Easter Egg Hunt

Thursday some of my friends got together so our kids could have a little Easter party. I was able to switch my class to the earlier time slot so that I could go. We were still a little late, but there were still lots of eggs to be found when we got there :) Eli was pretty excited to find them.
By the time we got there most of the kids were done looking, so Eli had the field to himself...which was probably good. I'm not sure what he would have done if someone wanted the same egg he did. Sharing is a skill we haven't even come close to mastering...

His basket was pretty full by the time we were done. I do think, however, that I ate more of the candy than he did. We had a bowl of it on the counter...and yesterday it disappeared. I'm honestly not sure where it went. I have a feeling Edgar threw it out...maybe he's hiding it. I should ask him...

Leah was there too...though this is a terrible picture of her. She looked so cute with her little bunny ears :)

We had a nice time. It is already getting super hot here, so by the time we left we were pretty sweaty and tired, but it was a good tired :) (There's no such thing as a good sweaty)

The Dress is Done!

I am sure you are wondering why I have been so negligent in documenting our family's every move. I have been working on Leah's Easter dress. Now, a normal person probably would have finished the dress in a day or two...it took me over a week...I ripped out a lot of seams, and re-did a lot of things, but it is finally done! I finished it on Monday. I'm so glad to have it finished before Easter :) So my evenings, when I usually find the time to post, have been taken up with that. We really haven't done an enormous amount of exciting things, but I do have a few pictures of a couple of things.

On the 8th we went to a nearby park. I love this park. It is so beautiful and peaceful. Eli enjoys the boardwalk, and I love just letting him run on ahead-there is no way off the boardwalk, so he just runs around, and I can't loose him :) Unless he tries to jump in the water...but surely he would never do that. He had BETTER not anyway. That water is kinda swampy. Anyway, this is pretty much what I saw of him while on the boardwalk.
I love it when you can't really tell where the trees stop and the water starts...

Eli checking out the view

Leah came along too. She did fall asleep fairly early on, so I really didn't take many pictures of her.

Apparently he has thought about it...this is as far as he got though :)

So beautiful...

There were a few people enjoying the scenery and quiet...until Eli started shouting for a squirrel...he was walking all down the boardwalk yelling 'squirrel! squirrel!!!' It kinda broke the peacefulness, but it was pretty cute :) And the squirrels seemed to be listening...

Eli discovered near the end of our walk that there were cracks in the sidewalk, and for a bit seemed to be afraid that he was going to fall through. It was pretty funny watching him walk trying to avoid the cracks...

'Hello'

Then he tried shoving things down through the cracks.

Like I said...Leah was asleep for most of this.

After the boardwalk Eli decided to collect some sticks...because that's what boys do.

He got a few. Fortunately (this time) he didn't feel the need to take them home with us. It was a very nice morning. We were there for a couple of hours before heading for home. Eli took a good nap that day :)

Since then we've gone a few places...like the mall, my class, BSF, and the playground several times. We've been getting ready for Easter-SO looking forward to this Sunday!!

Last night we got out one of Eli's Christmas presents.

He wasn't sure what to think of it. He wanted to run through...kind of. But the water was pretty cold, and it was 6:30 at night, so not super warm.

Daddy helped him go through :)

When we turned the water off, Eli was so sad...He went over and stood right over it to check it out, and Edgar turned the water on...here is his reaction :)

RUN!

Okay, so the pictures don't really do it justice. It was pretty funny. Eli didn't really think so. Somehow I think someday he'll 'get us back' for that one...

Today was BSF again, and then Krista came over for lunch. Eli had loads of fun playing with Katie-he loves his cousin :) It was nice to hang out for a little bit before they had to leave.

Oh...and Edgar ordered our tile for our kitchen tonight. We really did it. We will soon have tile on our floor. Well...we'll have the tile that goes on the floor in the house. We'll see when we get the chance to actually lay the tile.

Oh yeah...at some point in the last few days, I discovered that Eli can read the words Eli, Stop, Go, and Dog. I don't remember the day he did it, but I was pretty impressed. I wrote the word, asked him what it said, and he read it.

