Happy Easter!... Huh?

Wow, can you believe it, I'm actually at a point where I'm caught up on my blog. How can that be?? The words "caught up" are not a normal part of my vocabulary, as I am usually always behind on everything. But today, I find myself in this unusual predicament, so I started looking for old stuff to blog about. Things that I missed back when they were current. The following is probably boring to everyone but me, but since I don't keep a photo album or a scrapbook (for the reason explained above!), this is where I come to look at old pictures. So it's important to me to include this, late as it may be.

So here's a post that I started a long time ago, but never finished. I had all the pictures, but no details were journaled, which is a bummer because it's the small details that I cherish most about our lives. In any regards, here's what I remember about Easter, 5 months later. 

Blair got this bunny costume as a late birthday gift. The white tulle skirt and wand are right up her alley.

Candy!!!

A picture so rare--they're all looking at the camera and they're acting like they like each other.

This Easter dress is SO Blair. Organza, satin, ribbon, bow, and flower. All pink. I tried talking her into a different one that was cuter (in my opinion, which should be the only opinion that matters, right?) but she would hear none of it. This is a girl that definitely knows what she likes.   

The fam...and an half-decent picture too!

I couldn't decide on a dress for Sloane. This one was chosen because when I showed it to her, she said, "Awww." I'm not sure she knew exactly what she was saying or what it meant; she had just heard me say it before. But it was enough to convince me to go with it. And it was on clearance for just $10! Bargain!

These 2 are 2 peas in a pod.

Yea! The Easter Bunny came! And for the first time in a long time, we had warm weather. Last year it rained, and the two years prior to that, we had to wear winter coats to hunt eggs!

What a loot!

Reid found one of the golden eggs!

Yea for pretty spring trees!

Fun with confetti eggs!

We were a day late on making our confetti eggs this year. It just kept getting away from us. And this was the first year to attempt dye with the kids. It went okay. Not too big of a mess.


How to make confetti eggs, or cascarones, as our friends to the south call them. (But you have to use proper Spanish pronunciation. It's more fun that way.)

1. Hollow out the eggs by poking a hole in the bottom and pouring out the whites and yokes, preferably into a frying pan. (When I was little, my friends and I would pour the insides down the sink drain. Do you know how mad I would be if my kids did that!)

2. Dye the eggs.

3. Stuff confetti inside. Don't fill it up too much or it will be hard to crack the egg later. (We make our own confetti too. It's a GREAT busy activity for kids!)

4. Glue a piece of tissue paper over the hole.

And there you have it. Your very own homemade confetti eggs! Now for the fun part...!

Everyone got to have a turn at "surprising" Daddy with a crack on his head. Although, I'm not sure how much of a surprise it really is when Daddy has to bend down to your level.

Our eggs were really hard for some reason (and we filled some too much) so you had to crunch it in your hand at the same time you cracked it on the person's head. Sloane didn't get that concept so she would just bang it on the top of your head, waiting for it to crack. It never did. And it hurt.

Blair also didn't get the concept. She would THROW it at your head, it would bounce off and fall to the floor, cracking open. So then we'd have to pick up the confetti and spread it around the person's hair. You can see the egg heading to the floor in this picture.



7th Annual Red Sox-Rangers Weekend: Family Time

When we weren't at the baseball game, we were hanging out with Jer's family. As I mentioned earlier, his aunt and uncle came to town for it, as well as his sisters, brother-in-law, niece and nephew (who is Reid's age so you know it's going to be crazy when those 2 get together!). It was a mini-family reunion! We always have so much fun when we all get together. And there's never a shortage of Corona...or boxed wine. :)

Can't go to Texas without stopping at a DQ!

Amy, Angie, Elise, and Kristy

Pool time! The kids favorite part! Kristy and Sloane swimming.

Maren sunning by the pool

 

Elise got to get out of her stroller for once! The water was really warm (for a swimming pool), so she loved it. She didn't make a peep.

Sloane apparently thinks she's royalty and needs to be carried as such by Aunt Amy.

Blair and Aunt Angie became fast friends.

The whole crazy bunch of us.

Speaking of crazy...we have our very own yellow, red, and blue M&Ms right here (as referrenced by Uncle Joe's shirt)

For Aunt Amy--thought you would like these. That's your offspring right there!

And unfortunately, my offspring too.

If you can't beat 'em, might as well join 'em.

7th Annual Red Sox-Rangers Weekend: The Game

In August, we made our 7th Annual Red Sox vs. Rangers trip to Arlington. (Click here for last year's trip.) The biggest weekend highlights for the kids are the hotel swimming pool, the shuttle that carries us to and from the game, and peanuts and cotton candy. Can't get much simpler than that! Jeremy's aunt and uncle from Delaware (they are also Red Sox fans) and his sisters joined us this year, so we had a lot of fun hanging out with them, and the kids liked seeing their cousins again. And we only got one call from the front desk telling us to keep the kids' noise down, so we considered it a successful weekend! However, the weather was extremely hot this year, so we figure Elise's main parental-related complaint when she's 20 years old is going to be "You took me to a

 baseball game--where it was 106 degrees--when I was FIVE WEEKS OLD???" Well, she may have a point there. But, in our defense, we kept a cool wet washcloth on her the whole time and she was constantly being fanned. Throw in someone feeding her grapes, and she could have been confused with a Greek goddess. (And actually, the temp had probably dropped to a chilly 101 by game time, so why is she complaining anyway?) :)

The game goers

Our usual Daddy and kids picture--this group seems to grow larger every other year :)

The shuttle was crowded so big brother had to hold little sister on his lap. I thought it was too cute and couldn't resist taking a picture of such loving siblings.

First order of business: LARGE bottles of water for everyone! (Sloane LOVES wearing her hat. She asks for it regularly...when playing outside, going to school, going to the grocery store. Jeremy loves it!)

Can't go to a baseball game without playing games. Unfortunately, we left our seats after the 3rd inning and never got to return to them.

Home Run!! (You can see the white speck of a ball above the picture of the crowd.)

Even Sloane got to play games this year. She likes hitting the ball so maybe we have another little ball player on our hands!

Our annual family picture at the game.

Cute little Blair enjoying some cotton candy. Aunt Amy's poor pig tails are barely hanging on by this time of the night. 

Reid with a cotton candy mustache. This boy can never take a serious picture.

Wow, are they actually sharing nicely???

"Matchers" as Blair likes to call them.