Is it just me or is life on fast forward? {Warning: Adorable pictures ahead...}

This whole early Easter thing is throwing me for a loop.

It is early, right? I'm not just crazy?

Add in the fact that Texas is experiencing (what I imagine to be) true spring weather and I'm dumbfounded.

First of all....I had to take down St. Patrick's Day decorations to make room for Easter decorations because we all know what's more important. Is it a Southern thing or a mom thing to decorate for every, single holiday? Either way...I feel the need to have some sort of decoration to commemorate the special day. Plus, it takes away from the house that needs a massive power washing and the yard that isn't up to par.
We didn't even make it to church on Easter! I was making homemade rolls and Honey Beer bread all morning....which I know is not a very good excuse but it's mine. I'm sorry. *hangs head in shame*

We did enjoy the sunshine and visited a few sets of grandparents. Good times.

Now, Easter has come and gone and all we can think about is SUMMER!

The kids all have selective ADD and refuse to focus on tasks at hand whether at school or home. I've got to admit....I'm there with them. I haven't mopped the kitchen floor in over 2 weeks and I'm starting to refuse company because of it.

-------BREAKING NEWS------

G lost his first tooth yesterday!

My little gap toothed boy will now have an even bigger gap tooth smile.

My youngest.

Lost his first tooth.

He will no longer have the same smile he's had since those little babies came in.

The fact that this makes me sad is ridiculous. I understand this.

But it still does.

Here's that adorable picture I promised.....

Now, it's Friday!  Get out there and do something wonderful.

Eggs, Easter and a family that loves each other.... (F, G and H)

so sue me....I'm like 3 posts late on A to Z blogging.  Let's play catch up and combine all of my late posts along with my new one. 

Easter weekend was amazing.  Weather in my part of the world was gorgeous!  We enjoyed spending time together, a beautiful church service and great food.  We also dyed Easter eggs which was so much fun....and easy with the Kool Aid method I found on Pinterest.  Head over to Hey! Jen Renee and dig through all of her ideas..she's genius.  After finding this Kool Aid dying secret, I suddenly felt cheated out of many long hours of dying Easter eggs with PAAS kits and (unsuccessfully) holding my eggs in the dye with the little octagon shaped wire hanger/egg holder.  And the whisk....one more moment of "why the heck didn't I think of that years ago?!".   Here's our fun egg dying experience...
F is for Fun Times!

Using a whisk to hold the egg while dying....I just blew your mind, right?!

before

after

Even the  moody, teenage boy liked dying eggs. 

G is for Grateful


I am forever grateful for the family I have been blessed with.  B and I will be married 14 years this July...pretty amazing to have this kind of love story.  Ups and downs and all around...we are a family and will stick together through it all.  I am so proud of us and the family we have created together. 

Easter 2012

H is for Happy kids.....


They may drive me nutty and make me want to pull my thinning hair out but they are happy and I love them.  There are times where we just fall on the floor laughing at each other and to me, that helps me remember that we are doing things right.  They are goofy, love practical jokes, wrestling, making fun of each other and themselves....I love them so deeply.  In the wise words of Jerry Maguire...they complete me. 

I hope all of you had a fantastic Easter weekend!

This post is a part of the A to Z challenge.....

E is for Easter...and eggs...

Easter is here.....I can't really believe it because it feels like it is way too soon.  Every year, I explain the Easter story to G, who stares at me...acts like he's taking it all in and then quickly moves on to whatever he was doing before I started trying to enlighten him with the wonders of Jesus.  I was talking to him about the story of Easter before we headed out to his school this morning...today was their Easter party and let's get real here....candy stuffed in plastic eggs is probably  pretty darn important to a 5 year old boy. 
I always love his parties at school....they are still at the age where they love having their parents there to stare at them while they paint and color and blink sporadically.  I am trying to be completely ignorant of the fact that this was his last Easter party with Mrs. Holly as he will be a real graduate this year, heading to kindergarten.   (Not too far though, I will be homeschooling him for Kinder)  If I think about it too long I will cry, like a baby.

Painting his eggs

His loot!

After the Easter party fun....the Hubs went to the grocery store for me and then cooked dinner for all of us!  I know...he's pretty amazing.  I hate the grocery store so this was already a big deal, then he pulled out all of the stops and made shrimp and sausage kabobs along with corn on the cob and he put the potatoes on to boil for the Crash Potatoes I threw in the oven with mushrooms and onions.  After that we had one of my all time fave desserts...strawberry shortcake! 
While we were at the table G looked at me and said.....Mom, I could be Jesus for Halloween! 
See?  He does listen to the things I tell him.  He just puts into his own context.  Halloween costumes are probably one of the things that G talks about on a daily basis.  I think Jesus would dig that he's been put on rotation for the list this year of the 10 things he will dress as.  Now, to get him growing a rad beard.

