Easter 2013

Did everyone have a good weekend? We were blessed with good weather and time with family and friends, so that's a win in my book! Here's a quick(ish) recap of our fun Easter happenings.

On Sundays, I teach the 2nd and 3rd grade class at church. I saw this idea on Pinterest, and thought it would be fun to make these as a treat for my students:

I thought they came out pretty cute, and my students loved the jelly beans :-).

On Tuesday last week, the children and I went over to my sister's house to dye eggs. I LOVE dying eggs . . . have done it almost every year of my life! It's even more fun now that I'm a parent.

Ready to go!

Brenson was so excited to participate this year. He was a mess, but it was worth it!

Cousin Chloe Jo even enjoyed this activity. Sometimes, she deems certain activities as too messy for her.

Brenson thinks he's as big as Brianna and tries to do everything she does. So of course he had to put the eggs in the dye himself!

I love photos that capture that little curious look!

Brianna was a pro this year. She did all of her eggs on her own. Sigh.

Chloe Jo also rocked the egg dying.

I truly cherish these moments with my kids. I dreamed of this for years, and the fulfillment of those dreams has exceeded my expectations!

Our beautiful eggs:

This past week was Spring Break week for my brother and his family that live in Tennessee. They took a vacation to the Grand Canyon, and on the way back to Tennessee, they stopped by my house and spent the night. Brianna was BEYOND excited to have her "big" cousins here. She acted completely nuts for a solid hour before they arrived (and about made her momma crazy). This picture cracks me up . . . Kaylee and the little girls are all being SO silly!

And now they're just being cute!

Benefit of having a big cousin: She can read! The girls loved Kaylee reading to them.

Here are my parents with part of their grandchildren (I have another older brother who has three children). Doesn't my nephew (who is 13) look like a MAN in this photo?!?

We were so happy that they were able to stop by and spend a little time with us. Because we live so far from each other, visits are sometimes few and far between. They had to leave on Saturday afternoon, but we had a good time even though it was short.

On Sunday, we got up a little earlier than normal so we could take some photos of the children. They looked so sweet.

Love this pic!

After photos, we gave them their Easter baskets. Brenson was mostly impressed with the carrot made of candy.

Brianna loved her princesses . . . she's alllll about princesses right now (still).

My little guy is so sweet. We are beyond blessed with such a good little boy.

I can't get over how big and beautiful Brianna is in this photo. She has such a sweet heart and loves to help and comfort.

This photo makes me laugh every time I see it! Adorable!

After church, we went out to eat with our friends, Ross & Tia, then over to their house for an egg hunt. We did this last year too, and I just love that we're creating special traditions with our friends. Sidenote: *Last year we talked a lot about how Lucy would be with us hunting eggs this year. We had no idea what was about transpire. Although I find so much comfort knowing that she is safe with Jesus, I really missed her being with us. I am amazed that our friends were willing and able to host this hunt for our kids even though their precious daughter wasn't there.*

Chloe Jo and Brianna had a BALL hunting eggs.

Chloe had so many eggs she filled TWO baskets!

Brianna's basket was heaping with eggs.

Brenson LOVED hunting eggs. He totally understood what to do, and he went to town! After we came in from egg hunting, he kept grabbing his basket and going to the front door. He would even grab the doorknob just trying to get back outside to hunt more eggs. He didn't really care anything about what was in the eggs, he just liked collecting them (totally unlike Brianna at this age who just wanted to open the eggs).

I just adore these photos!

Brianna was so sweet about her egg hunting. She would purposely leave eggs for Chloe Jo and Brenson in every area she hunted. She is such a generous little girl.

Trying to find the camo eggs . . .

My dad was trying to help Brenson, but he wouldn't let anyone carry his basket for him.

My sister and her family:

Our little family:

My parents (who had come to town to see my brother and his family, then stayed over for Sunday):

Our sweet, generous (silly!) friends Ross & Tia: