Hippity Hoppity, Easter Is LOOOOONG Gone!

Well, you know it, I know it,
and I won't bore you with excuses. . . .
but here are the pictures any-hoo. . . .

Here it is: the official 2010 Ryan Red Easter Egg. Every year he crows about how amazing his RED EGG is. And to be truthful, noone ever dyes a red egg as bright or strong in color. Ryan, you are the RED EGG KING! All hail! Good, now we have that out of the way.


We dyed eggs with Mike, Kelli, Kate, Grandma, and Grandpa D. The kids had an absolute blast! Here is Carson dying ANOTHER egg blue. Every time we asked him what color he wanted to use next, the answer was always the same: I want blue. And blue he got. Many shades, but all blue.


Although Annie was willing and able to dye eggs every color of the rainbow, she was partial to her personal trio of faves: red, pink, and purple. She was very excited to dye eggs. It could be argued that she gets more excited about Easter and those beautiful colored eggs more than any other holiday (or even her birthday for that matter).

This year, the Easter Bunny found some really awesome youth-sized sleeping bags at Cabela's shortly after Christmas! How neat, ya? I guess that bunny thought that something practical (and perfect to usher in the sleep-in-the-backyard-with-dad season, I might add) would be a better idea than the endless supply of candy that NO ONE needs. But, the Easter Bunny is no grinch. There were a few sweet treats as well.

We were able to spend the afternoon at Oma and Opa's house for lunch and an indoor (GASP!) Egg hunt, sponsored by an uncooperative Mother Nature. O-Well. The kids were excited nonetheless and a good time was had by all. The nice thing about having younger egg hunters is that you have to make it easy for them, and as it so happens, easy for us grownups to gather the eggs they missed. Fortunate for Oma and Opa, I say. No one wants to smell a rotten forgotten egg in their family room halfway through the hot summer. Yuck.

It was nice to see Carson show some interest in the Egg hunt
after pretty much not giving a darn last year.
Woo hoo!
He IS Cool!
Make no mistake!

This would be the 2010 "Least Interested Egg Hunter" award recipient.
Who needs to hunt eggs when there's a perfectly tasteful bit of plastic to chew?

The undisputed Egg Hunt Champion and her lineup of 27 colorful eggs.
Well done, Ms. Annie!

Kate and Annie hamming it up for the camera.
Cheese!!!

Here is the Easter Fam-photo of 2010. Who says that buying Easter Ties isn't as fun as Easter dresses? I was so happy with how cute they all looked. What a cute bunch of kids! Hope you all had a great Easter!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Carson!

Carson age 8 months (November 2007)

I've been such a slacker this year. . . I think Carson's 2nd birthday was three posts ago! Just kidding. It was four.

This year, when I asked him what kind of birthday cake he wanted, he said, "twucks, twailoos, an' mooses." The room slowly faded out and I had this amazing vision of a beautiful cake I would make which would artfully tie together these three necessities. And then I thought to myself, "Self, when will you accomplish this?" The answer was blunt and dismal, yet surprisingly relieving: "As soon as you call Albertson's and order it!" Well, the one in their picture looked better than the one we got, but in the end, it had a truck, a trailer, AND a moose (that we found in the playroom, washed off, and slapped on top of the cake).

VOILA!

This is his new John Deere Gator. . .

. . . that he refused to drive himself. Thanks, Dillon, for the ride!

So anyway, let's NOT take the "just call Albertson's" approach to reviewing a Year of Carson and celebrate his accomplishments over the past 12 months:

Carson has spent the last TWELVE months pursuing his car obsession. He has perfected the art of seeking out the BEST surface available in any environment on which to slowly move his cars back and forth. When visiting our local furniture retailer recently (for a new mattress set--GREAT news, but not for this post. . . )for example, Carson suggested we purchase a certain couch. Why? Because it had bumps. Now this may not make sense to the casual observer, but to we his parents, this was no mystery. Bumps make carplay all the rage!

Here he is with the car Papa Foof sent him for his birthday.
He played with it literally for HOURS!

Here, he and his friend Dillon found a ladder turned on its side and guess what?
It made the PERFECT road!

Carson has spent the better part of his 3rd year (or is it his 2nd--I get confused by this--has he just completed his second year or his third year? But he just turned 3? See my confusion????) anyway, I'm getting off-topic here. He has spent the better part of this last year learning the craft of stealth. Stealth? Stealth. This is how it's done: First, you sweetly tell your parents goodnight. You say your prayers, full of stuff about Jesus and being a good boy. THEN, when Mom and Dad have left the room, you pause. You listen. You wait. When all is silent, you gently push back your covers, and test the silence with one foot and then the other. Finally, you fully emerge from your sad, lonely little twin-sized bed and head for the greener, warmer, and cozier pastures of your big sister's full-sized bed. Doesn't matter that she doesn't want you there, that your very presence rumples the smoothness of a bed fit for a princess. You cast the stuffed animals and perfectly-placed pillows aside with one sturdy sweep, and slowly climb under the covers. Unfortunately for Carson, his giggles and Annie's shrieks usually give him away, but more often than not, I go in and move him back to his bed before I collapse into mine. They look so cozy, but they wake up more slowly in the morning if they're in separate beds. I look at it as a "pay now, play later" situation.

How cute is that?

Carson also became a big brother this last year. Now, that is a pretty big deal. He's all over that until Rhett approaches the DMZ surrounding his (Carson's) cars. Whenever I hear the door of the playroom shut following this sound: "WETT! Stay away from my CARS!", I know what has happened. Carson has dragged Rhett by his heels out of the playroom and has shut the door. I know what we'll be learning during year #4: sharing! Most of the time, however, he is really quite cute with his little brother. It's really been fun to watch.

Twinner jammies!

The best part about the past year is how much more Carson has been able to do with us. Here are some random pictures:

He and Annie slept outside in the back yard
with Dad (and Jack) a number of times.

Frolicking with Jack (and Uncle Tim and Annie) in the Great Salt Lake.

Jack and Carson have become quite close.

He was excited to help his dad
any time a tractor or skidster was involved.

He has gotten quite brave on the horse.

And he was most helpful with the raking of the leaves.

Here he is hanging out with Maisey in the dog house.
Boy's best friend! (well for a few minutes, anyway)

And although it would appear that he and the potty
weren't the best of pals,
this last year also saw him potty-trained.
In less than a week.
That's my boy!

In all seriousness, however, he is growing up to be quite the cutie pie. He is VERY funny, VERY handsome, VERY flirtatious, and VERY sweet. He absolutely loves his family, his grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, friends, and neighbors. We are so lucky to have such a happy and funny son.

Happy Birthday, little man!
We LOVE you!

UPDATE!!

I left the date for when I first began the Christmas post, so it doesn't show up as new, but scroll down for the Droubay Family Christmas report!! AND stay tuned. . . I'm in a bloggin' mood lately. . .

Funny Annie. . . Again

So tonite we were cleaning the house and Annie was telling me about someone who was being "ornery" and (I know this is not very nice) I said "well, she comes by it honestly so cut her some slack" more to make Ryan laugh than anything. And Annie looked at me innocently and wide-eyed and said, "well, Mom, I TRY to cut her some slack,
but she doesn't WANT any of the slack!"

I thought that was pretty funny,
even if I had to portray myself so in such an un-Christlike way to share it.

( Again, I didn't really mean it,
I just wanted to make Ryan laugh)

really