Happy Easter!

Much to the boys' delight the Easter Bunny did make a stop in Oxford this year. To answer a question from Gramma and Shell, "Just where does the Easter Bunny come from?" Sources point to the desire of early Christians to intigrate Pagan traditions into Christian festivals. In second century Europe, the predominate spring festival was a raucous Saxon fertility celebration in honor of the Saxon goddess Eastre (Ostara), whose sacred animal was a hare.


Here are the boys coloring their fertility symbols in honor of their soon to be baby brother or sister :)


Wanting to ensure that everyone at Church knew that they colored eggs, they dyed their hands as well.


Here are the boys the next morning diving into the spoils of their hare-hidden baskets.


They also took in a little protein by eating a colored egg.


And here are the two gentlemen in their Easter finest.

Springtime in Oxford...

We recently had a little bit of snow here in Oxford.


Here are the boys before they held-up the local gas station.


Here they are making their getaway.


The had a blast playing in the snow.


The next day we went sled riding at a local park.


Owen & Luke were adventurous. They had to try every sled available. Here they are after one of their numerous wipe-outs.


Owen loved flying down the hill as fast as he could.


Luke was a bit more cautious.


Dad wasn't going to let the opportunity pass him by...


he made sure he went down the hill with both his boys.


Here's dad, Luke, and Owen with our friends Katie, Angie & lil' Luke.


Here are the boys in their St. Patrick's Day gear.


I saved the best for last. Here's Mom and baby C enjoying the great outdoors.

More Pics from Aunt Winnie's Trip...

We had a great time when Aunt Winnie paid us a visit. We spent one afternoon at the Cincinnati Museum Center, with mixed results.


Aunt Winnie knew she loved Cincinnati when she heard it's nickname "Porkopolis"...


but then she tried to use the ATM at a local bank, but for some reason, she was told to leave.


The boys had a great time hangin' at the Cincinnati Children's Museum. Luke was busy driving the fire truck, just like his Aunt Di Di...


while Owen was busy shoveling coal.


After the boys played and Aunt Winnie got kicked out of the bank, we all had ice cream!

Congratulations to Tom & Cari


On Sunday, we had lunch with cousin Tommy & Cari the day after they got engaged. The boys were stoked to spend some time with them. After lunch, we hung out at the Kenwood mall for a while trying to find a Wii for Uncle Sean after Tommy lost a costly bet.


Here's a nice pic of our family after a great lunch with good food and great company.


Just in time for the playoffs, here the boys are modeling their new Miami hockey jerseys. Let's go Hawks!

The Boys Hanging with the Future Prez?

The boys' Aunt Winnie made the trip to Oxford this past weekend and a good time was had by all.


While having lunch at the Museum Center, the boys happened to run into Barack Obama. He asked the boys to give him five and they obliged.


No trip to Oxford is complete without a trip to see the Miami RedHawks play hockey. Here Aunt Winnie is posing with Swoop (our mascot) and the boys. Fortunately, Aunt Winnie did not jinx the RedHawks and they won 8-1.


It was "Skate with the Redawks" night, but as you can see by this pic, Owen was a bit too whooped to lace on the skates.


Luke really enjoyed explaining the ins and outs of hockey to his Aunt Winnie. Now Aunt Winnie knows more than she ever wanted to about roughing.


Luke performed some of his favorite tunes for Aunt Winnie.


The boys also performed a rockin' duet.

More pictures to follow soon...

Winter in Oxford

The weather has been a bit cold and snowy lately, so the boys have been spending more time indoors.


The boys love to play with the puppets they
got for Christmas from Nana & PapPap.
Here is Owen putting on a puppet show for
dad. "Little Pig, Little Pig, Let me in!"


Not to be outdone, Luke did a little rendition
of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.


The boys (especially Owen) love to build with Legos.


Luke recently went to a hockey game with his dad.


Unfortunately, Miami got beat, but Luke
did not care. He had a great time watching
the players check each other (& listening
to the hockey band).