Easter Weekend

We had a fabulous Easter weekend, even though we were far from family. Friday evening, we got together with some friends and had a little Easter egg hunt for the kids. Jacob sure liked looking for his eggs. In the beginning he was only interested in shaking the first egg he picked up, but soon he got the hang of things. In fact, the last egg he found, he found on his own. Thanks Olsens and Baumans for sharing our Easter with us!


In this picture, there are five eggs hidden...can you find them all? The kids did!









"Now, where's my basket to put these eggs in?"









The kids and their eggs.







Doesn't he look content with his basket?














This was Jacob Sunday morning when he came out of his room to "find" his Easter basket. Brad didn't think he'd be too interested in actually looking for it, so we didn't hide it very well. We had a basket for him, our neighbor brought a basket over for him, and G&G Jones had sent a package for Jacob. I think he made out as well for Easter as he did for Christmas! He sure liked all of his gifts & the candy. Thanks! We gave him a Magna Doodle, G&G gave him a car and a couple of bunny toys and candy, and our neighbor gave him a basket that had a ball and a stuffed bunny. I think he really liked everything he got.

This is a picture of us Easter morning before church.

And this is how we ended our day! I can't believe it snowed on Easter. I thought once I moved from Cleveland, that was the end of the snow at this time of year...I guess not. But really it was a great weekend. We wish we would've been able to spend it with family, but spending it with our friends was a great alternative.

6 Things Tag

Tag - someone actually wants to know more about me. Here are 6 things about me you may not know:

1. When I was growing up I liked to talk A LOT. So much so that my sisters didn't want to play with me. At one point, we were living on my grandparents' farm and since my sisters wouldn't play with me, I went to the barn and sang/talked to the calves. At one point, one of them even licked my finger. Sad, huh, that my sisters wouldn't play with me so I had to play with the cows!

2. I have a knack for remembering dates (mainly birthdays) or just random numbers. Sometimes it's a bit annoying to have these things in my brain taking up space and I can't seem to 'forget' them. I remember old friends' birthdays, people I haven't seen in years. I remember my friends' kid's birthdays. Why you ask? I have no idea, it does me no good, but I remember anyway. Sometimes I try to forget dates, like when a meeting is taking place that I don't want to go to, but it seems the harder I try to forget the date, the more I remember it. What I'm not good at though is history dates. I can't tell you when a single war was started or stopped, and I'm sure my history teachers repeated those dates several times.

3. I would like to have a reading pit in my 'dream home' some day. We had one in one of the libraries at one of the elementary schools I went to and I loved it. It had about 3 steps down to the middle of the pit and I loved to go and read there. That, or I want a bay window so I can sit there while the sun pours in and read.

4. I never got my Young Women in Excellence award. I only had probably 10 hours or less of my Laurel project to finish, and it just didn't happen. I wish I would have, or I wish my leaders would have pushed me more to get it, but I didn't. I have the Beehive and Miamaid necklaces, but not the Laurel. Oh well, I don't like wearing gold anyway.

5. I have dreams of having my own business some day. Some of the things I would like to do is have a photography studio, own a book store, or run my own temp service company. Probably none of that will ever happen because I don't have the drive to make it happen. But they're still dreams that I have.

6. I have taken ice skating lessons. The thing is, I did it as a 20-something while Brad was in podiatry school. I even learned how to do a toe-loop. It's only a single, but hey, it's still a jump! Also, I'm actually pretty proud that I can skate backwards like the pro's.

Did you learn something new about me? I'm tagging Becky S., Megan B., and Jamie B.

Cool Dad

Growing up, was there the "cool dad" on your block? I'm not so sure there was on mine, but there were definitely those families I thought were so cool to be with. The parents played with the kids, or had the best snacks, or let us stay up late when we had a sleep over. I think on our block, we definitely have a "cool dad" winner. Who is it, you ask?

The one and only...


Who else would it be? Jacob loves to be outside and Brad is so great at playing with him out there. All of the neighborhood kids just love Brad (and Jacob). I don't think many of the kids on our street have a dad, which may be why the flock to Brad so much.

Tonight as I was sitting inside getting ready for FHE, I heard a lot of commotion outside. Brad had just come running into the house to get a ball and when I looked out the front door...this is what I saw -




I think at one time I counted about 9 kids on my front lawn. I'm pretty sure Brad was in his element. I'm not sure who enjoys it more, Brad or the kids. Here's to you Brad...Cool Dad on the Street Award!

Snow

As many of you know, our part of the country was hit with a pretty good snowstorm this past weekend. We had around a foot of snow. But already today it's mostly melted and my lawn is just a big puddle.





This time around we skipped the big fluffy coat for Jacob and he seemed to enjoy being outside much more since he could move his arms. He loved throwing the snowballs and trying to eat the snow! Just thought I'd post some of my favorite pictures of us playing in the snow. We even put Jacob to work shoveling!





This last picture is my favorite because you can see his blue eyes so clearly...unlike most pictures where it's completely red eye!

Speed

Saw this on Meagan's blog, so thought I'd give it a try...who knew!

111 words

Family

Last week we were able to make the drive back to see our family for a few days. Brad had a job interview, which went well, and gave us the opportunity to spend a few days with our families! We had lots of fun. We got to spend an evening with Brad's parents and siblings. Two of the nephews were dressed up in old Halloween costumes. Here's Noah as a pilot and David as spider man (with a cape and pilot's jacket). We loved the intensity of these two!


Jacob also enjoyed learning to play the piano with Grandma Smith's help. I love that if you look closely, you can tell that these two are smiling at each other and enjoying each other's company.


We tried going out for dinner with Jacob. I've decided that kids this age just aren't worth trying to take to dinner. Jacob just wanted to get up out of the high chair the whole time. Next time, I'm getting a babysitter! But I did get a cute picture of him with my parents at the restaurant.

We love that we'll be moving closer to our families in about a year and a half. Being back there always reminds us of how much fun we have together and how much we love and miss being close to them. Luckily we'll be getting our way and will be neighbors again soon!


Here's a shout out also to my two sisters-in-law who are expecting. Congratulations Angie (first baby) and Becky (first girl!)! Can't wait to see their two cute little faces...and you both look great pregnant!

And last, but not least, here's a picture of Jacob, me, Ashley, and Jennifer (sister-in-law). Ashley is Jacob's closest in age cousin on Brad's side of the family. I thought this was cute because if you look closely, the kids are holding hands! Love it.

Miss each and every one of you and we can't wait to live closer to you!