Easter 2012

Easter marked the beginning of Spring Break and for the first time in forever, we remained at home! But the best part is that the kids really "got" what Easter is all about. Addie has been heard talking about Easter to Alden and her dolls- "What is the real meaning of Easter- chocolate or Jesus dying and rising from the dead? Jesus of course!!" It is super sweet seeing how what we are teaching them is taking root in their hearts!

Easter morning- happy to find simple Easter Baskets! Money sent from Grandparents was to be spent on fun activities- thank you Grandparents!!

For breakfast- chocolate bunnies!!

Attempting to get a cute pic of them together....

My beautiful little lady!

My handsome little dude!

After church and naps, we headed over to my friend Val's parent's house- there we had 9 children!! Thankfully they all played super sweetly together and were considerate of others during the huge egg hunt!

Alden was in his element!

Addie had a blast!

It was a great Easter and full of friends, happy memories and plenty of time to reflect on the true meaning of Easter and the difference it makes!

Catching Up with Life...

Life has gotten super busy.... Here are some of the many things we have been up to...

The S family moved closer to us- so we celebrated G and A's birthdays, which are 2 days apart, with them!! They picked right up from where they left off last summer- such sweet friends!!

Another family that we are friends with also moved closer to us- we had the privilege of having the twins come and play for the day- Addie was in heaven!!

Alden's project for school- it had to be about weather- and his teacher said to be creative. She laughed when she saw his- The Day It Snowed Jellybeans!

A dear friend recently had twins- we went over one day after school and got to play with them and their older sister!

Al had a comical job he had to oversee in DC over a weekend- so we tagged along! The indoor, heated pool was a huge hit- we swam twice!

After Al's job was done, we took in some sights....

Yes, we are awesome parents- our kids have touched the moon! We also went to Natural History and they saw dinosaur bones and a tarantula eat a live cricket. It was beyond crowded so we left and visited Ikea instead!

A quick snapsnot with the capitol and proof that I was there, too!

And this is what happens when kids swim in the morning, walk all over DC, and then play hard at Ikea's kid playroom- sacked out!

We host a Community Group (ie Bible Study) for our church. One night all the men were going to be gone- so we decided to do something fun- dye eggs! It was great- 9 sets of dye, 7 children and 4 mom's!!

On Good Friday, the schools were closed for the kids, but teachers had to work. It actually worked out great as a childhood friend and her sweet family were passing through- and literally were going to be driving right past the amazing park that is right by my school! The kids had a blast together- aren't they too adorable for words??

Saturday we met up with a friend of mine that I had taught with. Her daughter and Addie adore each other- and Alden likes tagging along with them! We visited a local park that also has a petting zoo.

Unique to this zoo is that they have a bear- not a part of the petting portion. The kids thought the statue of him was pretty cool to climb on!

Also in this park is a large Japanese garden complete with a Koi pond!

The man-made waterfall was cool- my kids wanted to climb all over it...

See? We have been super busy living the amazing life God has given us! It is full of friends, happy memories, and lots of adventures! We are blessed!! And the best part- today is the first day of our official Spring Break!!

Disney!!

We had a truly magical week at Disney World!! We met MarMar, PopPop, Aunty Jen, Uncle Frank and Cousin Nate there- and had a ball together! This trip was for the boy's 5th birthday- Addie had been taken for her 4th birthday. The three of the kids played so nicely together and did great at the parks! Here are a few pics that sum-up our fun!!

We started off visiting the princesses- Cinderella was amazing!!

The boys telling Belle they are 5 (Nate would be 5 in 10 days, Alden, not so much- but he is now convinced that he IS 5 and will be turning 6 in August....)

Getting smooched- he blushed- so sweet!

Sunday was W-E-T! We only stayed for a bit and then went back to the room. Notice we are using a Disney stroller? Our other stroller was stolen the night before! Disney was great and offered us a free rental until we could make it to Target and get a new cheep-o stroller....

Downtown Disney- the Lego store and all their amazing creations was a huge hit with all 3 kids!

Epcot- or the gigantiss golf ball as Alden called it....

Addie was selected to be the spokeslady for our section of Lion King!!

And then all three kids were asked to be a part of the parade!!

"Fish are friends not food"- clearly that isn't true for kids....

In honor of the boy's birthday, we had dinner at the newer T-Rex restaurant in Downtown Disney- this is the lava birthday cake- super cool and amazingly yummy!

After a good dinner, which we managed to eat despite the meteor showers every 20min- the kids made their own prehistoric creatures!

Beauty and the Beast was amazing- Addie loved it!

The stunt show was breath taking- all the men loved it!

What time in the sun is complete without icecream?!? Alden discovered the frozen chocolate covered bananas and he ALWAYS picked that!

Our resort had an amazing pool- this was the slide which was super fast!

My two studs

Cinderella's Carousel!

Addie was thrilled to meet Tangled!! She was excited that we were invited back the next morning to french braid Tangled's hair....

Our last night there, we ventured back out to watch the parade and fireworks. Alden's tummy was upset, so he asked to stay back with MarMar and PopPop- we had a great time and the kids did great staying up super late!

It was a trip of a lifetime- thank you MarMar and PopPop!!

A REAL Snow Day!!

Snow was in the forecast for Monday all week- I was skeptical- it had been in the upper 70s on Friday for goodness sake! Thankfully Monday morning, at 5.48 am the phone rang- our county was opening 2 hours late due to the snow!! What a great way to start a Monday!! To make it even better, the kids slept until 7am- woo-hoo! We came downstairs and were greeted by this scene- I had a hunch that this much snow would cause a complete shut-down (stop laughing all you Northerner's- this is the south we are dealing with!!). And I was right- in the middle of breakfast, the schools closed for the day- yay!!

Same spot that just 3 days before they posed for pics in their Easter's finest- what crazy weather!!

Alden discovered a hidden talent- creating "gigantiss" (his word, not mine) snowballs!

All on his own, he created his MarMar and PopPop

Together with Addie, they created our family! Left to Right- Kierke, Al, Alden, Addie, Mommy- not bad considering how little snow we had to work with and how little practice they get!

I affectionately refer to these as "southern snowmen"- notice all the leaves, moss, acorns, etc, that are in them! We used just about all our snow to create these- the kids had a blast- thank you schools for closing- we fully used our day off!!

i9 Cheer Leading

Addie has totally embraced cheer leading and really has excelled at it- we are super proud! Here are a few pics from her final session

-Cheering for a game- there were doing a pyramid- Addie's half was fine, the other half, well, they are all 6 years old and under....

The favorite- Spirit- getting to jump and just hoot! Poor Addie- I forgot her pom-poms at home....

At the end of the final game, there was an awards ceremony- they were super excited!!

LOVING their trophies!!

Super proud of our cheer leader!!

The best part- having our Mommy-Daughter-Dates afterwards- this time, with Rita's!! It's been a very special 8 weeks- we are all super proud of all that Addie has learned and look forward to her joining i9 in the fall!

Happy Birthday, Gooey

Addie has a set of dolls that are affectionately called Gooey. She came up with that name when she was 2 years old and the name has stuck. Her dolls are constantly having birthday's- and usually we just sing to them and that is it. This time, she specifically asked for a cake, to sing, and for pictures to be taken and posted on the blog and facebook- ahh, the joys of children and technology! We made a heart-shaped cake complete with pink heart frosting. Gooey was thrilled as were the rest of us! It's the little things that she will remember- Addie, not Gooey- and it was a blast creating this memory with her!