So, Marc and I are fans of the Fail Blog. As a result fail has become part of our every day vocabulary. Whenever something doesn't work out as planned, breaks, or is just silly we simply announce "FAIL" then giggle a bit and move on.

On Sunday morning, Leo showed Marc how closely he pays attention to our vocabulary. At swimming lessons Leo was practising pushing off from the wall into Marc's arms. He's gotten pretty good and usually shoots himself a good distance with his head underwater and everything. One time he must have slipped and instead of moving forward he just kind of sunk. Without missing a beat Leo shouted "FAIL" and went back to the wall to try again. Marc is proud of his boy not only for his swimming ability but for his perfect application of "fail." I wonder what will be next for our Net savvy 4 year-old?

Lovely lady

Oh how we love the weekend!!!

Today Clara and I celebrated Earth Day at the UU church we've been attending this Winter while the boys went to their swimming lesson. Clara's RE group got up and performed We've Got the Whole World In Our Hands in American Sign Language! They were fantastic, they'd been practising for weeks and once again I got to see how much my daughter LOVES to perform. She told me in her own words what a rush she'd felt after the performance. In fact, after the service at coffee hour a gentleman came up and told me that I have to "get that girl in theater camp this Summer - she'll love it!"

To continue on our Earth Day theme we ended up taking a family bike ride to Parc Lafontine. The artificial lake has not been filled yet so Leo and Clara got to spend some time walking through the pebbled bottom throwing sticks and rocks in puddles that have formed.

That is Leo way out there.

I never remember to get a picture of Leo and I riding our bike so here it is resting at the park.

YIKES!!!

There is not too much to say about Easter Sunday itself, it is the day we decided to rest. Unfortunately, Marc and I forgot about the early start we'd be enjoying when we stayed up too late on Friday night. Our excited little Easter fans were up and begging us to join them in the living room while they tore the place apart to look for eggs that the Easter Bunny had left behind. So, at 7am we begrudgingly hauled ourselves out of bed and oversaw the annual egg hunt. Problem was, at 7:30 it was all over and Marc and I were up for the day!!! Marc managed to solve his share of the dilemma by falling asleep on the couch. I'll spare him by not posting the dozens of pictures the kids took of him while he slept! There are pictures of him alone, pictures of Leo sitting in front of him, and pictures of Clara with her big, gap-toothed grin sitting with her Papa who is oblivious to it all.

On Easter Monday we were able to visit with the family out in Bromont, after a yummy roast beef lunch we all head out (at a much more reasonable hour I may add) to do our final hunt of the season. This time E.B. you know, Easter Bunny had another plan, he hid his treasures outside. That E.B. is a tricky little guy, the kids had to really keep their eyes peeled to find all the golden bunnies hopping about the yard.

A beautiful Spring afternoon in Bromont.

Clara and Leo managed to spend most of the afternoon outdoors either helping with a bit of yard work, playing in the tree house or rambling in the woods. Thanks to Cathy, Clara even came home with a pet worm named Simone! So, as I'm sure we all can imagine after such a busy and fun weekend full of activity the car ride home quickly went from smiles and chatter to lolling heads and the sound of heavy breathing.

Before and after pictures from the drive home. Lucky Ann Marie right?

On this our second day of the Easter break were were graced with the presence of our favorite cousin and nephew (yes, and his parents). As always, it was so much fun to hang out with the little guy. He really loved our drawer of marbles, and found all kinds of ways to play with them with cups and bowls, etc. I wonder if that will be one of those weird, vivid memories he'll have of us as he gets older. I still remember a few things about visits to my cousin's house when I was young, like the sweet cereals they had in their kitchen and the talking Sesame Street toy they had in the basement.

Marc and Ashley were in charge of deciding on a dinner menu and doing the shopping for it, I think that may have been one of the best ideas I've ever had! They came back with ingredients for some decadent pizzas. Papa T was able to join us sometime in the afternoon and I'm not really sure how we spent out time, we just did which means it was comfortable and relaxed - a good way to be with family :) I do remember the hockey game we watched after dinner, we feel it is important to teach Malcolm at a young age that he too is a Montreal Canadiens fan!

Learning how to open a bottle of wine

Clara took our picture while we were watching the game. It also clearly shows the lack of front teeth she is dealing with right now :)

A happy but, sleepy Malcolm and Ashley.

It was a Good Friday, we spent it with the Duponts :) What started out as brunch plans turned into an all day affair. In between meals we did some egg dying using food colouring and several different techniques. The truth is, Karen and I probably had the most fun of all with this project, it was fun to play with the colours and see what we could create.

Clara and Leo introduced everyone to Little Big Planet and the giggling went on for what seemed like hours. After dinner the 4 kids went in the backyard and managed to build a "fort" out of bricks that were stacked up in the yard. Once they had this fort, they were lost in some strange imaginative world until it was dark and cold and we insisted they come back inside. All the while, I talked the grown ups into playing a game of Trivial Pursuit with me, I don't know if I've played that game since Clara was born!

When it was time to say goodbye to our guests it was well past bedtime and I had two extremely tired kiddos on my hands. Leo was so tired and upset at the mere mention of going to sleep (how dare I suggest that as a remedy for his cranky mood) that he yanked his comforter and pillow from the bed and, with a stubborn glare told me he was going to just sit there, he would NOT sleep. Within seconds of his defiant statement I saw him roll over onto his side and let his eye lids go... and what did I do, I left him there I went off to find the camera so I could document the outcome of his 4 year-old resolve!