Eggs, Candy,and Bubbles....oh my!

We had quite an enjoyable time with our whirlwind of Easter activities this weekend. This was our fourth Easter and Boston and for the fourth year in a row, we colored Easter Eggs and decorated Easter cookies with our good pals, the Hadleys.

Berkeley was mainly interested in the accessories that came with egg decorating, which was probably for the best. Somehow he got this to stick in his hair and I thought it was pretty creative.

I tried to teach him about how Easter Eggs change colors; he then grabbed two eggs and smashed them together...CRACK! Needless to say, he was banned from touching the eggs the rest of the night.

I just love this picture! He was so excited about our family Easter traditions.

Saturday we hosted a Easter Egg Hunt for a few of Berkeley's friends. It was planned to happen in our neighbor's backyard, which would have been perfect, however the rains came down and they never stopped. So the party moved indoors. All 7 kids and their parents in our place, but it turned out really well and we had a fabulous time.

It turns out Berke has a competitive side to him and really gathered a lot of Easter Eggs. He was not interested in bubbles and pencils; he wanted the eggs and he knew they had "cany" in them.

Per his usual, he turned his Easter Bucket and his two pencils into a new drum set.

Here he is with his little gal pal, Sophie.

Here is the little gang gathered in Berke's room while the Easter Bunny hid the eggs around the house.

Sunday morning, we woke up to find that the Easter Bunny had visited. Berke was SO happy, he ran straight to his basket and had a huge smile on his face the entire morning.
He looked quite dapper in his Easter suit. Our Church meetings were lovely and we were able to listen to music and learn about the Saviors Resurrection.

That night we had Nikki and RyRy and G and Stef over for a delicious Easter dinner. After Berke harassed RyRy for hours on end. Stef and G bought Berkeley an airplane bubble blower and the fun didn't stop all night long.

It was quite a fun and busy weekend (that's how we like it around these parts). I love Easter, as we are able to celebrate the life of Christ, the coming of Spring and enjoy family traditions.

Boston Marathon 2011

One of my favoritest traditions in Boston is cheering on the runners of the Boston Marathon. There is something inspiring about people running a crazy amount of miles through this amazing city I live in. Our favorite spot is at mile marker 19 in Newton, MA just before the runners begin their trek up "Heartbreak Hill." The runners are pretty tired by mile 19 and I can only imagine the dread and fear that enters peoples minds when they get to climb a huge hill after 20 miles of running.

Christian hasn't been able to join us the last two years, but it just so happened that he has Passover Break this week and we all got to go cheer on the athletes together.

The first men we see running, they got to mile 19 around 1 1/2 hours (crazy)! Our American Hero, Ryan Hall was in the top 5 when he passed us, he was looking so good!

The first women runners where making pretty decent time as well. I noticed a theme this year with people wearing bright colored shoes. I even saw 3 people running barefoot.

Berke had a great time at the Marathon, he cheered on a few runners, but mostly he just played with one of his favorite pals, Noah. Noah is an 11 year old boy in our church that Berke loves to beat up, and pretty much anything Noah does makes Berke laugh. Berkeley was Noah's little shadow; Noah was a good sport and let him follow him around without complaining. They really are two peas in a pod.

Berke's sayings

Berkeley has been cracking me up all weekend with the things he says. His vocabulary is expanding so quickly and I love watching him learn and grow. Some of his funny sayings this week:

***We were at the Park on Saturday and and the only kids at the park were Berkeley and a 5 year old little boy. Berkeley walked up to the little boy and pointed to him and said, "What's that Mommy, a boy?"

***I was taking Berkeley's picture and he said, "Cheese.... Oh, that's cute!" He didn't even look at what I had taken, he just knows he is that cute.

***Berkeley has a new book with 100 different machines. There is a whole page full of trains. He opens it up to that page and walks around saying, "I love trains."

***Berke is getting more and more independent. His new routine in the morning when either Christian or I comes in, is to shake his head at us and say, "No, no. Leave. Leave." Then we get him up and change his diaper and he pushes us out of his room, closes the door and says, "Leave, Leave!" I thought this wasn't supposed to happen until like 12 or 13 years?

Here Comes the Sun

The weather Gods were good to us this weekend; it was rainless and sunny and we took full advantage of the clear blue skies.

We took a stroll to the Somerville Castle on Sunday after church. We gathered up the entire family and packed a picnic lunch. We took the 25 minute walk and then let the children run around and play. The Somerville Castle is where the first American flag was raised in the United States; so it is pretty cool piece of history right in our backyard.

My sweet boys

McDuff was SO happy to get out of the house and enjoy some freedom. Duff and Berkeley played together with the best stick in the area. I love watching these two interact.

When people see McDuff they always comment on how big he is. He has always been big for his breed; but he has put on some serious pound this winter thanks to the lack of walks and his new found love for the toddler eating time. So this dog is a HUGE Westie at the moment. We promised McDuff we would help him get off his winter weight by taking him out a lot this summer.
He was chasing sticks and running around like crazy today; he was in complete bliss! (This dog has NEVER chased a stick before, so it was pretty entertaining.)

This weather does something for the spirits; I am so much happier! Thank you Mr. Sunshine (I do not mean Matthew Perry)!

What Happens When the Kid has a Short Nap

It all starts at dinner with "Sleep Eating"

The head starts to droop.....

SPLAT! Right into the mac and cheese

And back up again.

Pretty Much a Rock Star

Tuesday was the big day. The day I took the FOUR hour test to determine if I would become a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW). Once a Social Worker has a Masters Degree they can take the LCSW test and it opens up doors for better jobs. Once you have that license and work for 2 years under a LICSW and receive 100 hours of supervision then you can take the LICSW exam. The exam consists of 170 questions, all of which are multiple choice and made to trick and confuse you. They usually give a brief scenario and expect you to know what type of therapy is being used, what clinical diagnoses someone has as defined by the DSM-IV, how to assess for different things such as Domestic Violence, Suicide Risk, etc. They test your knowledge on stages of development, different types of family therapies, group therapy techniques, defense mechanisms, and on and on and on. It is a lot of information to jam into your head; then you have to apply it to the scenarios they give you and learn how they want you to answer the questions.

I have never been great at multiple choice test, so I was nervous to say the least. I have been studying for months now and really intensely for the last two weeks. It has been such a stressful time!

Tuesday morning I woke up early, got ready, Christian dropped me off in Back Bay, I spend 3 hours and 40 minutes answering all the questions and then pushed the FINISHED button. My hand were sweaty and I was shaking; I was SO nervous. Then the letter came up to tell me if I passed or failed; my eyes would not focus, I could not find any words that meant anything to me. FINALLY, the words CONGRATULATIONS popped out at me. Instantly I put my head in my hands and began to silently sob. Passing this test opens up so many opportunities for me and my family in terms of jobs I can do, my salary etc. It is something I have worked for since I decided to become a Social Worker. It was a really great moment of accomplishment for me. I made it outside the building and instantly called the love of my life to tell him the good news. He screamed, I screamed, and I was all smiles for the rest of the day!

The best news of all is that I NEVER have to study for another test EVER again!

A special thanks to my dad who helped fund the test and some of the study materials! As well as my sweet hubby who allowed me the time to study when he had so much to do himself. And to my sweet friends and mom who sent me encouraging words and texts before the test!

Wahoo! I did it!

Look What I Can Do