Easter celebrations!

We had a wonderful Easter celebration and we celebrated quite a bit!  We also had the opportunity to have Bobby, Heather and the kids come in town, in addition to having tia Marthi here too!

As for church, the kids did pretty well at Palm Sunday. Although, half way through they thought they could get away with a little more having Vovo there.  On Easter Sunday, Vovo went early to church, so it was just us and Bobby, Heather, & kids.  The kids did pretty well...perhaps it was due to also knowing there was an Easter egg hunt at Vovo's house on the line; if they didn't do a good job, then they may not get to participate!

Ava and Alex were very fortunate to have so many Easter egg hunts as part of our Easter celebrations.  They got to go to one in our neighborhood, the weekend before Easter, then another at school during the week, and then finally at Vovo's house.  By then, Alex was quite an expert at what to do and was getting quite the loot of candy-filled eggs!

At our neighborhood egg hunt, the kids had a blast!!  It was a fairly chilly morning for April, but still well worth going to the park.  It's always nice to meet more neighbors and really just have that community feel.

Ava was so excited to sit on the miniature horse - she had no fear.  Alex, on the other hand, had no desire to get very close to the horse...it was still a little too big for him!

Alex was happy to go looking for eggs with Daddy, but was missing the point at first about getting to keep the eggs in his basket.  He just liked pointing them out.

Ava loved the idea of going on a pony carriage ride...

and look who decided to join us!  Alex got a little braver after watching us for a bit. :)

I do believe that Alex remembered the goats from last year, and was wondering if they remembered him too...

Easter 2012

"Hey goats! Remember last year when I was kicking your bumbum while we took a picture?"

Alex also thought the ducks and chickens in the petting zoo were great!

Such a funny and happy little guy!

 

For Easter Sunday, we had beautiful warm weather... well sort of warm weather - the kids thought it was warm enough to get in the pool, though the water was freezing!!!  They didn't care though, the idea of getting to strip down to their underwear and splash in the pool was enough to keep them warm.

 



Just the boys (Cliff, Aiden, and Alex) hanging out by the pool...

my cutest little guy

Tia Marthi hanging out at with the little ones for lunch outside

The kids LOVED the egg hunt in Vovo and Voovoo's backyard

Vovo and her little bunnies

...our best shot at a family picture, baby #3 included!

There's just something about a tree stump that is just too fun!

 

Just another day at the soccer park!

Ava and Alex just love watching Daddy play soccer.  The freedom of the open fields at the park, the action, the extra soccer balls to play with, and the chance to cheer on Daddy.

Ava gets very focused on Daddy's game, screaming from the sidelines "Go Daddy! Go!", "Run Cliff!!".  She is too cute and funny for words. 

Alex was quite interested in the snacks I bought, and is still a little shy around new people, so he stays close to me at first until he gets comfortable... then he's off!

Someone desperately wants to go to Brazil!

Ava: Mommy, I need to go get ready, because I am going to Brazil today!

Me: You’re going to Brazil today? How are you going to get there?

Ava: Voovoo is going to drop me off at the airport.  So I need to go get my backpack ready. I need to get cuecas, princess dresses, snacks, my toothbrush.  If Tia Stela says I can have a snack, then I need to have snacks in my backpack.

Ava comes downstairs with a jacket on…

Ava: Mommy, can you zip this up for me?  Because sometimes it’s cold on planes, and it takes a long time to get to Brazil on the plane.  I don’t want to be cold!

Me: What are you going to do in Brazil?

Ava: I am going to go see baby Malu and baby tia Stela (referring to Stelinha) to teach them a lot of things.  Because I am bigger and I am a teacher like Vovo, so I need to teach them all the things that I know!

Me: That’s great! Who else are you going to see?

Ava: I am going to go see Tia Stela, Tio Paulo, Quequel, Marcelo, Bia (all emphasized with elongating the names, like she is thinking about who else she is going to go play with).

Ava then proceeded to call Voovoo at work (who took her call eventhough he was in a meeting with people from Mexico) to check if he could take her to Brazil.  Voovoo, of course, said yes - so then it was up to me to let her down gently after they hung up the phone.  She was terribly disappointed that she couldn't go today, but I promised her that we would save money so that she could go again.  I felt terrible breaking her heart like that, but I didn't realize she was so serious about it!

Oh the things these kids say! :)

I am often in awe, amused, entertained, and shocked by the things my little ones say.  Now that Alex is talking a lot more too, he is contributing quite a bit to this entertainment!

