Easter 2013

We had a wonderful Easter this year filled with food, family and an egg hunt that Claire actually got to participate in!! Honestly, I didn't really think this year would be that different than last year since Claire still isn't running around, but I was pleasantly surprised when she was able to collect a few eggs. OK, so we helped a little bit by leading her to where the eggs were. It was all her doing however, to decide what she was suppose to be picking up and putting in her basket. OK, so we practiced at home a little bit before the big day, but still, she did awesome. The biggest distraction for her were the eggs she'd already collected. She kept wanting to pull them out and inspect them instead of looking for more.

We didn't let her dye eggs, but she had fun trying to put stickers on them.

Easter baskets for everyone!

I love how her little skirt poofed out when she'd squat.

Claire can't decide which egg she likes best.

The rest of the day was spent eating tasty food and hanging out with our family and friends. We ate a delicious ham lunch, played Ticket to Ride and drank more wine than one should on a religious holiday! I can't wait for next year when Claire can be running around the yard carrying her own little basket, but this Easter still proved to be a lot of fun and pretty darn cute to watch.

Halloween Decorations

I am very excited to report that I finally actually decorated for a holiday! I have always been a holiday decorator, even when I was renting with roommates who thought I was a bit strange for decorating the house when no one else was into it. Even for minor holidays I like to put up at least a few things as a reminder that there is a special day coming. I love that holidays are a time when you can see our shared culture and can take a day out of the normal march of time and make it special (even if its a silly made up  kind of special like American style St. Patrick's day and Cinco de Mayo). Who wouldn't like an excuse to have fun?

In the last year, however, I have found something that would be strong enough to dampen my decorator's spirit, morning sickness and a very young baby. Now that Claire is old enough to entertain herself a bit, I have no excuse to not bust out my bins of decorations and channel my inner Martha Stewart. Considering Halloween is one of my favorite holidays I think its appropriate that I got back into the swing of things with it. I don't think I go overboard, I just like to add touches of the holiday around the house on bookshelves and table tops mostly. Here are a few pictures of my Holiday/Fall decor. 

Decorating also gave me a cleaning bug. I scrubbed down my front door for the first time ever (though I ussually use Halloween as as good excuse to leave up spiderwebs) and purchased a new welcome mat from Costco.