discovering puddles

Today we met some friends in the village. (Believe it or not, this is an unposed shot. They were just hanging out like this.)

The boys couldn't believe their luck when they were let loose in a playground filled with puddles. For Quincy it was his first full-on puddle experience. (Note: We've gone puddle hunting several times since!)

morning tea

This morning Quincy and I got busy "baking yummy scones" (and eating knobs of butter)...

because we had to prepare for a morning tea fit for three queens and a young prince.

the air force helicopter

Today Jeremy wished he was a stay-at-home dad. You see, we got word that the Air Force helicopter was going to be doing some drills in the area. Around lunchtime they were going to let kids on board. What an experience.

Quincy was terrified by the noise as we watched the massive thing take off and land several times, so I wasn't sure if he'd go in. But, in true Q-fashion, he couldn't resist all those levers and dials.

We even got to see them refuel. A dream come true for our truck-mad son.

Oh and in the shot of the air force soldier explaining things to the older boys, Quincy walked up to them saying "helping army worker guy". I think his belief in his abilities might be slightly inflated!

it's official. he's one of the dogs.

I went to check what he was up to. I found him chewing on a cricket bat while the dogs chewed on their bones.

Easter: sunny and 34C/92F

Seeing as how Quincy is still green from yesterday and we ran out of time, I opted for lazy Easter eggs this year.

Q loved his beautiful German egg from Oma and Opa. He couldn't get enough of those chickens. And I'm not sure how many times we read Spot's Easter Surprise, courtesy of his Godmama.

Easter Egg Hunt. Take two. Quincy clearly needed that trial run yesterday, because today he was a seasoned professional. It didn't hurt that he had no competition!

Some of the eggs contained little "worker guys". A big hit. Still in hide 'n seek mode, he had fun hiding them in the sandbox.

We ate a lot, including way too many iced sugar cookies, after they were used to make "biscuit traffic". Of course.

What nearly two-year-old (gasp) gives away his marshmallow peeps?? He did love saying "marshmallow peep" though.

And just for the record, Quincy ate $5 worth of blueberries this morning. Before breakfast.

And just for good measure, an embarrasing picture of the dogs. And Q, for that matter.

first Easter Egg Hunt

Today we hosted our friends down the road for an Easter morning tea.

The littlest of the little ones slept through most of it, but Q and his best mate had a ball getting filthy and colouring Easter eggs for their first time.

The morning would not have been complete without an Easter Egg Hunt. Also a first. You would have never guessed his friend was a novice. She kind of ran circles around him. As you can see in the photos, he regularly left his basket unattended and was oblivious to a tiny bit of pilfering. :)

the lion chair

Once upon a time when Jeremy was 10-and-a-half months old, his mum took two photos of him on a lion chair. He was wearing a gorgeous blue ensemble handknitted by his grandmother and holding a colourful, fabric ball.

Fast forward to April Fools Day 2008 when Quincy was 10-and-a-half months old, and his mama took about 6 billion photos of him on the very same lion chair. Obviously we still have the chair. We love it but we struggle to find the perfect place for it. But that's beside the point. He does have a very similar colourful, fabric ball, but his white bodysuit had to do.

Fast forward again to today, about a year later, and another couple billion shots, and I am amazed by his growth, by everything he's learned, by the little boy he is becoming. I am amazed by all that I see in those beautiful eyes.

Notice that this time around, he was treating the chair like a real lion.

happy birthday mama!

I know it's not until tomorrow in your neck of the woods, but I just couldn't wait to share this!

I think I definitely need to watch The Sound of Music this weekend; what about you?

Have a happy happy day and a fabulously healthy year ahead...

decisions. decisions.

A box of chocolate roses arrived in the post today from Quincy's Nana and Poppa. Q couldn't believe his luck. I told him he could have two. He seriously spent 30 minutes emptying the box one-by-one and making the difficult decision. In the end, he went with pink (hazelnut whirl) and purple (dairymilk). Solid choices, I reckon.

This morning the girls down the road came to play. Q absolutely adores Priya, as if you couldn't tell from this photo. Later I had to ask Jeremy if Q ever looks at me that way. I hope so.

In other fabulous news, after hearing "Mama, fix it pease pease" countless times, he recently learned to put his road together. It still takes him a great deal of effort and he would much prefer it if I continued doing it for him. Possibly forever.

imperfect perfection

Life has been a bit of a rollercoaster around here. I used to love them, but this one... Well, I'm ready to get off.

Anyway, this morning, with the realization that Easter is just days away, Q and I began tackling the house that has been begging for a clean. Then we broke out the Easter decorations. (Jeremy, now might be a good time to take down the Christmas lights. Just an idea.)

Well, as I occasionally do, I got fixated on getting a perfect picture of Q with this adorable wreath my mom sent us a few years ago. (I love that she passed on her love of holiday traditions and decorations to me.) The no-pants and gumboots weren't really part of the plan. Nor was his complete disdain for the camera or inability to sit still. Even bribery with miniature marshmallows backfired.

Let's just say that this shot was not really what I had in mind. At all. But it is absolutely perfect in its imperfection. It makes me smile.

Right now I am overwhelmed by too many fleeting memories. Hopefully I can document them soon. One way or another.