easter 2014

last easter, we went to the courtyard school mass as we have done for many many years.
it's extra special to be outdoors on easter, especially with our lovely weather.
and always nice to be outside with little ones - they could live outside!

we went to brunch after mass with my family and sat outside,
it was perfect - just before the little bit of heat kicked in for the day.
little d was a trooper, even though he wasn't feeling up to par (fever from teething).

we came home, relaxed, took naps and then had our easter egg hunt.
we tried something new this year,
since the kids love hiding the eggs as much as finding them...

we had the younger two hide eggs for the boys and then then switched.
they had so much fun with it!

 

they loved following the ones looking around and watching them look for the eggs.

telling them if they were 'warm, hot, cold', etc...

this one cracked us up-
andrew didn't see this 'orange' egg in our orange tree -
and i got this perfect shot of him looking right at it!!
then the next shot of him walking right past it- ha!

it was sweet to see them working together, giving clues and hints-
kind of partnering up to talk about it...

 then sitting together to count their eggs...

then it was time to swich-
and the same thing happened: clues, and helping and watching and following :)

this picture made me laugh too -
both boys having a ball in their hand to toss into the air and catch as they walked around.

it was such a fun hunt, the kids really enjoyed it - and we really enjoyed watching it.
and now we'll have darrel in the mix this year hunting too :)

we went to grandpa burch's for dinner and had a lovely easter dinner.
always such a special day,
and always such special memories are created on this sacred and holy day.

ella's 10th birthday

ella turned eleven a few weeks ago...
my computer is bogged down by millions of photos so i am going to try to get caught up-
on her last few bdays that i am behind on, and then hopefully figure out how to manage
all the new photos i've taken recently and get caught up on those posts :)

last year, we made some fun chocolate covered pretzel sticks for ella's class bday treats.

and put them in a cute basket for her to carry into school.

it's so fun to make things look pretty with her- 

she enjoys it as much as i do.

i brought her lunch at school and cannot remember for the life of me what it was!
i'm thinking maybe wendy's - as i look at the little bit of wrapper you can see.
her sweet friend (and neighbor) surprised her after school and stopped by -
with a card and homemade chocolate chip cookie cake.

we had the grandparents over and had reuben sandwiches and piggy pudding for dessert.
i gave her some of my pretty childhood pieces to hold jewelry and such.

we had a roller skating party for her friend party.
and thanks to groupon she got the royal treatment-
going in the dj booth and picking a song to play, spinning the prize wheel...

it was a sweet group of 10 girls and boy did they eat it up-
they also got glow sticks, tokens to play games, pizza, drinks.
and we got to bring in our own cake that ella decorated herself-
what a plus that was, i can't stand those store bought food colored cakes!

it was a fun celebration for my sweet girl-
i always tell her i don't know what i'd do without her.
and the truth is i don't know what i'd do without each of my kids,
they are all so special and unique in their own way and add so much to our family.

we are sure blessed to have such a wonderful daughter.
i couldn't be more proud of her and the person she is,
i am so proud to call her my daughter.
happy 10th birthday to my sweet ella anne!