Easter - The Big Event!

Since the weather ruined our plans to go up to Dad and Jan's this year, everyone decided to come over to our house. We had a nice hunt for Bradley and Gracie that morning, and the weather actually turned out to be pretty nice down at our place.Gracie seemed to get really into finding the eggs, just wasn't quite sure what to do with them once she got them :)Bradley was an old pro!And helped his sister out like the great big brother he is!Mom and Tammy and Bill came over to watch the kids search for eggs, and Mindy and Scott and the kids came over later for lunch.Of course we had to do the classic bunny ears pose! Bradley just loved this - months later he's still posing like this when I try to take a picture of him! :)Cute little bunnies!This is a tradition that Mom started - for every grandchild she has made one of these amazing quilts for them! Gracie got hers on Easter this year and it's just adorable! A LOT of hard work goes into these and I just LOVE them!LLOONNGGG day for Mr B! So very tired...

Easter - Dying Eggs and Baskets

Bradley and I worked on dying Easter Eggs the night before Easter. I couldn't find our vinegar and Kevin put a little too much water in the cups, so the dye didn't work very well - but it was fun anyway :) It came with stickers, which was Bradley favorite, and those plastic covers that you put on and dunk them in boiling water and they shrink to the egg - which was my favorite :)I was debating getting them pre-packaged baskets this year or making my own, but quickly figured out that for the money - the pre-packaged ones had cool stuff in them - and most importantly for little kids - had the biggest WOW factor - they were HUGE! And boy was Bradley excited. Gracie was pretty unimpressed until she saw how excited Bradley was - then the excitement quickly spread! :)He just couldn't stop hugging his, he was SO excited to open it! :)

Easter - Part 1

I decided to try the whole public Easter hunt thing again this year. Last year Bradley seemed excited but when the whistle was blown and the kids stormed the eggs - he freaked out. I figured this year he would be better because of being a little older and knowing what to expect. First we decided to head out early and go to one at a nursery/greenhouse. The weather was terrible! It was cold and rainy and snowy, but I was determined to try. We got there a little early and it was a MAD house! SO many people crammed into a tiny area. We all filed into this tiny little room and we were WAY back from where the ropes were to the hunt area. They blew the whistle and - once again - people stormed in. Bradley was fine because we had to hold him since there were so many people, and once we FINALLY shuffled our way into the area we set him down and tried to look - but of course all the people in the front got ALL the eggs, and we were just following in their tracks. We tried to hurry to the back but everything was already gone. A nice man came up and gave us 2 eggs and we hid them really quick and pointed Bradley in their direction, so at least he got 2 eggs - but mostly it was a disaster!

There was another one scheduled that a church was putting on outside later in the day and the weather cleared up a bit so we went there - SO MUCH BETTER! They were very smart with it, they had everyone sign in, counted how many kids there were and gave every kid a limit on how many eggs they could get. It was all in this nice, big, open field so people weren't tripping over themselves and everyone else. Of course there were still the terrible people that you could see walking by with their kids' baskets full to the brim while they pointed out more for them to run and get - but I guess you just have to deal with those people anywhere. The limit was 10, we got 8 but gave 2 away to a little girl who didn't have any. All in all, the kids had fun and it was a nice start to the holiday. We were supposed to go up to Dad's for a nice BIG hunt but the weather ruined that - so that's something to look forward to for next year :)

Wrestling!

Gracie is one tough cookie - she can already pretty much take down Bradley, and the way she eats compared to how Bradley eats we keep telling him that she's going to pass him up in no time - then he's in big trouble!Daddy is the best wrestling partner though :)Tuckered out!

April Randoms

Just chillin'

Watching their favorite - Bolt!One of Gracie's favorite pastimes - rearranging my cabinets.The boys relaxing together...I just wanted to take a picture of him all cute in his towel, he came up with this pose all on his own :)Another pastime - helping me unload the dishwasher, I wonder if she was actually expecting something to come out of that top...

Car Show

Every year we go to the auto show and this year Bill decided to join us. I think Gracie was a little bored but seemed occupied people watching. Bradley liked it - climbing into truck beds and checking out all the cars with Daddy, and he got a free little ball from a vendor so he definitely was not complaining! :)

March Randoms

She just loves to get into things, luckily for her - right now she can fit into most things pretty easily :)And putting things on her head :)Trying to watch TV and pretend like he doesn't know I'm right in his face with a camera :)Trying to play outside in the still cold and gloomy weather (that I love!)"Too bad I can't see outside through this dirty window!!"Funny how sticks bring so much joy...Looking a little mischievous!I can still see you :)Trying to figure out the slideLeaning back on the stairs with belly button and diaper hanging out :)