A Little Something Called EASTER

The pictures are many, but the words are few. There seems to be a blockage in my brain, so I think this Easter post will be just pictures. Go ahead and imagine up any explanation, story, or caption you'd like.

7 Months With This Gal

I am smiling as I write this post. Emmy is about 7 months.

There is something about Emmy...I can't quite put it into words, but maybe you see it too...that just makes me smile. To me, her eyes sparkle and her personality is full of sunshine.

She is so ready to be moving, and crawling is in her very near future. She still adores her brother and sister. I have a hard time getting her to drink her bottle when they are around because she gets so excited when she sees or hears them. She's in a bad habit of pooping at 5 in the morning. I remember that Jansen did that too. It seems like in one week she doubled the amount of hair she had, and hopefully that will continue.

Can't wait to see what the next few months bring Miss Emmy!

Adults Only

I didn't really plan on hosting an adult egg hunt in Vegas like we did in Columbus. (here) I've only lived here about 11 months...I mean, who dares invite 15 couples to an event in which grown men and women competitively search for plastic eggs? A friend liked the idea enough that she said she would help me put it together though, so suddenly it was GAME ON!

This is the group heading to a nearby park to start gathering. We gave 10 second head starts to the couples who RSVPed first and who dropped their filled eggs off to us first.

Just a few of the things found in the eggs: money, a real live goldfish, dirt, necklaces, gift cards, gas relief medicine, and candy of course. I guess it's best that this one is blurry. These gems were found in an egg and were promptly tried on by the lucky finder.

These were also tried on. Although not correctly. I thank you for that Adam. Apparently if you give a bunch of adults a break from their kids they start doing weird things with underwear.

I was PRETTY sure Nate would be home from work in time to help host the event. But not positive. I started  getting nervous as afternoon turned into late afternoon, but he made it. 

We gave the "golden" basket to the couple who gathered the most eggs. It had Goldfish, Golden Grahams, Golden Oreos, etc. The other basket was presented to the couple who found the least amount of eggs. It had what I deem some of the worst candy ever. Peeps. Marshmallow Ropes. Nik Nip. Weird chocolate bunny.

I'm calling the night a success. The HOA didn't catch us. No one was injured. 

There were some sad moments. Like when we realized the tiny tiny dollar store black training bra was never found. Perhaps someone needed it more than we did. 

Egg Drop

I'm going to tell you what we did last Saturday, and you're going to be thinking, "Wow, that sounds like so much fun!" But it really wasn't. As I was pulling up (single mom style) I thought to myself, "Why am I here?!"

It was an Easter egg hunt, or Egg Drop. What seemed to be billions of people gathered at a local park and a helicopter flew over and dropped empty plastic eggs onto several different fields. When the time arrived, the kids ran and gathered their eggs. They could then go exchange them for candy, but we never got that far.

As Jansen and Natalie's group got the okay to start gathering, all the parents swarmed in as well and suddenly all children were lost. I grabbed Jansen's hand and we swam through all the people as I searched for Natalie's pink shirt. I had written my name and phone number on her wrist band and was getting pretty sure that was going to come in handy, but then I spotted her. Waving at people as she strutted down the field. Not a care in the world. I grabbed her hand too and we beelined for the car so we could avoid the traffic home. I stopped at McDonald's and told the kids they could trade their eggs in to me for an ice cream cone.

And so that is the tale of our first and last Egg Drop.

While the Cat's Away, the Mice Will Play

Nate took such good care of Jansen, Natalie, and Emmy while I was in Ohio.

I'm sure there were things that happened, places that were visited, outfits that were worn, and food that was eaten that I would have forbidden, but I came back to happy, healthy kids so I will not complain!

So let's see how the mice played...

It was such a treat to have Grandma Kim in town for a couple days. I had her all to myself one day and Nate had her help for one of the days that I was in Ohio.

Nate texted me this photo the day that I left with the message, "See? All under control."

Mice playing...

A little baby mouse playing. And eating a rock.

Eating more rocks.

Nate truly enjoyed having some time with the kids and he never complained. I think he knows me well and knew just how to handle my constant badgering and inquiries about how everything was going. I'm not sure if he realized it, but he has proven himself to be much more capable of caring for the kids than me, so I may need to sneak away more often! :)

Millions of Harm

Jansen is giving me a run for my money today. Lots of tears, negotiating, not-so-nice words...you get the picture. But this kid is always good for a laugh. I guess Natalie took apart something he had been been building and these words tumbled from his mouth,

"Natalie, you've been causing millions of harm. You caused harm yesterday. You caused harm today. How much harm is Natalie causing? Major mayhem."

My Girls' Trip

Many months ago some friends and I had a crazy and seemingly impossible idea. A girls' trip back to Ohio!
After we really got to talking about it, things just fell into place and before I knew it I had a weaned baby and a ticket back to Hilliard. Nate took some vacation time to watch the kids while I was gone.

Annie was thoughtful, gracious, and kind enough to celebrate my birthday the night we arrived. I think I will be putting Heath bar on top of my brownies for the rest of my life. That and a little extra oil are the secret to delicious brownies.

I honestly think if I added up all the hours we spent sitting in Annie's living room just talking and laughing it would equal 15 or so. It's never enough though. We had to call it quits at 2 am every night so that we would be able to drag ourselves out of bed the next morning.

Oh how I miss all these girls (and MANY others not pictured.) I spent many hours in this gym on rainy or snowy Columbus days just letting the kids run around to get some energy out.

We had dinner at Ruby Tuesday's one night and then hit Old Navy for a sale on clearance items. Because that's pretty much how all of us shop...it's gotta be on sale!

Saturday was a dream come true. Here we are at Jason's Deli. We just did whatever we felt like whenever we felt like it for the whole day. Since we're all mothers, that NEVER happens.

There are some fun shops in downtown Powell that we perused. Perhaps our favorite may have been this bead shop that is also home to the kitty cat pictured below. I'm a high schooler at heart. And a crazy one at that...thus the picture. 

And Annie is a flamingo lover at heart. She thought the cat was irritating her eyes. I think the redness and swelling came from this flamingo.

Rita's. They best get one in Las Vegas real quick like. It's so delicious.

Something special happens when you go through so many life experiences with someone. I have celebrated holidays with these girls, cried during heartaches, gone through pregnancies with them, mourned deaths, hosted parties, raised children, explored cities, created/decorated/cooked, felt poor, strengthened faith in God, and laughed and smiled A LOT.

These are friends I will have for a lifetime for sure. Kara you are missing in this one! Already on your way back to Cincinnati.

On our way to the airport we stopped to see Noah's grave. It was a beautiful warm day. I don't regret for a minute having him buried there. It just feels right.

We're definitely thinking we need to have a girls' trip EVERY year. Will someone please tell Nate for me? 

Their Lives Are Complete

And to think I thought they needed love, nourishment, shelter, and safety.

All they actually needed was a sandbox! I think their lives are officially complete.

It's in the shade most of the day and that area of the backyard wasn't getting used at all...this was the perfect spot.

Someday maybe these kids will know that their dad worked for 12 hours, came home and put them to bed, ran to Lowe's right before they closed, and worked on completing their sandbox when he could have been sleeping. Should have been sleeping in fact...5 am comes very quickly.

Other additions to the backyard include this tree and a hummingbird feeder. I think Nate's life will be complete when the birds start coming.

As for me, I guess you already know that mine's complete. Cute kids, great husband, and wonderful friends.

Can't ask for much more.