Easter Weekend 2014

I love Easter. Besides the overall renewal it represents to me, I love that it is a holiday that I get to plan and execute all by itself. Although Christmas is very special for us too, I feel rushed to celebrate, since we've just come off Thanksgiving and 2 birthdays. So I've been planning for Easter for many weeks. 

Nate was out of school on Good Friday, so we had some time to fill. Fill it we did, a little too much. Lila had to go to the dentist and then had a swimming lesson. I thought the dentist would be the bad one so I asked Scott to take her. She did great there and then it was my turn to do the swimming lesson. Sigh. 

Much to my dismay, Lila HATES swimming lessons. I didn't see this one coming. She's always been so laid back and loves to swim. But she HATES them. Like cries and screams and says she's never going back. Sigh. I think we might not continue at this juncture because it's sort of ruining our Fridays and I'm really not about that right now. 

After swimming, we ran to get our HoneyBaked Ham - thankfully we walked in and out, and I was sweatin it because there is usually a long line. Then since I'd promised Lila she could pick what she wanted for lunch if she would JUST GET IN THE WATER ALREADY, we swung thru McDonalds. Yuck. 

But the kids were happy and we stopped by the park on the way home to eat lunch. It was a beautiful day and the dentist and swimming lessons were soon forgotten. We chilled out at home for nap (I use that word lightly) and then hit up our park for the afternoon. Can I just say how thankful I am that we have a park 2 blocks from our house and that we are having consistent good weather to walk there at least 2 times per day? THANKFUL.

On Saturday morning, Scott dyed eggs with the kids because he's more patient than me and doesn't care so much about the mess!

Nothing says Easter like dyeing eggs in your Christmas pajamas.

After Scott left for work, we cleaned up for the Easter Egg Hunt at our park. Mimi & Paka sent Lila this dress and she was so excited to wear it to the hunt!

I got this sweater for Lila before she turned 1 - I think it's a size 2 because that's the smallest size they had. I rolled up the sleeves when she was younger and now it almost fits perfectly. We got lots of mileage out of this one.

This is what happens when Lila takes the picture! I love the shorts Nate has on. Like really really love them. They are denim, but kind of like a linen denim. Nate never says anything about what he is wearing. Nothing. Ever. But when he put these on Saturday morning, he said, "Mom, these are really girly." Ugh. Please don't let this be the beginning of the end! He's 8 going on pre-teen.

Lila has all these new fears lately. I know it's normal for her age, but she was deathly afraid of the Easter Bunny and held her hears when they were announcing the rules of the hunt. I hope this phase passes soon.

They broke the hunters up by age, so I had to be with Lila, which meant I couldn't watch Nate. That made me sad, but he was with some friends and had a good time.

I had to get a post-race picture instead. The frustration on his face is coming from the fact the hunt coordinators taped all the eggs shut. They wanted to get one more year out of them and they were breaking all over the place last year. I had a similar look on my face.

The Easter Bunny came to visit on Sunday morning, and then the hunters were back at it again. After I assured Lila that Scott was not going to dress up at the Easter Bunny to hide the eggs. Sigh.

Before church - love them so much!

Seriously, when did Nate get so tall?!?

Poor Scott had to work, but we are thankful there are health care professionals working for those sick kids, even on holidays.

We had a feast on Sunday night and welcomed my cousin Evan, his wife Olga, and cousins Elena & Sonia over for dinner. I didn't take pictures of all the food, but I was proud of my dessert tray! Jane Ellis gave me this when we got married and I rarely get to use it, so I was excited. I made cupcakes and carrot cake balls (oh my word, they are divine).

The cousins! Lila is rockin some Farrah hair. But it was Sunday night and I was done trying to wrassle her into a pony tail. So Farrah it was!

Happy Easter! Spring is springing here and we are very excited!

Wacky Mixed Up Day & My Thoughts on Matching

So a funny thing about me...I like to match. This whole trend about wearing shirts/pants that clearly don't match or jewelry that is supposed to contrast with what you have on or even swim suit tops that don't remotely match the bottoms baffles me a little. I mean the mix of plaids and stripes alone is enough to send me over the edge. 

