Spring 2012

There were lots of other significant things that went on during the last 3 months.  I'm not sure how there wouldn't have been, with three young kids to keep track of.  Enjoy the brief photographic retelling of what we've been doing!

Making Lenten pretzels.  Yummy!

Flying kites on a windy day...

Pictures from Stevie's 1-year sitting.

Happy St. Patrick's Day, and Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Lots of fun at Rosie's 6th birthday party!

In March, we took a quick weekend trip to Pittsburgh to celebrate Joy's baptism.  It was about time that we made it down there seeing as how this was also the first time we had even met her!  The kids did very well in the car and it was very nice having all of the Shibata's together.

Marie has been doing extremely well in school.  She even got to participate in the all school spelling bee!  Each class had a competition where three kids from each class were chose to represent their class for the rest of the school.  She was exited an nervous to be on stage and in front of everyone.  We are so proud!

We celebrated Easter this year in Michigan.  Grandma and Grandpa Meinhart came along with Uncle Matt.  As it becoming an Easter tradition, Grandpa planted asparagus for us.

Other activities included painting Easter eggs, going to an Easter egg hunt, making Resurrection rolls, and just generally enjoying our company!

Marie was off of school for the whole week after Easter.  We took the chance to do some "special" things with the kids.  These included having a family movie night, complete with popcorn, going to the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, having play dates with friends, and going to a park. 

Toward the end of April, we took the kids to Greenfield Village again to see Thomas the Train.  Joey had only been talking about it for a whole year!  The weather had turned cold and there was a chance of rain, but we decided to brave the conditions.  The kids didn't seem to mind too much!  Riding the carousel was definitely a highlight of the day!

Easter 2011

Since I'm just now getting around to posting about Easter (almost a month later!), I guess we've been busy...though I'm not sure what we've been busy doing. Maybe I'll have it figured out by the time I'm caught up!

So we stayed in Michigan for Easter again this year. We were joined for the weekend by Grandma and Grandpa Meinhart and Uncle Matt. Between the Easter Triduum services and other necessary Easter traditions, we kept ourselves hopping.

Marie and Joey enjoyed painting Easter sugar cookies. (Thankfully, we didn't have to bake them...they had been in the freezer since St. Patrick's Day when we used the extra dough to make eggs, chicks, and bunnies.) Evidently, in addition to aprons, the necessary attire for decorating eggs includes sunglasses atop the head.



On Holy Saturday morning, we went to a nearby parish to participate in their annual Easter egg hunt. It was not like the Easter egg hunts I recall. There where WAY more eggs than kids. I remember being lucky to get 2 or 3 in the mad dash. Had they been so motivated, Marie and Joey probably could've gathered as many eggs as there bags could hold. Thankfully, they were not so motivated since we're still working on finishing Easter candy.

At one point, Joey must have looked lost or something. Another generous little girl "helped" him by putting an egg in his bag. Being the particular one, Joey promptly removed the egg and threw it, breaking it open. It was either this event or being scared of the clown that was his favorite thing to talk about when he asked about the hunt.





Another, perhaps non-traditional, Holy Saturday activity was the planting of asparagus crowns. Grandpa Meinhart had found a great deal and ordered some for us. I figured I should take advantage of Marie's very recent statement that she actually likes asparagus. Grandpa, Jon, Uncle Matt, and the kids set about digging holes, adding just the right amount of compost and water, and carefully positioning the crowns. Since then, Marie and Joey have taken it upon themselves to keep a close eye on the plants and water then whenever possible. If attention has anything to do with asparagus production, we should have bumper crop in a couple years!


This year, Marie again made Resurrection rolls for Easter lunch. It must have sunk in from last year because she put them together almost all by herself and did a great job of describing the symbolism of each ingredient. They must have tasted pretty well also...they didn't last too long!


It would hardly be Easter without dyeing eggs, would it? It was a somewhat messy endeavor with frequent close calls...cups of colored water teetering close to being overturned. But the eggs were successfully colored and Marie and Joey had fun so the goals were accomplished.

Joey getting an, "Are you sure about that?" look from his godfather.

The finale to the weekend was of course Easter Sunday. We donned our best and headed to Mass. We kept the kids all dressed up long enough to snap a couple of pictures. Perhaps brimming Easter baskets were used as a bribe...perhaps. After a yummy lunch, we had our own mini-Easter egg hunt in the yard, attempting to get the most mileage possible out of those dyed eggs. Thankfully, the weather cooperated and allowed us to do all of this fun stuff as a family. It was nice to see the kids enjoying themselves without losing sight of the reason for our celebration...He is Risen INDEED! (We are still in the Alleluia season after all!!)