Eggs, Eggs, Eggs!

So much catching up to do! I feel like we've been going, going, going, but sometimes I look back at the week and can't remember what we did!

Leading up to Easter we went to a couple of Easter egg hunts. We haven't really talked about the Easter Bunny, so the kids just see it as a fun game of finding eggs with fun things inside. My local MOPS group did a family play date/Easter party. We made Easter Bunny ear hats, carried Easter eggs in spoons, and did a little Easter egg hunt inside the church since it was a cold and dreary day. The kids loved it, and almost a month later are still playing with the bouncy balls they got.

Our town also has an Easter egg hunt, but when the day came, it was rainy.  They still invited everyone to come out and visit the Easter Bunny in the park pavilion, so we headed down to check it out. By the time we got there, it was no longer raining so they put out a few eggs for the kids to pick up. Of course Jonah's favorite thing is to pick up an egg, eat the candy, and then get another egg so he only got like three eggs. And when we went to sit with the bunny, Jonah refused and Noelle surprised me by wanting a picture with him!

We also did some Easter egg dying with both Grandma and Nana, which all of them (grandmas and kids!) loved! Grandma had a fun technique of wrapping the eggs in a little towel, squirting various colors around the egg, and then pouring the vinegar over. It gave the eggs a pretty tie-dye affect! And then with Nana, they enjoyed putting the eggs into all the different cups to get the various colors.

Another local Easter event, is the Peep Show. People submit creations all made out of peeps, and there are some really impressive masterpieces! As we were waiting in line to get into the building, I overheard someone say that it was the first day of the show, so of course it was SUPER crowded. We didn't last too long, but we took a quick tour through each room and Noelle and Jonah recognized Pooh Bear, Snoopy, Starwars, and some other fun ones! And I'm a sucker, and bought them popcorn and candy to eat on the drive home.

Our last Easter egg hunt, before the one at Nana's on Easter, was the day before Easter at our neighbor's church. It's a really big outreach event for them where they invite everyone in for a puppet show (this year they talked about Noah and the ark), and then do a big egg hunt with cupcakes and snack afterwards. I took Noelle when I was super pregnant with Jonah, but hadn't been back since. Luke came with us, and we met up with our other neighbors who have a 5 and 2 year old. Noelle and Jonah loved it, and Jonah, sweet boy after my own heart, kept stuffing his face with chocolate and candy!

Lot's of fun adventures in March, and hopefully the weather starts cooperating again with some warmth so we can spend more time outside!

Easter Baskets and Family

I really love holidays, especially when we get to see lots of family! This year we spent Easter with the Perrault side since my brother came home from Colorado. Although, sadly, his reason for coming home was to help my youngest sister move out to Colorado. I will definitely miss seeing her even if it wasn't as often as I would have liked! At least we have a trip to Colorado planned for the spring so we'll see them soon.

Easter morning I was awake before the kids and was able to get in a quick run. Once we were all up and showered, Luke and I sent the kids on a hunt for their Easter baskets! I'd written out little clues that took them to a few places around the house, and Noelle especially loved it! When she found the baskets in my closet she kept saying "thank you, mommy!" They each got some socks (Frozen for Noelle and Thomas the train for Jonah), a ball (Frozen for Noelle and Star Wars for Jonah), bubbles, and Reeses eggs (mostly for me!)

We headed to church and soon after we arrived Noelle hurt her knee/leg playing around in the lobby and decided she would rather sit with us than go to nursery. She did surprisingly well, as long as we kept her fueled with snacks and a pen and paper!

After church we headed home so Jonah could nap (he'd already been cranky most of the weekend and we did not want to skimp on sleep for him!), and then went to my parents once he woke up. My mom had an egg hunt set up for them, and after the three that I had taken them to in the past two weeks, they knew exactly what to do. Noelle ran around the yard picking up as many as she could, and Jonah had help from everyone else pointing out eggs for him. The eggs were full of dimes, nickels, and Reeses cups- pretty much the best thing ever. Jonah agreed and kept stuffing his mouth with chocolate. Definitely a boy after my own heart!

