Easter Highlights

We really had a great Easter weekend!  James and I had a sitter Friday night so we could attend the Good Friday service. The service was so nice, but it was long.  It was the fist time I had been to the Greek church on Good Friday.  Next year if we make it, we'll make sure we eat dinner before we go. We were starving at 10pm. But it was a good reason to go out for dinner afterward, just the two of us.

7 Dz dyed eggs

Saturday we did yard work and made sure all the food was ready for our guest on Sunday.  It was a long busy day.


Owen was being shuffled around and I think all the commotion and teething put him in a bad mood. So much so, I had to take a Mommy time out.  Lol  Later in the day, Elaine and her family stopped over and then Chrissy came over to pick up the eggs and we had a great time chatting. Owen's Egg Hunt with my MomGroup was rained out that morning so I had to get rid of a bunch of eggs. Like 5 dz!

Dying eggs in the evening was therapeutic for me

I got so into it

And loved dying the brown eggs they were unique

I miss doing creative projects - this was so much fun. I felt like I was in color theory class!

Saturday night I finished up the Easter Bunny cake.  I think it was the best one yet.  It's face was very sweet this year.  I decided at the last minute to leave off the wiskers and it really made a big difference. The kids really love this cake.  My Mom made this when we were kids.
It doesn't seem like Easter unless we have the Bunny cake.

His ears are different shapes, kinda like Emma's :)

Sunday Morning we were up early and getting ready for church.  James dressed Owen in his suit while I finished up.  It was so cute to look over and see Owen on his lap with a tie and sport coat on.  I thought, wow he's truing into a little man.

Boy, he looked so much like James that morning.

Dressed and ready for church - we were 5 min. ahead of schedule too

 

 

At church with Daddy

He had a hard time sitting still

Grrrr, Mom stop taking my picture!

This is Owen's serious face

He did well considering it was an hour long

We kept passing him back and forth

I was tired too

Cutting a tooth on the bottom

The church had an Easter Egg hunt for all the little children.  Owen didn't know what to think.  He was more interested in picking up sticks and bark on the playground.   But it was a good photo opp. :)

We headed home for a late lunch and another egg hunt, but we had to take family pictures with these beautiful trees before we could leave. At home we had a traditional Greek Easter menu with a little Southern flare.  I did a good job at preparing this time around so it all went smoothly.  Well, there was a slight issue with the lamb being too rare and the smoke alarm kept going off, but it wouldn't be right if there weren't a little drama, right ;)

photos outside the church

my boys

we took this one ourselves - cheese!

smell the flowers

the pollen made him sneeze

being silly

holding Owen up so he can smell the flowers

Cousins: Colt and Chloe

Aunt Cassandra

the kids table- Owen wanted to pull the table cloth off

and he's after Chloe's drink

Uncle Chris and Owen

those long arms come in handy

the Easter Bunny finally arrived at 6:30pm

books and toys and a few chocolates for Mom and Dad

Poor Owen was absolutely exhausted after all the festivities time for bath and bed

Fish Face

These pictures are funny...Owen kept looking out the door.  He was laser focused on something...I had NO idea that Emma and Leo had gotten out and were running down the street.  Owen did!  I thought he was cute just standing in the door looking out so I wanted to take a video and pics of him.  It wasn't until after I put the camera down and the neighbors called and said, "Amanda your dogs are out AGAIN!"

This is the second time in two weeks.  Last week Emma and Leo ran down the street and went into a ladies house who was having new carpet put in.  She said she heard some ticking on the floor up in her kitchen and ran upstairs to check it out.  That would have been Emma's nails clicking around on her floor!  Emma and Leo we're all laid out on her tile, hot and sweaty.  Can you imagine?! Luckily for us, she loves dogs and didn't call Animal Control.  I had to drive with Owen down the street and pick them up.  It was a mess!  Emma, Leo and Owen all in the middle seat on the ride back home.  What a sight that was!  Leo wanted to get in the front seat with me.  Owen was crying and Emma looked like she need a Valium!  I thought, please someone give me the strength to make it through the rest of this day! 

James has since put new locks on the fence so I hope this doesn't happen again.  It's kinda embarrassing and not to mention they could be hit by a car.  I know my neighbors are always talking about us.....  I never knew we'd live SUCH exciting lives. Who knew?  I think about that song, ":Lets give um something to talk about." It plays in my head  quite a bit.  I can say though, that Maria across the street is such a blessing and lovely person.  She always reassures us that we are normal, nice people.  And that we should just tune out the negativity.  She says, remember you live in between two families who never had any pets or children, they just don't get your life.  She is speaking from experience, a Mother of 3 and a Grandmother of 15 (maybe more).  She knows what crazy is.

Well, I hope you enjoy these pictures and this little video.

Owen loves to bark like a dog.  Ruff Ruff! Ruff Ruff!  He's got it down. 

We get such a kick out of him doing this. I love how I ask him if they are in the back yard.  Hahaha!  This is so funny looking back on it all!

PS. I'm sorry for the surprise ending.

