Happy Easter!

Even though today is Easter, we celebrated yesterday.  We went to an amazing service at church - our first Saturday night service.... but before that, we held our 1st Annual Easter Egg Hunt in our backyard... Since it was our first go, we wanted to keep it small so we invited some friends over and it was a total hit!  Ryan and I hid about 180 eggs in our backyard and so each kid had plenty of eggs!  I think the grownups had almost as much fun as the kiddos!  What a fun way to celebrate our Lord's resurrection..

 These are our hunters!  Holiday, Eden, Jackson and Anna Kate!  Oh wise ones - go find that chocolate!

 And hunt they did!  While daddy's relaxed... and mommy's showed off the shape of a future hunter!

 

It was EPIC.

 

THEN!  The magical GOLDEN egg was found... and a Snicker Bar was received.. and high five missed...  :-)

 SUCH a good time!

 Chocolate faces and all...

 

CHEESE!!!  ... and eggs.  :)

Play thru the Allergies.

A Girls' Celebration!

Our friend Kim celebrated her 30th Birthday a few weeks ago and we all got to surprise her with a fun birthday dinner! We always have such a good time together!  These girls are so great!

Outdoor Laser Tag!!

OK so anyone who knows me - or should I say knows me WELL - knows how insanely competitive I am... and kind of a tomboy too.  I absolutely love to get dirty and be outside and run and play... (good thing I have boys I guess!) - so when we got a chance to play outdoor laser tag, again, I was so excited that may have been jumping up and down a little more than usual.... Modern Mission was the place and Saturday was the day... and there were 6 of us - 3 couples - ready to duke it out.  I have to say that it was even more fun this time around. The first 2 games we played with some 12-13 yr olds - a big group of them - all boys.. we split up into 2 groups... the 3 of us girls were on one team and the "men" were on another... these kids are incredible at this game but we had to show them up!  The next 3 games we got to play by ourselves- boys vs girls (they usually only play 3 games, but the guys in charge let us play 5 games total!).  If you've never played outdoor laser tag, think paintball without the sting!  It's this huge field with all kinds of obstacles to hide behind and abandoned buildings and vehicles to play around - Ryan even climbed a tree and took me out in about 3 seconds.  I never ever saw him!  By the time we finished playing - 2 1/2 hrs later, we were all exhausted, soaked with sweat, muddy and could not stop talking about how much fun that was!  I absolutely love this group - my community group friends - and feel very blessed to have these GREAT friends in my life!!! 
ps:  In case you're interested, the last 3 games where it was 3 on 3, girls vs boys - the girls lost the first 2 but the boys lost the last game.... BAD.  We were just getting in our groove.... :)  AND - Allison is 24 wks pregnant and totally kicked butt!  GO GIRLS!  :)

My Grandma: How Blessed I Am.

My grandma and I have been close since I can remember.  She is an absolute blessing in my life.  I cherish the days that I get to have her all to myself.  She came and stayed the week with me while Ryan was in St. Louis last week and my boys and I get very spoiled having her around.  Ethan has had a LOT of time with her because she stayed with me a lot when he was a baby... so reaches for her the second he sees her.  It doesn't hurt that she has 4 kids, 8 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren .... she knows what she's doing w/ babies.  :)  Ethan nearly fell asleep w/ her just holding him.  We love you Grandma!!

Here we go again...!

We weren't going to go again because I think that once you've see the "REAL" Thomas, why do you need to see him again?  Well, Jackson felt very differently. He keeps saying "mommy, when we go back to see Thomas again, I'm going to tell him this" or "when we see Thomas again, I'm going to show Ethan this...."  So I just decided this year we'd go somewhere different to see him since we've seen OKC and had such a good time there, this time we'll go to Kansas City.  So we're going to do what we did last time and make it a fun adventure and see the zoo too.  This, however, may be our last time to go see Thomas.... please?  :-)

March Phone Dump!

March has flown by!  We started the month getting our playset up and also having the drywall fixed where Ryan put his foot through the ceiling... Jackson and Ethan were sick for almost 2 weeks so it's been a very lazy allergy-filled month.  Glad April is here!  :)

 

 The first signs of hand/foot... poor boy.

 Jackson finally gets to "dig into" his sandbox... pun intended.  :)  While Ethan would rather observe...

 

Ryan scalped the grass - but then had to clean it all up!

 Hanging out w/ Rylee-Roo!

 Jackson slammed his face into the table in our playroom and this bruise popped up about 1 minute later.

 YUM.

 Jackson's allergies are super bad this spring.. his little eyes are so puffy and swollen - even after just a few minutes of being outside.  He's on Claritin but it doesn't seem to be helping w/ his eyes.  Poor guy... he still wants to go out and play and with 70 degree weather, how do I say no to an active boy!?  I don't...  If he starts complaining about it, I'll have to limit outside time I guess.

 A really GREAT (and beautiful) friend.  :)

 Ethan is right at home w/ Daddy.

Happy April 1st!