Easter Sunday

We had such a fun Easter Sunday.  It was way hotter than we were expecting it to be, but just beautiful!  Michael & Mary Ellen have a great Sunday school class wtih lots of friends and wonderful teachers.  Most of the time they don't want to leave when we go to pick them up and never cry when we drop them off.  Not great for a Mama and Daddy's ego but we feel so blessed to have such an amazing Church family.  I snapped a few pictures of Andrew and M&M when we went to pick them up after Church.

We got a few pictures when we got home before M&M changed into their egg hunting clothes.  Like I said it was so hot, poor Michael's cheeks were flushed.  Not a great day for a sweater vest!

They could have hunted eggs all day.  Until they found out there were actually treats inside!  They found all the eggs and used the cute Lightening and Minnie Mouse baskets that Dee gave them.

Happy Easter...He is Risen!

Cookies, Eggs, and Baskets...oh my!

This age is so great! At 2 1/2 Michael and Mary Ellen are able to do so many fun crafts and activities for the first time...and really participate. We decorated Easter egg cookies the day before Easter. They loved it and really got into decorating. I would pipe out the frosting for them but they chose the colors they wanted and added all the decorations themselves. They enjoyed eating them so much more because they really felt like THEY made them. You can see by their faces they were VERY serious about their task!

We also dyed Easter eggs a few days before Easter. Now M&M were really looking forward to this. They have several books that talk about dying eggs for Easter, their favorite being "Happy Easter Critter" by Mercer Mayer who did the fabulous series of Critter books. The amazement in their eyes when they would see that egg come up from the dye in a brilliant color was just priceless! As you can see, their faces got more animated as we went.

Dee sent them Easter baskets this year.  She found the cutest Minnie Mouse and Lightening McQueen baskets (both their FAVORITE by the way)!  They loved all the goodies inside too.  Princesses and bunnies for Mary Ellen.  Match Box cars and chicks for Michael.  They were also the perfect baskets to use for egg hunting!

Dee's Visit

Andrew has been gone quite a bit lately for work.  He recently had back-to-back trips to the Middle East and my Mother, M&M call her Dee, came to stay and help out.  What a luxury to have family so close.  Michael and Mary Ellen love Dee and always have fun when she visits.  These first pictures are from one of the walks they would take in the afternoon.  M&M love to walk the path and find treasures like flowers, rocks, leaves and really anything that looks interesting.

M&M are showing off the empty shot gun shells they found.  Mary Ellen used hers as a little vase to hold her flowers.

These fireplace shots were usually either before church or before we went out shopping in Columbia.  Those days that we actually got dressed cute and went to town!

Now the favorite new toys are these big wheels that Dee bought for them.  Michael started calling them "motorcycles" from the very beginning. We had the motorcycles inside for several weeks and this was the first day they officially became "outside" toys. They can't quite reach the pedals yet, but love to scoot around in them or have us push them. Mary Ellen immediately claimed the purple and red one. They love them!


Thanks for all your help Mom...we love and miss you!

Valentine's Day & Chick-Fil-A

The beginning of February, Andrew had to go to Atlanta for a work conference and I was able to go with him. It was at the Westin by the airport and even though he was in meetings during the day it was a nice break for me. I was able to meet up with one of my oldest and dearest friends, sleep late in those wonderful Westin beds, and generally just lounge around. What a luxury! We were also able to go to the site of the first ever Chick-fil-A.  Those of you that know Andrew know his LOVE of Chick-fil-A. So it was a definite must see! The original restaurant was called the "Dwarf House". You can see in the pictures that it has been added on to substantially. It really is just another Chick-fil-A now but a busy one. It is somewhat of a tourist attraction and has a city policeman that sits out front most of the day to direct traffic in and out of it. What a fun couple of days to spend with my sweet husband. We LOVE our kids, but boy do we still enjoy being together just the two of us!

Andrew actually left for the Middle East on Feb 14th but the Saturday before we were able to go out to dinner.  We've had so much help from our parents since Andrew has been gone so much with work.  It was nice to have a little break before he left again for another work trip.  Michael and Mary Ellen enjoyed making cards for Daddy and loved the hearts we hung on the fireplace.  It was a happy weekend!  M&M were so happy to see Papa and then Dee, they barely had time to be sad that Daddy was gone again.  Thanks so much for all the help Papa, Mama Jo, and Dee!

M & M Toss

During one of the snow days, we spent lots of time inside trying to keep Michael and Mary Ellen entertained.  One of their favorite things is to get Andrew to toss them or spin them.  With our high ceilings they can really get some height in the tossing now.  They love it so much!  They keep asking, "Again Daddy, again!", until Andrew is exhausted.  This time I caught some good pictures.

Mary Ellen looks like the perfect gymnast...great form! Although she was really scared if she got too high. Michael couldn't get high enough and well, the look on his face is explanation enough!

Snow!

We have been waiting for our obligatory one snow-fall-per-year that we get here in Sumter. I was beginning to think we may not get it at all this year. But to our surprise Friday we got it! And my how it was beautiful! Perfect cold day and the small flakes began to fall in the afternoon about 3 o'clock.

We bundled up and raced outside to watch. This was the first snow Michael and Mary Ellen had ever seen. Although they do "know" what snow is. They were trying to catch the snowflakes on their tongues in the pictures above.
After a couple of hours, right before sunset, it really started coming down. We accumulated about 4 inches total of perfect white fluffy snow.

Papa (Andrew's Dad) was in visiting for the weekend so we all went outside again before dark to play. It was really sticking on the ground at this point and M&M loved running around and hearing it squeak under their feet.

Here we all are in the middle of a pretty hard downfall of big snowflakes (as you can see in the picture). Being a Florida girl, snow truly fascinates me. Like how you can be in the middle of a "downpour" of snow and how it's so completely quiet. Peaceful! Beautiful!

This is a shot of our back yard and our pond beyond while it was still coming down pretty heavy.

The two shots above were the next morning. The first is the street on the corner outside our house and the last is, of course, our house. The next day, Saturday, was a perfect cold sunny day. The snow started melting pretty fast, but I wanted one good remembrance of our first snow in this house. Only a few remnants of snow are left this Sunday afternoon as I write this. Glad we got just a little this year. Sorry for those of you who are still in it :-)  Gotta love the South!

Family New Year

On New Year's Day, Andrew's sister's family came to visit.  The kids had fun playing in the bonus room with all the new Christmas toys. 

Michael and Mary Ellen showed their cousins the new train track and play kitchen.

Brygs was helping Michael open his new puzzle from Aunt Amy and Uncle Jamie.  Then we all had a nice lunch and enjoyed each others company while the kids played. 

Brygs and Mary Ellen entertained us with their dancing skills after lunch, which consisted mainly of lots of jumping up and down.  They were so cute holding hands.  Fun way to start 2010!