Easter Sunday

We had a great Easter Sunday! Jackson and Grace were so excited to see what the Easter bunny might have left for them. Grace really had no clue what was going on, but she can never pass up an opportunity to run into a room.
We found a few eggs at our house and then went to Oma & Poppy's for more Easter fun. We took a few Easter pictures and then started the egg hunt.

Jackson was so into it this year. He really loved it and never slowed down. He was even aware of the fact that Gracie needed to find a few and he would leave the easy to find ones out just for her (announcing that those ones were Grace's).

Grace seemed to enjoy just sitting and having her picture taken. Not really as eager to look for the eggs as her brother. Once we started the big hunt, she found her one egg and then she was done. She did not want to carry around her super cute basket or put anything in it (no matter how hard we tried). If we took her egg out of her hand, a fit was thrown. So, she spent the remainder of the time, carrying her egg and pointing to all the ones she found. It almost seemed like she was saying, "hey, there's another one ... who wants it?" Maybe next year she'll grasp the concept of it ... maybe.

Church Easter Party

I love watching kids at an Easter egg hunt! Nothing could be better. Grace did pretty well, until she got distracted by the new discovery that there were treats inside the eggs. A girl after my own heart!

Jackson was off and knew exactly what to do this year. A vast improvement from last year. Let's just say that when you walk right behind your friend the whole time, you don't find that many eggs in your basket at the end.
* (sound like someone else you know Maggie?)
He found so many right at the beginning that his basket got a little too full. So, Kelly and I kept sneaking some out so that it gave some other kids a chance to find a few more. No worries, he didn't notice. After the Easter egg hunt we had a few activities available for the kids. There was decorating Easter eggs, a craft, a relay race, cookie decorating, and sidewalk chalk. I'll let you take a guess as to which ones my kids stayed at the whole time. Here's a hint, our clothes did not get any dye on them and we did not win any extra candy from a relay, and the craft table had a few extra projects at the end of the day. All in all, we had a great time! Can't wait for next year.

Happy Easter

Grace vs. Oatmeal

As some of you may know, Grace has been battling a bit of a stomach issue the last little while. Although, I am completely sick of the smell and laundry that has accumulated because of this, I do feel awful for my little girl when she isn't feeling well. The worst part of this whole thing is that she is starving and although I would love to feed her anything she wants, there's really no point ... let's just leave it at that! I think we are finally over the hump of this one, so she finally got to eat some oatmeal the other day. Someone was really excited...I'm so hungry, I could eat a ... bowl?Ahhhh...

I love food! So worn out, but totally worth it.Full Tummy = Happy Girl

Best Friends

Don't worry ... it's bath night!

Jackson just loves Zoe! He takes really good care of her and makes sure she is fed well (obviously), and gets lots of walks. I often find him sitting on the ground with her talking to her and telling her what a good dog she is. Once in a while she lets him know just how much she loves him too.

This Ones for you Courtney

Although, I have not gotten around to most of the ones that have been sent to me, I decided I would finally attempt one ... so here it goes! All about my Hubby

• What is your husbands name? Kelly Gene Richards (yes, this is his real name and no, he is not Irish and no, his mom did not name him after Gene Kelly)
  
• How long have you been together? We will be married for 8 years in May. We dated for almost 2 years (off and on) before that and we were friends for a couple months before that. So, a grand total of almost 10 years.
  
• Who said I love you first? He did, but not in a very traditional way. Think more like a 10 year old boy and that would be how Kelly said it.
  
• Who is smarter? Ummm... not sure on this one. He would say that I am and I would say that, Yes, I am usually right, but that does not mean that I am smarter.
  
• Who does the housework? I know you all must assume that since I am married to a wonderful OCD husband that it must be him ... and you are partially correct. We are both pretty much clean freaks. I am much more organized than he is and he is more of a deep cleaner (especially with random things). I can't complain in this department, he definitely helps on the cleaning days.
  
