Spring School Pics

Once again, the school photographer worked magic on my sweet kids- they are just adorable and extremely overpriced.... Neither kid was scheduled to have pictures taken the 1st day, so word had time to spread- they would get to hold a REAL bunny! I thought they might just explode they were SO excited!

Here is my Little Man- he looks so big! He was worried that when he held the bunny it would hop away and he would have to chase it all over the school. Gladly, it didn't happen- he was able to hold and give back, safely, the real bunny. Whew!

His smile just melts my heart- and I love his little hands crossed on his lap- he looks so grown-up here- sigh...

Here is my Little Princess- she was thrilled to hold the bunny, too.

I can't believe she's growing up so quickly.... Notice the clip in her hair? She was not supposed to have it in for the pictures- I didn't even realize she had taken it TO school! Silly girl!

Easter!!

Easter- a fun and yet serious time of the year. It's been neat to see the kids "get" the real meaning of Easter this year- and still look forward to getting chocolate! After our trip to NY, it was nice to have a few days of down time- ahh!!

Alden was my taste tester for the bunny rice crispy treats we made- I was trying to make the hollow eggs from the commercial, but it didn't work, thus the bunnies, which were rather tasty!

Next adventure, coloring eggs! Addie was VERY serious about hers- which turned out beautifully!

Alden had zero patience for the delicate egg dipper- he preferred to use the egg dippers God gave him- his hands!! They may very well be blue for months to come....

Saturday night- leaving out carrots for the Easter Bunny. They wanted to leave a good amount so he wouldn't get hungry and eat their candy. They also wanted to leave out Bunny Treats for him- so he could take them back to his children (they remembered a lot from the movie Hop). Alden also "mailed" the EB a gift- he wanted him to have a gift since he was giving out so many- how sweet!

What the EB left them- art pad, colored pencils, game Hungry Hippos, for Addie a mini Strawberry Shortcake, for Alden a Lego kit, and of course, chocolate bunnies!!

We used the buckets they got from MarMar- I just had them write their names on them- he connected the dots all by himself!

Addie wrote her name this big so that the EB wouldn't get her's confused with Alden's...

He was VERY happy this morning!!

She got happy- she just isn't a morning person, bless her heart!!

On our way to church!!

After church we had our good friends the W's come over for Brunch- yummy!

All the kids ready to go find the eggs the Daddys hid!

And they're off!

Enjoying their loot- the EB was health conscience this year- goldfish, raisins, & m&ms.

Starting on her bunny's ears- Alden, having his mother's tunnel vision, wants to finish his other candy first, then move on to the bunny....

It was a great day- but the best part was our prayers as we went to bed tonight- they both thanked Jesus for dying on the cross and rising again, all for them. THAT makes it all worth while!!

Cousin Time!

On Tuesday night after dinner, the kids and I packed up and headed to Nate's house! Jen had to work on Wednesday, so I looked at it as a chance for the cousins to spend an entire day together- and boy did they have fun!!

Tuesday night Uncle Frank read them a book- they loved sleeping in Nate's room in his new bunk beds!

Wednesday morning- Part I of Wear Out The Kids- Ride Bikes!!

Alden discovered that he could run faster than he could ride his bike- so the 3 of them would race up and down the driveway- Addie and Nate on their bikes, Alden on foot- and he usually won!

I love their goofy faces!!

Part II- Play in Nate's Room- aka, remove all the bedding, make it a huge pile and play in it!

Part III- Play-Doh!! They enjoyed this for over an hour!

Part IV- Fort Building!!

Part V- Explore Nate's Pond

Part VI- Clean Up

We had a blast and made oodles of happy memories!! It sure is funny how similar these 3 are- in size, shape, likes- how fun!!

The Big Chill

Friday afternoon, once school was out, the kids and I headed to NY. We left 70 degrees for temps in the 30s.... The kids were SO excited and they were champs in the car.

The morning was perfect- it started off with bagels- something Alden had been talking about for weeks! Originally we were going to go to The Bronx Zoo, but since it was overcast, windy, COLD, and rain was in the forecast, we opted for something closer to home.

Addie was happy for bagels, too!

We decided to check out the local town's Easter Festival. It was lots of fun- and I was thankful for the winter coat I found for Alden for $4 (yes, an $80 coat on sale at Kohl's for $4!) and Mar Mar had already bought Addie a coat for next year- so both kids bundled up and enjoyed all the fun the festival had to offer!

Here they are decorating Easter frames with stickers.

They played lots of games- here is the Jelly Bean Toss- both kids did well and earned fun prizes.

The highlight was this- meeting the Easter Bunny- PopPop and I stood in line for over 30min for this! Addie knew he wasn't the real Easter Bunny since she could see his shoes sticking out! Regardless, she was thrilled to talk to him.

A chick full of loot! Popcorn on top of eggs and lots of candy!

Walking back to the car- it was just starting to rain- perfect timing!!

One pooped Egg Finder

Our Sleeping Beauty

They had a great time- and there is more fun to come!!

Kindergarten Test Day

The day Addie was super excited about finally came- the day to take her kindergarten test!! The poor thing was convinced that once she passed the test, she would get to start kindergarten right away....

Excited to leave in the morning!! Her biggest concern- what to wear!

What other way to start off a big morning? Dunkin Donuts!!

Two thumbs up!

Even Alden was thrilled by starting the day off with donuts!

Since the testing started at 9am, and we were told to get there at 9am, Addie came to school with me. Here she is sitting in my classroom, pointing at the school she will go to- it's THAT close!!

Busy working on coloring my student's study guide....

So happy once it was over- sorry, I was lame and didn't think to pull out the camera when we were AT the school. She did great- got a 99% on the test!! The only question she did not "get" was "ankle"- she told me the teacher pointed to the ankle BONE, so she said "bone." I fear we may have a perfectionist on our hands.... We are SO proud of her!!

Al and I had a big discussion on what our polociy would be about good grades- and we decided to reward it! She got to have a Daddy-Daughter-Date- and he took her to Target where she picked out this Strawberry Shortcake toy. She was thrilled!

She is so sweet, she happily let Alden join in- and he even brought in his Legos and Toy Story figures so they could all play together!

We are excited about this big step- going to kindergarten! Addie is already amazing- kind, giving, helpful, compassionate, and for the most part, obedient. We are exicted about how God is working in her life- and are thrilled about where He is leading her!

Easter Pics

Every Easter I try to get a picture of the kids together. I love to have a way to compare how much they have grown in a years span.... For obvious reasons (see the previous post) I needed pics of them without their feet showing....

My 2 sweet blessings!

And this is the card I choose- I love that I can have multiple shots on it. The photographer did a great job capturing great pics- I wish I could have bought them all- but alas I only walked away with these.

Why I need to dye my hair...