Easter Eggstravaganza

First of all, I must apologize for the massive amounts of pictures in this post. Easter is one of my FAVORITE holidays!!! I love the spring, the eggs, getting all dressed up for church, and most of all, what it stands for.

We host Easter every year at our house. My family is all about tradition, so we pretty much do the EXACT same thing every Easter weekend. I'm sure if you look back to last years post it is pretty much the same order of events.

So lets get started with my Easter Weekend Recap....

Friday my sister and her fam came into town. I missed all photo ops Friday night, but we made bird nests out of rice crispie treats and jelly beans...kids loved it....especially Cruz....he must have had 20 jelly beans. Then we took the kids to the most unfriendly kid restaurant, Crabby's. I had to order Maddox a $9 cheeseburger because there is not even a kids menu. Fun none the less...

Now on to Saturday...

Our neighborhood hosts a huge Easter egg hunt every year and we always go. The weather was beautiful!!

Here is Maddox with his basket on his head....such a boy.

Here are all the cousins before the hunt....Margaux, Sloan, Maddox, and Cruz.

And the hunt begins....

Cruz figured out REAL fast that there was candy in all the eggs. He plopped down right in the parking lot and began chowing down....

Maddox and all his eggs....

The Easter bunny even made an appearance....

Me and the babies....did you know that 2 years ago on Easter I got the biggest, most shocking suprise of my life....I found out I was pregnant....not planned...but look at what God had in store for me....

Saturday night we had dinner at the club, then back home to decorate eggs....




I really get into egg dyeing. Just ask my family. I've been in charge of it since Sloan was born. I'm such a nerd...

Cruz pigged out on candy the whole time....thanks Auntie Kim....;)

I bought the cutest rhinestone stickers for our eggs...here is one I made;)

And of course, the Easter Bunny came to visit all the kiddos....

Here is Maddox and Cruz's baskets...

Easter morning....

Cruz found a way to get to the Pez candy:

And there were lollipops....And eggs....And even more candy...

Then it was time to get all dressed up for church. Cruz had my favorite EAster outfit ever. He just looked like Easter cuteness.

Annual Easter family pic....Here are my parents with all the grandkids:

And my favorite kids on the planet:The Easter Table:

The kids all played outside while we cooked dinner....Then we pigged out on ham, green beans, potatoe casserole, broccoli rice casserole, rolls, and a yummy dessert my mom made.

Lots of fun.

And one other cute thing. This year we asked Maddox what he learned at church....he said, "The stone rolled away, Jesus wasn't in the cave." And that's why we celebrate....

To Paci, Or Not to Paci

That is the question around this house!

Since Maddox was this little newborn baby, he has loved the "Soothie" paci. Or..."taci" as he likes to call it.

Its something that I have thought about for 2 1/2 years. Always making sure to never forget it. Always making sure it was attached to some sort of clothing so it did not get dirty or lost....heaven forbid!!

He loved it then...

He loved it then....He loved it THEN....And he loves it now.

I say all of this because last weekend the boys stayed at my mom and dads. And for the first time in Maddox's life....he did not have a taci. Not one. I woke up at 3 am and remembered that I did not leave one at their house. I was so stressed thinking all through the night that he must be miserable. He must crying. He must wonder where it is.

I immediately called the next morning. To my surprise, Maddox had not asked for it ONCE. Never even mentioned the word. Slept the whole night. Was totally fine.

Okay, we thought, this must be it. Its time. Get rid of them so that he never sees one again.

Brought him home. Laid him down for a nap.

First words, "Where's my taci?".

Mine, "They've gone bye-bye.".

Maddox (in complete panic), "But where are they, I want my taci".

Me (trying not to cave), "They're bye-bye, have a good nap".

I bolted.

He cried...for 30 minutes.

Then finally, quiet.

Maybe this is gonna work.

Then, more crying.

Then, Momma caves...I give him all six of his taci's and he is so appreciative and relieved.

So am I...I'm such a softie.

So I'm just curious....how old do you think is too old. And any good suggestions of how to get rid of the taci are completely welcome.

For now we have told him, "When your 3 the taci fairy comes and takes all your taci's, but you'll get a big prize left in return....". Ridiculous, I know...

Family, Friends, Fun!!

We've had a busy weekend! Lots of fun, lots of running around. Gonna do a quick recap!

Friday night we were invited to have dinner at David's Uncle Steve's house. Davids cousins were in town with their two girls and we thought it would be fun to get all the kids together. It was! The kids had a blast. Steve is planting a garden in his back yard. Half of it is just dirt so far, so he let the kids get out there and play in it. Dirt + kids = fun!

Below are pics of the second cousins: Cruz, Elizabeth, Maddox, and Catherine:

Here I told them to make a silly face (Look how happy Cruz is!!):

Saturday we had a birthday party that I am SO BUMMED I didn't get pictures of. My friend Serenity had a "Candy Land" First Birthday party for her little girl Kheringtyn. The kids had so much fun. Cruz ate candy and lollypops for 2 solid hours. They were in heaven! She did a great job! So cute!

After the party we went to dinner with the Hamptons, Browns, Hutchinsons, and Hermans. We ate at Abuelo's and then took the party to JJ's. A place I had never been to at night. They had a great band....a guitar/singer and a drummer who used a paint bucket to drum. Seriously. They were so fun. I danced a lot...by myself. Didn't care.

While all the festivities were going on, the snow started coming in heavy! We had 7 inches by the time we woke up this morning. All of that on the first day of spring...crazy!

The boys had stayed at my parents house last night (THANKS MOM AND DAD). We took lunch to their house when we went to pick the boys up. I had also packed some clothes so that they could go play in the snow. It sounded like a great idea.....but Maddox got cold fast!

Here are some pics from my parents back yard:

Somebody was ready to go back in.

Somebody else wasn't.

On another note, Cruz sleeps every night with a beautiful green blanket my mom knitted for him. He has grown to love it and snuggles it every night. It is so sweet. The only problem is that it is a full size blanket and he needed something else to take in the car, around the house, etc. So mom made him out of the same yarn a "mini" blankey. As soon as Cruz saw it he dropped everything to hold it. He loves it. He carries it everywhere now. It is the cutest thing I've ever seen. Thanks Ganmommy!!!

Bootcamp-alicious

So I just finished week 2 of getting up every morning Monday-Friday at 5am and enduring a 45 minute, kick you in the you know what, boot camp work out....

Yay for me....

Now, next week is off for spring break, then we'll be back for 2 more weeks.

I'm hoping to get into this new juicy swimsuit I just bought (shhhhh, don't tell David!!):

(except mine is baby pink)

Yes, I bought it feeling fat...just hoping boot camp will turn that around.

And can I just say, for us moms, thank GOODNESS they are making one pieces so stinkin cute! Obviously I would rather have a bikini bod, but until then, I'm lovin the new styles of swimwear. Covers you up, but not to "momm-y".

"Bootandals"

I just know this is going to be the next entry into Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.

Bootandles: a phrase coined by my brother in law mark, referring to the latest pair of shoes I bought at DSW while visiting Little Rock.

I love them.

Its a boot.....
Its a sandal...
Its a "Bootandal"!!

Mark is the funniest!

And here is a picture of my new "Bootandals".

So what do you think...love them?, hate them?...I'm curious. However, I will wear them relentlessly no matter what you say:)!! I heart bootandals. Period.