Celebrations!

We celebrated Easter and two birthdays (Pat's and his dad's) when we got together with Pat's parents last weekend! We started off eating lunch at the Hofbrauhaus and got to try some authentic(ish?) German food. They had a really tasty potato salad that came with most of the meals too! The atmosphere was fun and there was a guy playing accordion that kept things interesting. After we ate, we went back to our house and tried not to fall asleep after stuffing ourselves with all that good food. We took the kids for a walk to the playground, had some cupcakes and played games on the WiiU. 

Waiting for food!

Not a lot of color on the plates...but that's ok...sometimes:)

Time for presents!

Happy Birthday!

"Copa Cabana" might be the best group song in this game!

Spring Break

The weather for Spring Break wasn't very springy so we headed to Skyzone to make our own "springiness." Get it!? Owen received a free jump pass when he had his birthday party there and we needed to use it up before it expired. Pat and I joined the kids in jumping this time and we can confirm that jumping for 60 minutes does indeed wear a person out. Unless you are a child with limitless energy. We also noticed we were having a bit of a Royal Tenenbaums moment in all of our matching Adidas gear. Oops!
We were starving after so we went to The Mellow Mushroom for some pizza (mac n cheese for Paige). We had never been there before but everyone enjoyed it enough that we plan on going back soon. After lunch we met up with our nieces for some playtime and Paige used up some of her quarters on the mall rides.

Mellow Mushroom pizza! 

These kids love their cousins! 

Paige was very proud to pay for her own ride.

The roller coaster ride. Owen was super disappointed in the quality;)

Monster's Game!

We haven't been to a hockey game in awhile but we finally got to one last Friday! I found a Groupon so we got a really good deal and it was the kids first day of vacation so it was a fun way to celebrate! Little did we know the surprises that were in store...! When we went to find our seats we found out we were in the third row! Part of the Groupon deal was that you didn't know where your seats would be so it was quite a surprise when they were that good! The next surprise happened during the game. Paige was sitting in my lap for a bit and when I looked down there was a hockey puck nestled in the crook of my arm! A hockey puck had glanced against Paige's head and landed there! She was fine, there were no tears but it was all very strange. We held the puck up in the air and the crowd started cheering! The security guard handed back another puck at the end of the game so both kids ended up going home with one. The only way our night could have been better was if they had won!

Pat and Owen and our awesome seats!

Me and Paige before she got hit!

You get to keep the puck if it hits you in the head;)

Paige made this awesome sign and drew a helmet around the person's head.

I found this picture on the Monster's website. You can see a bit of my green jacket right to the left of the ref's helmet and see the rest of the family's faces!

St Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We started the day off with a total junk-food breakfast-Lucky Charms, chocolate, and green milk! Then we all got dressed up in green clothes (green pajamas for Owen because his class had a pajama day). Pat somehow didn't have any green clothes to wear so we decorated his buttons with green glitter circles! Later we had Shepherd's Pie using a trusted recipe we've made in the past. Reminder when making this recipe-only use as much milk as the mashed potatoes recommend and use smaller chunks of tomato!

Pi(e) Day

Pi(e) Day! This day almost got away from me without a celebration but at the last minute I realized I had everything I needed to make these Strawberry Hand Pies. I had to use a 4 inch cutter instead of the recommended 5 inch but I thought they ended up being a great size and more importantly-they were super yummy!

War Game

Last weekend was pretty rainy so it was the perfect time for Pat to teach Owen how to play Axis and Allies! It's a very long game so they took a lot of breaks and I think they worked on it for a couple days before cleaning it up Sunday night!

Daddy/Daughter Dance

Pat and Paige missed the Daddy/Daughter dance last year because I was in the hospital and I was thinking she would be too sick to go this year but she pulled through! They both put on their fanciest clothes and at the moment we thought Pat was going to present Paige with a corsage he pulled out...a container of kiwi! Very funny:) The theme for the dance was A Night in Paris and they had a fantastic time!

Dressed and ready to go!

Looking good!

Kiwi!

The actual corsage:)

Lincoln's Hat

Paige got an extra big hug the day she brought home this paper:)

Sick Day

Poor Paige! She started complaining of an ear ache at dance class and by the end of the night she was in a lot of pain. She stayed home from school the next day so we could get her to a doctor but we couldn't get in because there was an explosion at a nearby construction site. The doctor called in a prescription but Paige's pain and fever lasted another couple days and her hearing still isn't back to normal! She spent a lot of her day home napping which is completely unlike her but did allow me to get some snuggling in:)

We started off the day watching the movie, Home.

Paige loves doing online spelling tests that we create for her!

Nap time! Remember that koala?

Paige woke up from her nap a little disoriented but once she found me on the couch, she collapsed on me and fell right back asleep!

Art

We wanted to get to the Art Museum one more time before they closed the kid's section (to reopen in a couple months) and we managed to get their on a day where Jamie was volunteering! We spent most of our time checking out the modern art and the armor so next time I definitely want to spend time in some other areas! My parents met up with us too and afterwards we went to Little Italy to search for some gelato. Turns out it's only available in the summer so we had to placate ourselves with cheesecake and giant cream puffs.

Reading Machine

When Paige reads she reads aloud and with emotion. So, lately, if you follow the sound of Paige's voice you might come across something like these pictures.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies aren't the most exciting cookie. Unless they are these oatmeal cookies! I saw a picture of these and knew they needed to be eaten by me. And then other people got wind of them so I ended up sharing;) Originally, I thought these had less butter and sugar than most cookies but really, the recipe amounts to about half of a normal batch. So double it for a normal amount!

Ice Cream with Mom!

We went to the kids' school last week for a "Sundaes with Mom" event. Pat even came home a bit early from work so he could help out with serving. We had fun but technically the kids spent more time running around with their friends than they did with me:)

Sleepy Morning

The kids were extra adorably sleepy the other morning so I took some pictures!