Easter Weekend 2013

We have had a long and wonderful weekend filled with food, friends, and Jesus. On Friday morning, we hosted an Easter egg hunt for about 40 of our closest friends :) This was our second year doing it and we have so much fun. I am always trying to compensate for Abby being an only child with things like this... she can't hunt for eggs in the backyard alone! Plus, I want to give her every opportunity to spend time with her little friends.

We took a couple of pictures after the party. 

This might be my favorite picture of the whole weekend. Girl was DONE!

Here are some picture of our friends. Everyone enjoyed brunch and played outside until it was time to read the Easter story while eggs were hidden. I asked our friend and preschool teacher Heidi to read the stories. She was so kind to do it and got everyone calmed down when Abby loudly said, "when you get done with those books, put them back where you found them." Hilarious!  

On Saturday Marcus played golf at Barton Creek Resort with our friend Katy and Ike in town from LA and Ike's family. Abby and I joined them just after the 18th hole for a short visit.

On the way, we found bluebonnets and had to pull over since we were dressed up!

The view of the back porch at Barton Creek was beautiful. Ike put it best, the beauty of Austin is subtle. I love me some hill country!

Ike's nephew Jax was there and Abby was a little smitten. She cried all the way home and wanted to know when she could see Jax again. They played so well together- I think she loved him because he so kindly shared his Easter eggs with her :)

Last night I played the Easter bunny and filled Abby's sweet little basket with all kinds of goodies. As expected, she was most excited about the ring pops. Her basket also had: a new plate, flip flops, clothes, pajamas for her and her baby, a stuffed rabbit, fake green glasses, a new storybook Bible, her favorite Noah's Ark book from church, and superhero p@nties. They are the girl superheros which I loved!

This morning we attended church and had a wonderful brunch with our classmates. Plus, we had two friends visit church with us which we loved. It was really a weekend filled with friends!

 As is tradition, Abby's basket included cascarones. The joy in these confetti eggs is often shorter than the clean up time, but we love them!

These two looking all sweet after smashing each other!

I hope you too had a wonderful Easter weekend. Thanks be to Jesus who died on the cross for our sins and rose again so that we may join Him in Heaven one day. 

School Easter Egg Hunt

First of all, check out Abby's new lunch box. I found this cute pink Bento Box on Pottery Barn Kids. It is so nice to only wash one dish after school! My sister has a Silhouette and made a little name tag for Abby's Bento box. Cuteness!

Today was Abby's class Easter egg hunt. I popped up to school and laid out the eggs while the kids had lunch and then got to capture the fun of 10 4-year olds running around! 

There were over 125 eggs for the kids!

This was the first year that Abby "got" hunting for eggs. In the past, she would want to open the first one before moving on and she would miss out on lots of eggs. This year, she got 12 of them, so right at her "share" of the eggs!

This was good practice for Friday when we host an Easter egg hunt for many of our friends. It is our second year to have the party and it is always fun! It also happens to be my birthday which means that Abby thinks I have invited over all her friends for my Easter-themed birthday party :) Ha!

Funny Faces

Abby and I found something fun to do while waiting for gymnastics to start this morning....

And a funny story from this funny faced girl.... I saw Abby bow her head and start crying in gymnastics. I can see through the glass, but not hear her. She went and talked to her teacher who hugged her and then I read her lips that maybe a hug from Mom would make it better.

So, Abby comes to the door and I greet her tear filled face with a hug and ask her what happened. No joke she told me, " I was clapping for myself and clapped so hard that I hurt my hands". I kept a straight face along with the other Moms until she calmed down and went back into the room and then we laughed!

Friday Fun

On Friday, Abby and I spent the morning out and about having fun! We took Easter pictures at Picture People. My annual membership was about to expire and I had one free sheet left, so we snapped a few pictures and bought a couple of sheets.

Her Easter dress I just adore! It was an etsy find a few months ago. She is all ready for the Easter bunny in style!

As a reward for good picture taking, we rode a few rides at the food court. The carousel makes me sick so she recommended riding these instead. I just can't handle going round and round and fear her falling off while I watch in horror behind the gate!

Afterward, we had lunch at Panera. Abby loves to get a cookie from there. Big girl with her pink nails. They just age her, it makes me happy and sad. She was thrilled to have pink fingers for pictures.

If you could, would you say a little prayer for me? I have been sick for 3 weeks. 

