Sugar.

The Easter Bunny went a tad overboard this year. He likes to shop, you know.




Calvin's favorite item of the bunch? A red shovel from the $1 Spot at Target. Oh, and the blue Color Wonder marker. Which he's been carrying around ever since.


We were so late for church (well, we got there 15 minutes early, but on Easter that's like being 30 minutes late) that we had to sit in the overflow seating in the hallway, so we didn't even attempt photos beforehand. And as soon as we got home, Calvin fell in the dirt. Luckily he was totally on board with sitting still for photos and we were able to get these gems. [Insert eye roll here]







And then we happily blew bubbles together...for about five minutes.


Sugar high + taking away bubbles + the word "naptime" = not a good combo.


After a blessedly long nap with his red shovel and blue marker, Cal was back in action and ready for a trip over to Grandma and Grandpa's house.


A brief stop mid-Easter Egg hunt to enjoy some jelly beans. I believe there were a few choruses of "Mmmm! MMMMMMMM!" Kid loves sugar.


And another quick stop to hug Madelyn.


Sad to say these eggs were not colored by my two year old, but instead by my husband and me. It seems my crafting skills do not translate to egg coloring. I do like the drawing Nate did of Matilda on the blue one, however.


So thankful for a beautiful day with my precious family and the gift of salvation through Jesus' death and resurrection. And also for Peeps. Mmmmm. I love sugar, too.

Quiz time.

I say "that's right!" about 600 times in this 50-second clip and the ending's a little rough (hey, best I could do on my cell phone), but I hope you can look past all that to see the cuteness that is my child.



Not sure what I love more: Calvin calling me Nate, or his garbled "helpin' the sick people!"

It's really hard not to eat him up some days.

A modern classic.

Last night before bed, Calvin starting singing Jesus Loves Me for the first time by himself. It was precious. That is, until he got to the middle.

"Jesus wuv me this. I. know. Bible tell me so. Wittle wuns to beeeeeyond!"

Um, what?

I asked him to sing it again with the same results, only this time when he got to the "to beeeeeyond!" part, he pumped his little arm up in the air.

Ohhhhhhhh.

He was singing the Buzz Lightyear version of Jesus Loves Me. Of course.

Thank you, Disney-Pixar.

Party on.

Nate's Grandma Adele turned 90 in March. To celebrate our very spunky and beloved grandmother, the entire Breyer clan made the four-hour trek up to Moorhead, Minnesota (Fargo, essentially) for her birthday celebration.




How did we survive four hours in a restaurant with a 23-month-old, you ask?

Well, we brought a babysitter.


Nate and I are excellent parents. Trust me, we adhere to all guidelines set forth from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Except for the one about no TV before age two. And a few others.

Luckily the glazed-over DVD watching was only during the dinner portion of the evening. Before dinner we had appetizers. And after appetizers we had cake.

A beautiful birthday cake, which Calvin stuck his fingers in almost immediately. I assure you, this was done for quality control purposes, and not because Nate and I were having a glass of wine and not paying attention. Excellent parents, remember?





Grandma Adele's siblings came from North Dakota and Montana for the party. Are they the cutest bunch ever, or what?


Once Calvin saw the car, it was all over. He's obsessed with keys and unlocking car doors right now. Unfortunately this car door doesn't open. Upon this realization, Calvin informed Aunt Mary he needed to come back into the party to get his tools. I hadn't anticipated a need for tools of any kind during a 90-year-old's birthday party and therefore found myself ill-equipped to fulfill his request. I sent him back with a wooden knife instead.


Close enough.

At the conclusion of the party we tried to take a family photo. I have to say, the one we used on our Christmas card was truly a God-given miracle. Because most of our pictures look a lot like this.


Or, more frequently, this.


Based on these photos you might think our child doesn't know how to smile for the camera. We sure did. But then he started rolling around on the restaurant floor (yeah, I know) and we ended up with this.


Um, hello. Will someone please cue the heavenly chorus? There's an angel in our midst! (What a faker.)

The hotel stay brought more fun. For Calvin, mostly. Not a big fan of sharing a hotel room with my kid, personally.





On the way home Sunday afternoon we stopped at Nate's alma mater for lunch. Nate got a new sweatshirt, Calvin got a new t-shirt, and I got this cute picture of the two of them.


And then we headed home. Just me, Nate, Calvin, and his blessed babysitter.

Bedtime routine.

Calvin wants me to lie on the floor with him before bed now. The dining room floor, usually.

"Mama. Lay down. You lay down right here!" Earnest hand motions from my sweet baby, who is really a baby no more.

He plops on his tummy, kicks his little legs against the floor. "Mama! You come right now!"

Coming, sweetie.

He pats the spot where I should go, and we lie side by side on the small patch of rug that hasn't been claimed by our massive dining room table. He looks at me and I look at him and we both grin. And then we giggle and whisper and make silly faces, nose to nose.

He wraps his little arm around my neck and pats my back: once, twice, three times.

"Hi Mama!" he says, delighted by the silliness and our shared out-of-the-ordinary vantage point.

We take blurry pictures of ourselves on my phone. I cover his cheeks in kisses, Mattie comes by to cover his face in licks. He gently plays with one of my stray curls, then offers me his hand to hold. We lie there, side by side. He kicks his legs against the floor as I tell myself, over and over again,

Remember this.

