Hop to it

The Easter Bunny hopped on by, hiding some eggs, and an Easter basket for Silas:
Have you ever tried to find a chocolate Easter bunny without dairy? I didn't actually succeed, but I did find a chocolate Easter bear that, according to the ingredients list, was milk free. He gobbled it up later in the day with no apparent ill effects other than a tremendous sugar rush, but what he was most happy about, was this:
After sorting through his goodies, we proceeded to the egg hunt, which took place inside this year, due to the fact that kiddo was pretty sick.
Easter also brought this astonishing site:
While the moment did not last long, there was only a minimum of growling. Was it just an Easter-Day Truce, or the beginnings of a slightly less hostile relationship? We shall have to wait and see.

Olive goes to school

Today was Pet Day at Silas' school. Before Olive entered our lives, I never would have thought about participating in such a thing. Sobin, my dear, dear kitty, is vicious and unpredictable when put into circumstances in which he is unfamiliar. He has to be sedated before vets will treat him. It is that bad. But Olive is mild mannered, in comparison, and I thought she might do nicely. Silas was so excited that Olive would get to see his school.

It turns out, we were the only ones crazy enough to bring a cat to Pet Day. Olive was momentarily adventurous (or perhaps was just looking for a means to escape)...
...before sequestering herself in the corner, where she stayed until I loaded her up in the carrier to bring her back home.
She did, however, let the children come up to her, say hello, and pet her. No children were bitten or scratched and they all seemed genuinely interested in her. So, all in all, a successful outing for kitty.

Silas got to tell his teacher and some of his friends all about Olive:

And it just so happens that Silas is Person of the Week this week:

My favorite response is the last one "When I grow up, I'll help Dad clean his yoga studio." Perhaps I can convince him to add "I'll weed the garden for mom" to the list.

Keep em' coming

Still trying to finish up Wisconsin posts...

Grandma G and Si:

I call this the Ancestry.com trip, since a lot of time was spent teaching Silas about his family tree:

Silas, pretending he is one of Uncle Steve's dogs:

And...hanging out at Grandma and Merlin's house:

Art project time. "I have clown hands!"

Finally (for this post anyways), Alden and Silas were reunited, and enjoyed a game of fishing.

Moms and babes:

And that's were I'll leave it this time...

Wisconsin trip 2011: K..z Cousin

Since the last post was dedicated to Silas' cousins on my side, this one is dedicated to his cousin on his dad's side. This picture cracks me up, every time I see it. They look like a circus act. Josh is 22 years older than Silas. He's got some growing to do to catch up with this cousin!

Wisconsin trip 2011: McC cousins

Let's start with pictures of the cousins, shall we? These are all cousins on my side (ie. my sister's children). Adam helped Silas put together a Lego set.

They were very proud.
It was Adam's 10th birthday while we were visiting. 10! Welcome to double digits, nephew.
Silas' youngest cousin, sporting the well worn sweater I made for him.
Bouncing on Grandma's knee:
More goofiness:
Silas loved playing in the "fort" my sister's kids built along the stream in their back yard.

Carefully crossing the bridge:
So much more to post...but that's all for now.

Wisconsin 2011 trip: starting with the end

I've got a couple hundred pictures to sort through from out trip to Wisconsin. I'll post more soon, but to start us off, here's the last picture taken while in Wisconsin: My sister and I and all of our offspring. I love our goofy kids.

Not quite forgotten

A couple of picture I forgot to post with past blog entries...

Above: Silas sporting the hat he made in school earlier this month.

Below: These were the little knitted fish I made as prizes for the Pin the Fin on the Shark game at Silas' birthday party.
And there you have it!

Party in the park

It was windy, and could have been a tad warmer, but... it didn't rain! And, I think, a good time was had by all.

Above: pre-party set-up.

Craft time: Barb made bags for the kids to paint...

They turned out beautifully! Silas' is on the right:

Another big hit was the fishing game. I made origami sea creatures as prizes, and the kids took turns "fishing" for them.

We let them go again and again until all the sea creatures had been claimed. Several of the kids took turns helping Patrick behind the ocean/scenes put the prizes on the hook/paper clip.

After that game, it was time to play pin-the-fin-on-the-shark. It's a good think I knit 3 little fish as prizes because we had a 3-way tie!

Cupcake time! We sang Happy Birthday, but it was too windy to keep the candles lit, so I suggested he pretend to blow them out, and Silas obliged.

Yum!

Towards the end of the party, the sun came out and it warmed up:

What's a party in the park without time spent on the playground?

Some of our party-goers stuck around afterwards, and the party continued. I think Silas and his friend, O must have spent 20+ minutes in those swings.

Silas was so wobbly after finally getting out of his swing, that he walked right into another swing (in mid swing) before we could stop him. Party hard, Silas!

Party prep

I think we are about 85% ready for Silas' party tomorrow. I baked 5 dozen cupcakes today (3 dozen chocolate, a dozen berry lemon, and a dozen vanilla gluten-free, and all dairy free because Silas is allergic).

The Pin the Fin on the Shark game is almost done to:
We're (almost) ready to party, preschool style :)

Happy 4th Birthday, Silas!

Are you ready for a lot of birthday pictures? Okay, here goes...

Above (actually the last picture of the day, just before the bed), Silas poses with the sea creatures I made for him, plus Sherman the worm, of course.

Yesterday, just before leaving for school, Silas poses with his class birthday treat:

I took the day off of work, made 2 dozen donuts, and spent the morning in Silas' preschool class playing with the kids and celebrating Silas' birthday with his class.

He got to open one of his presents a day early...Woo-hoo, a hermit crab!

Thanks Patrick! Silas loves playing the chef at his cafe, which he named The Rusty Marshmallow (he says his first restaurant, Stinky Pie Cafe, closed, but The Rusty Marshmallow is doing well, I am told):

Opening presents from Mom and Dad:

Present for mom: My boys met me at work and we went out for lunch:

And Silas got to open his present from Barb:

She made him this fabulous quilt! Wow!

My cuddly birthday boy and me:

But wait, there's more! Or, there will be. He's having a birthday party this Sunday.

It's outside.

In March.

In the Pacific Northwest.

Several nights this week, I woke up and listened to the sound of rain hitting the roof and wondered what we were possibly thinking to plan a park party. We are taking a big gamble but currently the weather reports are somewhat promising. Fingers crossed!