Easter Weekend

Over Easter weekend, we drove up to Wichita to visit Ben's family, who we hadn't seen since Thanksgiving... far too long! Ben and his parents had Good Friday off work, so we went up on Thursday night. The weather on Friday was beautiful.

Lila helped Grandma plant some flowers in her front planters.

Then she got to water them.

This is a picture I took of Lila, standing on the front porch. This is a lucky shot because it's hard for me to catch a natural smile on my three year old - usually I get the full blown cheesy grin.

I really like this picture, so I tried it in black and white too.

Saturday morning we went to an Easter Egg hunt at church.

Some of the older kids got to the eggs before we did, so Lila didn't get very many. Not a big deal except she heard one of the organizers say there were about 15 eggs for each child. So when I told her all the eggs were gone, she turns to me with big eyes and says, "But Mommy, I don't have 15 eggs!" (There were a few very kind kids who gave Lila an egg when they saw her basket wasn't very full.)

Fortunately, they had lots of cookies inside!

Wyatt and David enjoy eating the yummy treats.

When we got home, the kids played outside while we put together a few more eggs for them to hunt since they didn't get that many at church.

All the kids lined up with their baskets, waiting for Uncle Brian to tell them to go.

Rachel and Lila run for an egg.

Lila and Wyatt spy an egg at the same time. Wyatt was really into picking up the eggs!

After the egg hunt, they had fun playing on Grandpa's riding lawn mower.

Lila and Wyatt on the mower.

Rachel and David on the mower.

Rachel playing in the leaves.

Lila helping Wyatt up a little hill in the front yard. They were having fun running up and down the hill.

David was happy to get the tractor all to himself!

Meanwhile, Ben decided to climb a tree in the backyard and knock down some dead branches.

Playing on the piano. Wyatt knows the word "bang" which is what he uses to talk about playing the piano (accurate in his case!)

Piling into the chair with Grandpa (I think Wyatt was taking a nap.)

Ben and Wyatt on Easter Sunday.

Sunday night we went out to Uncle Bill's farm. I forgot to take my camera! Bill took this picture of the group that was there. Not the whole clan, but a good portion. We had a fun time eating dinner and then playing Bocce ball in the driveway. The kids enjoyed playing with the cats and playing with the dirt :) We came back home on Monday. It was a great trip; the kids did pretty good in the car too.

TI Easter Eggstravaganza 2010

Last year we went to the TI Easter Eggstravaganza, but Wyatt was too young to participate. Not this year! In fact, his age group was first in line for the egg hunt.

At first he wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do.

But he quickly caught on!

And by the end, he had filled his basket with lots of eggs!

While waiting for Lila's age group to "hunt" eggs (have to use that term loosely since they are just scattered in the yard!), the kids posed with our number one TI employee - Daddy!

Lila knew exactly what to do when it was her turn! She was very excited.

After she was done with the egg hunt, we went inside to explore all of the activities they had for the kids to do.

Wyatt's favorite activity is climbing, so he tried out his skills on the bleachers. We were in the gym at the TI rec center.

Here's Lila decorating a sugar cookie with sprinkles.

Wyatt gets a little help from Daddy. (We wouldn't want him to think they were salt shakers!)

They also had this huge inflatable sports station in the center of the gym with all kinds of balls you could throw. Wyatt liked chasing after the football.

Hanging on the rim!

Lila visited the coloring station where she spent several minutes coloring an Easter bunny picture.

Here's a picture of the huge inflatable thing. It probably has a name, but I have no idea what it's called :)

Running around, having fun!

We made paper pinwheels, and after that I thought we were ready to go. But Lila said, "But Mommy, I want to get my face painted." See those people standing behind the kids? That's the line for face painting.

I said, "well if you want to get your face painted, we'll have to stand and wait for a long time."

She said, "ok, let's wait for a long time." Know why?

Because THIS is what she did while I stood in line!

Finally it was her turn. Wyatt got a good seat so he could watch.

Lila asked for a bunny on her cheek (her idea). I don't know if she remembered that is what she got last year or not. I kind of like last year's bunny better. But all in all, it was a great morning!

Bugaboo

A few weeks ago when the weather was super nice, I took the kids to the Dallas Arboretum to try and get a "Spring" shot of them together. What I didn't count on was TONS of people (also enjoying the nice weather), my son's inability to sit still, and my daughter's newly acquired fear of BUGS. Real and imaginary ones. This started because a few weeks prior when we ate lunch at the park, she was stung on the finger by a bee. Understandable. But that teeny-tiny dragonfly is not going to hurt you! So, I thought I would share some of the could-have-been-great shots I got that afternoon. And also what Lila was thinking :) The difference between their two expressions is so funny.

Me: "Ok, look at Mommy!"

Lila: Ah, is that a bug?!!

Me: "Lila, there is no bug. Why don't you put your arms around Wyatt and give me a smile?"

Lila: If I show my teeth, I'm smiling... is that a bug?!

Me: "Ok, smi..."

Lila: "Aaagh! A bug, a bug!"

Wyatt: This is so fun! I love being outside! In just a second when Mommy isn't looking, I'm going to hop down and run as fast as I can!

Lila: I think that might be a bug over there.

Aha! Finally a good one of Wyatt, right? Well, sort of...

(The crop tool can be your friend.)

Wyatt: I love climbing on this rock!

Lila: I think that bug is getting closer to me!

I did finally get a couple decent ones of the two of them. Here they were looking over at something else but at least Lila wasn't going crazy over the bugs.

And here they are both looking at me. But this smile is misleading. Her little clenched fist is more accurate - she was so worried a bug was going to get her! Seriously, the ONLY bugs we saw were these tiny little, slow-moving dragonflies.

Before we left, I set up my tripod to try and get a picture of the three of us together. It was an adventure, that's for sure!

Five Minutes

Five minutes. That's all it takes for this cute little boy to find big, big trouble.

Like emptying the salt and pepper shakers all over the kitchen table. The salt shaker, not shown, was completely empty. (And yes, he sneezed quite a bit that day!)

Like dumping dirt by the handful out of the houseplants and onto the carpet... which he did yesterday.

Or like tearing the wallpaper border off the wall when you are supposed to be napping... which is what he did today.

You know how they say "boys will be boys"? I think it must be true. My GIRL never tried any of these things! But at least now I know. Five minutes. That's all I've got.

St. Patrick's Day 2010

Ok, so I'm all about having fun without doing a lot of work. That's my secret, I confess. And this meal is just for looks. There's nothing remotely "Irish" about it. But it happens to be full of Lila's favorite foods. Not sure what you're looking at? Go with me here: fluffy white cloud (marshmallows - for dessert!), rainbow (fruit)... and at the end of the rainbow, why the pot of gold (mac) and little Leprechaun of course! So my leprechaun (made of fish sticks, tartar sauce and beans) is a stretch. My target audience is three, remember? She thought it was SO MUCH FUN. And here's another confession: I did too.

The Difference Between Boys & Girls

Girls, when they go outside, will pick a pretty "flower" and then tell you, "Mom, go get your camera so you can take a picture of me with my flower."

Boys will proceed directly to the bin of dirt and start scooping handfuls of it into an empty flower pot.

Girls will try to restore dead, dry branches by "planting" them in a pot.

Boys will dump their cup of dirt in the yard, fascinated as it spills out with a whoosh! -- then repeat the whole process again and again and again!

But one things boys and girls have in common is trying new things. Like when you put a handful of rice in a plastic bin and let them go to town scooping and pouring the rice with little cups and funnels.

Yes, both boys and girls really enjoy that! But moms, keep your vacuum nearby... you're gonna need it!