That Sensible Bunny

After the Easter Bunny last year spent over a hundred dollars, and only had a few things in the basket, he requested that Mrs. Bunny get the baskets together this year.  That super-sensible bunny delivered so many practical things like socks, vitamins, toothbrushes, toothpaste, band-aids, shampoo, body wash, a swimsuit for Tyler, a Shirt for Olivia, and one toy each, and they were all lovingly placed in a sand pail instead of yet another basket that will be piled up in the closet. (not to mention that Mrs. Bunny used coupons on most of the Easter stuff.) I don't have the total tally for the price of the baskets, but I'm fairly certain that it is much less than a hundred dollars. And do you know that that bunny had the foresight to know that the kids would be getting so much candy that they wouldn't need any more!!

The Easter Bunny didn't forget Mom and Dad either, We got Pedicures for Easter.  It was SO great just chatting with each other and relaxing.  It was like going to get a pedicure with my best friend :).

On Easter Sunday, we went to Gillsville Baptist to see my Mom sing with the Choir in their Easter Program.  The program was great, but the video clips they showed were a little too graphic for the kids.  We tried to hide their eyes, but it wasn't until half way through it that we realized that their was a screen in the back of the church too that Tyler was watching.  He asked us "Why that man nailed Jesus?" I was super impressed with the way Junior handled it.  Olivia was sitting with my sister, and Lindsey did a good job fielding the questions too.  Olivia told her that the bad part only lasted 3 days, then it was the good part. I plan on bringing it up to talk to them a little more about it this week, and before Church Sunday.  They seemed to catch on pretty well, I just wish I would have known it would be such a graphic video. We still would have gone, though.

After Church, we stopped by Mrs. Janice's before we went to my Mother in law's for lunch.  Mrs. Janice, being the practical bunny she is, gave them each a box of spring colored rice crispy treats, one small chocolate bunny, and a card with money :).  Junior and I got the same thing :) (but we had to share our box of treats).  Mrs. Janice is the best ever!!!

At lunch with my Mother in law, the food was terrific, as usual, and I even got a to-go bowl with her delicious pasta salad! The kids had a great time hunting eggs, and got lots of great money eggs and candy eggs.  It was a nice time, and a beautiful day!!

After we took the kids to see their mom, Junior and I went motorcycle riding with Lindsey and Matt, and John and Anne.  It was a nice day for a ride (until the sun went down and I didn't have a jacket).  It was a little cold, but I enjoyed snuggling up to my man to stay warm. :)

Just Another Day in Paradise

I love being close enough to the lake to just stop by on random afternoons after school.  There are a few beaches pretty close to the house, so we can mix it up a bit sometimes.

The Set-Up

The Necessities

The Snack

The Sand Playing

The Lake

Awesome Easter Pictures 2011

My cousin Stacy has been taking our family pics for a while now, and she is superterrific!! Let me know if you need a good photographer, and I'll give you her contact info.

Brains, Beauty, and Behavior!!! This girl's got it all!!!!!!

This morning, Olivia got a pass for either an item at the school store, or an extra recess because of her good behavior.  They have these things at her school called "super stomps" given for super behavior (sort of like the Knight Shields given at my school for good behavior). She chose an additional recess, and she gets to bring a friend, I sure wish I could go with her :).

And here she is typing her spelling words, and rocking her side pony-tail.  Thanks Aunt Lindsey for introducing us to this Rockin' style!!

First Outing on the Boat of 2011

It was a little too cold to get in the water, but we had a great time riding around seeing the sights. The kids got to take turns driving, and I even got to drive for the first time.  I hated it!! I'd much rather lay across the front of the boat, get some sun, and look pretty!!


Here's Tyler taking his turn at the wheel. (My sister Lindsey and her boyfriend Matt came with us. That's Matt behind them. I think they enjoyed riding around and relaxing, Lindsey said they were having a lazy day)

 Olivia and Tyler eventually had a splash fight hanging over the side of the boat, but it started out by feeling how cold the water was a little at a time. :)

My Handsome Honey gettin' some sugar from his pretty mama :)



Play Ball

Olivia's first Tee Ball game was lots of fun. She got some great hits, and even made it to third once, and got a great catch at second base :). They were supposed to have a parade the morning of "opening day" but it got rained out.  The coach had asked parents to make signs for the parade, but since we didn't get to use them for that, they hung them on the fence for the game.

Bowling, Bowling, Bowling...

Junior and I went on a double date a couple of weeks ago to the bowling alley, and had a blast.  It was then, that I saw the sign for Dollar Night!! On Wednesdays from 6-11, for a limited time only, Gainesville Bowling alley has shoe rentals for 1 dollar, bowling for 1 dollar a game, hotdogs for a dollar, fries for a dollar, and drinks for a dollar. Our whole family bowled and ate dinner for the price we would have paid for fast food!! What a deal! We will definitely be going back soon :)

First thing, first... getting suited up for the action. We brought our socks (which is why they are both wearing knee socks with shorts) and got on our bowling shoes.  Tyler said "why they gave me girl shoes" Junior tried to convince him that they were for boys, but then he spotted the butterfly in the sole.  And the velcro that wouldn't stay fastened didn't help our case any either.

Lucky for us, they boy LOVED to bowl!! They have those gutter stoppers that popped up whenever it was the kids' turn, and also a little ramp to roll the ball down, that was really doing the trick for Tyler with a little assistance from daddy. This was his first time to ever go bowling, and I have a feeling we will be going back in the near future :)

He got 2 strikes and a spare all in a row, and later got another spare!! His final score was 109!!! (mine was like 64 or something) And he totally loved it!