And that is the end of this post. I need to go to bed. What's that? You wanted to SEE the aforementioned dress? You will. On Easter Sunday :)

This and That

This is one of those random posts where I throw pictures from several different things and smash it all into one entry. I just don't feel like spliting it up :) These two are so much fun. They really do like playing together...as much as they are able to anyway. Eli was trying to steal Leah's pacifier, so I gave him his old pacifier from a long time ago...before he found his thumb. Leah checking Eli's out.

They are so funny :)

Eli trying to give Leah a 'pacifier kiss'. He loves giving her hugs...they are a little scary for mom sometimes :) But so far he hasn't really hurt her, so hug away :)

On Tuesday of this week I came home from my class and the electric pole in our back yard was buzzing and sparking...I could see little flames coming off of it, and smoke was coming off of it. I called the electric company, and they told me to call 911...so I did. We had a big 'ol firetruck in front of our house. By then it was no longer sparking (of course). I felt kinda stupid for calling 911, but in my defense, the electric company TOLD me to...this is what the pole looked like:

So they came out and fixed it...leaving nice ruts in our yard. But at least there is no fire threat :)

Here is the repaired pole. I am sure you were interested :)

This week was a cookie week for me.

Eli was checking them out. I'm amazed he didn't sneak one. Obedient boy...

When I asked Renae what cookies Keira wanted, she just said 'pink'. So, I made 3 shades of pink and made her some flowers :) (The lightest shade of pink looks white in this picture...but it is pink)

Happy Birthday Keira!

Kristi said that both Julean and Matthias were Lightning McQueen fans, and that they both would enjoy them. So I made a bunch of these :)

This is the third year I've made Lightning McQueen cookies for Julean...every year they get a little bit more detail. Kristi said they would like Mater cookies too, but I just didn't have time to get that together. BUT, next time I go up there, I will have to make THESE for them!

I also heard that Julean loves ducks right now, so I made him a few of these :) Super easy, but I thought they turned out cute.

That's really pretty much been our week. Playing, and making cookies. I've been enjoying listening to the Tigers over the internet-so glad baseball season has started! However, the game I'm listening to right now is not going well. Perhaps I should just go to bed...but then, what kind of fan would I be? Plus, it's the ninth inning...

Edgar's Birthday Party...finally!

Edgar's birthday was a month ago. We finally got a chance to all get together to celebrate. We had to reschedule a couple of times-once so we could celebrate Grandpa's birthday, and once because Eli was sick. So it was good to finally celebrate. I think Edgar was getting anxious about making sure he got his cookies ;) I had a lot to do to get ready, so the kids played together :) Eli loves trying to play with Leah... ...though she plays with his toys a little differently than he does. The kids were so good all day while I got the house ready for some guests.

The first thing I did was make Edgar's 'cake'. Every year I make him a cookie cake...but he told me that he likes my cookies better than a cookie cake...so I just made a pile of cookies :) I agree...these tasted better...and I didn't have to worry about trying to cut a cookie cake :)

We had everyone over, and ate outside. It was an absolutely GORGEOUS day. The weather was perfect, and it was so nice to be able to sit outside.

We had grilled chicken and rice (of course) with salad, and some homemade bread (well...from a mix that I got from the Mennonite store in Michigan. YUM!)

Edgar is 38...so he had a pile of 38 cookies, and I fit 38 candles on the 'cake'.

A little tricky to light all of those candles...

Eli was so excited to help daddy blow out the candles!

Big breath!

'Blow hard!'

They got all but one...I think Eli was mad...or still trying to blow :)

'Yay! They are all blown out!'

We all enjoyed some cookies and ice cream.

After dinner we all hung out. The kids were the entertainment, as usual :) Isaac enjoyed attacking Carly.

Uncle Ryan read to Eli...and Ben

Isaac showed off his new walking skills-he's doing so good!

Abuela gave Leah her bottle (8 1/4 oz...)

and the kids played the piano.

It was a super fun evening. We were all pooped by the end of the day. We had talked about playing a game together or something, but we were all so tired, so everyone went home....

...but not before seeing this GIANT frog outside on our porch. You can't really tell how big it is from this picture, but it was huge! (That picture is for you, Jennifer...)

A wonderful evening with family. Now I'm off to spend his birthday money...KIDDING!! :)