A Note From Claire

We found this Mother's Day activity from Leapfrog. Claire had a little help from Dad to create this wonderful note for me.

Whirlwind Trip To Canada

Well it has been several months since we have made a trip to Canada and we haven't been to Hanover since last September so we were very excited and ready to hit the road.

We had all our clothes picked out, plans made and toys packed. Apparently Dad said we couldn't ride in the back of the truck.

Our first stop was to see Great Grandma Thomas. It was great to visit and have dinner with her. She has lots of cool little things we wanted to touch - stressing mom out.

After a great dinner and some ice cream we hit the road again.

Finally made it to Hanover. Time to relax and have a beer.

Our cousin Travis came right over as soon as we told him we had arrived. I had to wear my special spongebob pjs just for him.

I love my cousins - especially when they read me Scooby Doo books!

The highlight of the weekend was finding out Grandpa had bought a paddle boat for us. We were allowed to ride around the pond for hours on end. Of course, we had to use our muscles and clean it first.

We had a great time riding around in circles pretending to be pirates, fishermen and sailors.

Of course, we never did catch any fish.

We had a nice visit with Grandma & Grandpa Pupich as well. Grandpa is 97 and Grandma is 95. They are doing great and of course had a plate of cookies waiting for us. Grandma is still gardening - guess where our green thumb comes from? Straight from Italy.

Grandpa is an expert bbq master. Claire even ate some sausage on a bun!

Sarah stuck with the candy diet. Mmmmm, maple syrup lollipops.

Of course the candy diet and lack of napping leads to a big crash.

We had a great time in Canada. Thanks for the endless golf cart rides Grandma. How old do I have to be to drive that?

After a long drive we are back home and already planning our return visit.

Party Time!

Today we held Claire's 5th birthday party at our house. It was the first birthday since she was born that it was a nice sunny day! Sarah was a great help prepping the pizza toppings.

The birthday girl was ready to party!

First we all decorated aprons.

Then we all made our own pizza. It went well and they all turned out great!

Time to eat!

Not only did they cook their own pizza, most of them actually ate it as well!

Time for cake. Claire requested a key lime pie and a chocolate mousse pie this year instead of cake. They turned out really well, despite giving mom an ulcer trying to make them look nice.

Dad explained the finer points of 'Pin The Tail On The Donkey' to the party goers.

Claire are you peaking?

Claire and Kara - the April birthday girls.

We had a great time playing and hanging out in our play center.

Sarah attempted to limbo in a party dress.

Then it was time to open presents. Claire was thrilled with all her awesome presents!
Thanks everyone for the great party!!

Recent Updates

Well after a brief break, work continued on the kitchen. This week we hung the microwave / fan combo over the stove.

Then it was time to tackle the back splash. It went better than we expected and looks great.

Grouting was messy!

Claire was over the moon thrilled this week to finally get her booster seat. Now that she is over 40lbs and tall she gets to buckle in like a big girl.

We also had a great playdate this week. Our friends Aidan and his new baby brother Liam came over for a visit. Their mom is super nice and lets us hold the baby - we were pretty thrilled!

Happy Easter

We have had a fun week here. The weather was awesome and we spent lots of time outside and visiting parks. On Monday we made Mom a birthday cake. Sarah was the baker and I was the decorator.

After Sarah's growth spurt she can now wear the coveted heart shirt we all love.

It was warm enough to eat a popsicle on the deck in flip-flops. Mom had to cut the grass and we were able to plant some lettuce, spinach and peas in the garden.

Look who was still here to great us on Easter morning! Snacking on mom's lilies.

We had a great time on our egg hunt. It was quite exciting and the bunny did a good job of making the hunt a little harder this year.

Off to hunt for eggs in our new crocs.

This bunny is mine!

Easter is awesome. I love finding eggs, looking inside and making piles of all my candy. Then Sarah and I put the eggs back together and make new hunts for each other.

Aunt Michelle and Uncle Steve sent us great Easter presents as well. I got a dinosaur stamp set and Sarah got a stamp set for making pictures out of thumbprints. We had a great time getting messy!

Happy Easter everyone. Enjoy the video below of Sarah's Easter basket excitement. I will be back in one week with some exciting birthday updates!