However, and surprisingly, I sort of subscribe to the trend, but I'll just go on record saying a "pop" of color that doesn't match anything you have on, makes me crazy. I'm not saying it's not cute - it is - it just gives me hives if I happen to be brave enough to try it. 

So you can imagine what it's like for me to send my child to school on Wacky Mixed Up Day... 

UNCOMFORTABLE

Another funny thing is that I've passed my matching obsession on to my children. Even at 3 years old, Lila will often tell me that something "doesn't match" or my personal favorite "Mom, that is just so not cute." I think she's figured out that telling me something doesn't match usually gets her out of wearing it more often than telling me it's not cute. I can't help it, I like everything to match.

By the way, I had to pick out her non-matching outfit pictured above. I evidently have not done a good job teaching my children how to not match. I mean, why would that skill ever be needed? :)

Dogwood Azalea Festival and Other Tales

Last week was a busy week. Aren't they all? The kids and I made it through the first part of the week while Scott was working, and then I promptly left to go on a work trip when Scott started his off week. This pattern happens way too much, but hopefully will get better some time soon. And how could I resist a trip to beautiful Valparaiso, Indiana???? 

Flying into Midway, driving in Chicago traffic, and making my way through dangerous Gary, Indiana (home place of Michael Jackson), is not my idea of a fun time, but worked called, so I went. Note: Gary, Indiana used to be like the worst city in the U.S.? Not sure if it is anymore - if not, sorry Gary tourism board.   

And just as a side note: I have to say that I'm not normally scared when I'm in my locked car. But while driving back to the airport, the GPS took me through, what I presume to be, a really bad part of town. Like grip your wheel and don't get blocked in the center lane of traffic kind of bad (yes, I've watched too many Law & Order episodes). Like signs up all over the place that say "Buy a Gun for someone who can't and Buy yourself 10 years). Let's just say my shoulders hurt from the tension when I finally arrived at the airport. Thankful that's behind me. 

I digress, on to the weekend...It was the annual Dogwood-Azalea Festival in Charleston, but more importantly, Scott was running the River to River Relay Race in Illinois on Saturday. So we all headed down for the events. Friday afternoon was beautiful and the kids played and played outside.  

The kids love this mini Gator that my parents got for them. Thane really enjoyed riding with Nate and their faces kept us laughing.

Lila rode a bike instead - she's not so much for the noise of the Gator.

On Saturday, while Scott was running, we headed to the parade. This is the kids prior to the parade when I laid out the blanket. No rest for the weary when we're at Nana & Wayne's house - they go non-stop. So they had to rest up for a few minutes.  Or they were just avoiding my picture taking.

I think the above picture should have been my clue that they were not going to be up for taking pictures.

Just keepin it real...

Despite the picture taking, they had a great time at the parade (after the fire engines passed - Lila is deathly afraid). Nate again asked my mom the question, "How do you know all these people?" He asked me the same question last year. It's hard for a city boy to understand knowing so many people in one place:)

After a good rest, we went down to the pond where we rode the golf cart and Nate fished.

My Dad made him this cane pole - and he even climbed out on this log to fish with it. I was shocked that he did it - he's not usually into stuff like that.

Scott and his team (that included Hamil too) ran very well and we were glad to see them home safely on Saturday night.

We had a great weekend and got home yesterday in plenty of time to sort things out before another week starts - and here we go again!

Weekend Outside

We started off the end of the week with a massive storm on Thursday night. It had been storming off and on all day - I think we had 4 or 5 different storm systems come through here. After watching the news on Thursday evening, I realized the worst one was scheduled to hit right at bed time. Awesome. 

We went about our routine the best we could, and I tucked both of the kids in bed. Lila heard the thunder right after I shut her door, so I was in her room when it starting hailing. I was doing my long Mom spiel about how it was just hail, no big deal, etc..., etc...when it started to sound like cannon balls were hitting the windows. So I called out for Nate and the 3 of us spent the next 30 or so minutes in the downstairs bathroom. Thank goodness for the downstairs bathroom with no windows. We thankfully did not have any damage to our cars, house, or yard. Welcome Spring!

The storm blew in colder air on Friday and it was very windy. So we didn't get to play outside after school. Bummer. So we came home and made Easter treats. I found both of these recipes on Mix & Match Mama.  

