TWO!

Even through the dreary weather, 

we've enjoyed lots of sunshine in our home today!

Miss Elaina, you bring us more joy and smiles than we could have ever imagined!

Thank you for being the most wonderful YOU!

Because it's pretty

I need some Bright and Pretty today.

Just thought I'd share.

New Chapter

This morning I woke up to a new chapter in my life.

It's a strange feeling, but I'm ok.

Ryan headed off for work and the girls and I are home together.

I looked around and realized how amazingly blessed I am...

Today will be a good day!

Backing Up: Egg Dying and Easter morning

I had a handful more photos I wanted to share from when the girls colored eggs and from Easter morning.  

Egg dying was not a smooth process and I think next year we'll simply stick to stickers and crayons.

Multiple bowls of coloring solution near young children is a Bad idea.

I repeat:  BAD IDEA.

Moving on...

 

I loved  watching the girls in all their enthusiasm over finding eggs and everything they discovered in their Easter baskets! 

 Each holiday is a little more exciting as they get to an age where they can really understand whats going on!  So much fun!

~Easter Morning~

She was stuffing Jellybeans in her mouth faster than you could pick em' up! Ha!

Jellybeans in a Dora container... What could possibly be better?!

and because we thought it was funny...  a few pics of the critter we encountered on our way to church!

Tom was just taking his Easter morning strut!

Because it's too cute not to share!

Easter morning.

Coffee and toaster waffles.

And the cutest little booty I've ever seen!

A blessed Easter

Clearly I'm having trouble getting up more than 1 post a week, but I wanted to share a pic or two (or more) from our lovely Easter holiday!

(I'm going to try to throw up some more cute ones from the rest of April later this week)

The good ole' bunny visited, and the girls were THRILLED to hunt for eggs and check out the goodies in their baskets!  Ellie managed to devour her weight in Jellybeans and Lila ate enough sweets to last her until next month!  Of course, they looked DARLING in their outfits, and I took more than my usual share of pictures.  

Ellie has been showing us what a surprising little girl she is, and wore undies with no accidents through the entire day! Excitement, new places, lots of people...  didn't phase her!  6 weeks ago, if you'd have asked me, I would have said she would still be in diapers at 4, but here she is... not even 2 and rockin' the undies all day!  She even has stayed dry through the nights 5 of the 7 days last week!  Not too shabby for only 3 weeks in to training!  GO ELLIE!

Anyway, we saw lots of family, ate lots of food, and soaked up lots of sunshine, and enjoyed lots of hugs and kisses!  A pretty Blessed Easter indeed!

The Family Photo

Taking a walk in Grandma's boots!

Wow, what a week!

Normally, January through March are kind of "slow" months.

Not a whole lot going on, just your average day-to-day stuff, but this year...

It seems like it's been CRAZY!

This past week flew by and here it is, Monday again.

The recap...

Tuesday night, I was lucky enough to find someone to cover the first 4 hours of my shift, so 

my sister and I could go and see Cirque Du Soleil - Immortal.

It was AWESOME!  I had so much fun, Thank you Alex!

Doing our MJ poses ~ yes, we're dorks!

I was really bummed when I had to leave early to make it to work on time :(

Work was busy though, so I'm sure they are happy I showed up!

Thursday, after a short sleep, I picked up the girls at daycare and went to the cities to meet my family for dinner before work.  My brother Jeff, his wife and kids were in town from Louisiana for a short visit, and we wanted to catch up (even briefly).  It was great to see them, I only wish it had been for more than an hour. 

 Lila made fast friends with her cousin Bella Grace (they are only a week apart in age) and cried when we had to leave! Ha, too cute!   

Work that night was INSANE... and I came home so exhausted I could barely stand.

Friday night was pretty uneventful, (I was still pretty much useless from my Thursday shift.)  Saturday was date night for Ry and I, the girls spent the night with Grandma Barb and Grandpa Rich!  We did all sorts of fun date-like stuff, such as:  picking up rolls of carpet, and shopping at Sam's Club!  Ha!  But we also enjoyed a great dinner at Bonfire and spent a quiet night/morning at home!  

Yesterday, we impatiently waited for the sun to come out and got some things done around the house.  When the sun finally made it's appearance, we all headed outside and soaked up every last bit! (Seriously, Ryan ended up with sunburn.  SUNBURN on April 1st??? I'll take it!)

Had to get the grass cut (again... April 1st people!?)

We burned some serious calories working on cleaning up the back of our yard.  It was a tangled overgrown mess of vines and crap shrubs, and now looks cleaned up and ready for some flowers and berry bushes!!! So excited!

It's back to work for me tonight for another 3 days, then I'll head into my GLORIOUS week off!  Maybe I'll get a chance to tackle the rest of the never-ending list of things to do around here!

Gotta run, we plan to dye some Easter eggs today and I still have a mountain of laundry to finish!

Happy Monday!

**Also, Miss Elaina has been doing suprisingly Fantastic with her potty training

and I'm pleased to report that in just one weeks' time, she now wears undies all day!

(With exception of naps and bedtime!) 

We are so proud of her!

Diaper free home... Here We Come!