Easter

Can you tell I'm making up for lost time...I've got so much to catch up on!  

Let's go back to Easter!

I had one of those Mommy Panic Moments on Easter Eve when I realized that we hadn't gone to see the Easter Bunny yet and be able to add to our collection of Easter Bunny pictures!  I checked some mall websites and found out the Easter Bunny was supposed to be at Ridgedale.  So let's pack up the Suburban and head to Ridgedale!  Once there we realized the Easter Bunny was NOWHERE to be found...we stayed and listened to a band play and wandered around but no Easter Bunny.  Finally we had decided to give up and head home and were heading toward the doors of the mall that we parked at and lo and behold the Easter Bunny came walking out of the "break room" hallway.  Geesh...way to make a Mom panic.  Addison wanted nothing to do with this Bunny so Mommy had to be in the picture.  Every time the Easter Bunny would even look at her she would say "owie owie owie!"  Hmmm, not sure if she thought the Bunny was going to bite her or what!

That evening we stripped the kids down to their undies/dipes and colored our Easter eggs.  We only had one spill this year...success!

Easter Morning...I am realizing that my kids are not smiling at the camera in ANY of these pictures.  Story of my life right now.  I had mini utility bins from Thirty One, of course, personalized for Easter baskets.  Now they hold toys in the toy room!  Practical.

Addison's beautiful dress:

We hosted Easter lunch at our house again this year.  Unfortunately we were one of the last ones to our house that day.  Our Church service was so long that by the time we got home all of our family was at our house waiting for us!  

We had an Easter egg hunt in the back yard for the kids and they had a blast!

Spring Break In Arizona

During my spring break off from school this year, we decided to take a trip down to Mesa, Arizona to see Grandma Susan!  The kids had never been on an airplane and we hadn't been to AZ in a long time, so we went for it!  We all had a great time!  We went to some really fun places that the kids loved, ate at some awesome restaurants, relaxed at Grandma Susan's house and just enjoyed being away together.  Auntie Jen was able to vacation with us so we had lots of help with the kids which made it much more do-able!  

Let's just say the plane rides were the worst part about the whole trip.  I booked our flight to AZ at bedtime thinking that the kids would sleep when we got in the air and it would be a breeze.  Well, that totally backfired on us.  1.  We got to the airport too early so the kids were already feeling cooped up before we even boarded the plane.  2.  We sat on the runway for over 30 minutes waiting for something on the airplane to get checked.  3.  It was bedtime.  Did I mention it was bedtime?  Addison screamed for about 2/3 of the ride there and totally annoyed everyone on the plane and stressed Mommy and Daddy out beyond belief.  We seriously considered renting a car and driving home after that horrible experience.

Once we were in Arizona and got to Grandma's house, all was good again.  

This is our little dive enjoying snacks in the airport pre-departure:

Enjoying the beautiful weather at Grandma's house.  Grandma and her roommate Vickie were dog-sitting for a few days so we had lots of dogs running around.  The kids loved it!  Grandma's backyard was the perfect place to hand out and catch some sun. 

One of the days we took a trip to a waterpark...brrrrrr!  The pools and waterparks in Phoenix aren't heated since it gets sooo hot there.  This just happened to be the first week they were open so the water was freeeeeeeeezing.  The kids still had a great time. Darren and I acted like kids for awhile and had a blast on some of the waterslides while the kids hung in the kiddie area with Auntie Jen and Grandma Susan.

Another day we went to the Wildlife Zoo and had a fabulous time checking out all the animals and attractions.  It was a very hands on zoo and the animals were very close to be able to see.  

Landon and Daddy decided to be brave and take a ride on the flume ride at the zoo.  Landon loved it!  Can you tell by the look on his face at the end of the ride?

Grandma brought us to some really fun restaurants while we were there.  One night we went to Organ Stop Pizza where we got to watch this giant organ rise up out of the floor and an organ player played songs while hundreds of people sat around and ate pizza and enjoyed the music.  It was super fun!  

This restaurant was called Rustler's Rooste and had a lot of fun things to do like this super fun slide for the kids to go down.  They also had a live band playing that the kids had a great time dancing to.  

I will say the trip ended way too fast and we were a little sad to come back home!  The plane ride back went much smoother and Addison redeemed herself!  This is our peanut entertaining herself with a Dora puzzle on the ride home.  

Thank you Grandma Susan and Auntie Jen for a fun trip!  We all had a great time!

This is Your Life.

Well, hello!  Thanks for not giving up on me.  I know I have neglected my blog.  I have a long list of things and people I have neglected.  Cleaning and organizing my home are right up there on the top of my list along with keeping this blog updated, putting pictures on Snapfish, and keeping the kids photo albums up to date.  Where does one find the time to be a mom, work, and do all the things that I have been neglecting to to?  If anyone can find me the answer, I would love to know!

This Monday night I had a meeting with my Thirty One team and I shared with them the inspiring words above.  I shared these with my team and shared how these words have been meaningful to me as I make huge changes in my life.  Most of you know this, but I have made the decision to take a leave of absence from my teaching job to stay home with my kids.  One of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make, but I am feeling 100% confident in my decision now and thrilled (and blessed!) to be able to do what I've always wanted to do! I won't bore you with all the details that have gone into this decision making process, but a few notes...

1.  For me, being able to stay home with my children while they are young has been my ultimate dream.  While I will be the first to admit, there are days when I know I will go crazy and want to get away, I had the advantages growing up of having a stay at home mom and I wouldn't trade that for anything.  With that being said, I have to say that we had the most wonderful daycare that anyone could ask for.  Our daycare mom was a saint, taught my kids many many many wonderful things, had patience for them like no other, and for that we owe her the world.  For me, leaving our daycare was the hands down hardest part about the whole situation.  I hope to be able to continue to have play dates with many of my friends who have kids and continue to expose my children to many experiences with other children (library story times, ECFE classes, athletic camps, etc) while they are home with me.  I do believe that interaction with other children is very important and I plan to do that as much as possible.  

2.  Money.  That's another tough part about this whole thing.  How does one family go from two incomes to one and survive?  This we have yet to establish and figure out.  I'll tell you that I realize the sacrifices we will make and I am full on ready to take them on.  I have to say that I already feel like I'm a pretty "thrifty" spender in some ways, while I know that there are many areas that I will need to learn to be better!  Every time I have an urge to have the latest and greatest, I will need to remind myself that I am home with my children like I have always wanted to do, and that's what matters.  Will this be hard, yes!  Will it be worth it, yes!  I will never be able to get these years back and as I shared with my sister in law a few months ago...I don't ever want to look back down the road when my kids are grown and wish that I had stayed home and enjoyed every second with them.  Back to money...my Thirty One business definitely helps out in that area and I hope to be able to find a nice family looking for part-time daycare that I can take into my home.  I will keep up my teaching license and perhaps sub a little here or there, but for now my heart is at home with my babies!   

(Disclaimer:  I do want to point out that I realize being a stay at home mom isn't for everyone.  I know many moms who love going to work and that's what is right for them.  I am in no way implying that this is the better choice for everyone, but for me it is.)

Thanks for listening!  I hope to be able to update this blog more often with all my new-found time!  Or should I say lack of time with two kids hanging on me all hours of the day?