Easter 2011

We've had a rainy, rainy string of days.  The breaks in between showers are brief, and the mud is in full force this spring.  The bonus of a wet spring is GREEN grass :O)  The downside would be that the grass grows quickly, but the ground is too saturated to keep it mowed.  We take the good with the bad!  Right now, we are enjoying a (windy) break from rain.  I'm letting the 3 youngest play outside, despite the mud, while the sun shines for a bit!

We had a wonderful Easter.  Besides Avery waking up at 3 a.m. and then waking Silas up, it was a perfect day.  We made them stay in bed until 8, and then they got up and checked out their baskets.  The Easter bunny always hides eggs, so they hunted eggs and then we had a family breakfast.  We made it to the late service at church and then went to Grandma Debbie and Papaw Randy's for lunch.  The kids had a ton of fun.  We stayed all afternoon, and came home just shortly before bedtime.  Here are some pictures from our Easter this year:

Silas checking out his basket (poor lighting, sorry!!)

Nolan was bouncing his new ball up and down.  Made for another blurry shot!

Avery hunting eggs!

Chaille wanted MORE chocolate.  I have to add here that her new favorite thing is chocolate.  If you ask her what she wants for supper, she'll say "chocolate."  She also loves to tell you "chocolate is GOOD!"

Chaille is daddy's princess.  They make such a sweet pair!

Silas was excited to hunt eggs at Grandma's too!

Chaille snatched a few eggs for herself.  :O)

 Nolan liked to open each egg as he went!

Avery and his egg catcher were busy finding them as quickly as he could!

A real smile.  These are hard to catch when he knows the camera is out.  He likes to make silly smiles when he knows you are taking his picture!

"Helping" grandma by washing her cars and trucks.

Aww....

These two are a pair.  Right now they both have runny noses again :O(

Good Friday, Silas' Art

This week Silas was upset that I had framed Avery's picture but had not framed any of his drawings. I explained to him that I had framed Avery's picture because it was an Easter picture and that it was special.  So, this morning he didn't have school, and he drew me an Easter picture himself:

It was totally worth framing.  He said that the black spot was the empty tomb.  The two men below are the guards and the two blue beings over the tomb are the angels.  There is a rainbow around the tomb because, as Silas said "Jesus was gone but God was there."  He then said, "so it's an Easter picture, are you going to frame it?"  Of course!!!! What an amazing drawing for a 5 year old!  God is amazing, and so are my children!

Wordless Wednesday: Easter Edition (by Avery)

Sorry :(

I am so, so sorry for the lack of posts lately.  We have been BUSY to say the least.  Baseball season has begun, and practices are 3 nights a week for us now.  And we've started our remodeling process, so Steve has been busy working, and I've been busy trying to keep the children from being in harms way while he works! :O)  Add to that school, and our usual routine, and we have been living in a whirlwind.  Here are a few random cell phone pictures that i have managed to take (not the best, but better than no pictures at all!):

Avery at his first practice.  He's moved up a league this year!

The other 3 monkeys in the scorers bench at practice.  It was a chilly day for Avery's first practice.

This picture may not mean a lot at first glance.  But Steve was driving my dad's truck and Chaille was in the middle next to him.  She kept taking his hand and making him put his hand on her leg.  It was so incredibly sweet!  He loved it!! 

Chaille and her Papaw Lucian.  She LOVES him.  He LOVES her too :O)

Chaille and her cousin, Hannah.  They were on their way into a bridal shower for Kate, Steve's cousin.  They had fun together.  I loved that they held hands on the way in.

Chaille talking to daddy on the tinkerbell phone.  She's talking up a storm these days!

Chaille wearing one of her friend, Bayleigh's hand me down shirts.  Future President?  Who knows???

