Easter Eggstravaganza

We started Easter off last weekend at Deedee and Papaw's house.

Of course, we had to take a few pictures before the egg hunt.

And then they were off!

The "clue eggs" were back this year,

and they brought lots of fun gifts....that Jane felt like modeling all together!

It was a fun Easter celebration!

 On Easter weekend, we headed to Lubbock to visit my aunt and grandmother.  We got there late Friday night, and spent Saturday visiting my grandmother in her rehab place.  Mamma's 87th birthday was on Easter Sunday, so we decided to have a party for her on Saturday night.

My kids are always ready for a party, and this was no exception!

 

 

We had dinner, ate cake, 

opened presents, and played some Pictionary!

It was a fun night celebrating Mamma!

Next up, was Easter Sunday!

We had our egg hunt indoors due to some wet outside conditions.  We got to go to church with Mamma, and then we said our goodbyes.

Many thanks to my aunt Jennifer for hosting my crazy bunch! 

Big Boy Bed

A couple of weeks ago we made the switch.  Graham is officially in a big boy bed!

He had been napping in Jane's bed for a couple of months with no issues, so I wasn't too worried about making the change.  He is almost three after all!

He has done great.  He waits for us to come get him in the morning, and he is quite proud of his new "big boy" status!  We moved the rocking chair out of the room, and we moved the train table in.  We are still adding a few finishing touches to his big boy room.

It's a bittersweet realization that we are now a crib-free home!

Celebrate Good Times!

We had a fun weekend celebrating Clare.  We started with her "friend" party at Painting With a Twist.  Clare picked the "Neon Owl" to paint, and she was very excited to get started.

Clare had five friends join her, along with her sisters and Brody.  The teacher walked them through every step of the painting, and the kids followed along.

Everyone did a great job!  They all turned out so cute!

 Cousins!

 

We did cupcakes and presents, and then it was time to head to the family party!

We had the family over for a fiesta to celebrate Clare. 
 

We were joined by Nathan, Megan, Brody, LoLo and Pop, Deedee and Papaw, Emmy, Grandad and Morgan. It was a fun evening with lots of people who love Clare!

We had lots of Mexican food, and then it was finally time for Clare to open presents! 

She got so much great stuff.  Her big gifts from Casey and I were getting her ears pierced and getting her first pedicure! When she opened the letter about her ears, she was so surprised!

 

Man, I love a good surprise gift!

Clare requested an ice cream cake with white cake and mint chocolate chip ice cream, so that's what I made her!

Today was her actual birthday, and we had to make good on her gifts.  After church and lunch, we headed to Claire's to get my birthday girl's ears pierced!  She did so great!  She picked out little silver stars, and she is very proud of her new ears!

 Our last birthday outing was for a pedicure. I was happy to join her for that! While we were there, she said, "this is so relaxing!" 

 It was a fun, busy, exciting weekend celebrating Clare.  I had so much fun with her, and I think #8 was a good one! (And you better believe her sisters are ready to be 8!!!!)

Eight is Great!

Clare Morgan is eight today!

Happiest of birthdays to my big girl. Birthday celebration recap coming soon.

Spring Break Staycation 2014

Spring break 2014 is halfway over, and we've already done a ton of stuff!  We started out break by building a castle!  

The kids got this cardboard castle for Christmas from Nathan and Megan.  And Saturday was the day to build it!  Each kid got a tower and a hallway, and they decorated accordingly.  Clare even hung curtains on her little windows!

On Sunday, I took the girls shopping for new swimsuits.  Let me assure you that we tried on every suit in the store, but we had fun doing it, and we got some cute suits!

Nothing better than eating some Mexican food after swimsuit shopping, right?

 These new suits were put to good use on Monday when we went to the natatorium!  My crew loves swimming, so this was a super fun activity!  

On Tuesday, I took the girls to test their skills on the ice.

Graham and Casey stayed home for this one.  It's hard enough for the girls!  We skated for a little while, and it is amazing how much better they got from the beginning to the end.  They were pretty wobbly at first!  

Today, we ventured to Hope Park in Frisco.  We had never been before, and it was definitely worth visiting!

There were so many cool things to do here!

The modern day merry-go-round!

We took a picnic lunch and spent a good portion of the day out there.  Big fun.

I always love having Casey home for a few days.  And, it's been nice to do some things we don't normally do around here.  However, I think all this fun has worn this little guy out!

Cool Runnings!

Clare decided to run the Allen Eagle race about a month ago.  She signed up for the Fun Run and Casey signed up for the 5k.  Thus, the training began.  Sometimes, they went out alone, but sometimes we all went.

And sometimes, she felt better than others after she was done.

When the race week was upon us, Clare and Casey set out one afternoon and knocked out a mile and half.  She knew she was golden then!

It was a nice morning.  Cool, but not freezing.  Clare was excited!  The other kids and I were there to cheer her on!

And they're off! 

Almost done!

I am so proud of her for deciding to do something and sticking with it.  And I can't say enough about Casey always being willing to "train" with her.

She's got her sights on the 5k next year!  And I think she's convinced her sisters to give the Fun Run a shot!

Snow Day!

We were all thrilled to have a snow day! After a busy weekend, I was happy to have an extra day to regroup and relax and just spend time with the kids!

My kids and their imaginations never cease to amaze me!  Clare started the day playing "tech support/electrician!"  I have no clue where that came from, but she and her sisters checked every speaker, outlet, printer, etc. around our house!

Next up, we made cookies.  Something about being home all day makes my crew want to bake.  We made sugar cookies!

This was Graham's idea of icing the cookies!

Sometimes, when I see something at a store, I buy it and tuck it away for a rainy icy day!  Luckily, I had this cool eye shadow set in my closet.

The girls loved it!

My made-over beauties!

(This was Jane's serious look!)

I won't tell you about any of the tears, sibling fights, etc. because that's not fun to write about!  But all in all, we had a fun day at home.  The ice has melted so we are back to the real world tomorrow!