Good Friday and Easter Saturday

The kids had Good Friday off from school, and after a beautiful weather week, Mother Nature decided we needed a rainy, chilly day. On their day off from school. Good thinking Mother Nature. 

So we entertained ourselves by dyeing Easter eggs in the morning. The kids were very into it and did a great job!

Ignore the backdrop. We are in the process of painting (finally!) the breakfast room and kitchen (uh...er...for the third time). I have to say we both lost steam after the kitchen was finally functioning again. So we're back on the wagon now and hopefully will be completely done very soon. Pictures to come.

Truman supervised the egg dyeing. He always has to be a part of what we are doing. So different from Kitty P who wants to be far far away from whatever we are doing.

On Saturday, the sun came out again and we got ready to go to our park's Easter Egg Hunt put on my one of our local churches.

Warning, picture overload. I just wanted to be able to remember how many pictures I actually had to take to get a couple of good ones.

They were cracking themselves up.

And Lila found something to cheer about...

Or sing about...

 Anything but look at the camera to smile...

And my very personal favorites...Nate must be telling her a joke.

Because she roared with laughter.

I mean really.

I don't know why I bother sometimes. That's a lie. I do.

Off to the park with a classic Lila face.

Nate had to hunt further down from us with one of his friends. So Lila and I waited the long wait until they told us to go.

She got lots of eggs and we found a place to check them out with Nate and our friend Cate.

We walked home and had a lazy afternoon and evening. I think Spring has officially sprung and we are SO happy about the warm weather!

Up next, Easter Sunday!

Cadbury Egg Brownies

I made these Cadbury Egg Brownies for the first time last Easter and they will forever be on our Easter menu. I decided to make them on the Sunday before Easter this year so that we would have time to eat them before next Sunday's Easter treats. But they'll be lucky to see Tuesday. 

I got this recipe from the Mix & Match Mama blog - you can find it here. Make them, make them today. 

Photo Credit: Mix & Match Mama Blog

Weekend Wrap Up

Sometimes winter around here has to sneak back in and show us who's boss. That's what I was thinking when I opened the shades at 6:00 AM on Friday morning. There was this white stuff on my car and it took a minute for the reality to sink in that it had snowed. Now, it wasn't very much (less than 1/2 inch) and it was gone within hours, but it was enough to make us remember that it certainly can snow in March around here. Woohoo to that.

It was chilly on Friday and Saturday, so I wasn't sure we were going to make it to the Egg Hunt that was on our calendar. But the four of us suited up and went anyway, and we weren't the only ones there like I thought we might be. Scott was with Nate, so I only have pictures of Lila. And let's just say using the word "Hunt" is false advertising. There was no hunting to it. It was more like a "Egg Pick-up." But the kids were happy with their prizes.

After a little lunch and rest time, we all went to see Home at our favorite movie theater with the reclining seats. It was a cute movie. Not the greatest kid movie I've ever seen, but the kids liked it and that's all that matters.

On Sunday, it had finally started to warm up again and we were all very glad. My sweethearts before heading to Palm Sunday services. Yes, Nate is carrying a Lego set. Always.

I'm glad for a short week at school, Easter on Sunday, AND BASEBALL ON SUNDAY NIGHT!

Typical Tuesday

On Tuesdays, Lila and I have a routine. When she's 18, I want to be able to look back and see what our days were like when she was 4!

Lila has dance class at 9:00 AM with 2 other little girls at Studio Forte. I'm so thankful that she can take a class on a weekday, in the morning. Since the class is so small, she gets lots of individual attention from Miss Lindi, which she loves. They are working on their recital numbers and we can't wait to see her in action on the stage:) 

After dance, she quickly changes clothes and we head to the library for story time. The children's librarian reads a few books and then has a craft for the kids to do. After craft time, we pick out books and play with the other fun things at the library. 

Then we head home for lunch and rest time and after rest, it's time to go pick up this boy. We miss him when he's at school. 

After getting Nate, we come home to find this other boy. He's a complete and total mess. Like I'm not sure what we did before we had Truman. 

Our life must have been very calm.

Spring Break

After Scott & I returned from California, the kids and I jumped right into their Spring Break week. By jumping, I mean we settled in to have a very (very) laid back week. I kind of loved it. We all perfected the art of sleeping in (that means 7-7:30 around these parts) and enjoyed just being to do things around the house. 

We also enjoyed an outing with our Haas cousins - going to Monkey Joe's and then over to their house for lunch and playtime. 

Evan played a version of tackle football with all the kids. It was hysterical. Lila was a HUGE fan.

