Happy Easter

Happy Easter!! We had a great day. We have started spending some holidays at home and I must admit that I do miss seeing all of our family but it is really nice not to travel any where for a day or two. We got up this morning and made it to church at 9. The Easter Bunny came while the kids were sleeping but they didn't even notice. When we got home from church Annabelle and Cole looked for their Easter baskets. The Easter Bunny had left little chocolate eggs in the basket and Cole just kept popping them in his mouth wrapper and all. After the kids had a nap we had our Easter lunch: Ham, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes and buns. It was great!! The rest of the afternoon was quite. The kids played and we had some good quality family time. I really like these quiet weekends when we don't have anything planned and we can just stay home and relax. It seems like those types of weekend are so few and far between. We also did take the kids to see the Easter Bunny yesterday - you will notice that there are not any picture though...it did not go well. Annabelle was scared of the Easter Bunny until a few days ago. She didn't want him to come, she didn't want an Easter Basket or to dye eggs but as soon as we told her that he might bring her candy she was good with him. She agreed to go see him so we went to the mall to meet him. As soon as she saw him she wanted nothing to do with him. Cole wasn't sure what to think and I was telling Annabelle that she could go with Cole and sit on his lap. She said no and then proceeded to tell Cole, "Cole, he nice, he not scary, you go sit on his lap." It was funny - she kept reassuring him that it was going to be fine although she was not going to do it. When it was our turn Cole walked right up to him but as soon as we set him on the bunny's lap he got MAD and just started screaming. That ended the trip to see the Easter Bunny, maybe next year will go better.

Heart Attack Hill

Heart Attack Hill took on a whole new meaning tonight! It was finally a nice night outside so after work Brian and Annabelle spend some time outside playing in the snow. Cole and Kristen stayed in the house and I went out for a run. Brian took Annabelle sledding down a little slope, I don't think you can even call it a hill, one day and she LOVED it! She asks to go sledding all the time but it has been so cold we hate to take her outside so tonight she wanted to go sledding. The last time she went she never even came close to the big hill in the back yard, she would veer off to the side and even if she went straight she was far from danger...until today. The first 2 times she did good and again was far from going down the hill. I am not sure what happened the third time but Brian said she started in the same path as before and all of the sudden he could see what was about to happen...out of sight she went. He took off running and yelling for her, we still have a good snow covering so I can imagine running was an easy thing to do. He found her close to the end of our property, she had run into a bush to stop - which turns out was a good thing. Her hat and gloves had flown off and I can imagine she was a little shaken up. Brian managed to get her and the sled back up the hill and luckily all she walked away with from the whole ordeal was a cut on her cheek and it looks like it might be a little black and blue in the morning. We are extremely lucky - that incident could have taken a different direction!

"Me Do It"

We hear this phrase over and over every day. I am proud that we have raised an independent little girl but sometimes it makes up shake our heads. She has to do EVERYTHING herself! She found this headband that she has had since she was 1 year old. She has refused to wear it until the other day and now she wears it everywhere. The real kick is that she has to do it herself so she is quite the sight! Yesterday we went to the grocery store and she put on her headband. She then put on her hat, we have her trained, so by the time we got to the store her hair was all over and she didn't have a care in the world. People would pass us as we were shopping and smile. Annabelle, being the friendly kid that she is, would smile at all of them and say hi. She literally makes us smile everyday!

Bowling

Saturday was a busy day at the Paulson house! Annabelle and Ian had a play date in the morning while Michele had her hair done. They had a great time! Annabelle was tired to start the day - Brian had been gone since Tuesday morning and Annabelle has been going to bed a little later than normal. When I was going to put Cole down for a nap in the morning she actually asked to lay in her crib, she didn't sleep but maybe the quite time was just what she needed. When Ian was here they had some troubles sharing and Annabelle was a little crabby but they had fun and did well together. That afternoon we had a bowling fundraiser for the United Way. I planned to go and take this kids and by the time Ian left there wasn't much time left to nap before we had to leave to go bowling. Cole took a short nap and Annabelle laid down for about 40 minutes. When I was ready to go Annabelle and Cole put on their bowling shirts and off we went. Annabelle had a great time and all of my co-workers were very patient with her and enjoyed letting her help them bowl. We ended up leaving after 2 games because the kids were starting to get restless. We really need to take Annabelle bowling more often - she loves it! She does need a little practice because of coarse she wants to do it herself and about 1/2 the time the ball barley makes it down the ally. All that matters is that she had fun.

Cabin Fever

By this time of the winter cabin fever usually sets in. I think we are going pretty well this winter - the kids don't seem to antsy and we can see the end of the cold in sight. Annabelle has been keeping busy and it isn't to hard to find things for her to do; she really enjoys using her scissors (again another Christmas present that she has just discovered). She has also learned that she enjoys sledding and turns out we don't need a very big hill to keep her happy. I am not sure how Brian got her back in the house but she sure had a great time! Poor Cole was stuck in the house.

Backpack Backpack (sung to the tune of Dora)

Annabelle got a backpack for Christmas and I am surprised it took this long for her to really get into it. She was very instant this fall/early winter that she wanted a backpack and wanted to go to school that I thought when she got it she would just be over the moon. It has been hanging on the same hook by the door for 2 months and she hasn't cared about it at all until this past week. Now we bring it to daycare every day and at home she fills it full of stuff (sometimes it is so full she can hardly stand when she puts it on). The other day she wanted me to make her backpack talk like Dora's backpack - I told her she should ask Grandma and Grandpa to help her with that.