ALEX
This morning, when we were on our way out the door, running a little late, I ended up slipping slightly off the back door step.  I had Alex in my arms when I had the little slip and I just said "oops", but his response was "air-ful mommy" (meaning 'careful mommy').  I couldn't help but giggle at the response. My little guy is not even 2 years old, but perceptive enough to know what to say!  On the way home he also asked if I was tired "rar-oo tie-yard mommy?" - such a sweet little guy.  And the constant that I hear from the backseat is: "pet-tel peez" (pretzel please!) and "tan-too Ava" (thank you Ava!).
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Earlier this week we went for a walk around the block. Ava and Alex walk on the curb the whole way, searching for sticks that look like wands and acorns.  Alex had picked up a stick and was swinging it around a bit.  He accidentally bumped my leg with it and immediately said "sorry mommy!", "I kiss it?" while trying to lean over to kiss my leg. He really is my peacemaker, a truly sweet soul.  Always very quick to apologize for any little thing, whether to me, Ava, Daddy, whoever it may be.
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Of course, I must also mention that as of one week ago, Alex learned the word "why" and has made full use of his new word. He uses it all the time, and in the perfect context, so much that I can't help but respond to his questions.
Mommy - Come Alex, let's go in mommy's room.
Alex - Why?
Mommy - Because mommy is going to take a shower and you and Ava need to stay in my room with me.
Alex - Why?
Mommy - Because I need to be able to hear you two playing while I take a shower.
Alex - Why?
Mommy - So that I know that you two are doing a good job and are not getting into anything you shouldn't be.
Alex - Oh! okay!

AVA
Today when we were getting home from school/work and had Vovo on speakerphone, Ava and Vovo had the following conversation:
Ava: We're almost home Vovo!
Vovo: Okay, we can talk later.
Ava: We're pulling in the driveway, but I will call you later on Skype okay?
...this little one is only 3.5 years old! Vovo later commented that she only learned the "pulling in the driveway" expression a couple years ago - where does Ava pick up all these expressions?
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At bedtime, Ava told me she was going to get Alex three gifts for his birthday.  When I asked her what gifts she was going to get him, she said "Mommy, for Alex's birthday I am going to get him a gorilla, spiderman pj's, and a castle with princesses".  Of course she also itemizes the gifts using her hands, as though she is counting them out; first putting out her thumb for the gorilla, then her pointer for the spiderman pj's, and adding her middle finger for the castle.  I don't know where she comes up with these ideas!
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One thing that Ava stuns me with on quite a frequent basis is her amazing ability to recognize/identify car makes and models.  I have a hard time remembering the distinct cars that people drive, but Ava knows them down to the exact color!   For example, if she sees a Ford F150 that is a gray/brown color, she'll say "look Mommy! There's daddy's truck!", yet no other make/model/similar color will get that reaction.  She knows exactly which Honda Pilot is ours, she can spot Vovo's Honda Civic, our neighborhood friend's GMC Acadia in a pearl white color, etc.  I really don't know how she retains all these details, but she has yet to make a mistake on these cars that recognizes!
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Of course, there are some mispronunciations that she does that are simply too cute not to document:
- When singing "The Muffin Man", she will say "do you know the muffin man who lives in Chauney Lake?" - when it should be "do you know the muffin man that lives on Drury Lane"
- When she doesn't sleep well, she complains that her "forthhead" hurts, while putting her hand on her forehead. Too funny!
- When singing Cinderella's song "Sweet, sweet nightingale", Ava was certain it was "sweep, sweep night in jail; sweep, sweep, night in jail".  So cute, but she is super stubborn and refused to believe me when I tried to correct her.  She accepted it was "nightingale", but certain I was wrong about the "sweet" part, after all Cinderella is sweeping when she is singing that song.  And whenever she wants to argue that she is right about something, she will say "Well that is what Quequel and Tia Stela told me it is, so that's what it is!"

Ava's artistic talents

So I was not aware of Ava's artistic talents, but discovered them two days ago...

Ava: mommy, does a mouse have one or two eyes?
Me: (amused by the question, but I thought she was just coloring in a coloring book) It has 2 eyes, but looks like just one if you are looking at him from the side.

A moment later...

Ava: mommy! Look at the mouse I drew and the snake!
Me: wow Ava! Where did you learn how to do that?
Ava: I just knew how!

Now I have zero artistic talent, and I'm her mother, so perhaps I'm a little biased, but I thought those were both pretty good!

My little singers...

Alex, in addition to talking a WHOLE lot more, he has started singing a lot too.  It is fairly easy to guess what song he is singing, even if he is not fully enunciating all the lyrics. 

I promise to get a better video of this soon, but I couldn't resist posting this short little one of him and Ava singing.  I caught just the end of their Old MacDonald and then Alex starting off with Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.  His self-congratulatory "good job!" could not be any cuter!  He would even grin and say it again every time he watched the video of himself.

Of course Ava won't be outdone by her baby brother, so as soon as he finished his song, she started singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider... in Spanish! :)