Easter Bark

 Cadbury Egg Brownies 

(I forgot to photograph, so I borrowed the picture from Mix & Match Mama - see link below)

Mix and Match Mama

Shut the front door. 

I LOVE Cadbury eggs, like my very favorite candy ever. And now I know how to make brownies with them. Try them, you'll love them! 

As a side note, Mix & Match Mama is one of my favorite blogs to read. I don't watch the Bachelor, but she is Sean Lowe's sister if you do! 

Saturday was much nicer outside, so we rode bikes / scooters to the park. Lila is becoming quite the bike rider! 

The kids played outside, built Legos and did art projects for the remainder of the day, and I managed to cross an item off my list that has been on there for some time. 

Sort Lila's clothes. Insert big sigh. 

I've been putting Lila's clothes in tubs since she was teeny tiny. But I've never really sorted them, and I wanted to put her nice smocked and appliqued clothes into Ziploc bags so they wouldn't yellow. 

Um. It was a job. Needless to say, I had (have?) a problem with buying clothes for her and I probably need to seek help. I went to Target on Friday to get ziploc bags for the project. I was trying to decide between the 50 bag box and the 100 bag box. Finally, I said out loud, "Abatha, if 50 bags will not hold all the smocked and appliqued stuff, you've got a bigger problem." Lila nodded in agreement. So we came home with the 50 bag box. 

I had 3 bags leftover. And she of course has clothes still in her closet. 

Ai-yi-yi

This is just a representative sample of the tubs, of course. 

On Sunday, we went out to Faust Park to play on the big playground. It was a pretty morning and Nate has determined it is shorts weather. Whatever works.

Lila loves to swing nowadays. She will swing forever and I love to push her.

And in case you were wondering, they got along this weekend for only the approximate 2 minutes that it took to take the pictures contained in this post. 

I will miss these days. I will miss these days. I will miss these days. 

Right?

Throwback Thursday

Good to know that it was really warm in April of 2011. I hope all these storms are blowing us some consistent warm weather. But I think they are blowing us some more 50 degree days. I won't complain about it being hot this summer. Promise. 

My sweet baby, who looks more grown up every day! 

Sam A. Baker 2014

The days leading up to our annual Sam A. Baker trip are always filled with anticipation. It is such a short trip, sadly, but one of the ones we look most forward to every year. I am proud of this tradition and hope we can continue it for many years to come. And yes, I'll always call it Sam A. Baker weekend, even though we don't stay at the state park cabins any more:)

Lila & I headed out early Friday morning, so we could make the weekend longer for us. Hamil & Thane came early too and Mom & Dad were already there. We played outside and tried to keep everyone somewhat clean. It was a hard job. 

After lunch, we went over to the new cabins, where Nana & Wayne had built a playground set. It will be used for cabin guests, but Lila & Thane got to check it out first.

I had to take some new pictures for the website, so I headed off to do that while they played.

I love this new one of Cabin #2.

The rest of our group arrived Friday night and we were so excited to see the Bakers (and Justin too!) Our extra special guest this year was none other than Mr. Ryan Pooley. We are SO excited that the Pooleys are moving closer to us and I'll be sure to tell you all about it when I see you next. I tell anyone who will stand still long enough. We are THAT excited! We missed Audra, Quinn & Sullivan terribly and hope they can join us next year!

On Saturday, we headed out for the canoe trip. Full disclosure. It was cold. Like sorta, kinda too cold for me to be canoeing. But we still had fun! Reid & Nate hanging out before we started.

The kids had fun and only complained a little that they were cold. Okay, maybe that was only my kids.  Scott & Nate did well in the canoe and Scott sacrificed his body to the cold river to save Nate from getting wet. Such a wonderful Dad he is:)

Lila was a TROOPER. For the first time, she sat in the middle of the canoe and stayed perfectly still as Wayne & I were going through the shut-ins. The water was low, but there were a few spots that made my heart beat faster. She did such a good job and was a pleasure all day long.

We tried to head out a little earlier for the canoe trip this year, and as a result we got home just in time for the sun to come out  (wouldn't you know). It was so nice to relax and enjoy everyone's company back at the ranch.

We already can't wait until next year! Great to see everyone!