Easter

I love Easter! I love knowing and spending a day celebrating Christ's resurrection. Who doesn't take joy in knowing that Jesus gave his life for us and that we are set free from our sins? We all need a savior, for none of us are perfect, me being so far from.

Our church does a family service for Easter, I like the idea and think it is important that Caroline understands that Easter is something more than a make believe bunny, egg hunts, and chocolate. With that said, it was very hard for Caroline to sit still...thank goodness I snuck a little Laffy Taffy in my purse. Also, most of my family was at church too so they could help with Caroline. It was a great service, I love my church and hope to get more involved sooner than later. Right now we go to the service and that's about it.

After church we went to a bluebonnet patch that I'd been eyeing to get some Easter pics and annual bluebonnet shots. Caroline had busted her lip a few days earlier so I wasn't expecting much, but she loved running through the flowers so I captured a few sweet candids.

Being midday, Carter had trouble looking up without a major squint so his shots weren't so hot. I forced others to pose for pictures too, some turned out nicely.

After the bluebonnets, we all went to my house for a nice and easy Easter lunch. I did ham and baked potatoes and everyone brought something too. Of course my mom made a bunny cake, this thing is tradition!

The Easter bunny left surprises in the dining room for when the kids woke up. Caroline claims she saw a chocolate bunny sneaking around the house Saturday night. We also got so many goodies from Aunt Andrea and Jesse, Papa Mike and Michaela, Grammy, Granny, Nana and Papa, and Aunt Carol and Eric! Thanks so much....we are still digging out of all the chocolate and sweets!

Before we ate lunch we did a quick egg hunt because it looked like rain. Thank goodness we pushed it up, or Caroline would have missed out on hunting eggs this year. She was disappointed no one was there to help her, so Mark jumped in. It's really funny how much she always wants someone to play with. She asked me the other day if some friends could come over. I guess we are nearing the age of friends coming to play!

Thankful for a wonderful family and Easter spent all together. I'm also thankful for our newest addition to the family, my sweet, perfect new cousin baby Prescott. More about him soon!

5 Things

1. A couple of months ago I broke down and hired a house keeper. I've never wanted to do it because I could think of a hundred other ways I would rather spend my money. However, every Saturday morning I would turn into a raging youknowwhat when I would have to spend hours cleaning my house only to have it a mess again by the afternoon. Now I feel that a house keeper is about the best possible use for that money...I no longer feel anxious as I see the dog hair piling up and soap scum forming in the shower. I feel free and happy and not burdened by a messy house! If I notice my floors need a scrubbing, I know that will get done eventually and not by me! It's amazing!!!

2. Justin's business is growing and doing well. It has been a blessing and there is nothing better than seeing your husband work hard and be successful! This is a dream he's had since I met him and he's finally seeing the pieces fall in place. He has had to hire employees and as a result he needed something larger than our home office to work out of. As of Monday, he has been working out of a new office building here in Mansfield! I'll miss coming home to him, but honestly he would not get a thing done this summer with all of us home all the time. We already tried that little experiment over spring break and I think I about drove him off a cliff.

3. I love to shop, but right now (and lots of times...thank goodness for my wonderful friends at work who give me tons of advice) I just don't understand how to put all the pieces together and look cute. I bought this adorable lace shirt the other day and got home to realize it is basically a crop tee. What do you wear underneath...is the shirt supposed to stick out below? Help me here!!

(Caroline's face makes me laugh in this picture.)

4. The other afternoon Caroline was playing outside and all of a sudden she comes running in with a "snake" in her bug catcher. Actually it was an earth worm, which I am thankful about, but those things are still really yucky. I'm wondering if Caroline is going to be a down in the dirt, critter loving and protecting child. She was really concerned about where we were going to find him a new home and not afraid to touch the slimy creature. If my little girl is this way, I'm sure I

can look forward to Carter coming home with bull frogs in his pockets.

