easter part I & II

this easter was really really fun!

my sister and family came out from indianapolis the week before and we had a great time playing and just being together. we had our easter egg hunt as well as dinner with them on saturday - because they had to get up and leave early on sunday morning to get back!

sunday we went over to my favorite in-laws :) and some precious friends and family joined us to celebrate Jesus. we had a really wonderful time then, too.

all in all, we've just had a great week and beautiful weather and i find there is so much to be thankful for and HOPEful for!


below are some pics from the weekend... :) enjoy!



my parents with mr. 13 year old. i call him my "gentle giant"



my cute parents



zach and cassie on easter sunday. great friends.



z with his basket. so excited about the hunt



getting ready for easter hunt on saturday with sister's children



mom and shannon. love this picture



me and my sis. love her



madison and reagan showing their baskets



uncle lee with the little ones



me and my sweet joy on easter sunday - chillin'



jarvis children on gator at braatz farm on easter



"uncle" jerry taking the girls on a ride around the alpaca farm after easter dinner



on good friday we hiked around in the wildlife refuge... here's a shot of all the cousins on a log. love all the faces!



georgia and logan. buddies. cousins. adorable



grandma with the little munchkins



sweet sophie with her grandma (my aunt jackie) on easter sunday. cute little smile



mr cheese with his basket on saturday easter egg hunt




my family of 4



boys swinging on easter - watching their friends on the gator with daddy



all the cousins together.
they had so much fun together! looking forward to next time!

happy easter

easter... my absolute favorite holiday.

why?

frankly, if you're a christian, i think it should be yours, too. i mean, our beautiful Saviour died and ultimately rose again from death. how cool is that? what a fantastic event to celebrate!

i love you Jesus.

thank you for dying for me.

thank you for taking on my sin.

thank you for rising again!

hooray!!!

my boys

my boys are so silly.

my boys are beautiful.

my boys are...

funny.

serious.

loving.

strong.

showing independence.

thoughtful.

playful.

tenderhearted.

stubborn.

good.

curious.

joyful.

peaceful.

kind.

sweet.

loyal to each other & to their mommy & daddy.

















need i say more? :)

sophie time

we had the priviledge of watching sophie a couple of weeks ago...

my boys really enjoyed spending time with her.

i must confess, i REALLY enjoyed having a girl around! (sigh!) it was so wonderful to see bows and pink and talk about boys with her! :) hee hee!

here are some cute pics of the day... looking forward to doing it again soon! :)

love you sophie girl!

the boy and his potty...

my boy Z is learning to use the potty! (finally)! this is a big deal and he is doing so well! (at least in the #1 department)

sure, it might take us a good year to get it "really down pat" and we happen to have a few "oops" here and there...

BUT the boy is mighty proud when he runs in the bathroom and does his thing standing up. you should see the look on his face.

i implemented a potty chart so he can feel really proud when he makes it into the bathroom "all dry!"

(funny how bathroom talk is all the rage as a parent of a toddler :))

see for yourself!

first big boy haircut

hi everyone!

hope your spring is fairing well so far. it is march! hooray! there is still snow on the ground from all of our blizzards but we are inching closer to warmth and we're getting excited. HOPE is in the air! :)

while we haven't yet taken zach to get his first "professional" haircut (he's 4), due to his cute little sensory issues (see my positive thinking?), grandma somora has done an excellent job with all of his fantastic hair. however, i felt logan needed a little lift. zach has a full thick head of hair, logan does not. my littlest little man needed some umphf! you know what i'm sayin'? :)

so, grammie came with logan (2) and me to the hair cutting place and it was a fun fun time. logan was so brave and happy and funny to boot! he even came out of it with a certificate and lollipop! i mean, could life get any better?

enjoy the pictures. it was a special day!



before "the" haircut


walking in with grammie


posing with grammie... so cute!


sitting on the horse


angel working her magic


putting on the brave face


smirking...


the finished product


look at that cute neck!!

bouncing for autism

the first tuesday of every month, "Bounce U" has a benefit to support children with autism. we have made a big effort to make sure we take our boy Zach and the little logan to go and have fun!

and we sure do!!! there are really not many others that come ... so from 6 to 7:30pm we have our way with the place. the support staff is amazing and playful and the boys love running around, jumping, bouncing and sliding all over the place.

come on out and support autism. support my zach and bounce away...




zach coming down slide


logan coming down slide


wheeeee!


so fun!


daddy taking boys up big ladder...


sittin' at the top!


bouncing with glee


running obstacle course


it's a race... z won! :)


teaching boys how to play ball