Easter Bunny

The Easter Bunny has done it again.

He somehow snuck into our house in the middle of the night and strategically placed plastic eggs filled with candy all over the house. Oddly enough, those same plastic eggs looks quite similar to the ones I stuffed with candy late Saturday night. Yes, as always, I procrastinated. Don't judge, you do it too.

The kids were up early out of pure excitement for what the Easter Bunny may have left them. They literally dragged us downstairs to start their hunt. I think the Easter Bunny was a little easy on them this year, they found all their eggs before I could even get the camera!

We went with the whole two-birds-with-one-stone thing and got $1 buckets and shovels from Michaels. They worked as their Easter baskets and a toy for playing with outside.

Roman got lots of candy (aka sugar) and a Lego man. It was a cute little fisherman, complete with white bushy beard, yellow overalls, and a fisherman's hat. And pole and fish.


Hayden's Lego man was a baseball player. Perfect since he starts t-ball soon! And, yes, all he wants for Christmas is his two front teeth.

Aubrey got a Dora purse. She loves it and carries it around with her everywhere she goes. However, she feels that her purse needs to always have food in it. Toys and such aren't enough, and we've found a variety of her snacks stuffed into her purse.

For Easter, we went up to Snoqualmie and had dinner with Jeremiah's family. His sisters Amy and Sophie and their families were there. Josette was up there, and it gave us one last time to see her before she headed back to Utah.

Aubrey loves to lock herself up in the toy area because it keeps the dogs out of her face.

The kids in their Easter attire.

Aubrey and I hanging out with the books. One of the (less wild of the two) dogs in the background. That's Loki. The other dog, Bailey, wants to marry Aubrey.

All of the cousins. Spencer, Roman, Hayden, Cecile, Aubrey, and Josie. Edmund is asleep on the chair. They had to surround him in order to get him in the picture. Cecile is getting married in August. Makes me feel old because she was still pretty young when Jeremiah and I got married!

Josie is a great babysitter. Too bad she doesn't live closer. The kids adore her!

We left around 4pm from Snoqualmie and went back to Mom and Dad's house for our second Easter meal of the day. This one, however was untraditional but still tons of fun and delish. Carissa and Adam made homemade egg rolls and Celeste made fried rice. My contribution? Cream puffs because I love them.

This year, as usual, we tried to help the kids understand the true reason behind Easter. While the boys could tell you that it's to celebrate Jesus' resurrection after being crucified, I don't know that they really understand it. Jeremiah and I understand the eternal and wonderful consequences of that event and we try to instill that knowledge in our children. We will continue to share with our kids our love of the Savior and all that he has done, and continues to do, for us, and I know that one day it will just make sense to them and they will have that same appreciation that we do for our beloved Savior and Heavenly Father.

Girls Night (finally!)

The girls and I hosted a GNO (Girls Night Out for those who don't know the lingo, up there with LOL, POS, and TTYL). It's been months since I've had a GNO and I was excited to have some girls over for some chatting and eating (and eating...). Celeste and I were both chosen through Crowdtap to host an Old accessories party. We received a box of Old Navy scarves, sunglasses, totes, a purse, and a hat. We had the most fun with the scarves since none of us were to scarf-savvy and didn't know how to wear them. We tried different styles until we'd figured out several ways to wear scarves. All the girls went home with a few Old Navy pieces, our friend Tessa loved her fedora hat, and Mary wore her new scarf to church today and it looked way too cute. I have to give a shout out to Our Best Bites for their cheesy garlic rolls, they were divine! Carissa made Russian meatballs (something like cranberry jelly, Thousand Island dressing, a few other things) but they were delish, and Celeste surprised us with chocolate-covered strawberries and marshmallows. It was a spread that would send any dieter running, but not me! I also would like to give Crowdtap and Old Navy a shoutout. This is our third sampling. First we got to try Old Navy's ankle jeans, then we got to choose a dress from their spring line. I heart Old Navy and I heart them even more when they give me free things. And then give me coupons to give my friends free things. :)


Carissa wore this scarf. I loved it with what she was wearing. I'm pretty sure she wore it home.

Tessa discovered her love of hats. Apparently it's been awhile since she's worn a hat but she spends a lot of time on her in-laws boat so this is perfect!

Kim showed off another way to style the scarf. This also was perfect with what she was wearing!

Riding a Train

Wow. I almost forgot I had a blog. Yes, it's been that long. And yes, I am feeling really behind.

We went up to Snoqualmie a few weekends ago for my nephew, Edmund's, second birthday party. He loves trains. Loves. Here's an analogy for you:

Edmund is to trains as Aubrey is to Dora.

Get it? He's mildly obsessed. So, of course, Amy (Edmund's mom, Jeremiah's sister) held the first part of Edmund's party on a sight-seeing train in Snoqualmie. We rode on a refurbished old-fashioned train (think slighty breezy, loud, and old - but in a good way) through part of Snoqualmie, past the Falls, and back to the station.

And in a surprise to the kids and me, Josette was there! Apparently Jeremiah knew his mom was going to be at the party but failed to tell the rest of us. So the kids were doubly excited (is doubly a word?) to be on a sweet train AND being on that said train with their Nana Josette!

Aubrey was not loving the train. In fact, as excited as she was to see Nana, she clung to me like her life depended on it. It was really cute, but I didn't quite get the train experience I was hoping for. So, like any good mother, I forced her off me and into Jeremiah's arms where a few snacks later she had warmed up to the train idea and was off exploring with the other kids.

Here's an old (and obviously broken down) train that they are going to refurbish. Does anyone else think of the Boxcar Children series when they see this?

Snoqualmie Falls, or at least the top of it. And the Lodge peeking through the trees. This is where Jeremiah proposed to me. I told this to the boys and they had it in their heads that this is where we got married.

We were in the very front of the train, so as we went through intersections the conductor would sound the horn and the kids would cover their ears.

The birthday boy crashed when we got back to Amy's. With all the train excitement and no nap, he was out like a light. Poor kid. But we woke him up because we all felt bad eating his birthday cake without him!

If she was afraid of the Snoqualmie train, she was just the opposite with this one! It was Edmund's birthday present, but that didn't stop her from spending most of her time on it. It's just a little train that goes around in a circle. And Aubrey LOVED it. She won't ride the quarter-rides at the grocery store (you know, the ones that move ever so slightly back and forth while you pretend to ride with Elmo?) - this girl keeps us on our toes!

Anyhoo, happy birthday to little Edmund! I remember when Amy told me she was pregnant, they'd been trying for so long and so of course she found out she was pregnant the day after she went to Cedar Point (roller coast capitol!) and Great Wolf Lodge. But everything turned out great and she was a sweet little train-loving boy (and now she's expecting a girl!).