Easter with the Little Ones

I was lucky enough to have several days off the week before Easter to go down in La Fayette. Here is Zoe & Bryce with the very elderly cat Ernie. Blessings to Ernie and his sweet life these past two years in La Fayette.

What does a visit from Teppie mean? Lots of picking up, throwing around, dropping and tickling. Later followed by sore muscles and a back ache. But its worth it.

The first of Project CupCake Practice. The kids were sooooo helpful with the baking of the cupcakes, which Bryce picked out from the grocery store.

Who loves cake mix? Pretty much everybody. It must run in the family.

Learning the art of partially-filling the cupcake holders. Zoe wanted to fill them all to the top.

Now for the Icing making. They picked their own favorite colors.

Stacy had the awesome idea of bringing her friend Cresta over to teach basic Icing techniques to me. I was affirmed to learn that I had started down the right path with my collection of Wilton supplies, and Cresta then gave so many additional Handy Tips & recommendations to my many questions. After this night of Icing practice we headed straight to Hoby Lobby to pick up the rest of my needed supplies and pertinent decorating books as recommended by Cresta.
Saves me so much time and money!

Zoe & Nanny

PICTURE TIME WITH TEPPIE!!! Which means making lots of silly faces!

And just like Otto, all the playing around and dancing and being a general goof ball eventually wears the lil pups OUT!

When I got back from Indiana, I had the awesome task of baking cupcakes for the Vlcek Easter Sunday gathering. It took sooooo much more time that I had expected. I did get the icing texture correct - even maybe alittle too tough.

Ray took this sweet picture. I suppose that without thinking about it, this is the smile that he brings to my face.

My hands got so cramped and
sore for days afterwards.
The Icing was so thick, it took
lots of muscle to work it.

Eli drinking soda from a wine glass. He had lots of opinions to share on Sunday about global warming, the bailout and the government! Lol.

My easter cupcakes with Pam's double chocolaty-chocolate lamb cake.

Emily's 3rd eye!

Playing a fun game of 500 Rummy. It came down between Ray & Becky.

The two little pooch's running around Pam's house. Ray and I left Otto at home to relax...he'd had two days and several hours of dog park fun lately and we decided he needed some time off from all the socializing.

Ray helping Emily unravel her Easter Egg towel. We also had fun playing outside with her giant bubble wand and some bouncy paddles/balls.

A really good Easter time was had by all! Thank you Pam for hosting & Thank you Stacy for letting me stay over for the week. Such a great Easter week.

Come ooooonnnn Spring!

Otto and his girlfriend. Seriously, these two are crazy for each other. Lola belongs to our neighbor Heidi who lives on the first floor and we've gotten to become good friends with her. And now, whenever one of them are outside getting a walk, the other one some how knows it and starts insisting on going outside too.

So this past weekend was nice enough for Ray and I to hang out on the balcony and surely enough Lola pulled Heidi up the stairs to come see Otto. Then Otto brought Lola into our apartment to show her his pad...like this the couch where he likes to lie around.

What's really nice about these two is that Lola doesn't mind playing the submissive and Otto likes just standing over her even if she's ignoring him because she's chewing on something.

Another great shot of these two and their smiles.
Boyfriend & Girlfriend in the dog world...how cute!

Here's Otto showing Heidi how he greets Ray and me whenever we come home - with a big doggie hug!

Just hangin' with the adults out on the balcony.





















In mid-March we had Ray's friend Fred from Maine come visit with us.

It's always a fun reminder having a friend from out-of-town visit Chicago because it gives you a chance to be a tourist again yourself and see in the city with fresh eyes.

With Fred we went to a fun Jazz Club one night, caught an improv show and Ray and Him checked out the Natural History museum as well.

Otto hanging out with Linda on the stair steps while Ray does the first Grilled dinner of 2009!

Otto liked Fred quite a bit and gets to be with the boys.
And for future guests, just know that while staying with us you are required to sample several of Ray's home beer selections (he's up to Brew #9 now). Fred enjoyed the lighter beer versus the darker ale and every time Ray gets to share his beer it gives him new ideas for future recipes.

Otto playing with his mommy :-)

Our Home Brew collection is growing and busting out of the closet.

Ray's Beer Label is "O.E.B." which stands for Olde Englishe Bulldogge, and on each of his labels Ray puts a picture or profile of Otto. Here is Otto over-seeing the making of his Ginger-Honey Wheat ale. But Ray has to remind him that he can't sample his beers until he turns 3!