My mom had also hidden Easter baskets for them with more candy, stickers, and tickets for the carousel. Noelle surprisingly ate ham at dinner and Jonah wanted more deviled eggs. Throughout the day, I kept getting excited thinking about my sister's son being a part of everything next year! She bought the suspenders and bow-tie for Jonah and her little guy for next year, as well as a matching headband for Noelle. Cannot wait for matching cousin pictures!

I have absolutely come to love Easter more as God has drawn me closer to Him and given me a greater understanding of His sacrifice for me. There is no greater reason to rejoice than in Jesus' work on the cross. On Friday as we were driving somewhere, I asked Noelle if she knew why we celebrate Easter. To my surprise, she said Jesus! And then she sang me a little song she learned at school, "This is the cross where Jesus died, this is the hill where Mary cried." I pray my little's hearts come to know the impact of this and love Jesus with their lives!

Sunshine and a Foam Pit

One evening last week I had a leadership meeting for MOPS, and left the kids in Luke's care to do the evening routine of bath and bedtime. When Noelle woke up the next morning, she came downstairs, and first thing she said to me was "So, how was your meeting?" My little adult!

The weather last week was glorious! Sunshine and warmth. We spent so much time OUTSIDE! And I think it's safe to say we all loved it. Chalk, bubbles, play ground- we did it all!

We also had a MOPS play date at a trampoline park. It's been about a year since the last time I took them to one, and they both enjoyed themselves. At first Noelle wasn't interested into changing into the special socks, but once she saw everyone else jumping around, she was all over it. We kept going back and forth between the trampoline and the foam pit.

Jonah has been cutting his fourth (and final!) 2nd year molar since last week, and has been crankier than usual, especially upon waking from his nap. Last week, when I knew we still had a good hour before Luke got home from work, and Jonah lost it because I wouldn't let him keep the refrigerator door open to play with the light, I piled them into the car with the plan to just drive around for an hour. Gas waster? Or sanity saver? I choose sanity!

I ended up driving past my sister's house, and even though she wasn't home yet, decided to stop there and let the kids run around her back yard. I can foresee lots of fun times with them running around with their cousin in that yard!

Pink Monkey PJs and a Topknot

Most exciting news: Noelle and Jonah have a baby girl cousin, and I am an AUNT! She was born on March 3 (at 3:03- fun, fun!), and I'm trying to scheme up ways to get down to Nashville so I can hold her. The pictures we've seen are adorable, and it sounds like things are going well so far!

Also, these pink monkey PJs. We got two sets of these footie pajamas in a bag of hand-me downs. They are the exact same size (3T), and both Noelle and Jonah get such a kick out of wearing them at the same time. There are even tears (usually from Jonah) when they are in the wash and can't be worn.

Last week we took a trip to the mall to do our usual play in the play area, and grab Chick Fil A. While I don't mind walking around the mall, I am so looking forward to warm days when we can walk outside, and go to the playground, and take walks with Luke after dinner. We had a dusting of snow last Friday, and this week it's supposed to get up to 70*, so I'm praying the spring weather sticks around.

Over the weekend, Noelle had a birthday party for a set of twin girls in her pre-school class, and it was at Chuck-E-Cheese. I've never taken her before, and it's been awhile since I've been, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, or how she would do. But she loved it! Her favorite was the mini carousel, of course, and she attempted a few games. She seemed to enjoy celebrating her friends with pizza and singing Happy Birthday. And she redeemed her 25 tickets for some Frozen stickers. Can't get much better than that!

And I love her little top knot in this picture. She does NOT like me to brush her hair, let alone put it up. Lately I've been letting her go every three days without a shower/bath because she hates them so much, and she was in dire need of clean hair at this point. So while she was distracted at Nana's house, I pulled it up into a little topknot/bun. Now to decide if we're doing more ballet and get her to wear a bun every week for that...

Ballet Performance

Yesterday was the end of Noelle's first ballet class, and they ended it with a little performance. We knew it would be short (like less than 10 minutes), but we invited the grandparents, and Luke worked from home so that he could join us. My dad was out of town for work, but the other three grandparents came, and I think really enjoyed it!

Last week, I stopped at Goodwill just to look around, and ended up finding a Disney brand leotard for less than $4, and couldn't resist buying it for Noelle! She was definitely excited to wear it for her performance.

