EASTER FRAMES

They crafted these frames over Spring Break with Gramma, and we had to add their Easter photo once the holiday had passed and mama printed out some snapshots.

LOOSE TOOTH DEMO

This tooth of his has been loose since his birthday. How long DO teeth take to fall out?...

(This demo gave me a visceral reaction, but he wanted to show you guys.)

GHOST BUSTER

The kids have been doing some imaginative play on their morning walks lately, using inspiration from the new Lego Dimensions Arcade level (where you play all the old school 80s games). Here they were shooting imaginary arrows at Buster, who's role was ghost. He's doing a great job, isn't he?

TORNADO PREPAREDNESS...

We were due for a "Significant" threat of "Severe" storms overnight (winds 20-40mph with gusts to 60mph, large hail, and flooding rain, with the potential for "multiple tornadoes"), so as soon as we got home from dance class, we prepped the bathroom (our tornado shelter - at least until we purchase and install a real storm shelter, as James so often asks for this time of year - poor baby was going to bed the other night and was talking with Jay about plans for the next day, then said "Yeah, if we make it to tomorrow"... needless to say, the shelter's priority has bumped way up on our list of home renovations). Cousin Tanner is famous for heading to the bathroom with PB and bread in hand. Our kids grabbed a whole box of snacks, a cooler of water, their Kindles, a chapter book, their sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows. We're all set, just in case...

 Picture of the newly sprung Irises, just in case the storm destroyed them...

Thankfully, we made it through the night without a single Code Red Weather Alert. And none of us heard this tree fall (in the backyard, downhill, behind the in-progress chicken coop, and luckily not on the chicken coop OR Jay's shed):

It's one of the biggest trees we've lost... though there are much bigger ones, closer to the house. Which means along with our storm shelter purchase, we really need to suck it up and pay someone to come cut down some trees so we don't have to worry every time the wind blows...

PRODUCTION NUMBER

Cora was so jealous of the girls last year that participated in the studio wide production number finale at the recital that I decided to let her give it a shot this year. It means extra practices (3 practices over Easter weekend, then every Saturday morning until the recital) and extra money (to cover the cost of the extra instructional time at the studio), so I was very clear with Cora that her decision to participate was a commitment I expected her to honor well. I'm so glad we let her sign up (even though she and I will have to miss the rest of James' soccer games due to rehearsal, and she'll be very busy rushing from dance to her own soccer game for the next month) because she has the BEST time getting to dance with the big girls (and little girls from other combo classes and of differing ages) and learn new dance moves (the production number is more modern dance, less ballet - and she absolutely LOVES it). Seeing the size of her smile as she rushes out after class to tell me all about it (and make sure I was watching from the waiting room - they leave the curtains open on weekends!) is well worth the time commitment.

Rehearsal #1 = learning the choreography with the other combo dancers

(Showing daddy the new leotard she picked out from Pointe & Motion, the store associated with our dance studio, because her dance bag had not been repacked from the previous day's normal combo class and you can't dance without a leotard!)

Rehearsal #2 = putting their moves together with the big girls

Rehearsal #3 = Cora's got her moves figured out and is showing her teacher that she can work just as hard as the big girls (sorry, I didn't grab any photos today!)

HOLIDAY PLAY

There's nothing like a day off school to sleep in and then play the day away...

SnapCircuit projects to start the morning:

...followed by our first That's Gross Science Lab experiment (Soap Monster):

(Which was then confiscated by Cora for one of her famous hour-long baths...)

BIG thanks to Auntie Taryn and Uncle Davey for the Science Kit - we have lots of experiments to do and plenty of ways to make the house stinky and/or messy now (as if we needed an excuse...)

Next up, hours upon hours outside playing in the beautiful sunshine (that we so badly wished we'd had yesterday). Easter basket bubbles and sidewalk chalk were a big hit (and gave mama a reason to sweep out the carport, since it's the smoothest concrete for drawing on):

James' Superman (no idea why the cape is coming out of his head...)

Cora's Elsa (with some snowflakes and a rainbow)

All those bright green, brand new leaves are really something to behold this time of year. Spring is definitely a close second to fall in my book (if only it lasted longer here in the Deep South...)

No outside time is complete without a trip to the dirt pile for digging and "poop" making...

EASTER SUNDAY, 2016

Before we get started with our Easter recap, look at my nephew and niece during their egg hunt at Great Grandma's house! (They are long overdue for a Lindsay Blog cameo!)

The Easter Bunny couldn't find his ball of yarn this year, so he broke tradition and started something new... a scavenger hunt! The first clue was taped to the hallway doorknob and sent the kids to find Clue #2 "in a pocket of something that keeps you warm":

The hunt sent them up and down the stairs repeatedly. Jay and I just sat at the bottom observing (my legs are so sore from the race... especially my calfs, due to the cramping they suffered). Both kids were super excited throughout the hunt and were very good about sharing the finds, though James did all the reading (Cora almost always defers to him).

The final clue sent them to "the place clothes go to dry", but they needed daddy's help to pull their buckets out...

James quickly set to work with his Qixels, while Cora scurried off to the living room to eat as much candy as she could before we confiscated it...

Eventually she joined him to work on her Beados while Jay and I cleaned and finished prepping food, prior to the Kennedys 10:00am arrival.

The weather was expected to crash and burn today, and it was super cloudy all morning, so we watched the radar and ran outside just before the first storms hit so we could take the annual Easter azalea photos of the kids with as much sun and as little rain as possible:

The first of the thunder claps hit as I was still snapping away, so this was the last photo:

Once the Kennedys arrived (including Al's parents, visiting from Michigan), we opened the champagne and threw the appetizers (Rotel dip and Buffalo Chicken dip) in the oven! Since the weather went from bad to worse to bad to worse, we kept putting off the egg hunt (in hopes we could sneak outside at some point, rather than have to do it in the house/carport/sunroom), but we did not put off lunch. We basically ate from 10:30am onward throughout the day. Such is holiday bliss, in my opinion...

We had chicken crescent roll casserole, ham and turkey sandwiches (on Hawaiian roll subs!), salad, fruit salad, and pasta salad. Dessert had to wait a couple hours because we were so full, but as soon as James (and Jay) were given the chance, they each had all three options: White Chocolate Cheesecake Pie, Lemon Cupcakes, and Cake Batter Blondies.

Spontaneous sugar high kitchen wrestling!

When there looked to be a small break in the storms, Jay and Al and I ran outside to hide eggs, threw the girls back into their Easter outfits (they'd been wearing leotards and princess dresses since lunch ended), got all the kids into their rainboots, and rushed through the hunt (after a quick group photo):

It was mere minutes before the sprinkles turned back to rain though...

The whole gang (except the smart grandparents, who wore rain jackets and stayed under the carport) got soaked, so we figured sopping wet family photos were justified:

Then we settled into the sunroom to empty eggs and play with the chicks:

Elsa and Chester (the Bantams) are definitely the sweetest and calmest in the flock.

All the rain meant lots of movie time (we partied from 10:00am to 6:00pm) in between the eating and playing and hunting, and at one point, Jay caught the boys snuggling while watching WALL-E. They might fuss at us for this photo when they're older, but it just shows me how sweet they both are. James likes snuggling up to his friends (Adler at dance class, while they're playing Kindles, for example) just as much as he likes snuggling up to us (and occasionally Cora, if she's being calm/still and not trying to kiss him or squeeze him), and I think it's great.

After the Kennedys said goodbye, we reheated lunch items for dinner, called Gramma, then Skyped with Grambot and PawPaw before bed. It was a good Easter and we're grateful to have such good friends in town to celebrate the holidays with!!