Happy Easter!

Jesus Christ is risen today, alleluia!  Easter is such a blessed holiday and one that I am so thankful that I can spend with my family.  We have so many things to be thankful for, most importantly, the promise of eternal life.  How lucky and blessed we all are!

We had such a wonderful Easter today with family.  I apologize in advance, there are a TON of pictures.  There were just too many cute subjects to photograph today.

We started with an egg hunt this morning, at Grandma Debbie's, with the boys.

After church, we were joined by all the cousins (and even some second cousins...woohoo)!

Grannie, Papaw, and Grandma Queenie came for Easter, too...I love it that our families can share the holiday together!

 

Of course, no Easter celebration is complete without the annual Easter egg hunt!  There was so much stuff that I think each kid took home two sacks full!  They'll be on sugar highs for weeks!

 On your marks, get set, GO!

 

 The adults even got in on the egg hunt!

 

 Look at all that loot!

 

Wait for me, guys!!!



Sunshine and Pictures

The weather finally took a turn for the better, so I decided it was time to try and get Kyran's 2 year pictures done.  Andy was not able to go tonight, but Ben wasn't going to be home tomorrow, so it was kind of a "do it now or don't do it at all" moment.  So, off we went to try and coax a few smiles out of the little one!

Here are some of the early pictures...

As you can see, it was a little difficult to get my little stinker to smile.  So, I pulled "Ooh-Ooh" out of my bag of tricks, and boy did that change things up!  A little history on "Ooh-Ooh"...Ben received his Ooh-Ooh when he was an itty-bitty baby, and recently, Kyran has decided that he wants Ooh-Ooh.  Of course, this went over with Ben like a lead balloon, so after a few days of letting Kyran fall asleep with Ooh-Ooh and then sneaking him out of the crib so that Ben could sleep with him, we decided to find another Ooh-Ooh!  Thank goodness for Ebay!  Now, we have two identical Ooh-Ooh's and all is well once again with the world!

And from these pictures, you can see that Ooh-Ooh made a world of difference in getting Kyran to smile!
 

After an hour, we were definitely meeting our max on pictures.  As you can see from these last two, we entered the sulking/pouting phase, which meant that it was time to pack up and head down the road for an ice cream cone!

Haircuts for all!

This is a little late, but it's too cute not to post.  Kyran, Ben and Andy all got haircuts last week at Bill's.  Kyran and Ben got to sit on the special seat, but poor Andy wasn't so lucky!  Ben was too quick, I didn't get a picture of him...darn it!

And so, it begins...

When I went to the preschool today, Ben's teacher pulled me aside to tell me that a little girl had kissed Ben in the lunch line...she wanted to give me a heads up to see if he would bring it up after school.  Apparently, Ben's reaction was pretty funny.

After school, I asked Ben if anything exciting happened at school, to which he replied "no", so then I asked him if he had gotten any kisses at school.   He started laughing and shyly said "yes".

When Andy got home I had Ben tell him his story, and of course, Andy was giving him a hard time and asking him questions about the little girl.  Ben responds with  "one time, she couldn't keep her hands off of me...and I just said, geez, can this day get any worser?!?!"

And so, it begins...

It's a Birthday Party! Woohoo!

This afternoon, we met up with our families and friends to celebrate a whole lot of March birthdays!  My mom's birthday was the 4th, my nephew Max's was the 7th, Kyran's the 14th, and my brother-in-law celebrates his birthday on the 21st.  What better way to celebrate than with a lunch at the Trails!

We had such a good time celebrating with everyone!

 The birthday boy and his Grandma Debbie!

 Grandma Queenie came too, which made the day even better.

 Opening presents

 We had a special surprise...two little cutie pies showed up to help celebrate with Kyran!

 More fun presents

 Lucy and Grandpa Jim...always having fun together

 Catching up

 Max (the brand new teenager) and Ben

 See, I told you...always have fun together!

Eric and Oliver (someone looks pretty darn comfy)!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Kyran!

Yesterday was Kyran's second birthday...I can't believe he's two!  It seems like yesterday that we were adjusting to becoming a family of four, and boy did we have to adjust.  Kyran entered the world screaming at the TOP of his lungs, and we should have known then that he was going to be his "own person", ha ha.  Boy, is he definitely his own person.  Kyran is spunky, ornery, opinionated, stubborn, LOUD, and downright demanding at times, but he's also sweet, cuddly, loving, and can melt your heart with one little bat of his long eyelashes.  I can't even begin to imagine our life without him!  He is definitely a different boy to raise than Ben was at this age, but that's part of the fun.  Andy and I get to experience so many new parts to being a parent that we would never have enjoyed had we not been blessed with Kyran's spunk!  For example, climbing...boy, oh boy, can this little boy climb.  He climbs the stairs, the table, the piano, the couch, the cabinets, the ladder; you name it and he'll climb it!  He certainly keeps us on our toes!

Kyran, we love you with all our hearts, and we are so blessed, and so lucky that God chose us to be your parents, and we look forward to all that you will do this coming year.  I'm sure you have a few surprises up your sleeves!!!

 Our little cowboy, "building" Legos

Taking a ride on his new birthday present!

It's "snow" fun being stuck inside!

It looks like the weatherman finally got it right this time!  It started snowing last night and didn't let up until we were covered with a nice 8-10 inch blanket this afternoon!  It was so pretty outside and not terribly cold, so the boys and I bundled up and headed outside to play.  We started shoveling a path to the garage, but as soon as Kyran saw the slide, he was done with the "work".  He and Ben had lots of fun flying down the slide...snow and slides make for some quick trips (thank goodness for the soft landing)!

It was so beautiful outside...I hate to think that this will all be a muddy mess in a few days (they're calling for a warm-up this week).  But, I'll enjoy the beauty while I can!