Children's Day Celebration at School

Here are pics from the Children'ts Day celebration at Owen's school. The pictures are taken from the video that his school sent home with him, so they aren't great, but it gives you an idea of fun day.
This is Owen with his friend Orcun who lives just down the street from us.
I guess he's taking a rest from all of the dancing.
My cute little Fenerbahce Football player!

Tuesday Cleaning Break

Tuesday is cleaning day. Owen is a great little helper and I actually really enjoying cleaning. Especially when we take fun dance party breaks. Here are pics of Owen dancing to Black Eyed Pea's new song Imma Be which Owen calls the Bumble Bee Song. Bet you didn't know the lyrics were "I'm a Bee, I'm a Bee, I'm a, I'm a Bumble Bee". I wish I had video, the pics don't do it justice.

Weekend Mornings

Happy Children's Day

April 23 is a national holiday in our country. It is National Sovereignty and Children's Day. Basically the entire country takes the day off to celebrate their children. The schools spend weeks in advance preparing elaborate dance and talent shows to be performed on the morning of this holiday. Our neighborhood had a huge festival at the park, so we spent a few hours enjoying the incredible weather, music and free treats. Owen's school celebrated the holiday on Thursday with a costume dance party. I'm waiting for pictures from that party to post later.

You can see Owen at the very top of the pirate ship.Owen started this game of rolling down the grassy hill and within minutes 20 other kids were rolling with him.
There were a few other people at the park with us :) Owen wouldn't know what to do without a crowd everywhere he goes.
Owen had his very first ice cream cone. The pictures speak for themselves. Definitely the highlight of his day.

The bite immediately following this lick was right out of the side of the cone. We quickly had a lesson in how to eat an ice cream cone. He was a fast learner once he realized that the cone was the only thing keeping the ice cream from the ground.
And a generous sharer as long as he got to hold it!

i photo booth

This is just an example of some of the sillyness you might find on any given night after dinner at the Hammett Household.










Daddy heard all the laughing from the other room and had to get in on the fun!Hey, it's funny!

Strawberry Season

We love strawberries at our house. So we are really excited that the strawberry stands have started showing up all over town. I plan to make my first pie this week, the first of many!!!

Tulips and Easter

Since we got back so late Friday night, we spent Saturday relaxing at home and playing at the park. It was the opening weekend of the Tulip Festival, so we went to a local park to enjoy the tulips, listen to live music, eat a picnic lunch and for Owen to try out his new scooter.
Easter Sunday was a great day. We started the morning by making resurrection rolls. Thanks to Grandma, we had marshmallows to put inside the roll (representing Jesus' body). When you take the rolls out of the oven and open up the roll, the marshmallow is no longer there (representing the empty tomb and Jesus' resurrection). Owen was very excited to see that the marshmallow had disappeared.
Next we read the Easter Story from the Bible. Anne sent Owen these resurrection eggs to help make the story come alive. Each egg is filled with a symbol that helps tell the story, ie. a cup from the last supper, cross made of nails, a rock representing the stone in front of the tomb. Owen loved it and was shocked when the last egg was empty, representing the empty tomb and Jesus' resurrection. I'm so thankful for the creative tools that help my 2 year old really understand these spiritual truths.
Next we headed to the seaside for an Easter Egg Hunt.
Owen immediately remembered from last year that there were going to be jelly beans inside these eggs. Within seconds his cheeks were filled with candy.
This next series of pics is Owen's first encounter with Peeps.
Owen: Look at this dad, it's a baby chick. Can I eat it?
Dad: Yes Owen, you can eat it. It's called a Peep.
Owen: Mmmmmm! That's great!
Owen: You've gotta try this "cheek" dad! (cheek is a cross between a chick and a peep)
What a beautiful setting for an egg hunt!
As if he needed more sugar, Owen came home to find his Easter basket full of candy and stickers. His favorite part was eating the chocolate bunny's ear (just like in his Easter book).
That evening we attended an Easter Worship Service. All of the churches in the city joined together for a time of worship and celebration. It was a wonderful evening to remember that because Jesus rose, I can be confident that He defeated death and sin forever! I can have a relationship with my perfect Creator because Jesus took the punishment for my sins. How thankful I am for that!
We had a great time with my parents. Even though we don't get to see each other all of the time, it certainly makes the time even more special when we are together.