Easter 2011

Easter is such a wonderful holiday! We have so many blessings in the Rowell family to be grateful for. Thank you Lord for taking such good care of us!


We went to an Easter egg hunt at our local garden center. They had 2500 eggs to find and the place was packed with kids and fun activities. Max just loved the idea of being able to eat chocolate with reckless abandon!



Playing Easter games. Toss the bucket over the fence and it comes back filled with a present. Pretty good deal for a 3 year old; he thought it was great!




And luckily, we finally had some spring time weather! Beautiful, sunny warm day ... well, warm is relative. We were just happy we saw the sun and it wasn't snowing!


Easter morning was a lot of fun. Max really liked his Easter bucket o goodies. We went to church at 8am and did our basket after. He loved church!! He stood on the chair and danced for all the songs. Really doesn't get any cuter than that!

The Easter basket had some candy; but also a prayer book, recorder, a couple of wooden toy whistlers, a super cool flash light/glow stick and the special edition Easter hot wheels muscle car.

The most exciting part for Max, was finally getting the Thomas the Train bridge he's been coveting. This bridge is displayed in a few of his Thomas books, so he's always pointing at it saying, "I wanna see bridge!"

Luckily the Easter bunny heard those wishes! Max adores his new bridge and played with it for a long time! Very sweet. You can also see the cool turtle puzzle Uncle Brian gave Max for Easter.

All in all ... so much to be thankful for ... especially the Risen Lord! Thank you Jesus!

Little Lambs

Max got the "Star Student" award at Little Lambs this Sunday at church. He is such a big boy; I'm so proud of him. He sat with his class during the service, although he kept looking across the aisle at Tommy and I. I could tell he wanted to come sit with us, but he didn't cry of make a break for it.

Miss Robin goes up with Max to get his award.

Mr. Dave gives Max his very first award! Star Student!

My little over achiever. hee hee hee

The 3 and 4 year olds did a couple of adorable songs for the Church on Sunday. Max didn't really sing; he did do his bouncie monkey dance a bit. Mostly, I was proud that he was very well behaved, didn't cry or make a run for it.

Max looks a little nervous in this photo, but I love how he's holding on to his award.

Pastor Steve gives the blessing ... some of the children are getting distracted.

Link to adorable videos... at least to parents and grandparents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_K0-tFUvZ0

Video 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRJVMVi3hLU

Snow!

Snow is sooo much fun! Max has finally discovered how much fun the snow is. He loves to pick up piles and throw the snow in the air. He giggles the entire time too. Good thing Auntie Becky has geared him well with the Patagonia cold weather jacket and pants.



As long as he's not throwing the snow at me, I'm good!



Marvelous Max - Age 3!

One ... Two ... Pree...Look who's 3!

Max brought in his 3rd birthday with a terrible cold. We had a really fun little party planned and we had to cancel because little mister felt pretty bad. So, Uncle Brian came over and had pizza and ice cream cake with us. Max didn't even have any, poor little guy.



Happy Birthday song gets him every time, even if he's not feeling well.



Make a wish and blow out the candles!




Opening presents is always fun, even with the sniffles. Max is loving his new guitar and Mama learned that daddy has a hidden talent of stringing guitars and knowing how to play.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Max! You are the most amazing thing in our lives; I can't believe how blessed we are to have YOU as our little boy. Mama and daddy love you beyond words. You're a blast to watch grow up.

video to follow soon....

January sunshine

Max and I went for a nice walk Sunday. The sun was finally shining and we decided to soak up some vitamin D. We cruised for quite some time and on the way home, Max decided he wanted to go see Uncle Brian. I tried to tell him that we’ve walked a long way and we should go home, but he insisted we go see Brian. Luckily, he was home and willing to entertain the little guy. He got inside and after turning the ceiling fan on and off 15 times, Uncle Brian wrapped him up in a cashmere blankie. No wonder he likes hanging there. Daddy had to come give us a ride home because Max had already reached his limit and was ready for a nap. Thanks for hosting us Brian!

