge Brownies with Whipped Peanut Butter Icing

Holy yum. I saw this on one of my favorite food blogs Annie's Eats last week and have been daydreaming about it ever since. I finally got serious about making it a few days ago and lo and behold- I had everything I needed sitting right in my pantry! I took it as a sign and got baking.

Sweet, but not too sweet brownie meets rich peanut butter frosting. Who doesn't love a good chocolate and peanut butter love story? Sooo good! And to top it off it's sprinkled with a dash of sea salt to make salty and sweet dessert perfection!

Since Annie can direct you in making this brownie goodness much better than myself I will go ahead and send you right to the recipe on her blog here.

What did Cal think?

All smiles with a round of applause? Why thanks, kid! 

(I looked similar after my first bite but I promise you I did not look as cute.)  

Boy Meets Sink

Cal has been obsessed with climbing the two step foot stool in our kitchen. Up, down, up, down, repeat. This weekend, Jakob pushed the stool over to the sink for a little fun. Just as expected, it was an instant hit.

Soaked kitchen.

Soaked kid.

And we should have seen this one coming..

 Instant regret.

Haircut

The time had finally come. While I could have waited a while longer, I couldn't handle listening to Jakob call our sweet boy the "Crypt Keeper" any more (Google it- his picture is too creepy to post on this little G rated family blog).  

The long white whisps of hair hanging over his ears and other 6 inch long randoms were in need of a little maintenance. 

We prepared ourselves with all of the necessities needed to keep a 14 month old occupied for more than thirty seconds: electronics and wafer cookies.

I located our "problem areas", gathered the necessary gear, wet his hair, and made the first official snip. 

 And then sniped and sniped some more.

(Please pardon my horribly polished nails- my well manicured mother would be so disappointed!)

The final result.. 

A boy who looks as cute as ever.. and maybe only 3 months older. Whew!

Check out those fresh little ears!
I almost forgot what they looked like!

Let Him Eat Snow

Two Tuesdays in a row with lots of snow and nowhere to go? I feel like I won the lottery with my work schedule lately! 

Today, Cal and I enjoyed another snow day at home. We lounged in our pajamas, read books, and watched the snow fall for much of the morning. I had every intention of getting Cal into his sled for an afternoon of fun in the snow but laziness got the best of me. Instead, I decided to bring a little of the outside in. Calvin thoroughly enjoyed playing in the snow. So much so that he became unreasonably upset when I took his beloved snow away after thirty minutes of endless tasting and scooping with fingers so frozen I'm sure he couldn't feel them. Needless to say, we will enjoy our new favorite activity as much as we can before spring comes and melts the beautiful stuff away (and by spring, I mean Friday- when it's supposed to be 50 degree outside!)

 

February (instagram style)

Since the majority of the photos I take these days are on my phone I thought I would pick out a few gems from February to share with you..