Busy Kids

Gymnastics:

(on St. Patrick's day and also Silas' Spring Break)

Parks:

Ice Cream:

Friends:

This doll is Chaille's best buddy.  She carried it with her EVERYWHERE.  It is usually under her arm.  However, this morning they were "practicing" pottying together.  The little high chair that she has the doll in here is actually from Grandma Darlene's house.  Chaille took it out the door without asking.  I made her ask permission, and since we had walked over, this is how baby made it to our house:

I felt so cool, like the mother in denial that I'll never have another "baby" in that stroller :O)  Oh well, anything for my princess!  Here's another picture of her and her best buddy (and the stolen high chair):

Daddy Date Night:

Silas had a date night with Daddy over his spring break.  They went to The Bears Den for supper, to Walmart to buy the DS game he earned with his chore points, to the bowling alley to play 2 games, and for ice cream on the way home.  Steve shared pictures from his phone:

And Just Playing Around:

Already!?!

Oh, boy, I thought I was experiencing the beginning of the stage where my children use inappropriate words already.... But it ended up pretty humorous.  Here was the first conversation:

Avery:  MOM!!! Silas said the "A" word!!!!
Me:  What!?!  Silas, what did you say???
Silas: NOTHING!
Me: Avery, what did he say?
Avery: "aint"
Me: Bahahaha.... Oh, well that's ok.

From here it has happened 3 other times.  So, just so that you know, in our house:

The D word, which Silas also said.... "died"
The H word, which Silas made up... "happy"
And just this morning, Avery said Silas used the "F" word..... "fat"

Is this parenting thing fun, or what?  I pray these types of words are the worst of what I hear come out of their mouths.  But I'm not so naive as to believe that this will be the case...

My Best Friends Wedding!

It isn't often that I post here where the kids aren't included.  But, this weekend, the kids stayed with my mom Friday night during the rehearsal, and with Steve's parents Saturday night for the wedding.  It was so nice to be able to be involved in the wedding without trying to play mommy the whole time too.  Melissa and Wes' wedding was very beautiful and it was evident that they are SO happy together.  It was fun to be a part of their special day.  Here are some pictures (thanks, Shelley!... I forgot my camera.):

The bride and me :O)  I love you, Melissa!!!



My BEST, BEST friend!!! :O)



All 4 of us girls!  Lyndsay, me, Melissa, and Shelley.

I'm blessed with so many best friends!!  I love you, Shelley!

Realized I didn't add a groom picture.  So here is Jacob, and his new "daddy," Wes!  They were both so happy for this day to come!!

What is up???

Ok, ok, I'll admit that I've slacked on the blogging!  So, where have we been, what have we been up to??? I'm feeling creative, so instead of typing a whole blog with LOTS of words summing up our last couple of weeks, I'll sum it up in broad terms for you:

Routine
             Family Time!
                                              Baseball sign-ups


                                                             Playing

   Church (finally back to routine.)

                                      Friends 

                                Reading

Dining out (more than I should admit.)


but most importantly:

Having fun together!!!!!!!!

  
                     
                                                          

Wordless Wednesday (from our weekend)

Well Child

Yesterday, Nolan had his 3 year, well-child visit.  He had a GREAT visit and there were no shots and no tears :O)  Chaille went along as well and was WONDERFUL.  I had such a great time with them.  After the doctor, we ran into Big Lots, where they were great shoppers and earned suckers before we left.  Then, we ate at Arby's before picking up Silas.  They were SO much fun.  After Silas got home from school, the boys were able to go help papaw Bobby haul a couple of loads of wood.  Chaille and I made a quick trip to the grocery.  It was a terrific day all around!  Here are some pictures from the doctor's office:

Happily and patiently waiting our turn!

Chaille tried out the toys, but spent most of her time sitting in the chairs.

Waiting on the doctor.  He's 37.5 lbs, 40.5 inches tall, and in the 98th and the 96th percentiles for his age!  We are so proud of our big 3 year old! :O) 

Chaille needed her picture too, even though it wasn't "her" day.  She was so well behaved while Nolan was being checked out.  She'll have her turn in just 3 short months.