Six children, 2 and under, 24 hours

We had perfect weather for our little road trip south to the Spoonful's house. Please read SB's hysterical summary of our time together here. We planned this insanity because Leslie and her babies were going to be nearby visiting family. Sarah Barry asked us to bring a box of cereal and a bottle of wine. Pretty much covers it.

We were three-wide-double-wide.

Here's the line-up, oldest to youngest. Please humor my captions, and prepare yourself for a lot of baby-blues.

Graham (Leslie's). 2 years, 5 months. Blurry. Darn. 

 

J (mine). 2 years, 1 month.

 

Stephen Small (SB's). 1 year, 11 months.

Jackson (Leslie's). 7.5 months.

AP (mine). 6.5 months.

Laurie (SB's). 2.5 months.

The big boys watched Toy Story and texted constantly.

The littles played.

"Hey, Jackson... friends share their giraffes..."

"No, AP. Friends hold hands."

"Laurie. You simply must let me borrow that onesie."

Future Auburn freshman roommates and football dates, 2029.

"Jackson. Is that Ralph Lauren? We don't cry while wearing Ralph Lauren."

 

And, to prove I saw my friends, too.

So. There were falls, tears and laughs. J slept about 8.5 hours in 24 hours (usually it's closer to 14) and we watched Toy Story at 3 am. Still very worth it to see these friends. Nell, we missed you!

Thanks for hosting all of us in your clutter-free home, SB!

Good friends, Good movie, Good night

This weekend we were THRILLED to have Travis and Billie in town!!!  They are some of our dear friends from college who now live in D.C.



Travis and M were roommates and in the same fraternity in college, and I have loved hanging out with Billie since our first double date- January 15, 2005- my second date with M. :)

Here is one from the archives...



Travis and M have gone on numerous hikes and adventures over the years.  Billie is about 5000 times more adventurous (read: tough? yes...) than I am.  She and Travis hiked MOUNT RAINIER this year. Wow.

Fun couple. We were excited they included us on their list of travels.



Last time they came to visit J was just a babe.  Think it's our turn to go up there next!

Saturday night we went and saw HARRY POTTER!!! The beginning of the end... it was excellent, of course, and now we wait. Sigh.  The rest of Saturday night we spent trying to list all the horcruxes.  Thank goodness for google.  What we did not do was get a picture together.  I completely forgot about the camera until hours before they left, and the only person around to take a picture was J. Oh well. NEXT time, when we go to D.C. :)

Now, to the good night part. BEAN IS SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! Like, the real deal, 9pm-7am!!!! Good little Bean.

Getting close on catching that smile... she sure does love Dad. These are some "candids" from one of their lengthy conversations on Sunday. She still throws the stink eye if she sees the camera. ;-)











Thank you for coming, Travis & Billie!!! We had a wonderful time with y'all!

 

 

 

Easter

This was J's first coherent Easter.  Of course, next Easter will probably be dubbed, "The first Easter he could really hunt eggs", and the next will be, "the first Easter he will actually remember", and the next "no, this one he'll actually remember"... and so on.

Lots of pictures. I hope you don't have problems loading it. Proceed with patience.

Saturday, we packed up our Easter basket and chick-fil-a and headed over to Brooks' house for an Easter egg hunt (more of a collection as no hiding was involved) and picnic with fellow one-year-olds.  The wet weather that morning moved us indoors and on the porch, but the toddlers didn't mind at all. And no one ate dirt. Win, win.



To be honest, it was a little overwhelming at first... so, we had to work through some tears.



Group shots with 1 year old's are a challenge. The Roosta was contributing to the challenge. The hostess, Katie, captioned this one the best: "uh, are you going to do something about him?"



"I'm so done with this." (kicks Easter egg)



J started to warm up to the process once everyone else had lost interest.  There were probably 200 plastic eggs on the ground, but all J wanted were the 2 plastic balls M had shown him the moment we got there.







Eggs and all, I think the car was the clear Easter winner for J and Walt.



Fast forward to Sunday morning...

Easter basket time! We put Veggie Tales fruit snacks in the eggs and of course, Peeps.  Defining moment in every child's life, do I like Peeps, or do I hate them? I hate them. Roosta felt differently.





"So... you're just gonna let me eat this?"



and... sugar rush.

(for some reason I couldn't get the color just right on these)









THERE ARE MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





OH MY GOSH, IS SHE STILL SHOWING US PICTURES OF HER CHILD EATING PEEPS???





and then, we dropped him off at the church nursery. :)

but, first... THIS is the photo I got of J all ready for church.

So here we are in the laundry room, cat food and all. Boys will be boys.



After church and Sunday school, the 3 of us came home and got ready for M's parents, Glynice, Rob and Mallory to come over for Easter lunch.

I made my first glazed ham. Felt like a real grown up.

After lunch we took J outside to play, and for some family photos...

Here's an adorable one WHERE MY CAMERA IS ON ALL THE WRONG SETTINGS. Boo. Oh well...



Better (with play shoes)



with Daddy...



Our family...



J with Momo and Popo



Glynice & Rob (I cannot believe we didn't get Mallory in a picture! She was kind enough to be the photographer when I was in the picture)



Last one... promise. Your computer is so tired.



It was a great weekend spent with family and friends.  Most importantly, we celebrated and marveled (though we can never possibly fully grasp on this earth) the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. A celebration of grace.

Here is my favorite verse from one of my favorite hymns, Beneath the Cross of Jesus...

I take, oh cross, thy shadow

for my abiding place;

I ask no other sunshine than

the sunshine of His face;

content to let the world go by,

to know no gain nor loss,

my sinful self my only shame,

my glory all the cross.

I believe that says it all.

*Quick last minute note if you've made it this far in my lengthy post!!  What to do with all that left over ham?? I made the following recipe last night, adapted from one on allrecipes.com, and it was delicious and super simple.

Leftover Ham & Pasta Casserole

Ingredients

• 2.5 cups cooked pasta (I used a mix of bow tie and penne because that's what I had! Any type would work)


• 1 cup cooked, chopped ham


• 1 can cream of mushroom soup (10 oz)


• 1 1/4 cup milk (I used 2%, and just measured it from the soup can)


• 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated


• 1 tea onion powder


• 1 cup frozen peas & carrots

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375


• Mix all ingredients in a greased casserole dish


• Bake for 25-30 minutes, till bubbly