Dyeing Easter Eggs!!!

This was a big year in egg dyeing at our house. It is the first year that the brothers have participated in this particular tradition! We got everyone aproned and play-shirted up so that we could get to work on making some beautiful eggs!! Laney took charge and explained everything to the brothers giving them very specific directions for each step of the process!

Sam and Miles weren't into the whole part about waiting while your egg sits in the dye soaking up color. They got impatient and started tossing all their eggs in one cup!

Look at what I have created!!!!

The eggs were barely dry before Laney and Sam, who both love boiled eggs, were cracking em open to eat them up!!

Laney's School Party!

Laney had her Easter party at school the week before Easter and she did so great!!! Laney has struggled just a little bit at parties in the past because of all the parents there. She gets a little anxious about everyone looking at her. She usually is glued to me or to one of her teachers, but not this time! She was completely comfortable and so excited the whole time. This is not the first time lately that she has demonstrated a real maturity and evidenced that she is growing out of some of her anxious behavior!!! This is such an answer to our prayers and helps to set me a little more at ease about the impending kindergarten!!!!

We started off the party with an indoor egg hunt! The kids loved it!

Laney and Tatum have been in preschool together for all three years. Tatum is super sweet and they have so much fun everytime we get together. They are starting kindergarten at separate schools, but will end up in junior high together again! I can't really think about junior high right now- Yikes!

Care Bear class!!!

Little Brother chilling out and waiting on Big Sister!!

There was much bunny carnage as we tried to transport our bunny cookies to school. Lots of bunnies lost their ears, so I am glad that we made a bunch of extra ones!!!

We can't let a holiday go by around here without making sugar cookies. We had to triple our recipe this year so that we could bring cookies to Laney's school party and another get together that we signed up for. The kids had so much fun helping me roll out the cookie dough and cut out the shapes!

Some of our finished products! Laney was our jelly-beaner and Miles was in charge of sprinkles. Sam was there for moral support (and sampling!)

Easter Story Eggs!!

I have lately been lamenting how quickly my children are growing up. I am so in love with our life with our littles and I am just not ready for it to change at all. (for the record, I have never been a huge fan of change) However, one thing that I love about them growing up is that they can also grow in knowledge and in truth about who Christ is personally to them. As we celebrated the Easter season, we tried to take every opportunity to teach them about the extraordinary act of love and grace that Christ demonstrated by surrendering to death, even death on the cross, all for us!

I have heard of and seen these Resurrection Eggs before, but we have never had a set of our own. After seeing this on a blog I happened upon, I decided that we should make some to help us discuss the Easter Story as a family. It was awesome!!! Laney and I put it together while the brothers were sleeping and she had so much fun. We talked about each element and then we went scavenging around the house for something to represent it. We found a sticker to represent the donkey that Jesus rode in on on Palm Sunday. We used a magnet of a rose to talk about the crown of thorns. Laney is sometimes hard to talk to about serious things and this was the perfect tool to help us!!

Once the brothers woke up, Laney sat them down and opened each egg to tell them about Jesus and what he did for them. It was really a special moment for me!

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Easter Egg Hunt- Round One!

On Monday of last week, we got together with some friends. I get together with some girls every now and then and we have recently started trying to get our kids together. We always have such fun and leave looking forward to the next time!! Since it was the week of Easter that we were getting together, we decided to have an egg hunt with the kids. It was really fun! My kids made up half of the little group! Don't worry, we brought 3 times the eggs!!

These outfits were my first attempt at making something for all three of my littles to match!

Laney LOVES Sophia! They played together the entire time that we were there. Laney even took turns doing what she wanted to do (play in the play kitchen) and doing what Sophia wanted to do (play in the sandbox) That is a friendship skill that we are really working on developing!

I love love love these Easter pails that Nae Nae ordered for the kids. She got them on Etsy and they could not be cuter!

If you are interested in sewing, or if you are attempting to be interested in sewing like I am then you should check out this blog. http://www.dana-made-it.com/

I followed one of her tutorials to make this skirt for Laney and it was so easy!

Sweet Sammy just plopped down with his three eggs full of contentment!

Love a chance to get a picture with one of my loves!

Such cute friends!!!

Rodeo Roundup!!

Laney's preschool had their P.E. program last week.  It was a Rodeo theme and the kids were all so cute!  Laney did a great job, and even though she stuck close to Mrs. Melton's side as usual, she smiled, sang and partipated in what her class was doing.  I can't believe that this was her last preschool performance and that next time I watch her in a program, it will be at REAL elementary school.  How did this happen and where is the slow motion button. 

Pretty standard behavior with the fingers in the mouth.  Translation - I wish all these people weren't looking at me!!

Laney's class demonstrated what they use the stretchy band for in P.E.  They squeezed in tight and then stretched out wide!

Bobbis raced over from work even though she is in the middle of a very stressful accreditation check process that she is in charge of at her surgery center.  The brothers were super excited to see her since they had been at of town for almost a week and were missing Bobbis!

Such a cutie.  No fingers in the mouth once she was out in the hallway away from all those peering eyes!!

Trips for Everyone!!!

Todd and I had the opportunity to go on a vacation with some of our very good friends.  A very affordable trip to Winter Park, Colorado to go skiing for three days!!!!!!  Oh my gosh, we had such an amazing time and I have a whole post of pictures to dedicate to our trip as soon as I swipe the photos off of Todd's computer! 

 There is no way that we could have gone on a trip and had the incredible time that we did if we did not have such fantastic family loving our children to pieces the whole time that we were gone.  I think that most people's parents would be willing to keep their grandchildren for five days if they were asked to, but my in-laws weren't just willing, they were chomping at the bit!  They could not wait to get our littles all to themselves for some serious fun having!!  The love of our family is something that I am so aware of and try to never take for granted!!! We are so blessed!

The brothers went to Nocona to spend five whole days with Pops and Nae Nae at the farm (heaven for those boys!) while Laney stayed behind to spend the night and next day with Grommy because we didn't want her to miss Kindergarten Roundup at her school.  She had a great time with Grommy eating sprinkly popcorn, coloring and crafting, and window shopping for birthday presents! (equally heaven for her!)

She met the brothers in Cona on Friday night and they all got down to the business of feeding cows, riding tractors, fishing and shooting turtles!!  Good times!

We sent gifts for the kids for each day that they were gone.  Times like these are when my hoarding comes in handy. Whenever I come across a great deal on something, I snatch it up and store it in a "gift bin" in the playroom closet! 

Pops took the brothers out to the farm to "shoot turtles." 

 One of their targets. I don't think that they were actually shooting at these little guys.  At least that is what I am choosing to believe!

Time to drive the gator!!

 Love this picture!!!!  I am guessing that we will have this picture many many times over the coming years!

The kids came home with tons of stories of all the fun that they had "at the farm," and "at the house."  Lots of those stories included sweet Grandaddy!!

Four Wheelin' Girl!!!

 Getting ready for Easter!

 Thank you Rick and Renee for loving our children so completely and for treasuring your time with them.  We are forever grateful!!