Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a very happy Easter! We sure did. Granted Cooper was sick, but with four kids I figure it will be years before all of the kids are healthy for any single holiday. I think it was good it was only one out of the four!

The kids woke up in the morning to discover that the Easter Bunny had come and left baskets of goodies. Emma Jo was excited to find the newest Harry Potter movie in her basket!
After church, we came home to an Easter egg hunt. There were over 150 eggs hidden in Grammie's yard. Grace had been very concerned about how many eggs each kid could find so that everything would be fair. Once she realized how many there were she decided they should just go for it! Emma was a great big sister and left the "easy ones" for the little kids. When Grace's basket was full she took over Henry's and filled it for him!

The kids were adorable in their special outfits that Grammie bought. The morning was a little drizzly so I was happy that Henry had the option of black pants even though the overalls were too cute! Grace wore her high heels to church but quickly changed to Crocs when she got home. Emma looked a little too grown up in her sheath dress and leggings. I can't hardly believe she will be 12 in less than two months! Cooper wore his button down shirt and sweater vest. He loves wearing "fancy clothes" and was quite a handsome little guy.


Henry was very happy finding just one egg and trying to eat it!

Can you believe how big he is? He is very fast at crawling but now would prefer to be standing. Henry pulls up on everything and even tries to let go with one hand most of the time. (Emma's a little worried that he is going to take over the early walking record in our family).

Champions!

The the past couple of months, Emma Jo has been playing on the WCA 7th Grade Girls Basketball Team. This is her 2nd year playing on the team (and she is ONLY a 6th grader). Emma has learned a lot about the game thanks to great coaches and her skills have improved dramatically. She is an excellent rebounder and a pretty good shot as well. She is a post so her main responsibilities are preventing shots and getting rebounds. Her efforts were part of what helped her team capture the pennant last Friday evening!

Lucky Me

Sure, just like everyone else, there are days that my kids drive me crazy. But overwhelmingly I love my kids and I enjoy spending time with them. There are days that I can't believe just how lucky I am to be their mom. Most of my very best days are days that I can just focus on being their mom and not worry about work, chores, errands or "to dos". Yesterday was one of those days. The day started of just like any other day. Jason had to respond to the frost alarm in the early morning hours so it was just me and the kids. We were planning on making it to church, but that just didn't work out.

Henry and I got out of bed around 6am and fixed coffee, checked the computer and then plopped ourselves on the floor in the family room. The little kids joined us for cartoons has Henry climbed all over me. Eventually we made breakfast (pancakes since we only had 2 eggs in the house and not much of anything else). Emma Jo was in charge of the bacon. Jason got home as we were finishing breakfast. Then I tried to get Henry to take a nap since he was rubbing his eyes. He filled his belly and drifted off. After snoozing for about 10 minutes his eyes popped open and he was recharged! I handed him off to Jason so that I could shower before he left for the house. After my shower Henry was definitely ready for a nap. I rocked him to sleep once again.

Around 11:30am, it was time to get serious about starting our day. The kids and I decided it was perfect weather for a picnic. We got dressed and headed to the store. The kids were great at the store and in no time our cart was full and we were ready for our picnic.

The little kids got the blanket and spread it in the yard. Emma Jo found the umbrella while I made lunches. It was nothing fancy, but it warmed my heart to see the four of them sitting together, sharing a meal, sharing stories, being kind to each other, and enjoying each other's company.

We had puffy Cheetos. (I can't remember ever buying those before.)

We played hide-and-seek with a napkin.

And in general just enjoyed each other.

Later in the afternoon we baked cupcakes for Emma Jo's Championship party and a cake for dessert after dinner with Grammie and Grampa.

I was tired at bedtime, but happy to have spent a great day appreciating all of the blessings that God has given to our family, namely Emma, Grace, Cooper and Henry.

Great Weekend

After feeling awful on Friday, I was so happy to feel great this weekend. The weather has been perfect and the kids and I have tried to take advantage. Yesterday we played outside in the water and today we had a picnic in the yard.

We took Henry's bathtub outside so he could have a "swim".

Grace and Cooper played with buckets of water.

I told them not to get each other wet. I guess I didn't say they couldn't get themselves wet.

Later, Grace and Jason went to the annual Girl Scouts Father-Daughter Dance. The theme was Flowers and Flip Flops. Jason was pretty happy he could wear a Hawaiian Shit. Grace was thrilled to wear flip flops and her new Easter hat.

While they were at the dance, I stayed home with Emma, Cooper and Henry. We made pizza buns for dinner and had sundaes for dessert!

Cooper was delighted to have whipped cream! It is one of his favorites. Emma Jo liked the chocolate sauce and the black and white ice cream.