Join in on the blogging challenge!

And another one bites the dust.....

It was a long weekend for my family yet I still feel like it didn't last long enough!  The hubby was off work for Good Friday....the big kids were not (due to a snow day that had no snow back in Winter).  So....what do we do?  We wait until 10 am (when they are counted present) and....YANK them out to head to the beach!  While I drove the get away car from the Elementary school the Hubs made sandwiches for everyone and packed up the cooler.  Good Friday was definitely fun.



My Macho Man





Snack Time!

 Saturday was a fun filled day as well.....if you don't count B's phone taking a swim in the pool and now he (conveniently) has this fancy schmancy new one. 
Sunday, of course was Easter and the church service was awesome!  We spent plenty of time with my dad, who was in town for the week.  My sister came down from Austin and even hid eggs for the kiddos.....she was SO good that we still have 5 more to find. 



I couldn't find the right dress for Easter Sunday so I dug deep in the closet and found this classic from about 4 years ago.





You're never too old for an Easter Egg Hunt...especially when there is money in those eggs!!

 I almost forgot G's Easter party at his preschool!  His teacher is amazing and always pulls out all the stops.  I signed up for an Easter dessert and bought everything to make from-scratch cupcakes.  Then I remembered that 4 and 5 year olds don't really eat a whole cupcake at a school party....they lick part of the icing, take a bite or two and then move on to the next sweet treat.  So, I decided on the box mix and decorated with chocolate icing and Nerds!  They liked them just as much....and I didn't feel any heart palpitations when I saw a whole cupcake in the trash.  



My other Macho Man



Using water colors on their hard boiled eggs

Confetti Eggs!

Can You Make This Easter a Green One?

I really didn’t stay on the ball like I should have for Easter celebration planning. The Easter Bunny hasn’t even gone shopping. If I would have thought ahead I would’ve planted some Easter grass for the kiddo’s baskets. Instead I think I will take some grass from the front yard, no cellophane grass for us this year! We also use our baskets year after year. I really can not stand to see those “disposable” baskets lining the grocery and drugstore shelves every Easter season. They are plastic inside and out all the way to their plastic mesh cover. When you take a closer look at these baskets there’s probably not anything in there that your kids are dying for anyway. I don’t make the Easter baskets such a big deal. After all, this is not what Easter is about. We all know that Easter is about Jesus and his resurrection. Its new life, rebirth! As a Christian mom I find it my responsibility to let the kids know this is what is most important, not the candy, chocolate and bunny-eared stuffed animals you see everywhere. Their baskets are usually pretty simple; some chocolate, a few eggs, a dvd or an outfit. No need to make the Easter baskets, toys and trinkets the production.



There’s plenty of things you can do to try to have a greener Easter. This will be better for your family and the environment.






• Please re-use your baskets!! Why buy another basket when you know you have 5 of them in your coat closet?


• If you don’t have any baskets be creative! Flower pots, paint cans, hats, and sand buckets all make great Easter “baskets”.


• Please don’t use the plastic, cellophane grass. Remember that pile of grass clippings your husband left in the front yard? Use them. If you don’t feel like using your own real grass try paper scraps rescued from the recycle bin, cut into strips. For you crafty gals, how about those leftover fabric strips? Maybe some tulle you never used for that school play. If you’re doing a beach theme a green beach towel or bathing suit you were already planning on buying would be great!


• Dying the eggs is something a lot of families like to do for a family activity. This year why not take on the challenge of dying them the green way? Instead of buying the packaged egg dye kits gather up that entire leftover food coloring from last year and your handy dandy white vinegar and get to work the old fashioned way. No need for the extra packaging for those little bitty tablets. There’s other unique dying techniques all of you extra ambitious green mamas might want to try too. Food and spices might be the way for you. Red cabbage, onion skins, coffee, turmeric, and beets make great looking eggs. You can find all sorts of these techniques on Martha Stewart’s website, of course.
http://www.marthastewart.com/article/natural-egg-dyeing-techniques



So, good luck to all you eco geeks like me. Hope you’ll try at least one of these ideas because we all know that one small change can make a difference. It might not seem like it but it can.


Happy Easter to everyone! I hope you all feel as blessed as I do this Easter season.