Monday mashup.

1. This weekend I went to the zoo, went to the park (3x), ran around our backyard (literally), and did some vigorous mall walking in the form of shopping. Today, my rear end hurts. And so do both my legs and one of my hips. Apparently four months of sitting on the couch makes normal activities such as walking seem like a full-blown workout. Good to know.

2. Also good to know: Forever 21 has awesome jewelry for next to nothing. We're talking practically free. While I unapologetically judge those who are of a certain age and wear clothing from places like that, jewelry is another story. The cheap teenager stores are really the best when it comes to trendy and inexpensive accessories. And when you have a kid or five clawing at you all day, inexpensive is the only way to go.

3. I have been listening to Mumford & Sons on repeat all day. Good music for writing.

4. When I was a day camp counselor in college, I worked with 11- and 12-year-old girls. No one wanted to work with them, including me, because they were a bit of a pain — loud, sassy, boy crazy, prissy. I got assigned to that group against my will, and you know what? I loved them. Of all the kids I counseled, they were my favorite. I was reminded of this when, while chasing my son around the park last week, these two girls who were a bit younger, probably 8 or 9, came up to me. "I like your shoes," one said. "Me too, I like them too!" the other one chimed in. "They are so pretty. And I like your phone. It's REALLY cute." "OOH, I like it, too!" "I just like everything you have on. You look pretty." "I think so, too!" Oh, dear girls. Flattery will get you EVERYWHERE. And so will being sweet to my son (which they absolutely were). And then, yesterday, another little girl around the same age: "I like your baby. He's soooo cute." Both times, these girls followed me around the playground the entire time we were there, chatting about my clothes and my shoes and my baby. If I never have a daughter of my own, maybe I'll just hang out at the park a lot and wait for cute little girls to chat with me. Because that doesn't sound weird or creepy at all.

5. Do you know about Pinterest? If you're a hoarder of inspiration and ideas like I am, you should join. Look me up if you do!

6. I love my husband because he does things like bake a crazy good tres leche cake while I'm at work all day.

7. I am mad at my husband because he does things like bake a crazy good tres leche cake while I'm at work all day and on a diet.

8. But then he buys me tulips and hydrangeas and writes me a note about how much I am loved, appreciated, and respected at home after a long day of work where I feel neither loved, appreciated, nor respected, and I think - okay, I guess diet sabotage in the form of delicious cake isn't THAT big a deal. I should probably have another piece.

9. And now you understand why I will be dieting from here until forever.

10. After the success of my plate wall, I am now on a mission to finish decorating my awkwardly spaced living room. How a 12x15 room can ever be large enough for anything to feel awkwardly spaced is beyond me, but I blame the stained glass piano window. It's pink and off-center and it drives me BANANAS. But I've been chipping away at that room slowly and surely and I think things are starting to come together. Have I mentioned lately how much I love Etsy?

11. I am going to make two of these boxed rings jewelry storage pieces for my bathroom. What a cool idea. My long-been-blank bathroom wall thanks you, Martha.

12. I am a very slow decorator, in case you haven't noticed.

13. For a long time I overlooked Payless for shoes, thinking they were all cheap and ugly. But that was back when I had disposable income. Now I'm a mom on a budget, so I decided to take a second look. Glad I did, too. On two separate occasions I bought these and these for work this summer. And now that I look at both of them together, I realize I kind of have a thing for fabric peep toe shoes with bow-like adornment.

14. Cell phones are handy for capturing mother/son ice cream silliness at the park on a Sunday afternoon. Not pictured: the two mini DQ Blizzards we devoured in record time. The best thing about eating ice cream with a not-quite-two-year-old is the fact that I can order my two favorite flavors and eat the big candy/cookie chunks from both since he is just happy to have ice cream and doesn't even realize there are chunks available to him. (Sorry, sweetie. Your Mom loves food.)


15. I am addicted to Mad Men. That is all.

March 21 means nothing around here.

I am officially declaring December 2010 through March 2011 the longest winter ever.

E-V-E-R. IN THE WORLD.

How depressing is it that we just saw our bushes for the first time since November? Nate put Christmas lights in them and then we got two million inches of snow and never even turned them on. It's APRIL, for pete's sake.

Didn't spring officially start like three weeks ago?

Blurg.

Luckily, I've lived in Minnesota long enough to know the only way to survive winter is to get out of your house. To get up every morning, put on 87 layers of clothing, and say to frostbite and negative temps and snow piles taller than your toddler, "I'm not scared of you!" before going about your day.

But, yeah. We didn't do that. Mostly we huddled under a blanket and watched TV. I'm lazy, and 87 layers of clothing is both annoying and unflattering. I'd rather just wait it out.

Which I did. I waited and waited, changed the channel, ate a few too many ice cream sandwiches, and then waited some more.

And here it is. Spring. FINALLY. Will someone please cue the Hallelujah Chorus? I like this version.

To celebrate (slightly) warmer temps, we ventured out to the Minnesota Children's Museum — first by ourselves, then with friends.













Then we moved on to the Minnesota Zoo.









And Ikea, where we purchased a table Calvin insisted on helping Nate assemble.



And finally, to the park. Where we've spent a solid 45 minutes every day this week.





Oh, and Uncle Jordan brought over a puppy one day. That was fun, too.




So long, winter. Don't let the door hit ya.