Easter Sunday

Wow, am I already up to Easter Sunday and it's only May? ha ha
What a beautiful day! We were blessed to be with our church family and enjoyed an uplifting worship service. We were then able to spend the afternoon with Billy's grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Too bad egg hunting isn't a useful life skill, because our kids would have that one down!

Me and the kids.





Henry with cousin Devin, comparing their loot.

Another egg hunt and tee ball opening day

On Saturday, April 3, after a rainy morning which totally messed up the baseball opening ceremonies, we went to Mom's for the annual egg hunt. It's always something to have all the kids together--there's so many of them!

Here they are, all eleven of them, age 8 and under.

Since I never feel like Ellen gets her share of pictures, here's another of her.

Rebecca had to make sure that there was a prize in each egg. If it was empty, she would just put it back. :)



After a big lunch and big egg hunt, we came back to our house for a shrimp boil with my dad, step-mom, and Billy's dad. Rusty cooked some mean shrimp!
We then got ready for the boys' first tee ball game of the season. Here are Henry, Walker, and William. Go, Blue Jays!

Ellen entertains herself with PawPaw's glasses during the game.

At least we won the first one! Wins will prove to be a bit elusive for the Blue Jays...

School Easter egg hunts

Here's a sampling of all the kids' school egg hunts (April 1-2).

Vivian...


Just before William's...



William's kindergarten class

Rebecca's...


Henry's and Rebecca's egg hunts were at the same time, but Billy was able to be at Henry's. I had the camera, so we didn't get any shots of the actual hunt. Here's Henry back inside enjoying some treats.


After school, we colored real Easter eggs!

Quick zoo trip and the last post for March!

March 31st was the last day on our family membership for Birmingham Zoo, and since it was going to be a lovely day, we went down for a few hours. Vivian likes animals from afar, so without the petting zoo and the lorakeet exhibit slowing us down, I knew we'd have time to get through it all. I admit that I snickered at the thought of her FREAKING out if I took her in there with those lorakeets, but I'm not that mean. We even had time to ride the carousel and the train. Also no worries about her wanting to ride a camel. Oh, and we skipped the reptile house. No reason to give the kid nightmares. Ellen, on the other hand, LOVES animals, and I would have loved for her to have a few up-close encounters. Oh, well, my uncle Dwight raises goats; she can just pet those.

Aren't the girls' matching dresses the cutest? Vivian is crazy about the Princess and the Frog, and she loves for her and Ellen to match, so my mom made them both one.

Still back in March...

We enjoyed an Easter egg hunt in the park with our church family. It was a little chilly, but at least it was sunny. We had lots of homemade cookies, cakes, and brownies. Who needs lunch?


The kids are ready to hunt! (Take a look at Henry's outfit. He accessorized himself.)

Now where are those eggs?

Ellen catches a windy spray from the fountain.


Henry won 1st prize for the most eggs found...he was up in the 40's. Here he is counting his eggs.

Later that day we went to Birmingham for our friend Zoey's birthday party. The kids had a blast with all the games and inflatables.






Here's the birthday girl!

Little ones at the park and the Fun Run

O.K., this was also in March! Yikes!
We had a really LONG winter this year, so there were not that many days to get out and enjoy the sunshine until late March.

Ellen loves, loves, loves to be outside.



Rebecca, Henry, and William participated in a fundraiser for their school, called the Fun Run. They got pledges per lap, and each kid ran 10 laps. The boys were particularly excited about it, and because the kindergarteners and first graders ran at different times and I couldn't be at both, I opted to be there to cheer the boys on.