We did many art projects, watched some movies, and built some Legos. On Friday, Nate had a idea for an art project that required us to go to Michael's for supplies. We went in, found everything we needed, and were heading back out to the car when Lila & I collided in the parking lot. I heard a loud pop come from my foot and thought to myself, that's probably not good. It took me a minute to compose myself and get into the car. The kids were very worried about me, so that felt nice.

After I was able to start the car and get going (it was my left foot, so I could drive), I told the kids we were going to go ahead and run to the grocery store if they would help me because I was sure it was one of those injuries that hurts really bad when you do it, but then it goes away pretty quickly.

Well. It wasn't one of those. We got into the grocery store and all the way to the back when I considered getting down on my hands and knees to crawl back to the parking lot. It was fun times.

We made it home, where I did indeed crawl up the front stairs and immediately parked myself on the couch with an ice pack and some ibuprofen. A nice bruise started to appear on my foot (I hadn't hit anything, so this was comforting). Scott thought I should go get it x-rayed, but the thought of crawling back out to the car and getting into the doctor's office with 2 kids was more than I could bear. So I sat.

The point of this long story is that my kids were champions. When you spend full, multiple days in a row with your kids, it's sometimes easy to think you are doing a horrible job as a parent. Keepin it real - the sibling fighting can cause crazy amounts of insanity. But Nate stepped up so much - he helped me get situated, then he got all the groceries from the car and put them all away. He made Lila lunch and cleaned it up. I was so proud of him. Lila was just the sweetest nurse and put all sibling rivalries on hold for a while. I was very proud of both of them. Now I'm thinking I may need to fake an injury every once in a while!

Nate & Scott went to the Lego Fest on Friday night and Lila & I were supposed to go to dinner at Bread Company. I didn't want to disappoint her so I hobbled myself on in there, but I did convince her to get take-out so that I could get back to the couch.

Me, my foot and Lila watched a movie and had a lazy night.

On Saturday morning, we made the Harry Potter wands that Nate wanted to make. They turned out really good and he's a pro with an art project. 

On Saturday afternoon, the kids were dying to get the pool and sprinklers out. It was about 70 degrees but I finally gave in and they entertained themselves for over an hour and a half. 

Yes, there was some fighting, but overall they played very nicely, while I sat with my foot up. 

When we came in to take a break, I watched the Cardinals / Braves Spring Training game. I am ready for some baseball to start!

By Sunday, my foot was feeling somewhat better, and I figured I was going to have to figure out how to walk for the week ahead. So we made the short 2-block trek to the park (it took twice as long but we made it). Wearing tennis shoes really helped.

And this is how we started our week after Spring Break...I literally had to lift Lila out of the bed and put her clothes on while she was still lying down. Back to school is hard, but for the child that has gotten up at 5:30 AM for most of her life, I'm actually enjoying it being the other way around.

Calistoga / Napa Trip

Nate & Lila's Spring Break started on Friday, March 13th, so Scott & I decided to celebrate by taking a trip to Napa. Without the kids. Trust me, they were just as happy staying with my parents and getting to go to the cabin. 

We met up with our travel partners and dear friends, Ryan & Audra at the San Francisco airport. I had been stalking the weather, hoping it would not change to rain (I've never been to wine country when it wasn't raining). And we arrived to perfectly sunny, 70+ degree temperatures and I was a happy girl. 

We stayed at the Aurora Park Cottages in Calistoga, CA. Scott & I had stayed there back in 2008 and I was worried it wouldn't be the same. But it turned out to be just the same if not better. This was the view from our front porch. 

We started off Friday tours at August Briggs Winery, which is one of our favorites. They were kind enough to snap a picture of the 4 of us. Sometimes it doesn't seem possible that we met them almost 14 years ago in Nashville. 

I'm so thankful for both Ryan & Audra - it is good for my soul to spend several days catching up with them and solving all of life's problems.

I was very intent on soaking up all the sun I could. Many times, after the wine tasting was over, I would bolt out the door so I could get to the sun. At one winery, I had Scott switch seats with me so that I could be in the sun. And then I had 2 people come up to me asking if they could get me an umbrella. Um no. I'm from a colder climate. I like the sun. Like really really really like the sun.

It's always nice to just be adults for a few days!

Our group is comical at wineries. Not bad comical. Just comical. Some of us more than others:)

The views were gorgeous the entire time we were there. It was 82 degrees on this day. I was very happy.

The last stop we made was one of my favorites. It was a small winery and they took us out into the vineyards to talk about the plants that were planted in 1908. I thought it was amazing to see these old, ugly, gnarly vines that were still producing amazing fruit. Good lesson.

The Hayne Vineyard at Chase Cellars. 

Fabulous trip! Until next time, wherever that may be...