The performance was at a different location than where the classes have been held, and Noelle has been saying for the past week that we need to go to a different place. We even drew a little map with "directions" on how to get there (even though I really had no idea where I was going), and Noelle brought it along in the car. The building had a gym with a stage, and the teacher quickly practiced with the girls on entering and exiting the stage.

cheesin for a picture after the performance

Noelle was adorable and hilarious! At one point, she got distracted by something on her finger and just stood there looking at it while the rest of the girls danced around her. Sometimes she spent more time looking at the girls next to her rather than the teacher, who was doing the movements for them to follow. But she had so much fun, and it's making me think we may need to sign her up for the spring session as well!

The ballet portion was danced to Beyonce's "Halo", and the tap dance was to "Oh, What A Night." After it was over, we all headed out to Baugher's for dinner, where Jonah and Noelle downed their apple cider, and Jonah had to be removed because he started screeching for the fun of it!

All in all, we are proud of our little ballerina trying something new, and love that she enjoyed it!

Our Week

It's been a fun filled week with the littles!  Fun in the simple, every day way of hanging out and having adventures. And by adventures, I mean play dates and going to one of our favorite indoor places- THE MALL! (And most definitely not every moment was fun!)

after nap cupcake with a side of bedhead

Daddy had off on Monday for President's Day so we "slept in" and then hit up Chick Fil A for our free breakfast meals and some play time. On Tuesday we had a snow/ice day so no school for Noelle, and Daddy worked from home (which makes any day SO much better!). By the afternoon, it was sunny and had warmed up quite nicely, so we were able to escape the house to pick up some groceries (we sure know how to party!).

On Wednesday we had a play date with our church's MOPS group at a local nature center, and it was fun to watch Noelle and Jonah explore everything. Some favorites were the toddler room where they could touch everything, the ramp/path through the forest, and of course pushing buttons to go up the elevator. We even got yummy food afterwards with friends before heading home for a nap for Jonah!

Jonah is a teenager, and Noelle's facial expressions- always full of disdain!

After some begging from Noelle on Wednesday, we made our way to the mall on Thursday to do our usual carousel ride, play area, quarter rides, and lunch. The Lululemon store had a stand out in front with water, Kind bars, and flowers for people to take. Noelle loved the flower, and Jonah devoured the Kind bar as we made our way to the carousel. There may have been some spilled milk at lunch, Jonah falling out of the stroller on his face, and then only a short car nap on the way home, but overall, it was a fun morning just me and my babies.

We started our Friday with a play date with our other MOPS group at the home of our group's mentor mom. She has two sheep who bleated their hellos as we got out of the van, and Noelle loved it! She even sang them "Baa, Baa Black Sheep" as we were getting ourselves ready to drive back home. Our mentor mom had her kid's old toys out for all the MOPS kids to play with, and since there was a train set, Jonah was good to go, and Noelle loved the dollhouse and tea set. And I was especially grateful for my time with other mamas!

Happy Valentine's Day to My Love!

Happy Valentine's Day to my forever Valentine!

I am so thankful that I get to do life with you. That I get to watch you be the daddy to our kids, and that I get to cheer you on in all the amazing things that you do. You work so hard for us- and I love that you've been able to pursue a career that you really enjoy. It's hard to believe that you've been in the IT field for fewer years than you've taught, yet you've already learned SO much!

Thank you for the little things, like filling up the van with gas and bringing me flowers when you can tell it's been a rough day. Thank you for talking to me about Jesus and about sermons, and letting me talk to you about the latest blog posts that I've read about God and motherhood.

Thank you for supporting my love of Starbucks and Chick Fil A. You know I love my coffee! Thank you for allowing me to spend time running, and for doing all the 21 day fix workouts with me. I know I wouldn't have made it through those initial 21 days without your support.

Thank you that we can be so simple and yet have so much fun together- our Valentine's date this year was Noodles and Company for dinner, and then Walmart to pick up fun Valentine's gifts for the littles. And thanks for continuing the tradition of pizza on Valentine's Day! (And for picking me up a salad so I can at least feel like I'm being a little bit healthier!)

Thank you for being my permanent wedding date. And for being my best friend. And for laughing with me when our children are just being extra crazy!

I love you!