ABC Rowan

Rowan has been singing the alphabet song lately, but the way he sings it just cracks me up. He always sings it the super fast way, which is how Athena usually does it. It is like he is singing in his own language.

5 Years

Athena officially turned 5 yesterday! We celebrated by letting her choose the activities for the day. We started off with a trip to the pool, then out to lunch. We came home for a quick nap for Rowan and then headed off to the ice arena. I let Athena invite her 3 best friends to skate and they had a blast. Rowan loved it too. I can't wait to go again, it was really that much fun! I was pretty nervous about how it would go, but the kids all surprised me. They were all pretty into the whole experience. By the end, Athena was skating without holding on to the wall or me, she was very proud. I was busy skating most of the party, but I did have my mother in law take some photos. The kids were too cute! We finished off the evening with a dinner with family, followed by eating leftover cake at home with just us. Wow, that was a lot of celebrating, but it was all worth it. I know she had a great birthday, and she deserves it, she is such a great kid!

Last week, she also made a break through at her swim class. She was very resistant to putting her head under water for the longest time, but finally is getting comfortable with it. She has been practicing on her own now and is doing great. I'm not sure how she will do in deeper water, but we'll find out on Thursday I guess at her next lesson. It is so nice to see them overcome their fears.

Vegan Hello Kitty Cake

I made this for Athena's birthday party tomorrow. We are celebrating all the May birthdays at our playgroup. Should be a fun day. I hope no one requests a special cake anytime soon. This one was a challenge for me. I'll stick with cupcakes.

Mother's Day Post

The kids all bundled up after a long afternoon of swimming. Thanks Uncle Jim and Aunt Car Car for having us today!

Funny faced Rowan.


My Mother's Day celebration actually started last Sunday. I got to spend the day at Glen Ivy Hot Springs with 7 other amazing moms and was away from my family for 12 hours (the longest I've ever been away at this point). We had a relaxing day at the spa, lots of time to have uninterrupted conversations, I even learned how to play a new game (I think it was called bananagrams?). We finished our day with a tasty Indian dinner at Madras Cafe, an all vegetarian South Indian restaurant. I came home that day feeling relaxed and renewed, and happy to see my family. This week, from what I recall, was a fairly typical week. Then today we had a planned a busy day with family, but Chris was doing almost all of the work. He first planned and prepped a brunch that we brought to his mom's house this morning. We had sweet potato waffles, roasted potatoes, fakin bakin, fresh fruit, and homemade peanut butter cookies. It was delicious. We spent some time with Chris' brother and his family over there and the kids ran around like crazy. They had so much fun. We sped home for a quick nap for Rowan, and a quick trip to the grocery store for me to pick up stuff for our pool party/BBQ planned for the afternoon. We headed over to my sister's fiance's house for a BBQ and pool party. We met up with my mom, brother, sister in law, niece, nephew, cousin, and her son who is the same age as Rowan and cousin D. The kids had a lot of fun swimming, playing with Casper the dog, and eating some tasty food. We had Amy's burgers, chips w/guacamole, chili, fruit salad, and for dessert, 2 kinds of coconut milk So Delicious ice cream plus more cookies! The kids were so tired when we got home (late) and went right to sleep. Chris then cleaned up the kitchen, his final Mother's Day contribution. It was such an amazing day, I felt very loved:) Athena made me the cutest card, and hearing Rowan say "Happy Mother's Day" made it extra special. I always knew I wanted to be a mom some day, but I never realized just how much happiness it would bring me. I love my family more than anything!
The kids want to eat with their new "training" chopsticks at every meal lately. I actually might have to pick up a pair for myself!

May Day/Fairy Party 2009

Our playgroup had another fun party this year. We do a combined May Day/Fairy party each year. The kids love coming to this park and climbing the trees all day and eating really tasty food. Some of the more crafty mamas (not me), bring handmade things for the kids. Fairy wands, necklaces, paper cones for flowers to name a few. I helped paint some kids nails. Rowan really wanted blue toenails so he is very happy now. Here are some of our favorite pictures.

For Rowan, he just likes to wear super hero costumes, not so much into the "fairy" theme.
The cousins.
Athena in the tree looking way too grown up.
Rowan in the tree.

Here is a picture of the kids all dressed and ready to go!