Easter 2014

Here is a packed Easter catch up post...

We had a night with our Mitchell family to decorate eggs again this year.

I love all of the colors!

Izzy was sick the day we were headed to a friend's Easter party. So that evening we made our own resurrection rolls. 

They aren't kidding when they tell you to make sure you pinch them closed securely!! The marshmallows spilled out of all of them except one. Whoops! So I moved it to a plate to serve so that, as a friend said- the burnt bodies of Jesus weren't there for my kid to see. Haha!

Looking to see if the marshmallow/Jesus is in the "tomb".

Yum!

Saturday before Easter we had a brunch at my mom's house. 

And more egg hunting

EGGS!!!

Sunday morning she rushed in to tell me her Easter basket had been filled. So we went to check it out. 

She was pretty pumped.

Then we opened the last Resurrection egg and read our story. "It's empty!!" she's saying. :)

Egg "hunt" at church. It was more of just gathering! She had fun filling her basket til it was over flowing!

Sweet friends...most of the time! ;)  

Before we headed off to family lunch everyone was kind enough to indulge me in some pictures. 

Benjamin's first Easter!

The best I could get of them together!

 Easter 2014

We had a great and full day with family and church friends celebrating Easter.
This was our first year to do resurrection eggs to countdown to Easter and Isabella really enjoyed doing them and seemed to get more of Jesus' journey to the cross, death, and resurrection. She was pretty disappointed the day after when she realized Easter was over and we were finished.

So grateful for my family and this life we've been given!

April 9th-20th

April 9th: Sweet baby toes (phone pic this day)

April 10th:  Breakfast at the donut shop.

April 11th: Licking the spoon of the glaze for scones

April 12th: At the park

April 13th: Trying spaghetti for the first time and chatting with our small group friends

April 14th: Mitchell Easter egg dying night

April 15th: Park night

April 16th: Being carried to her room after falling asleep in our bed.

April 17th: A fresh batch of cinnamon rolls for Easter brunch.

April 18th:We had a sick day at home and had to miss our friends Easter party, but at least there were cinnamon rolls to soften the blow. 

April 19th: Rhett's first birthday party, and the flags at OC for the bombing memorial anniversary.

April 20th: Our family on Easter!!

April 1-8

April 1st:What Mama gets for leaving the diaper bag open and on the ground...

April 2nd: He has figured out how to stand at my bathtub and turn on the water. He gets so proud of himself and screams when I carry him away. So that's fun. ;)

April 3rd: Redbud in bloom on our walk to the park

April 4th: About once a week my dad hides cookies for Isabella from McLaren's pantry. She loves it!
(Now that I've decided Easter is a good time to take down the Christmas topiary he will have to find a new hiding spot! hahaha!)

April 5th: Double cart fun on our first trip to Sam's with the kids.

April 6th: Benny and Me

April 7th: Michael received his first copies of his book!! So exciting!

April 8th: Isabella had her first dentist appointment. She was super nervous like she was at her hair cut. But she did great and the staff was all really great with her. She was disappointed there was no sucker at the end like at the Dr. But she did receive a lot of other loot to make up for it!

My sister is having a baby!! I'm thrilled for her and our whole family. My sister has many qualities that will make her such a fun Mom. I got to take a few pictures for them on the day they found out baby Bean's gender! I'm so glad the secret is finally out!

So fun! I really enjoyed photographing people that were willing subjects that smiled without me making crazy faces or weird animal noises!! :)

Dallas

Michael had a work event in Dallas last weekend, and I decided I would be brave and we would join him. The last time the 4 of us stayed in a hotel together, the night went terribly with both kids waking each other up and no one getting much sleep. But that was a few months ago and we were able to have two separate rooms, so I thought we would try again. We went down after he got off work Friday night. Saturday morning we had breakfast and headed out to the Dallas Arboretum. I'd read about it last year and had been wanting to go.

The flowers were incredible and the weather was perfect!

Tossing a coin and making a wish... (she discarded the tutu later in the morning, that she just HAD to bring with us on the trip "in case she needed to be fancy"). She told me later she wished for a princess carriage to come, but that it didn't and her wish didn't come true. This age definitely has its ups and downs, but can be really funny at times too.

 The children's garden area was awesome. There was a preschool area with a little house, sand to play in, a little splash area, and tons of other activities throughout the garden.

We could have stayed much longer than we did. I'd recommend bringing a picnic to eat on the grounds or eating there and making a day of it.

At North Park Mall- she said: Mom, take a picture of me and my pony with these flowers. We are beautiful! :)

And what is a weekend at a hotel with kids without some swim time? Benjamin tried out the floating ring for the first time and he was a fan! He loved splashing his hands in the water just like he does at bath time. Michael went to his dinner auction in the evening and the kids and I went out to eat dinner. We ate on the patio at Corner Bakery and Isabella sang 'Let it go' at the top her lungs while spinning and eventually tripped and fell while Benjamin was fussing and ready for a nap. And I just pulled my sunglasses down over my face a little lower. ;) We ate quickly and got back to the hotel so those babies could get to bed. It was a fun Saturday!