On Thursday, the doctor told me I had an upper respiratory infection, sinus congestion, and bronchitis. I am coughing so much that I am throwing up multiple times per day. I am tired and ready to resume my normal life. Marcus just started his new job and we elected not to pay $1500 in COBRA this month, so I really want to get well to avoid spending more money out of pocket. I just can't seem to break this. I have been on antibiotics, an inhaler, and couch suppressant for 2 days and have gotten worse. Thank you.

Cousins Road Trip: Brenham and Houston

 My sister and I decided a few months ago that we would take a little road trip with all three kids for Spring Break. We planned a tour of Blue Bell's factory and then the Houston Zoo. We left Monday morning and came home last night. It was lots of fun and I know the kids will remember it for a long time!

We had to wait about 20 minutes for the Blue Bell tour, but they had such a cute and educational waiting area. Spring Break is their busiest time of year. For a 45 minute tour and a scoop of ice cream, it is well worth the $6 I paid.

These old ads were on display...

They even had cute little hats for the kids :)

You can't take pictures on the actual tour to protect the privacy of their employees, but we saw them mixing ice cream, big vats of milk, and the bakery where they make the baked goods that go inside the ice cream, like brownies! They use milk from 60,000 cows each day. Wow!

We also learned the top five flavors are: Homemade Vanilla, Dutch Chocolate, Cookies and Cream, The Great Divide, and Neapolitan. We also learned although they don't sell to all 50 states, they are the #3 ice cream company in America.

We left Brenham and drove to Houston. We checked into the hotel and walked around the Galleria Mall. Everybody did a little shopping and we had a really late lunch in the food court. The older kids then decided they wanted to go swimming despite the fact that the pool was not heated and it was 60 degrees outside.

It didn't last long and they were taking hot showers to warm back up!

We woke up Tuesday morning, grabbed a quick breakfast in the food court and popped in Old Navy before heading to the zoo. It was packed which made it not nearly as fun as last time, but we did get to see all that we wanted to see.

One of my favorite zoo moments.... Tiffany, Kyleigh, Cohen and I noticed an odd looking animal like a horse with zebra stripes on his hind area and a longer neck. We went to read the sign having no clue what this hybrid animal was. Abby then notices it from her stroller and proceeds to say, "Look an okapi. I love okapi with their long purple tongues." Stunned and impressed! Thank you Diego for sharing animals with Abby!

The elephants were fun. They were throwing hay on their backs to cool off (it was mid 70s) and we saw two small baby elephants, about 3 years old.

Silly kids!

We left the zoo about 2:45 and thanks to light traffic and the HOV lane, we were home about 6 last night. 

I hope we take a road trip with the kids annually- it is what childhood should include!

Event, Snot and A Job

How is that for a crazy title? That totally describes the madness of our week.

Part of my SAHM work is planning 4 events per year for the association I once worked full time for. The second largest of those events was this weekend. Although in town, I was in a hotel working 14 hour days on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I checked into the hotel with a sore throat and left with what felt like the flu. Chills, cough, runny nose (hotel's don't provide the softest Kleenex), and overall fatigue checked out with me. 

While running an event can provide stress and being sick can make that harder to manage, I had it pretty easy compared to Marcus this past week. He has been holding in a little secret- he was recently recruited by his biggest competitor to go to work for them. It is his dream job- working at an account he once had, working in sales, but with engineers and leading a team. Add to that a raise that provides for our family and it was a no-brainer. It felt like the place God was leading him to.

When Marcus gave notice on Friday, the unexpected happened. His company countered and while flattering  the decision suddenly became more difficult. For Marcus this weekend has been a "this is your life Marcus" speaking to six different people he has worked with and for. The decision was not easy for him. After fielding the phone calls from the current company and speaking with the new company a few more times, Marcus went for a run with a worship play list and a lot to pray about. I stayed home with Abby and prayed.

We then looked at each other and God had led us to the same conclusion- the new job. 

This might be the hardest decision we have ever made. Harder that making the decision to do IVF or buy our house. Watching my husband not sleep well for weeks and lose 5 pounds this week has been extra hard. But, I have to say, I have never respected him more. He has been a man of his word through this. He has been a professional and not spoken ill of anyone in the process. He has considered all parties and allowed them to have their say. In the end, I pray they gained respect for him, too.

So, Marcus started a new job on Monday. It is exciting and terrifying. It is a challenge and a reward. It is a blessing, but it hasn't been or will be easy.