Easter Fun 2012

I realize Easter was a month ago, but here are some photos of the fun we had.  Before and during!  In the weeks leading up to Easter, the kids all sported some cute clothes.  Check Tessa out in her little chick shirt that her Grandma made!

And in a bunny rabbit dress her Grandma made!  (Thank goodness for talented Moms who can sew!)  I can't even sew a straight line.

The Saturday of Easter weekend was our neighborhood's traditional egg hunt.  The kids all had a great time!  Tessa and Eli were a little confused, but Drake knew JUST what to do.  And as soon as Tessa and Eli figured out there was candy and prizes in the eggs, they quit hunting.  They decided they would just rather go ahead and sit down to eat!  Here they are below just getting into the hunting.

I hate that she looks sad here since she was actually having a good time.  Just wait for some more photos below.

These next two were actually before school one morning.

And a shot of us on the way to the park!

 As you can see, Drake was proud of his basket.  I found the baskets at Big Lots, but hated the liners.  So, I pleaded kindly on behalf of the grandkids, and Grandma worked her sewing magic to make new ones :-)

 This photo makes me giggle because Eli was having a great time just playing, and you can see Tessa in the back, just sitting on the cement to scarf down some candy.

 My feeble attempts at a picture of the three.

 Drake is so sweet to his brother and sister.  Here he is climbing back up the tunnel slide to go help Eli.

 And, She SMILES!!!  Big girl loves to swing.

 Unadulterated joy from this one!

 Tessa's motor skills were very delayed when we got her home in December.  Now she can do things like climb up these bars with no problem!  I'm so proud of her.

 Little monkeys love to swing from this bar.

 Silly goose!

There aren't any pictures from Easter morning b/c I was taking my turn working a holiday.  Eric took the three to church and said they had fun.  Eli and Tessa go to nursery, while Drake goes into church with us.  He'd rather be still for an hour than be separated.  I bought stuff to die eggs this year, and unfortunately we never got to it.  We did however, work on another "craft" to some degree.  Have you heard of resurrection eggs?  Go check this out.  http://www.livingonadime.com/recipes/reseggs.html
While we didn't do the full 12 eggs, we did incorporate some of these lessons into our playing the weeks before and after Easter.  It was easy to do things like make a cross out of sticks in the backyard, and talk about it while having outside play time.  I really wanted to make this year, and every year after this, about the actual meaning.  I do NOT want my kids simply caught up in the baskets from a fake bunny, and gorging on candy.  I don't want them to think Easter is about wearing the perfect smocked dress or new seersucker suit.  (Not that they would wear that type of thing anyway, but you get my drift.)  I don't want them to think it's about winning the prize egg or dying one the perfect color.  Jenn Hatmaker summed up perfectly how I feel about Easter, and what I want my kids to learn and get from this holiday.  So wander over HERE and read what she has to say.  All I can say is that if I lived in Austin, I would want her as a BFF.  She's the same Jen Hatmaker that wrote the "After The Airport" blog post that I adore.
In any case, next year I think my three will all be old enough to truly get it, and we can get a little more serious doing all 12 eggs.

The last of Christmas photos

So, back to Christmas. Got to finish that before I can move on to the January birthdays! On Christmas day, we drove to Florence during the kids nap time. It wasn't our original plan, but between everyone's work schedule, it was the only time that worked. We had a great celebration Sunday night, and then got to see a variety of family the next day!

Tessa met her Great Grandmother and Grandfather, Sissy and Boots. (Eric was in the shower and missed out on the pic).

This is her grumpy camera face at it's finest. I will be one HAPPY momma when I teach this kid to smile and say cheese when she sees a camera!

She got a doll from the movie Tangled, and proceeded to dig in the dirt with Rapunzel's (SP?) hairbrush.
Drake and Eli were totally in their element.
Can you just not believe how big this kid is? I sure can't!

Who cares about toys? Grandpa has a big pile of dirt!!! Jumping off it was a big hit. Drake went...
And McCall...
And Eli...
And Tessa! She doesn't really know how to jump, so she mostly slid down with Grandpa's help.
She was introduced to the gator. Big brother was plenty happy to oblige and drive her around.
And little brother taught her to hold on tight!
Eli got in a golf cart ride with Daddy.

Tessa got more hugs from Pryce. She loves her cousins!

Sweet Piper and Baylor:-)
I can't wait for next Christmas! Yes, I'm excited already. It's so much fun watching all their reactions and faces. Plus, next year Tessa and Eli will "get" it. These three are such blessings, and SO much fun. (And just in case you think everything is rainbows and ice-cream, they also fight like cats and dogs and sometimes listen to NOTHING I say.)

Now, onto birthday postings! Drake and Tessa turned three on the 5th and 6th!

Christmas Morning 2011

Christmas morning is beyond fun with three small kids! It was so much fun watching the three of them come down the stairs and see what Santa brought! Drake really understood it this year, but the other two just were thrilled to see new toys!

They took everything to Eric to open and put batteries in. I'm glad they think that's his job, and not mine.
A tape measure!!!! Good thing, b/c he kept playing with Eric's real one and almost breaking it.
Everyone loved the tool bench.
And the kitchen!

Our sweet baby boy with his stocking.

She enjoyed exploring her stocking too!
Drake was SO excited to find playdoh in his stocking. The kid is obsessed with it.
Eli loves brushing his teeth, and was super pumped to find a new electric toothbrush in his stocking.
Drake was ecstatic about his bulldozer.

This realistic baby was one of Eli's gifts, b/c he is obsessed with babies. However, Tessa quickly took it to start feeding it the bananas. All three kids love it!

Aftermath in the living room, after we cleaned up. Yes, that was after round one of cleaning!
At 1pm, their normal nap time, we got in the car to head to Florence for one night. These three were O.U.T.