Easter

Jason worked all night so he was in bed for the Easter morning festivities. We cared a lot more when they were smaller but now we prefer sleep over revelry, so I told him he could miss it if I didn't have to get up at 6:30 when he came home from work. It was a good trade-off and the kids didn't seem to mind.

They showed him what the Easter bunny brought and we bought them life jackets to wear on our boat once it's built, so Jason still got to watch them get excited about something.

As has been the case all spring, it was rainy on Easter, so no outdoor pictures of the kids this year. In fact, I couldn't get a good picture of them together to save my life. When one was ready the other wouldn't cooperate.

Jordis cute and ready with signature head tilt. Xander not ready.

Xander finally cooperative, Jordis not so much.

Xander still photogenic, Jordis decides to be present.

Like Xan's tennis shoes? He hates dress shoes and I figured it wasn't worth the money to buy him any to wear for two hours before he outgrows them. Trying to pick my battles.

After church we picked up Jason and went to my mom and step-dad's house. The kids had an Easter egg hunt before lunch.

Then the boys played Wii while the girls cleaned up the kitchen.


It was my mom's birthday weekend as well, so she opened presents and then we had dessert and played some Go Fish.


We left and paid a visit to Jason's parents as well. They got the kids each a great collection of books, so they were excited and also had something to entertain them in the car on the way home. It was a nice relaxing day with family.

Easter preparations

Last year we were in Tennessee for Easter, so this year we were able to fit in a few more activities since we were home. Jordis went to a fun event at church where they had live animals, stories, crafts and an egg hunt.

Unfortunately it was raining so the egg hunt had to be inside. I've never seen so many eggs in one place.

On Good Friday Jason's sister came over and we had an egg-coloring extravaganza. We got fancy and made some tie-dyed ones and used stickers to spell things.



The Easter bunny even did some preparations of his own.

Easter

The thought of spending Easter away from home was a little daunting at first, but when it came down to it we had a really fun time. Saturday night before bed the kids colored eggs. Xander went last because he wanted to mix all the dye colors.

We were concerned that the kids might worry about the Easter bunny not finding them, but it wasn't a problem at all. All four of the little munchkins were so excited when they woke up.

Somehow we all managed to get ready for church.

And I thought some of these were cute as well.

After church we hid the eggs the kids dyed and had an egg hunt. Sarah bought them bunny ears to wear. We thought they'd put up a fight about it so we told them no hunting if they didn't have them on, but they actually seemed okay with it. To lessen the fighting they could each find a certain amount and then they had to be finished.

After lunch the kids played outside while Sarah and I made Easter dinner. We had a nice picnic dinner of turkey, homemade bread, sweet potato crunch, pineapple casserole and a black forest pie. It was a great end to a wonderful visit.

Almost April?

I can't believe March is almost gone! I'm pretty sure it was just Christmas. Trader Joe's is out of my favorite hot chocolate so I guess it's as good a time as any to welcome spring. Hopefully. We had four inches of snow last week so even though it's *technically* spring you can't really hold your breath around here.

Here's a run down:

The kids requested green scrambled eggs for St. Patrick's Day since they liked when I made them last year. I was multi-tasking this day though, so they were a little burnt which made for an interesting shade of......putrid.

Jordis was excited to wear her new St. Patrick's Day hair band.

She also got to hold an instrument during story time at the nursing home.

I snuck up on her the next day. She hates having her picture taken so it's the only way to do it most of the time without it ending up blurry.

Then I got Lasik! It's incredible! I'm so grateful to Arena Eye Surgeons for giving me a 50% discount since my mom is an employee. I highly recommend the procedure even though my surgeon did his fellowship at LSU.

Xander had spring pictures and decided he wanted spiky hair. He also decided to wear a size 4 shirt and sweater vest that still fit him last summer but now barely comes to his waist band. I haven't made them try on spring/summer clothes yet to weed out the smaller items, so it was still hanging up. I was not a fan of the ensemble, but Jason reminded me that on fall picture day he wouldn't cooperate because he didn't like his outfit, so I let it go. Then he came home and told me he got to stand in the front row for the class photo. Great. I can't wait to see how they turn out.

We had a few warm days and the kids got to skate for the first time this year. Xander outgrew the skates he bought last year at my friend's garage sale, so he let Jordis have them. They are the kind you wear over your shoes. She was so excited and did a really awesome job of scooting down the sidewalk. Xander still has trouble with his rollerblades but I'm sure it takes time. He hasn't worn them but a few times and he's upset because he can't skate down the driveway yet. They both kind of walk with the skates on and call it skating. It's really cute.

March was pretty low key compared to what April will be. We're spending Easter at Jason's brother's, making a few fun stops on the way home, then both the kids and my mom have birthdays coming up.

Stay tuned......

Happy Easter!

Easter snuck itself right in between the kids' birthdays this year, so we've been really busy with all three. When Xander was on Spring Break the kids decorated a bunch of crosses to take to the nursing home, so we delivered those one day last week when Xander got off the bus.

On Friday we decorated a few eggs.


Saturday afternoon Jason picked up some overtime, so the kids and I went to my mom and step-dad's. In one evening we celebrated Easter, both kids' birthdays and my mom's birthday. The kids had an Easter egg hunt when we got there.


Presents after dinner...


...then Easter baskets...

Xander had to wear his Helmet Heroes while he opened his Easter basket at home Sunday morning.

Jordis was mostly concerned with eating.


I was amazed that there was no fighting about the boutinierre and hair clip that I made for the kids, and they actually stood together and both faced the camera. It really doesn't get much better than that, it's much more cooperation than I expected and we were even early to church.

After church Grandpa, Grammy, MawMaw, PawPaw and Aunt Mo came for brunch to celebrate Easter and both kids' birthdays.

It was like Christmas morning and we are now very thankful that we don't need to buy our kids a single outfit to wear this summer.



What a wonderful Easter it was.

....life is worth the living, just because He lives.