What a joyous weekend

It was a great Easter weekend. The kids and I headed up to my parents house since Hubby had to work Friday and Saturday nights. It was a full weekend of shopping, eating, dancing, and just a lot of fun. The kids had a great time at their house. I know my parents enjoy it, but the house probably seems really quiet and neat after we leave! :) I hope you all had as fun of a weekend as we did!

My mom got Pumpkin this adorable dance outfit at a resale shop. It had been worn once for a dance recital and was brand new to Pumpkin. Man...she loved it! She wore it for quite awhile all weekend. She put on shows for everyone she could! I am not sure where she gets her rhythm from, but she actually has some. It is obvious that she has been watching DWTS with me, she was trying to copy some of the moves including starting in a pose and finishing in a different pose. Man, I really do hope she gets over her shyness one day :)
Critter was her "prince" for her to fling around. I was just a little nervous that he would crack his head open again!

Gotta have ice cream at Nanny's house!

He was rather serious about this ice cream bar. It was not pretty when we took it from him. There is a limit on sugar before bed even at Nanny's house :)

This was one of the few ones I got of the kids together on Easter. One of them did not want to pose when the other did. And yes...that is a toothbrush in Critter's hand. He is getting 3 of his molars in and 2 of his eye teeth...anything to make him happy is my thought process!

She loves to get an Easter bonnet each year. She only wears it for a little while but I love that she likes the tradition. She usually gets quite a few compliments at church.

I am trying really hard to get better at taking pictures with the kids instead of always being behind the camera. I realize that I don't have as many with me as I would like. I really like this one too!

Hunting eggs this year was fun. Critter got into it. He would collect some and then try to hide them again. It was cute. He was really excited when he found one on his own.

He was trying to hide these ones again. Pumpkin was already in the backyard finding more for her and Critter.

She came back to "lead" him to eggs. Which pretty much means she found them and took them for him to make it easier! :)

She was excited to get these flip-flops from the bunny. I just love how excited they get over the small things. Critter got a bag full of whiffle balls and has not stopped playing with them since Sunday!

I had to include a bribery picture. He loves his sisters' things and he just looked so cute! Maybe this one was a little posed but he does walk around trying to put her headbands on! This one will go in the stack of pictures to tease him with when he is much older!

Getting ready for Easter

Getting ready for Easter in our house means I spend a bit of time blowing the insides of eggs out so we can color them. It is how I grew up (even though Hubby thinks I am nuts!) and I want the kids to have the same tradition. This year we HAD to use the eggs from Grandma R's Farm. It was important to Pumpkin to do this :) It was a fun time, especially since Hubby was there to help out. Not sure how I would have done it without him this year!

Getting ready for the fun! Man, I love her smile in this. She has become even more of a ham lately and it is harder and harder to get her to smile her normal smile.
The first egg she has colored with her Daddy!

Critter got in on the action this year. He really enjoyed it too! Somehow he was not into getting messy, like his sister did!

He was so careful putting the eggs into the dye. With hollowed out eggs you have to be pretty careful not to break them. I do say that Grandma R's eggs were much more sturdy than the ones I usually get. I will have to remember that for next year. Pumpkin dropped one of the ground and it did not break. I am still not sure how that happened!

Yes...you are seeing correctly. That is Daddy getting in on the action and Critter has some dye on his hand! It was a fun time :)

Some of the masterpieces...

This was one of the last eggs. The delicate dipper was no longer fun, the hands worked much better

This one had to go into all the colors. It was rather interesting before it dried, but it ended up one of the best ones!

The hands after dipping the egg in all the colors AND washing hands 4 times. Somehow the color was gone by school the next morning.

I hope you have a wonderful Easter. I will post pictures of our day as soon as I can. It will be a full day with church, egg hunting, eating and visiting with friends and family. Hopefully you have an enjoyable day.

It was bound to happen....

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a klutz. I have to match up my bruises to places I walk into. Well...both the children have taken after this lovely trait of mine. Pumpkin is always walking into things and finding new marks on her legs. As my father in law said this weekend, anytime anyone goes anywhere with her it is like renting a car. You make note of any markings so you know what is new! Well...that was funnier when he told the story.

I guess you are wondering why I am talking about running into things....Well, Critter is a klutz as well. Except he likes to run into things with his head. He is constantly bruising his head on tables, doors, walls, etc. Tonight was no exception. Tonight was the coffee table. He was trying to get on the couch with Hubby and Pumpkin and then decided it was too hard. While getting/falling down he somehow turned himself around so his head hit the coffee table. I was in the other room and stopped when I heard the noise. It was not a good one. So....Critter got his first trip to the E.R. Luckily it was pretty empty and that Hubby was not working tonight. We were there and back in just about 2 hours.

He has a 1 cm laceration to the forehead. It was not deep enough to need stitches but they used that glue stuff to hold it together. He was great during the whole thing. I think Pumpkin and I had a harder time with it than he did. The staff was so great during the visit. They even gave the kids bubbles and a little monkey. He was laughing and thought it was fun! The coffee table has already been moved from the living room until the kids learn that it is not soft and they can not land on it!

That was our eventful evening. Critter will most likely have a scar on his forehead. I am already great at using sunscreen, but now will be even better at it. I am really surprised my hair color has not changed yet because of the falls these guys take. I am now doing okay with everything. A little time, a little cry and a glass of wine helped me out. Here is our now "tougher" little man...after the fact.