Milk Man

We found out the a creamery nearby delivers fresh milk and products from the farm. I looked into it and it's about the same price as organic milk in the stores. So why not? We now have a Milk Man named, Warren who brings us milk every Friday morning from, South Mountain Creamery. 
We leave the cooler on the porch and he leaves the milk!

This is Warren and the milk truck

I really wanted to give Owen the best milk and eggs possible after going through all the weird rashes and digestion issues lately. The Allergist never found him to be truly allergic to dairy products, but said he could have had a slight sensitivity.  Thank Goodness! We are clear to enjoy EGGS once again! And we've been eating them daily!

Fresh milk (pasteurized) in glass jars

Owen is going on 3 weeks with no colds, runny noses, allergies or rashes! I've gotten very strict with his diet and he isn't getting any snack foods (gold fish, puffs, crackers those sorts of products) Trying to keep refined foods out of his diet.  He gets about 2-3 animal crackers a day and that's it. And this is just until we polish off this massive bucket I bought awhile back at Costco.  I can't throw them out!   I will say, it's very hard to be uber strict, especially when we are out  and someone offers him an Oreo cookie.  What can you say to that? :) I'm not flipping out about it. I figure I can't control his diet forever, but at home I can do my best to see that he's eating well.  I will say, he LOVES pasta and James and I do as well, so that is one thing I can't completely take out of his diet.  I did find some sprouted grain pasta in the organic section.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't white pasta either.

Since making these changes he's eating so much better at meal times.  He's throwing less food around and trying so hard to use a spoon to scoop.  He's  eating meats much better now. He likes a little ketchup on it :) Don't we all!  Speaking of throwing food around.  I thew 3 lbs. of dried spaghetti on the floor! Why?  Well, it was an accident!

It was very artful.  It looked so cool!

On this new journey....I've started making my waffles homemade and any bread that Owen eats has a fat served with it (fresh butter, peanut butter,cream cheese, hummus with olive oil). I hope in the months ahead to get some veggies planted in the back yard, learn to make homemade breads, ketchup, mayo, and my own butter and jelly. Mom, you'll have to give a lesson on this when you come up.  James, if  you are reading this...Where can we put a small garden in the back yard?  I just thought of this yesterday and forgot to mention it to you.

All of my ideas are in line with the nutrition class that I attended a few months back. If you are interested in the information I can e-mail you a handout on toddler snack food suggestions. The website is here: Simply Being Well 

The information from the lecture comes from the GAPS diet.  I have read up on it.  There's some great information there, but I DO NOT follow it. I'm not going to give Owen raw milk and I'm not going to keep him from getting his vaccinations every few months.  To each his/her own there, but it's not what I feel is safe for Owen. I'm just putting it out there. I'm not pushing anything, I'm just trying to make my own way :)

The class was very informative, but it was also quite overwhelming for me at the same time.  I felt like I was doing things all wrong.  Then I took a deep breath and said, I'm doing what every other Mom is doing.  I'm feeding my kid and the best way I know how.  I don't have all the answers, but I do my best.  I can make a few changes here and there, but I can't flip out about all this new information.  It's just information.  Take it or leave it!  And after looking closer I do not agree with ALL of the information.  So that's where I am now....

Monica Carrado teaches people how to get back to the basics and how to heal the body through diet.  And it's all such old-school techniques and applications like,  making your own salad dressing ect.  I know it can be done....It just takes time!  Where is the time? I think when Owen is a little bigger we can make it educational for him and he can help me in the kitchen or garden (this dream garden that we don't yet have).  I look forward to those days!  But for now, we are starting out very small.  Making a few changes here and there and seeing where this all takes us.  It's extremely hard to abandon everything you know and trust about food, diet, nutrition and cooking and take off in a totally new direction.  I'm willing to stay the course and see where things go.  It's important to me, so much so, I can see one day all of this coming full circle and it becoming a career of sorts. Don't hold me to this statement, ok.   But it's a goal, a dream, and a hope.  I know this way of thinking is going to catch on with Mainstream American before long.  I foresee it coming.  It's going to be The new thing. Look at Founding Farmers in DC.  That place is packed daily.  BTW, Skye and I finally ate there after trying to get in for 3 years and it was excellent.

Steak N Eggs from: Founding Farmers

This is the direction we all are headed one day. Grocery prices are constantly increasing along with gas...they go hand in hand.  We all know that.  So if things keep going up, we'll all be forced to make our own Mayo, Ketchup and breads.  And on that note, I'll give a shout out to Micheal Ferguson and his family for doing these things even when they probably weren't considered cool or trendy. Keep it going! :) Pass it on to Aidan!

Right now, I'm like a sponge and taking in as much information as I can....just enjoying, learning, and trying new things. And hopefully improving our health and longevity along the way.  You all know I'm passionate about food and cooking so this is just another little avenue I'm currently exploring.  Hope I didn't bore you to tears on this one....it's all about Owen.  He's the star of this show.  He makes me want to do more, to be better, and to learn.  What more can I say :)

He's a  HAM Sandwich!

LOVE YOU OWEN