Easter Prep

This year we spent a lot of time prepping for Easter.  

We started out dying eggs and making cookies at Nana and Papa's.  Daddy had some work to do on our hallway, which is almost finished :), so we spent the day at Nana and Papa's so Daddy could finish up. 

 When we pulled up to Nana and Papa's we noticed the ducks.  These ducks hang out in my parents pool every year.  They have come back for probably 3 or 4 years now.  They come and hang out in the unopened pool until my parents open it.  Once it is filled with chlorine, they find a new place to hang out.  

This year they got a little gutsy though.  They walked right up and hung out on my parents deck!  They have never done that before.  The kids LOVED it!  It was nice addition to our special Easter decorating day.

Oliver loved wearing his bunny ears to dye his eggs.

Claire loved using all the different colors.

Oliver loved the way they came out.

Then it was time to make the cookies.  Claire loved helping Nana make the frosting for the cookies.

Finally, it was time to frost the cookies!!

Claire really loved making all different designs. Check out Claire's carrot earrings!!  My friend at school made them for her, they were sooo cute!!!!

Even Oliver helped.

Here is Oliver's cookie.  Notice his chin, he couldn't help but eat a little frosting :)

I must say, I was pretty impressed with how adorable our cookies came out!

After all the decorating, everyone was exhausted.  Claire and Papa went up to take their nap and Oliver headed for his crib.  Even after his 2 and 1/2 hour nap he was still sleepy, so he laid with Nana and watched some TV.

 Uncle Johnny stopped over later to hang out and he is getting pretty good at functioning with his broken hand.  It took him and Oliver a few minutes to get his socks and shoes on but they made it happen.

Then the next morning we colored eggs with Daddy.  Oliver loved coloring on the eggs with the special egg crayon.

Claire loved getting started, she was an old pro at this point.  Except she still kept dipping her fingers in the dye!  

My little bunnies hard at work.

This is my egg.  It is my favorite color with the names of my favorite people on it.

I ran out of room so I had to put Pete's name on the back.

Here is Oliver's final product.

 And here is Claire's final product.

I think we are ready for the Bunny to come!!!!

Student Of The Month

Yep....that's right....you've guessed it....Oliver is Student Of The Month at school!

Here is his poster we made for him to share with his class.

And to begin his reign as Student Of The Month of course Oliver had to dress up.  I think he is going to be just like his Daddy.  Oliver LOVES to dress up.  Almost every morning when I am getting him dressed he says "Tie Mama.  Tie on??"  Over and over.  I have to actually hide his ties because if he sees them he will freak out!  

Have a great month Oliver!!

The Easter Bunny

 

Today we went to see the Easter Bunny.  My kids absolutely love characters of any kind (click HERE to see them last year).  Oliver was IN LOVE with the bunny!!  I was worried after how he reacted to Santa that he would not be into the Bunny this year but he was thrilled!!  As soon as we got there he was waving and yelling "HI BUNNY!!".  So when it was Claire and Oliver's turn he was thrilled.  He walked right up and hugged him!  Then he kept petting him, it was adorable.  When it came time to take the picture we had a hard time getting Oliver to stop looking at the bunny and look at us to smile!!  It was soooo cute!!!  Claire was a dream as always.  She hopped right up onto the Bunny's lap and told him she would like a stuffed hamster in her basket and that her brother would like a ball.  She was so sweet!  

  Then we made a quick stop at Penny's to get some socks and they were handing out bunny ears.  Of course, my children were thrilled to get some ears.  As soon as I put them on Oliver he said "Picture!" so I had to get a shot of my little bunnies.  And of course, Claire was ready to pose with a smile as always.  I love these bunnies!!!!!

St. Patrick's Day Love

This year St. Patrick's Day was extra special.  It was extra special because my brother got married!!  So needless to say we were all looking forward to this special day!  But before the big celebration we still had our usual St. Patty's Day traditions to take care of.

Step #1 - dress up look green goofballs.

Claire had multiple outfits to wear throughout the week but here is the one she chose to wear for her party at school on Friday.  Notice her hair extension.  She had been VERY into these lately.  I tried to talk her into getting the curly hair kind but she was not having it!

Oliver was tricky this year because I thought I had a shirt that would fit him but because of that chest and belly it wouldn't work.  So we went with some green pants and a fancy bow tie.  How can you go wrong.  And I love that he left it on all day.

Step #2 - set up the leprechaun trap and hats (this one is new).

This year Claire was all about fixing the mistakes that we made last year with our trap.  She felt that last year we really messed up because our basket had holes in it.  So this year she searched her closet until she came up with this cookie tin.  There was no way he was getting out of this!  And he did come but we lost him again.  He did leave a bunch of treats though! I didn't get any pictures though because we were preparing for the wedding.

 This year we started a new tradition (thanks to Aunt Jacqie).  Legend has it that if you are good girl or boy and you leave a decorated hat next to your bed that the leprechaun will shrink that hat down to his size and wear it around and then leave it for you.  

 So we all decorated cups and left them by our beds.  

 And woke up to these!  I didn't get any pictures the morning of St. Patrick's day but we still have this hat so I just snapped this one.

As you can see, we must have been good because the leprechaun shrunk down our hats.

Step 3 - WEDDING TIME!!!!!!

So after all the leprechaun fun, it was time to drop off the kids and head to the wedding!!

The weather was AMAZING!  The temperature  was about 75 degrees and sunny!  Everything was perfect!  I could go on and on and on but that would take all day.  Erin was a saint and took pictures for me the whole time, so I will just post them and talk about them.

Brian, Kevin, and Sara. 

 It was so nice that my in laws could all be there.  It is always a great time when we can get everyone in the same place.

Mark and John looking handsome before the ceremony.

My handsome hubby.

Nonny waiting for the ceremony to start.

The groomsmen and the groom to be.

My mother in her beautiful dress.

Me walking in. Our dresses were gorgeous and I had the perfect shoes on but I didn't get any shots with the whole ensemble.

But I do have this picture of my shoes.  They were gorgeous!  And I wore them the whole night and danced like crazy!!

 

Susie and her Daddy.

 Even the ceremony was fun! 

My mother and father.

And my mother and father in law.

Three generations of hot mamas.  Welcome to the family Sue!!

My aunt, my mother, and me.  We all had a great time dancing!

It was so beautiful out that everyone had their cocktails outside!

 We even managed to get Erin in a picture.  Thanks again for taking all the pictures Erin, you did a great job!

The Komo boys.

The Komo girls.

My mother and Greg dancing.  See....even the dances were fun!

Not our best shot but I had to put this in.  This is Mark handing me the microphone after he finished the Irish blessing so that I could say Grace.  Can you tell that we just HATE being the center of attention :)

I love this shot too.  Erin wanted to see if you could do a "self shot" like you do with a point and shoot.  She didn't think it worked out but I thought it came out great!

Overall, St. Patrick's day was perfect!  The wedding was perfect and I am so happy for Greg and Sue!  It was an amazing day and I couldn't have had more fun!!!!