Our Little Gymnast

My friend Jeanie is a gymnastics coach, and whenever I would see her we would always talk about how I wanted to sign Brett up for one of her classes. Well, with the craziness of life and other activities, I would forget until the next time I saw her - and this went on for probably the past year or so! Well, I am happy to say that I finally followed through and signed my boy up! The session actually started earlier this year, but Jeanie let us sneak in half way through :-) It's a group of  7 kids (5 girls and 2 boys) - the perfect size class for Brett - and he absolutely loves it!! I can't believe I didn't sign him up sooner! Jeanie is an amazing coach - encouraging, patient, silly, and knows just how to get these energized kids to listen...and Brett adores her! He looks forward to gymnastics every week and smiles throughout the whole class. He often asks me "when are we going to gymnastics?!" and looks forward to the class all week long. Below are some of the many pictures I took of him in action :-)

They start out doing their stretches and warming up.

Next, the kids sit on their carpet squares and do floor activities.

I absolutely LOVE this picture of Brett and Emma making googly eyes at each other :-) Brett has good taste, don't ya think?

After that, the real fun begins! 

"Follow coach Jeanie!"

At the end of class each child gets a stamp and a gymnastics coloring sheet to take home. Brett looks forward to this every time :-)

Yep, we have a little gymnast on our hands :-)

A Sick Easter

The Easter bunny was extra generous this year and may have gone a little overboard! My mom took one look at everything Brett got and said "yep, he's an only child! Lol!". I can't help myself....I love shopping for new toys, especially one's that promote learning and imaginative play :-) Unfortunately Brett woke up on Saturday morning with the stomach flu and he was still quite sick on Easter. He finally rolled out of bed at 10:30, found his Easter basket and barely had the energy to look through everything. He even told me he was too sick to smile for a picture. Oh, break my heart! I was able to snap a couple pictures before he headed to the couch and promptly threw up. Poor guy! He kept telling me how sad he was that he was sick :-(

He laid on the couch all morning, napping and watching TV. Then later on asked in his sweet little voice "Can we dye Easter eggs, mommy?" I knew he felt awful but still wanted to something fun on Easter...so off to the kitchen we went. I bought brown eggs this year as well as the white ones to compare the different colors that they turn. 

As soon as we were done dying Easter eggs, Brett asked to take a nap in our bedroom and slept all afternoon. Kyle stayed home with him while I went over to my aunt and uncles with the rest of my family for our annual Chinese Easter dinner (don't ask!). I felt bad leaving Kyle behind, but he insisted that I go and have a good time. What a guy! 

Brett felt a little better today so he finally got to go on an Easter egg hunt in our backyard. Last year when he did this he was in a T-shirt - this year, a winter coat and mittens! Where are you, spring?

And he's off...

He must have been feeling better because I got smiles :-)

And here he is examining the goods :-) I didn't want to fill every egg with candy this year, so he also found money and stickers inside. 

 It was definitely a bummer that Brett was sick on yet another holiday (I swear that's the only time he gets sick!), but we made up for it with fun activities before and after Easter. Earlier today when Brett and I were snuggling on the couch he asked "Mommy, can we talk?" I replied that I would love to talk to him, but what about? "Can we talk about what Easter will be like next year?" Yes we can sweet boy, yes we can :-)

Easter Fun

Easter is one of my most favorite holidays. Not because I'm religious (because I'm definitely not), but because of everything it means to ME. To me it symbolizes new beginnings, a much needed climate change (warm weather please!), and all the happiness that spring brings. The sunshine finally appeared today and over and over I heard Brett's sweet voice ask, "It's spring now, right Mommy? The snow is gone and won't come back until Christmas!". Oh do I hope he's right!  One of the best things about this holiday (or any holiday really) is the activities that go along with it that make the season come alive.  Our first adventure, at the beginning of the month, was to go with our friends to visit the Easter Bunny at the mall. Last year, Brett nervously insisted I sit with him for the picture - and this year - he was one year older and took one look at the creepy "Easter Bunny" and said "no way!". Okay, he didn't really say those exact words, but his expression said it all. I can't blame him either. The fake Easter Bunny is scary. He still kinda freaks ME out!! But hey, atleast I tried. Our next Easter activity was at the library here in Chelsea. They brought out real rabbits to show all the kids - and they even let one hop around! Brett's face lit up as soon as he laid eyes on those sweet bunnies, and although he was shy at first, he quickly warmed up and sat with all the kids as the rabbit hopped around. He gave him nose kisses, pet his soft fur, and was one of the last kids sitting there before the Easter story time began. He reminded me so much of myself - his love of animals is so apparent and my heart melts when I see how happy they make him :-) Kyle is lucky we have two cats and a small house - because otherwise we would already have a home filled with all sorts of pets like when I was a kid! 

Our next activity was to make Easter cupcakes! Brett helped measure and pour the ingredients, waited semi patiently while they baked, and then the best part came....decorating them with SPRINKLES!  Here are some pictures :-)

Later that day we went outside to enjoy the sunshine and make "Bunny Dust. This has become an annual tradition of ours, and Brett loves it! He mixes all the ingredients together and then the night before Easter sprinkles it along our walkway and sidewalk to help the Easter bunny find out house. That's important, ya know :-)

Unfortunately, Brett came down with the flu today (Saturday) and felt miserable. The poor kid always seems to get sick on holidays! Since he felt so yucky he asked if I could sprinkle the bunny dust outside for him tonight, so that is what I did :-) We had plans to do an Easter egg hunt today and dye eggs, but I guess that will have to wait until he is better - which will hopefully be tomorrow!! 

Fun at Home

During the week when Kyle is at work, Brett and I have many things to do to keep us busy....preschool, errands, play dates, the library, outdoor play, gymnastics, etc.. But some times it's fun to just stay home and play! Here are some of Brett's favorite things to do at home.

Build with Lincoln Logs,

Puzzles,

Play in his "fort" that Kyle made for him,

Practice learning letters and their sounds with these words puzzles,

And, of course, art projects and crafts!

He also spends lots of time building with legos, playing with his cars and trucks, and setting up his space station :-). Recently Brett has really taken an interest in letters and the sounds they make --- and he has even started writing! I will definitely have to take some pictures of that to post later :-) Board games are another favorite in our house, and family game night is always a big hit!