Christmas 2010

We had an amazing Christmas this year! At first I was a little sad because we didn't travel back to Massachusetts, but it ended up being great to spend the holiday in Sandpoint.



Max really enjoyed the tree! He was a great help to daddy as he sawed off the top of the tree so we could fit the star. Max was fun; for the weeks leading to Christmas, he'd got and point out the different ornaments on the tree .. Train! Plane! Red! Green! Fun stuff!

Christmas Eve


On Christmas Eve, we went and had a play date with our best friend, Chloe. It was lots of fun and the beginning of the present extravaganza.



No play date is complete without a little tea party.



Then we drew some nice pictures for Santa.

Christmas Morning


Max had a ball Christmas morning! It didn't take long for him to get into the swing of things and open presents. He did want to play with each gift right away which made for a looong time in opening. We had to take a little breakfast break at one point.






We LOVE Max's wild thing pajamas! He's quite funny roaring and stamping his claw feet.




Uncle Brian come over in the morning for some coffee and to share gifts with Max. Although, Max pretty much insists on helping everyone open their presents. Unwrapping is lots of fun.





Chrismtas stocking made by Auntie Becky was great. You can see Max sporting a fun tie dye shirt from Auntie Candy.



Christmas at Uncle Brian's House


We went to Brian's for Christmas dinner. It was great fun as Ami and Hadli were also there. Hadli really liked looking up to Max and following him around to see what he was up to. I think Max enjoyed being the "big kid" too.



Max showing Hadli how much fun playing on the stairs can be.


KISSES! This is the awesome face Max makes when he wants mama to give him kisses. Then ne yells, "no!" so I will chase him and tackle him with kisses. Too dang cute! Gets me every time.



Having fun being silly with Uncle Brian.



I also love that now, every picture of Max, has him holding a car of some sort in at least one hand.

Thank you!

Anyone who knows Max knows he still does lots of sign language in addition to his growing vocabulary. He was SOO sweet ... after every present ... he said and signed, "thank you!"

Playset - Aunt Becky - Halloween

There has been some great progress on the swing set. There is actually even more built than this picture shows. The slide is now up too! Just need swings and we're good to go! Max loves to play in his fort. He sometimes insists on having lunch there and even wants Daddy to join him. So cute! Needless to say, Grandpa gets HUGE props for such an amazing gift.

Max's Godmother, Aunt Becky, came to visit us! What a great blessing to have our dear friend spend a few day with the family. Of coarse, if Aunt Becky comes, presents come too. Sooo generous. And nothing perks Max up more than the word "presents"!

Max got some fantastic patagoina gear, a cool Dr. Sues puzzle and stuffed green monster. He was thrilled with all of it.

Max like sharing one of his favorite things to do with Aunt Becky ... coloring! She is such a good sport; she'll pretty much do or play with anything Max brings to her. Warms my heart to see them togehter. He's so lucky to have such an adoring Aunt.

Max love to throw rocks in the streams near our house. Aunt Becky would gather the rock for him to throw in the water. He could spend all day there if we let him. Becky probably would too! I love how the smallest things are of great interest.

On our way home from our walk, Max just wanted to hold Aunt Becky's hand. I think both of our hearts melted. Love when that little face looks lovingly up at you and grabs your hand. Love at its finest.

Halloween

We had this great Asian outfit hand me down from our friend Linda. He looked so cute all dressed up. I told people he was a child laborer in China!

There was a great party at Coldwater Creek for the little Creekers. Max was wired for sound and didn't sit still for 10 seconds. He had more fun in the fitness center playing with the balls than he did at the party!

We did get him in the party for a short time. He did some bouncing, but pretty much wasn't into playing with all the kids. Oh well.. sometimes the best laid plans just don't work out.

We went to the Children's museum in Spokane before we took Aunt Becky back to the airport. It was kinda lame, but Max enjoyed playing in the mud.

Making electricity with Daddy. ..... Aunt Becky and Mom went shopping!

Becky.... we love you more than words will ever express. THANK YOU for being such a cherished member of our family!