Easter Highs and Lows

Wow - we've been a busy bunch of bunnies this holiday!

Here's a quick recap of what we've been up to over the past 5 days.

• We dyed Easter Eggs - then forgot to take them to my inlaws, so we now have 17 hard boiled eggs here. No one really likes hard boiled eggs. :)
• We did LOTS of laundry!
• we celebrated Easter with both sides of the family - which means lots of goodies, egg hunts and ham!
• Today (Monday) I HAVE THE DAY OFF!!!!!!!! No day care kids are here, and I have enjoyed this day so much! It's so nice to have time just with my own children!
• I got sick. I have a nasty chest cold and no voice!

Here are the kids dying the eggs - they honestly had fun doing this, but it looks like I own an egg-dying seat shop and have been forcing them to color eggs for days! LOL


Here are the baskets the Easter Bunny left for the kids:


And here's a picture from our own little egg hunt:

How to Throw a (better) Birthday Party

The boys' party turned out very well, but there's always room for improvement, right? Here are a few notes that will hopefully help me execute the next party better.

Party Prep

• Create 2 seperate shopping lists - one for Sam's Club and one for the grocery store.
• Allow enough time for the Sam's Club trip FIRST. Add anything unavailable at Sam's to the other shopping list.
• Be sure to buy Fruit & Veggie trays at Sam's Club - they were less than half the price of the grocery store and served us well!
• Plan an activity for Craig and the kids to do together so that they are occupied while I prep.
• Run the dishwasher and EMPTY IT before the party, so it's ready to be filled again when the party is over.
  

Menu

• 8 lbs of ham is a lot! Freeze half right after slicing.
• Buy more Swiss cheese (we ran out within minutes! Who knew my family likes Swiss so much?)
• Buy fewer salty snacks.

Party time!

• Remember to hand out favors to the guests!
• Try to determine if any guests need to leave early (my cousin and her family had to leave just as we let the kids open some gifts - I wish I would have known she had to leave so that we could have started things earlier).
• If it's a nice day (and it was), put outdoor toys in an obvious and accessible place for guests to use. We were scrambling for bubbles mid-party.

Clean-up

• Disposable table cloths are our friend.
• Somehow steal a few minutes to vacuum - even if it's late (perhaps have Craig get the kids ready for bed?). We found a few ants the morning after the party!

Hopefully I'll come back to this post before Maddie's birthday party in May!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

April 7th - Ryan turns 6 today! I really can't believe how quickly the time has passed.

Six years ago today I woke up to see an April snowstorm just starting. I was a a little more than a week away from my due date, but I truly felt that I could not be pregnant for one more day. Craig, little Maddie and I all went to my regular midwife appointment (in the snow!) and discovered that I was a little over 3 cm and 100% effaced - I really wasn't going to be pregnant much longer!

My first birth was a very medical event, and I wanted something very different with my second one. With Madeline, my water broke and contractions began shortly after that. My labor with Ryan was totally different. In fact, I didn't even know I was in labor for most of the day! I remember being on the phone with my sister and mentioning that I could not bend over to pick something off the ground. She made me call my midwife, who said I was most certainly in labor.

We left for the hospital around 3:00 pm and Ryan was born just a few minutes after 7:00 pm. Ryan's birth was such a calm and gentle event. He was born underwater into the hands of our wonderful midwife. I had a rather difficult first birth, so Ryan's beautiful entrance was not only a blessing, but also a way for me to finally heal old wounds.

Ryan is our second miracle. He made Madeline a Big Sister and us very proud parents. He has always been a very high needs child. However, he can be the sweetest boy and getting a smile and hug from him will just make you glow!

Here's Ryan at just one-day old:


And here he is as a 6-year-old kingergardener:


Happy Birthday Ryan!

It's Party Time!

Today was our "family party" for Ryan and Jacob. We're at that age now (at least with Maddie and Ryan) where we have 2 birthday parties - one for our family and a party just for classmates and friends. I enjoy the family party so much more!

I spent most of the weekend preparing for this party. We had about 20 people on our Guest List, which meant there were 25 people to feed and entertain. Thankfully, we were blessed with a BEAUTIFUL spring day and we were able to sit on the deck and enjoy the outdoors. The children were all able to play baseball, blow bubbles and swing all afternoon!

Menu:

• 8 lbs. ham - sliced and served cold (this was my gluten-free entree)
• Kaiser & onion rolls - whole wheat bread (for those who wanted to create a sandwich)
• American, Swiss & Colby-Jack cheeses
• Salami
  
• Potato & Macaroni salads
• Pickle & olive tray
• Baked Beans
  
• Fruit & Veggie trays
• Variety of salty snacks (for anyone wondering, Fritos & Tostitos are both Gluten Free)
• Cheese, Pepperoni & Sausage Pizzas (from Dominos - the cheapest non-bake-at-home option).
• Birthday cake & ice cream (Breyers Vanilla & Chocolate is gluten free)
• Sodas, Strawberry lemonade and Iced tea

We had more than enough food (we ate less than half of the ham, so I guess I need to look for some good ham recipes this week!) and everyone was stuffed by the end of the night! You can see that we actually had 2 cakes - the Indiana Jones cake and a smaller birthday cake. Ryan's birthday is April 7th, and he shares that day with my Grandfather (who is turning 79!). It's fun to celebrate 3 birthdays at one party!


My Indiana Jones cake was a HUGE hit! I found a photo of this cake online and copied it for my boys' cake. It was both adorable and delicious!


For party favors, I gave each child a shovel and pail with their name on it. The pail was filled with a small notebook, pencils or crayons and a few sweet treats. We have two older "tweens" in the family, and they received the same goodies, but in a pretty paper sack. (Note, I had every intention of giving favors to all our guests, but it just didn't get done this time).


The house is a bit of a mess at this point. Thankfully, Craig has offered to do most of the cleaning (since I did all of the prep work AND played Hostess-with-the Mostess all day). We nearly always have parties on Sundays since I work on Saturdays, and the post-party clean-up is always the hardest part.

Tomorrow, I want to reflect on what parts of the party went smoothly, and where we can do better next time.

A hunting we will go....

On Saturday, we went to an Easter Egg Hunt. The kids were invited to participate in a great Egg Hunt which is run by a local park. It's a great event!

It was very cold that day - we all ended up in winter coats, hats and mittens. And oh my was it ever WINDY!

We had a great time despite the weather, and the children came home with lots of candy and many prizes (I love that this hunt does not do "prize eggs," but rather lets each child choose a set number of prizes. It makes the hunt more fun for everyone!).

What a fun day!

Happy Birthday Jacob!

My baby turned 3 today! We haven't done too much celebrating (yet), but we're going to meet my Dad for lunch and have a special dinner tonight.

On Sunday, we'll have a party for both Jacob and Ryan (who turns 6 on April 7th) - and *my* Grandfather will turn 79 on April 7th as well!

Here's Jacob at one-week old:


And here he is today - An energetic 3-year-old!

Happy April Fool's Day - I mean, Happy Anniversary!

Yes indeed, today is my 9th wedding anniversary! We were able to go out for dinner last night to celebrate. Craig always works late on Wednesdays, so I actually won't see him until late tonight.

Craig did surprise me with some beautiful roses this morning - and breakfast from Chik-Fil-A (they are having a free breakfast every Wednesday in April - at least at ours!).

Here we are 9 years ago: