Easter Is Coming

The rest of this week and the weekend are filled with a lot of Easter activities and we couldn't be more excited about them! But as I was boiling eggs to color, I came across some interesting and fun facts about Easter:

- All over the world, eggs have always been part of Easter celebrations. This is due in part to their association with renewal and rebirth.

- Coloring eggs is a spring tradition that dates back hundreds of years. Did you know that eggs were colored and given as gifts in the Ukraine and Egypt - in both cultures the gesture symbolized the renewal of life with the advent of Spring.

- The modern version of the Easter Bunny was started by the Germans.

- In France the tradition is that church bells carry Easter eggs to children across the country. And between Good Friday and Easter Sunday the church bells do not ring. Legend says that the bells go to Rome to be filled the Easter eggs that are then returned to France and spread among the gardens for the traditional egg hunt on Easter morning.

- We are Catholic and our Easter tradition marks the end of Lent and 40 days of fasting. In early years, eggs were the food of choice when the period of abstention ended.

- In Italy, eggs are blessed by a priest before being placed in the center of the Easter table.

- In Bulgaria, there is a custom where a messenger takes a loaf of bread and 12 red-colored eggs to Turkish friends.

- In Syria and surrounding countries, the poor are welcomed into churches by priests who wash their feet in memory of Jesus and his disciples.

- In Mexico, in the evening before Easter Sunday, people gather in the streets at sundown to burn images of Judas in order to denounce the betrayal of Christ. Pictures of Judas are also attached to pinatas which are then broken open and the candies and treats inside are given to the children.

Rainy Wednesday

Today was a cold, wet, and windy Spring Wednesday! But instead of letting the weather keep us in the house, we packed up, put on our raincoats and wellies and tackled Mother Nature head on. First stop - Petite Gym. Arabella had fun and is doing great, she just keeps getting better and stronger.





Next up, a few errands - Costco, Toys-R-Us, and Chapters before hitting up Zig Zag Zoo! Arabella loves Zig Zag Zoo and so do I. She gets to play with her friends and burn off energy. I get to spend some time with my friends. And that is worth every penny we paid for the yearly membership! Once all the kids start to hit the limit and are ready for nap time, we bundled back up and went out in the downpours and came home for a good nap. Well, it was supposed to be nap time but that didn't happen today. Not too big of a deal - Arabella helped me make more bows for her and it was then time for dinner and off to bed early for Arabella. I on the other hand had schoolwork to do!

Making Bows!

With all this rainy and cold weather we have been having, I have decided to get crafty again! This time I decided to make bows for the flower girls to wear in their hair at Ashlee & Dustin's wedding. This is the first time I have made any type of hair accessories and surprisingly, they were easy to make. And I am very happy with how they came out - they will look so adorable in the girls hair!

These are the bows for the wedding, cute right?!?!

I had some extra cute ribbon and was on a roll, so I made this one too!

Toronto Trip

Last weekend we drove to Toronto for a surprise birthday party for one of our friends, Creston! It was a pretty nice drive, the roads are so much less bumpy as soon as you cross the province line into Ontario, and I was able to get some school work done. Arabella was great on the car ride and we didn't get in too late which was nice. Jay being silly! Look at the beautiful Toronto highways! We stayed with one of Jay's co-workers and his family since the birthday party for Creston was a surprise. Anthony, Angie and all 3 boys were so nice to let us stay with them. Arabella had fun playing with the "boys" as she called them and they were so tolerant of her! Saturday we were going to try and go explore a little bit of Toronto but it was raining terribly so we decided to grab some lunch and then a movie. We saw Hop - a cute new movie about the Easter Bunny. Arabella and 2 out of the 3 boys enjoyed it, so much so, they they fell asleep on the ride home!

Saturday night, we left Arabella and the boys with a baby sitter and headed out to Szwchuan Szwchaun for the party. Creston was so surprised when he walked in - he had no idea! We had a good food and a great time and it was nice to meet more of Jay's co-worker's. Happy 40th Birthday Creston - we are so happy we could celebrate with you! Surprise!! Jay and Creston - they started at CAT on the same day - 12 years ago! Silly boys!

On the way home, we had to stop at the ATM to get money for the sitter...and since I was in the back seat with windows that only went halfway down, Jay thought it would be funny to take a picture of me in the precarious position!

On Sunday morning, we woke up to snow, yes, snow - not a lot, but enough to remind us that it is only April and we do live in Canada so we can't rule it out!

After packing up, we headed over to the Austin's for brunch. Brunch was delicious and it was nice to spend time with Amy, Creston, Creston the 3rd and Ava. Jay and Creston had fun playing with the kids and Amy and I ran out to do a little bit of shopping! We all had a fun afternoon and before we knew it, it was time to head back home.

Mom & Tot's Easter Egg Hunt & Brunch

Last Friday, our playgroup hosted an Easter egg hunt & brunch. It was a beautiful sunny morning, still a little crisp, but perfect for an egg hunt outside. All of the kids were so excited to find the eggs the the Easter Bunny had hidden in Carrie's yard. It was chaos to get out the door and then they could hardly wait to search for the eggs. As soon as they found eggs, everyone broke into them to see what treats the Easter Bunny left! Arabella loved it and was so excited that she found chocolate - her favorite! After the egg hunt, we all enjoyed a very yummy brunch! Everyone had a great time and it was the perfect way to kick off the beginning of our Easter parties! Thanks to Carrie and Cristina for hosting the event!

Thursday's Thoughts

Hearing: The garbage and recycling truck in the neighborhood...why can't they be quieter?

Tasting: The fresh tabouli salad that I made this morning!

Seeing: Rob Lowe on the cover of my Vanity Fair magazine...can he get any better looking?


Smelling: The Asparagus and Cheese Tart that I made for our Mom & Tot's Easter Egg Hunt tomorrow...it smells delish and I can't wait to try it tomorrow!


Feeling: Excited! We have so many outings planned for the remainder of the month - Easter Egg Hunts, weekend in Toronto, birthday parties, Easter Brunch, EASTER itself, travel to Ohio, Ashlee & Dustin's wedding and the list goes on and on!

A Few More Shots

Marie-Claude snapped a few pictures of Arabella and I today while we were riding. I just can't get over how happy she was riding! Thank you again Marie-Claude!!