So, lately…

We did a lot of things…let’s catch up, shall we…

Easter was a little bit crazy around here.  First of all, it had been raining for about 2 months solid so everything was a teeny bit wet.  Secondly, we had been out of town all weekend due to a death in the family and the girls were TIRED!  Thirdly, it was our month to sing on our praise team at church and we had to be there at the CRACK of 8:15.  Leaving our house by 7:55 on the same morning that the Easter Bunny  came AND looking for all of the eggs that he hid was a rush…but it was a great Easter despite the craziness!

Waking up to see what EB brought…

Notice Elyn doesn’t have rollers in her hair…yeah, she had a rough night and the first thing that went were the rollers in an effort to make her feel better.

Hunting for eggs…in a messy house.  It’s real life people.

The view of the top of Nora and Elyn’s heads before the Easter egg hunt at church-the indoor Easter egg hunt at church.  Remember…2 months of rain?

Grabbing as much candy as they can…

Check out the loot…

Elyn, Nora and Gibson

Josh, Michael and Matthew…next year Michael is going to wear green seersucker pants so he “fits in”-ha!

That night, we went to the Walker’s house for an Easter dinner.  Before dinner, the kids got to participate in another egg hunt.  Here is Elyn in her “heat”…

She fell asleep on the way to the Walker’s house…can you tell.  She really was happy, just had a hard time waking up.

Nora, in the older division.  She did not want to change out of her dress…

It was a great Easter!

Matthew got these pictures one night…it’s hail.  I wanted to include them as a reminder to us about how much hail we have had this spring…it has been crazy!  Thankfully our cars have survived and our roof has too.  However, some people around our area have not had a much luck and have had totaled cars and roofs…so sad!

This past weekend, as I mentioned in the last post, Julia and her kids, Noah and Esther, came to visit.  Julia’s husband, Brian, was on call and she was ready to break up the “everyday”.  We are so glad that they came for a visit…it’s always fun to get the kids together!

The first night they were here, we headed to a local event at one of our downtowns called “First Friday”.  And it was PACKED!  It was a beautiful evening and apparently, most of the area had the same idea.  We didn’t lose a kid and they had a good time, for the most part-success!

What we did not realize was how pricey everything was going to be.  I think we assumed every activity would be free.  We were dead wrong.

The girls wanted to ride the ponies.  Well, before I saw how much it cost to ride the ponies, I said Of Course!  Well, it was 5 dollars each and the ride took approximately 2 minutes.  I am not kidding.  Rip. Off.  Sigh.  But they liked it.

They also got to slide down an inflatable slide and jump in a bounce house, get a balloon animal and eat cotton candy…see how happy they are!

The next morning, Nora had her final soccer game.  We all packed up and hit the fields.  Gram and Grandpa joined us at the final game too…

Nora’s fan club…

Nora really loved soccer!  She did a pretty good job, in spite of being the youngest on the team.  We are having the “trophy” part of the season this week and Nora is most excited about that-ha!

Noah and Elyn, understandably, had a hard time being nice and still spectators and spent the majority of the game doing this…

After lunch, we came home and played outside…Nora requested I take her picture because look-

after MANY MANY MANY practice lessons, she is finally swinging on her own!  Hallelujah!  I think she has been able to do it for a while now, she was just lazy.  She does need a good push at the beginning to get her started but after that, she is on her own!  YEA!!!!!!

Noah enjoyed digging in the sandbox

And the girls enjoyed playing in the standing water (gross)

Ah, the trampoline.  It only took them about 5 times to put it together too.  Someone (Matthew) decided he didn’t need the directions.  Someone (Matthew) discovered that a little bit of reading on the front end would have saved A LOT of taking apart and putting back together in the long run.  Oh well, now we have a good story to tell and the trampoline is put together.

And the girls absolutely love it!  We put it together Saturday and Nora woke up Sunday morning asking if she could go jump-ha!  They have jumped on it everyday and I hope it maintains it’s appeal throughout the summer and many years to come!

And let’s not forget Esther!  These were taken right before they went home.  Esther is the BEST baby!  She rarely cries and when she does, if you feed her, change her diaper or lay her down, she instantly quits crying.  I ordered a baby just like her…we’ll see if my order is placed correctly in a little while.  Nora and Elyn LOVE Esther so much!  Especially Nora, she was always wanting to be beside her, give her a bottle or make her laugh.

A few weeks ago, Elyn went to her first birthday party.  Oh sure, she has been to a ton of birthday parties, but they are all ones that she AND Nora have been invited to.  This is the first one she has gone to where it has been JUST Elyn.  She was so excited to go and informed Nora several times, “You are going to stay at home and hang out with Daddy.  Me and Mommy are going to go to a party!”

The party was at a craft place where the kids got to paint a small piece of pottery.  It’s a “working party”…the parents are heavily involved in the entire process.

Look how happy she is!  There is her masterpiece…a cup and saucer.  She didn’t paint the entire thing but this is how she wanted it to look.

One of the activities was getting their hands painted…

Elyn chose a rainbow.

Eating cake…Elyn had a great time and I was so glad that she was able to do something all on her own.  With the two girls being so close in age (1.5 years), I often find myself treating them the same.  It is awesome when I am able to spend one on one time with each girl and get to enjoy the individual personalities!

There is a story to go with this picture:

You might notice just one plate at the table…it’s Elyn’s.  She REFUSED to eat dinner this night.  Did I serve her liver or brussell sprouts or an entire fish, eyes and all?  Nope, it was chicken and rice.  CHICKEN AND RICE.  The rice was wild rice and that was enough for Elyn to insist she didn’t like dinner and was not going to eat it.  Well, we had already planned on going to get ice cream and swing by our second home, Home Depot.  Matthew repeatedly told Elyn that if she did not eat her dinner she was not going to get ice cream.  Multiple times this phrase was uttered to her.

Guess what?  She didn’t get ice cream.  Matthew, Nora and I enjoyed our ice cream while Elyn sat and cried and said she wanted some.  Sigh.  A girl at the ice cream place said we were so mean because we weren’t giving her any.  Really?  It’s called FOLLOWING THROUGH teenage girl.  Maybe next time she will eat her dinner.  But knowing how stubborn she is, I doubt it.  But, she’s fine and actually reminds us about that night.  She’s funny.

And finally, my sweet husband washing and massaging my swollen feet.  How did I get so lucky?  I can tell you it is one of his LEAST favorite things to do but he took pity on my potato feet and helped me out.

Okay, I think I am caught up!  We got a riding lawn mower today…yea!  More on that tomorrow…