april~week 15/366 {eggs-school-cuts-dance}

after discovering what goodies the easter baskets held, 
we spent a lovely easter sunday. at home. relaxing, yes?
thankfully, hubs takes over dying eggs.
we hid coin-filled eggs indoors.




some of them were easier to find than others.
{see that sweet portrait of gracie at 4 months old? *sigh*}



bucket-heads were trending this easter.
at least in our house. 



letters of affirmation found in 10 yo's room.
warmed our hearts.

a homeschool picnic with theater friends 
that left poor nator seeing spots.
she fell and whacked her back.
so thankful for our chiropractor!

unexpected birthday gifts mailed 
from a sweet aunt, uncle and cousins.

gracie giving her history narration under covers. *giggle*

watching youtube tutorials, involving scissors.
watching the gas station being built behind our home...
fill the ground with gasoline.  *sob*



following through on the tutorial, i cut nator's hair.
no, i am not a professional.  

we have really been enjoying a relaxed history discussion time... colors have been used more.  hahhhh...




we met sweet friends for a picnic.
adult conversation is always welcome. ;)



nator, a supportive sister, tries to inform us of the woes of enduring yet another dance competition over mexican food.  believe me, we all feel the same way... well, except for gracie. ;)

still.  the show must go on...

it requires starbucks.
cake pops, hot tea, banana nut bread, and dark chocolate to get us through.
backstage, gracie pulls out a game of pictionary man.

between performances, we dodge 'things' left behind on the floor, due to the pet expo next door.  we rock at multi-tasking.

when all is said and done, we are completely depleted of all energy.  forming complete sentences might become a challenge.  so... we go home, hands full of costumes and take-out. 

life is better when you are wearing stretchy pants anyway.



bragging parent alert {unlike all of my other posts *ehem*}: 
so many solos, yet gracie was one in a handful of kids who received an invitation to NYC.  so proud of this girlie.  it's just too bad plane tickets didn't come with the invitation. ;)



honestly, this competition was a little easier.  everything was on the same day and the room was quite large.  we weren't running into each other in the dressing room.  so important when so many divas are under one roof.  keepin' it honest, you know. ;)



dance competition.  we'll see you again next year!

psh!  who am i kidding?  gracie is already thinking up ideas for next year's performance. ;) 

i'm thinking of re-naming this blog.
"chronicles of a tired mama"
catchy, yes?

{2011} easter weekend

we had thoughts of taking the girls to san antonio. sea world.

there was also conversation of taking the girlies to visit relatives in louisiana.

gracie was deeply concerned that the easter bunny many not find her anyplace other than home.

then there was the whole 'mama is sick' issue. i've been under the weather. feeling run-down. seems life has caught up with me. my throat was uncomfortable and when i could speak above a whisper, it sounded more like an elderly man who'd smoked a pack a day all his life. nice, huh?

i'm feeling a bit better today.

thankfully, hubs was off for three. days. straight.

ummm... let me say that again.

hubs was off {of work} three. days. straight.

*sigh*

during this time, i provided my friends with well-informed tweets and facebook updates:

Enjoying a great 3 day weekend with the family. Taking it all in... #lifeisgood

hubs bought the needed supplies for egg dying, boiled the eggs, and is now helping the girls decorate. #lovehim i'm off to take pictures...

the hubster just started playing christmas music while the egg decorating is happening. #hecracksmeup

he buys me chocolate. he cooks a lovely breakfast. he cleans the kitchen. he is working on his meat-marinade for lunch. *sigh* #lovehim #mamaissick

so, as you probably guessed, we stayed home.  and truthfully, i think we were all thankful for the time spent together.  even if mom was curled up on the sofa easter sunday.

there were plenty of lil' hugs wishing everyone a happy easter eve! daddy and gracie dancing to christmas music... gotta love michael mcdonald's christmas cd! then, two lil' voices over the moon with excitement on easter morning.

 

the girls were excited to receive their bunnies, legos, books, clothes, coloring books, play-doh, and lil' m-and-m container.

as predicted, gracie ate her candy before mom and dad were out of bed, while nator took her time.

i love that lil' something extra kids add to the holidays.

i picked up jasmine's deposits in the backyard {did i mention i was sick?}, and filled the plastic eggs with money.  hubs grilled the meat and helped hide the eggs.  i love that he made the girls cover their eyes while he gave last instructions.

i've never been one to push candy in our house, so we've always filled the plastic eggs with substitutes.  when they were younger, it was stickers and 'healthier' cookies and such.  

these days?  it's money.  they were thrilled!  we counted it all at the end and separated it evenly to avoid sibling rivalry.  $6 each. not bad for 2 minutes worth of work.

i'd say it was a successful weekend, with great memories made.

*******************************************

i've decided that life would be much easier if hubs could take a 3 day weekend every week. ;)  but sadly, we gals are off to enjoy another week of movie nights.  so, you know what that means. 

tonight... it's peter pan for nator and me.  scooby doo for gracie.  i rented rabbit hole {with nicole kidman} for myself, but... i think it will be a hard movie to watch.  have you seen it?

hoping you and yours had a wonderful easter weekend!

{did you imagine me saying all of this with my old-man-voice?} ;)

relationship: the reason for the season

He had no servants, yet they called him Master. 

Had no degree, yet they called him Teacher. 

Had no medicine, yet they called him Healer. 

Had no army, yet kings feared Him. 

He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world. 

He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.

He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today. 

I'm so thankful it was never about sin for Him, but about...

relationship.

{if this doesn't give you goose-bumps, you're goose-bump maker is broken.} ;)

Thinking on good things.

God, and His greatness.

Happy Easter!

We did it... Together

We met friends.

We snapped pictures.

We laughed... because we're just silly sometimes.

We decorated eggs.

We made them pretty princesses.  :)

We soaked up some Granny lovin'.
We enjoyed Gracie's Easter bracelets.

We ate.

We bought flowers... and watered them.

We assembled a new canopy for our porch...
and enjoyed the journey of our imaginations,
with a box.

We enjoyed the Easter bunny's goodies, including the colorful dresses.
We hunted eggs...

and enjoyed the hidden treasure inside.
Money, not candy. ;)

All while remembering the greatest treasure of all.
Jesus... and His Great Love.

We did it all... and then some.
Together.

Our Easter... in an 'Egg'shell

A Weekend of Family & Fun...

We started at an outdoor theatre for...

Beauty & the Beast.

The girls loved it! There were so many people there!

To put it in A-Nator's words,

"It's like a kid-o-lanche!"

Since the girls already decorated eggs at their scout meeting, they painted canvasses instead! They made H-Mama some crosses to add to the collection in the living room and another canvass for their rooms. They had so much fun being creative.

Here's A-Nator's finished product.

Here's Gracie's finished product.

Notice she drew a bunny praying at the foot of the cross.

Tissue please??



A-Nator obviously wanted "H-Mama" to post this on her blog. ;)

"Lupper" time...

Sweet Daddy.

Luv from my girls. Simply the best.

Don't let my smile fool you though.

H-Mama had body aches and a horrible sore throat!

No 30x5 for a few days! ugh...

It didn't rain on our parade...

We hunted eggs... indoor!

The girls were just as excited.

We ended the weekend with some great family games. This is one of our favorites right now. Apples to Apples Jr. Our girls also like "Sorry" and Mario Kart. Okay... Mom & Dad like it too.After tucking the girls in for the night, DK and I watched Slumdog Millionaire. Wow.