The purple is not a bruise, it is the glue they used. I am guessing the bruise will appear tomorrow or the day after....
We were trying to control his running around once we got home. He just wanted to run around like nothing happened. I guess it is good, but I wanted to keep him in a bubble :)

So....I needed to end on a happy note! Hubby and I actually got out of town this weekend (more on that later) and the kids stayed with my parents. Thanks again Mom and Dad! Before we left to come back to our house Pumpkin made cookies with my mom. This is her decorating them with Hubby. She was being such a goofball and having fun.

Even for all the worries I have about the kids, I am so lucky they are healthy and happy. Hopefully I can remember that in the morning when I look at Critter's head again....

I scream, you scream, we all scream for

ICE CREAM! This kid now loves sweets (just like his sister and mom!). At his first birthday, he did not want much to do with cake. Now, he sees something sweet and he is all over it. I just love how expressive he is in these and how big he can get his mouth open! :)

"Hey, if I look at you with this smile....do I get more ice cream?"

Can his mouth get any wider?!

I love this little man!

Fun at the "farm"

We got to take a trip out to Grandma and Grandpa R's house last week. We have been trying to get out there since Critter was born, and Aunt B and I finally had a day both of us were free! It was SO MUCH FUN! I had no idea how the kids would act around such new experiences. Man, they fit right in though. Pumpkin loved it! She dove right into the life and would not stop asking Grandma R questions about everything. Luckily Grandma R loves teaching about the animals and what everything is about. Hubby even had the day off so we all got to go. What a day. Hopefully it will not be another 15 months before we get out there again!

There were 4 duck eggs that needed to be collected. Pumpkin jumped up and volunteered to get them. It is hard to see but Aunt B's head is about to the top of this cover and then Pumpkin had to climb in the hole in the corner to get the eggs. She was sad there were not more to get!
Feeding the chickens. She got more eggs here too! We got to take home 18 fresh farm eggs from the R's. BUT...Pumpkin will not let us eat them. They apparently have to be for Easter. :)

Feeding apples to beautiful deer.

With all the animals and nature around, of course Critter finds stairs to climb and an apple to eat. He was content doing this for quite awhile!

She was fascinated watching this tortoise eat his apples, of course she had to keep him company eating one too!

She did so well on this horse. She was not even nervous. Since she was the tallest of the kids there that day she had to sit on the saddle and wait while they adjusted the straps. She just sat and talked with the horse and asked Grandma and Grandpa R questions. It was great to see.

I just wanted a picture of Critter on this horse but after sitting up there he started rocking back and forth (something he does in the stroller when he wants to go forward or faster)....so he got to ride the horse as well! He was loving it

Daddy got to take a little ride on a horse to see how much he remembered from his little bit of training. The horse was not quite big enough for him, but they both did well! :) Critter got a kick out of seeing his dad ride the horse too.

A picture of the future! These three will be causing trouble before we know it. Thanks to all who made our day out there so much fun. Hopefully we can do it again soon :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hope you are all enjoying today! I know we are in this house. Enjoy your day. Luck of the Irish be with you...

My lucky charms :)

Beyond busy...

I feel like we have been going non-stop lately. We have "fun" things scheduled most days of the week. While it helps keep the kids busy, I sometimes just want to STOP! Yet, when we do stop we crave the activities we are no longer doing. It is a lovely cycle. My point is this, we have been doing a lot lately. The weather has been gorgeous so we are spending lots of time outdoors, before it gets too hot! Here are just some fun updates on our lives:

Critter has been taking an awesome gym class for the past 9 weeks. It is at the same place where Pumpkin took all her gym classes. It is so neat to see Critter form such a positive relationship here, just like Pumpkin. I swear that he even points out the window when we drive by! :) He found a new love this past Thursday. He could not get enough of these rings. He would run over and grab them, then hang there for a minute, then laugh and drop to the ground. I think he would have spent the whole class there if I had not made him do something else! I just LOVE his smile in these! :)


A dear friend and her daughter came in town for this week and part of next. We have not seen them in almost 2 years. Pumpkin and her daughter are only 2 days apart and they grew up in a playgroup with each other. We have tried to spend as much time as possible with them. We went to the park, the zoo, the farmer's market and will go to the park again next week. Apparently when we went to the zoo, it was pigtail day and we did not know it. I just love that the girls did not miss a beat and still love playing with each other!

This was from the zoo day with our friends. Critter LOVES the slide. Actually, I don't know if he likes the slide or the steps to the slide better! :)

I just adore Pumpkin's preschool. They have such a wonderful program and she is just thriving there. This week was Rodeo week there. She got to bring her bike to school on Tuesday and they had a bike rodeo. I went to take pictures of the kids. She really is my independant girl. All her friends came up to say hi to me before she even acknowledged I was there. When she did see me, all she wanted me to do was hold her hat! I guess it is good, I just miss my little girl sometimes...

On Thursday, they brought in ponies for the kids to ride. It was SO cute to see these kids riding these horses.I found it so special to catch a glimpse of her at school. I love the person she is growing to be.

So, we have been busy, but having a ton of fun. Even though a few of the days have been rough, I am remembering to fully enjoy each day. I am absorbing what my children are saying and how they are acting. They are such wonderful people. I think taking a step back and just watch them has helped me a great deal. I just adore these two little people and can not wait to see what adventure we go on next! :)