5. Finally, as everyone around here knows Tuesday was a crazy day. I spent about 2 hours in duck in cover with my students while I had Pete Delkus blaring on my computer keeping us informed of the weather. Twitter was also incredibly helpful as it gave me minute by minute updates to where the tornadoes were spotted and damage that has occurred. Being the weather nerd that I am, I was aware of the tornado warning before the school made any sort of announcement. I was trying to continue teaching, but finally just quit and sat at my desk watching updates. I tried not to freak my students out, but that wasn't too successful. I basically had them prepared before any we were mandated into duck and cover. I'm a pretty big baby when it comes to storms, but not being with my own children is what made me the most nervous. Once I felt like Caroline and Carter were out of harms way, I was able to relax a bit. I stole this picture off Facebook so I have no idea who to credit, but this shows the tornado in the Martin area. Most of the damage is about a mile away from my parent's house. Seeing the damage in person yesterday was alarming and made me more thankful that nobody was killed. Scary stuff!

5 Month Pics

My little happy, squishy, sweet boy at five months. Love him and his big sis to pieces. I also love my bff and her amazing photography. Thanks to PaigeWalker Photography I have the most beautiful pictures of both my babies all over my home!!!

In the past week or so Carter has learned to sit. I think his chunky legs make it easy for him to balance. He's mastered sitting, but not sleeping. Wonder when he'll decide sleeping is pretty great too??

Weekend in Raiderland

Last weekend we loaded up the fam and headed west. We always try to make an annual trip to Lubbock and with small kids the spring game is much more convenient (and cheaper) than an actual fall football game. Another perk is the Red Raiders always win the spring game, that way there is no disappointment....right!?!

Anyway we got into Lubbock Friday night and went to eat at my old work place and favorite restaurant, Orlandos. Unfortunately, it wasn't too enjoyable because Caroline began acting really weird; she refused to eat, was shaking, and saying strange things. I immidiately began worrying she had a concussion from earlier in the day when she collided with a friend or she was possibly getting the stomach virus. Either one would not be fun, especially since we were away from home and far from the doctors we know. We went back to the hotel and closely watched Caroline, the next morning she awoke and was her normal self.

Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky, little wind, and warm temperatures...maybe even a bit too warm. We began the day with some shopping at spirit shops, then had lunch at Spanky's (best fried cheese ever), then headed to the game. Carter was completely enthralled with the game...future tight end or offensive lineman???

Caroline loved watching the cheerleaders and listening to the

band. We had a great time and would have loved to stay for the autograph session (I'm a dork like that), but I was so worried my kids were getting fried and my SPF 70 was basically laughing at me...nothing was stopping the crazy sun.

After some shopping at the kid's shoe store where my cousin works and naps we went to the baseball game. Alyssa, my beautiful aforementioned cousin, met us and Caroline had a great time being silly with her. I love this girl and she is so great with Caroline. I tried to convince Alyssa to keep the kids so Justin and I could go relive college night life, but she wasn't so

sure about that. ;-)

We really need to work on Caroline's fake smile.

Caroline enjoyed a Raider freeze throughout the game which gave her a red mouth for the remainder of the evening.

Instead of Alyssa watching the kids, we forced her to walk campus with us and take pictures. We rewarded her with a nice Rosa's dinner that evening though.

Saturday was a pretty perfect day; beautiful weather, well behaved kids (for the most part), football, and and good food.

Sunday we messed around Lubbock a bit, and then I flew home with the kids and Justin stayed in West Texas for business. I was nervous about flying with two kids, but I just hooked Carter in the sling and we did fine. He cried a bit, but slept most of the flight. Caroline was entertained by the peanuts and the window shade that she put up and down a billion times. The worst part about the flight was the screening for an infant and breast milk...seemed a bit ridiculous and there was another lady in my same boat that was ticked off about them unloading her pump. I've kind of learned if I keep my cool and just go with the flow, the kids seem to stay calm as well. Can't say I'm always flexible and easy going, but I've realized it's just easier that way. All in all, it was a fun weekend and I look forward to next year!