Olivia has been bowling with her daycare before, but didn't quite get the attention you get when going with your family.  She didn't really need much help, but she utilized Daddy's services anyway :).  SO SWEET!

Here's me and my girl waiting for the boys to finish their turn.

A little one on one practice time

Since Olivia started playing tee ball, I have been wanting to take the tee and bat to the park by our house and let her hit balls to her little heart's desire since she only gets to hit a few times at practice.  The other day I bought a little bag of balls so she could hit and hit and hit while Tyler played round up.  Turns out, Tyler likes to hit and hit and hit too.... the GROUND! He pounded the bat on the ground at least 6 or 7 times every time he was going to hit the ball.

And here's Olivia patiently waiting to field the ball.... if he ever hits it.

Loving the nice level swing :)

And as Tyler reluctantly gives up the bat, I don't blame Olivia for being a little skiddish when approaching Tyler with a bat! But he handed it over gently :)

And here's our Star! She got some GREAT hits!!



It was also a BEAUTIFUL sunny afternoon for it :).

Spring Break Remix day 2



For today's spring break activity (since we didn't get to have spring break together) we went swimming at Francess Meadows Aquatic Center with Stacy, Anthony, and Julianna.  The kids have been very excited about going.  They love it there! We swam in the heated pool, and for some reason, they just begged and begged to go to the cold pool.... and you know if we were in the cold pool, they'd be begging to go to the warm pool.... oh well, we all had a BLAST. We didn't stay all that long, but we sure did pack a lot of fun into the short time we were there :)

Tyler swam and swam for the longest time with no life jacket, but after he got tired, he got out a life jacket and swam some more :) 

This sweet girl wasn't quite ready to go, but she didn't argue at all when I said lets go, she just dried off, got her flops, and headed for the door, and Tyler did the same :)

Have I mentioned I LOVE THESE KIDS?!?!?!

Fun in the Sun

We didn't get to spend a lot of time with the kids over spring break this year, so since they'll be with us all week this week, we are going to throw in a few fun afternoons :).  Today was lake day.  I brought food to eat in the car when I picked them up from after school, then we swung by the house to get swimsuits and daddy, and headed to the lake.  The sun was warm and the breeze was cool.... but the water was FREEZING, but that didn't stop my little waterbug from heading straight in.... look at him go :)

Then he decided to bring in some water to make a moat for sister's sand castle. (is it mote or moat??)

 Body Surfing??

Tyler was running around like he'd never been to the beach before.  He was SO precious!!! I love watching them play.  They are so creative and sweet and funny and wonderful :).  The didn't even put up a fight when Dad said it was time to leave.  They cleaned up the sand toys, rinsed off the sand, dried off and headed to the car.  I'm so proud of them :).

Tyler likes to get wrapped up with his arms tucked in.  Daddy even buckled his arms in.  He loved it :)



Harry has some competition!

Tyler has VERY recently overcome his fear of dogs by becoming friends with Lindsey and Matt's dog, Harry. Harry is very calm and sweet, and after a year, Tyler has finally decided that he's not deathly afraid of him.  WELL.... hopefully, this has started a new trend with Tyler and animals.  We visited my cousins' the other day, who have 3 dogs, and Tyler made friends with 2 of them.  They're peewee's compared to Harry, but Tyler was still very afraid of them at first.  But by the time we were ready to leave, he wanted to sit on the couch with one in his lap. And he would follow them around when they'd get up and leave him.  TOO FUNNY! And just like before, Olivia followed suit by warming up to the dogs after a while too :).

This is Oliver.  He's about 10 years old.  Olivia came in the other room and asked me how old he was, then when she walked out and saw him, she holds up both of her hands, with all her fingers out, and says, "Hey Oliver, are you 10?" haha... I guess she didn't believe me.

A great Sunday

A couple of weeks ago, my sister asked if she could take our Aunt Mary out to lunch, and what started as a date for Lindsey and Mary, ended up being a family affair.  Milton and Mary, Lindsey and Matt, Junior and I and the kids all went out for a delicious lunch at IHOP. We had a great time, and a great meal.

We had to pick up our Uncle Milton at New Horizons, and Lindsey was kind enough to bring him his scooter. (he later rode the kids around the parking lot at IHOP...lol... great times :))

After lunch, Junior, Matt, and the kids all went home to take naps.  Lindsey, Milton, Mary and I went for a joy ride, stopped for ice cream, and stopped by Milton and Mary's house for a little yard work.  Uncle Milton put Lindsey to work with power tools, and I have to say, I was extremely impressed!

I supervised (and captured the moment), while Milton and Mary enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL Sunday from the comfort of their front porch :) they are SO SWEET!!



PLAY BALL!!!

Olivia has started Tee Ball this year.  Sometiems she loves it, sometimes she can take it or leave it, but we'll see how it goes from here. This year, her team is co-ed, and she's the ONLY girl :( she doesn't seem to care, though, she's better than half the boys on the team anyway :).

So, how do you entertain a 4 year old for an hour while his sister practices tee ball??

well, we found an inch worm...

We made friends with the inch worm (although, we didn't give him a name)

and then we built a house for the inch worm, out of leaves.... and it took the rest of the practice to get the darn thing in there... haha.

I think next time we'll just hang out at the playground! ha

PS. the worm was still alive when we left him in his house at the back of the fence where noone would step on him.