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...

Ukrops 10K

The day dawned crisp, cold and clear- which was ooldes better than the forecast had called for- cold, windy and rainy! Learning my lesson from last year- I spent over 30min just trying to find a place to park- we left the house early, and of course, found a great parking space right away (thanks, Dad, for teaching me how to parallel park!).

I bundled the kids up in the wagon and we were off! Here they are anxiously awaiting the start of the race- aren't they cute?!? I love this spot to watch the race- in the middle of the grassy island on Monument Ave- Mile 1 on one side and Mile 5 on the other! Here, all the runners are fresh and excited! Once the leaders passed Mile Marker 5, on the other side of Monument Ave, we crossed over, too, and then got to watch everyone pass by, again, not looking so fresh and happy- but heck, they are doing better than I could!!

Checking out the 2 bands near us- this one we liked because they were near one of the famous monuments that give the road its name.

Ready to cheer on their Daddy and friends!!

Can you tell it had warmed up a bit? They are giving me a thumbs-up since they were having so much fun!! Donuts, juice boxes, signs and lots of room to run- what more could a kid ask for??

Yay Daddy!! Notice ALL the yellow and black? It seems that more than 1/2 of the runners were wearing VCU shirts this year instead of dressing up in fun costumes. Let's hope all this team spirit helps the Rams tonight in their Final 4 game!!

Miss Gillian (one of Al's bosses) made a little detour to say hi- it made the kids' day!!

Once Miss G passed us, the race leaders did on the other side of the road, so we hopped on over. Addie and I kept cheering, but Alden, well, he had other plans- sit on the wagon and eat a ridiculous number of chocolate frosted donuts....

Addie saw this lady standing by herself a few feet away from us- and asked me if she could go stand with her- so sweet! The lady was so tickled and told me that having Addie stand and cheer next to her made her day. I love how Addie already has a tender heart for others!

Al- wondering where Addie is.... Love how he still has plenty of energy after running so many miles already!! He ended up finishing with an amazing time of 49.24- wow!!

There goes Aaron- one of Al's other bosses- he is married to Miss G- and was excited to have an excuse to visit Richmond AND run in this race.

And here is Miss G again- not too focused on her time so much that she couldn't stop, grab a quick drink (we were right after the drink stands) and say good-bye to the kids.

What a mess- the kids thought it was hysterical that the runners would throw their cups on the ground- THE GROUND!! When they did get hit with an occasional splash, they would both laugh, thinking it was the funniest thing ever.

All done- once our friends had gone by, we loaded up the wagon and headed for our car. They were both exhausted- getting up at 6am and running around outside for over 2 hours will do that to even the best of a preschooler!!

It was a great time this year- who knows how many Perrecas will be running in the race next year.... Both kids showed great interest in it- and I'll be on the sidelines to encourage them!!