Butterflies

Monday of this beautiful spring break the kids and I headed out to the Botanical Gardens with my parents and one of my mom's dear friends Judy and her grandson William to see the butterflies. These butterflies are amazing and beautiful, Caroline and William were in awe and had a blast. Carter, on the other hand, wasn't too impressed, he just thought it was hot. Papa loved the butterflies too.
Caroline and William held hands often as they walked through the gardens. So, so cute.
My chubby boy and his baby blues.
About halfway through, Caroline took a seat and a butterfly landed right on her head.
See how big these butterflies were, and this picture does not really show it's true size.
After the butterflies we ate and then headed for Trinity Park for some play time. It was a perfect day in my book!!

Carter's Baptism

Last Sunday, March 11th we baptized Carter. We are Methodist and Methodist's typically baptize infants, we chose to do this with Caroline and Carter. While Justin and I are not always as open and forth coming with our faith as we should be, we both have a strong belief in Jesus Christ and it is our desire to raise our children as Christians. I also love our church and I look forward to my kids getting involved.
I was a bit nervous about a few things; falling down the stairs
(which has happened at a baptism before and it was awful), Caroline's behavior, Carter spitting up on the Pastor, but everything went perfect. We had tons of family there so that made it extra special as well. I had worked hard picking out Caroline and Carter's matching outfits for the big day, but it was so cold I just scrapped them. I got over it and just dressed them the best I could, that is not what is important anyway.


After church, all the family came to our house for burgers and hot dogs. That made for a fun afternoon!

Here's Carter hanging out with the family later in the day, I just LOVE him in hats.

Sunday also happened to be his 5 month birthday. He is getting so big oh so fast! Some quick things about 5 months; I think he is around 17 lbs and getting bigger by the day. He is in size 2 diapers and I'm mostly buying 6-9 month stuff, although he can still fit in 3-6 month clothing. He is great at rolling over and tummy time, but not so great at sleeping. He is still very inconsistent, some nights he only wakes up once but others it is up to 5 times a night. We have let him cry for long amounts of time and he just works himself up even more. I'm busy reading and trying different strategies, tonight he is sleeping with a new sound machine thanks to Granny. Something is surely going to work one of these days. He loves his food; carrots, cereal, sweet potatoes and squash. I think his least favorite is squash, but he'll tolerate it. He is still very expressive and a loving little boy. We just love him to the moon and back. It's hard to believe that next month will be 6 months. I'm sure I'll turn around and blink and it'll be time to plan his big day!

Six Flags

Since getting season passes to Six Flags a couple years ago trips out there really aren't too special. (That sounds a bit spoiled, knowing that some of my students would die to just go once a summer, but sadly it's true.) However, our first spring trip brought an exciting change. Caroline is about 41 inches tall, meaning with shoes and a bow she passes as tall enough to ride some of the bigger rides. This was just about the most exciting thing ever, for me at least. I'm getting a bit tired of Looney Tunes Land. Being tall definitely has it's advantages. This is Caroline eagerly awaiting her next ride!



The first big kid ride we tried out were the swings. She loved them, of course. Here she is flying through the air, you can see me right behind her. Why do I always look like a tacky tourist when my picture is taken at amusement parks? I swear I look in the mirror and that is not at all what I see.
Her next big kid ride was the Mine train, not the Mini mine train that she has been an expert at since age two, but the BIG one. She loved it, the only scary part for her was the people in the saloon before you go under the pond.
Grammy came with us and Caroline drove her around. We ended the day on one of her old favorite the carrousel. Carter was with us too, but he didn't think much of Six Flags. He napped the majority of the time in his stroller.

Tonight, I'm catching up around the house and looking forward to a full week off with my kiddos! Can't wait. Hope you all have a fantastic Spring Break too!