• Who sleeps on the right? He does. It really depends on where the bathroom is located. I will always sleep closest to the bathroom since I have the bladder the size of a peanut.
  
• Who pays the bills? The computer and bank do. Everything is on automatic bill pay thanks to Kelly, so I guess he gets the credit on this one.
  
• Who cooks dinner? I do, whenever that happens. Unless we have omelets .. he makes a mean omelet.
  
• Who drives when you are together? If you have ever been in the car with Kelly when he drives then you understand why I drive!
  
• Who is more stubborn? That's probably a tie.
  
• Who kissed who first? He did of course. However, we can't agree on where it took place! That's still up for debate.
  
• Who asked out who first? He did, but he did make a very BIG point of stating that it was not a date. This was all due to the fact that his roommate kept asking me out conveniently always on the same day (but slightly earlier) then Kelly. After 3 attempts, he said he would never ask me out on a date again. Thus, the "It's not a date!" Boy, that made me feel so special the whole night. Not so much!
  
• Who proposed? He did! He even dropped the ring! All for the making of a great memory.
  
• Who has more siblings? We actually have the same exact number. He has one brother and two sisters and so do I.
  
• Who wears the pants? That's funny! He says that I do ... and who am I to argue with him.
  

Jackson's School Party

Jackson had his first school party for Valentine's Day! He was very excited and loved helping me make treats for the big day.They played games, decorated their Valentines bags, had "super yummy" cupcakes, passed out their Valentine's and they even had a pinata. However, Jackson forgot to follow the rule of only pulling one string on the pinata. As you can see, that's clearly more than 1 in his hand ... and somehow he still didn't get all the candy to come out. It was, of course, the very last string that another kid pulled. All is well, at least the candy came out! He really did have a great time! It's so much fun to watch him at school in his "world."

Current Favorites

Miss Grace

Loves to dance to pretty much anything. -
music in the elevator, grocery store, mood music in a restaurant, hymns at church, in the car, in the car to others peoples radios that are so loud that we can hear it in our car, at home, on t.v., commercials, etc.
Favorite Songs-
"The Wheels on the Bus" and the new remake of Michael Jackson's "Better Be Startin' Something."
Favorite Toys-
cell phone, microphone, t.v. remote control, anything that Jackson is playing with, musical instruments, and balls
Favorite Accessories-
have recently discovered a love of shoes and bracelets
Favorite Foods-
macaroni and cheese, marshmallows, applesauce, yogurt, zucchini, cucumbers, corn
Favorite thing to do at Home-
Run, Run, and Run some more. She also loves to dance (obviously), chase Jackson and Zoe or be chased, mock facial expressions (if we give her a stern look she mocks it and then laughs or if we pout she does, etc.)
Favorite Words to Say-
apple, happy, na na (banana), NO, NO mine!, bye bye, Zo Zo (for Zoe), up, and 1 2 3


Jackson
Favorite Toys-
cars, trains, monster trucks, & Grace's musical instruments
Favorite Foods-
pretty much the typical 3 year old diet: chicken nuggets, corn dogs, pizza, mac & cheese, cereal, marshmallows, pancakes, and of course cookies and cupcakes
along with a few healthier things as well as some not so bad ones: yogurt, applesauce, tons and tons of any kind of fruit, pickles, olives
Favorite Things to do at Home-
chase or be chased by Grace and/ or Zoe, chat with Zoe, play with cars or trains or monster trucks, ride a bike or scooter or skateboard, run around crazy, bug his sister, & help mommy
Favorite Things to do at School-
"make a circle with sand, playing outside, puppets, there are hammers that are fun to play with and a screwdriver, & color cool projects."

My Funny Valentines

WHY??

Why does your dad continually do this to you?
Probably because it cracks me up every time!
Why is it that you love it so much?
I should probably be nervous by this, but I figure I can use these pictures as a form of bribery someday!
Last, but not least, why is it that you are so obsessed with your belly button every time we do this? You just can't get enough of it!!!
There is no answer to this one. It's beyond me!