April 25, 2014

Easter 2014

  
The kids were super excited to find their Easter baskets.  Alison requested that hers be hid extra hard.




Our church service was held at St. Luke's, just like Christmas and I was so glad to have Ben sitting with me.  Colin bonked his head on the pew in the middle of the service and Ben had to whisk him out. He was so proud of himself sitting on the pew by himself.

Thankfully, Eli finally found his smile.

 And his silliness.

We had a friend snap our picture on Ben's phone before we left St. Luke's...I'm not sure a cemetery is the best place for a family picture.


We had leftovers for lunch and spent the day relaxing.  I loved not having to stress about food or schedules.  It was nice to have nothing to do, but enjoy the day.

April 24, 2014

Easter Outtakes

Before leaving for church, we attempted some pictures.  Elizabeth and Kent made all of the kid's clothes and I wanted to capture their cuteness.  We definitely captured our life...

While Ben was tucking in Eliot's shirt, Colin thought it was prime time to practice his silly faces.



He was so proud of himself and would stop to laugh.
 


Eli was finally ready, but I think he left his smile inside.
 

This was the best I got...Colin is showing Ben a weed that he pulled.
 


Ben jumped in.  This picture is our family in a nutshell...Alison and Colin ready to jump in and Eliot reservedly hanging back. 

My turn...

Well, we tried.

April 23, 2014

Family pictures







I realized I hadn't taken any family pictures our last evening together, right after showering all the kids.  We weren't exactly in picture shape, but it's documented.

April 22, 2014

Spring Break, Part 2


The highlight of our spring break was a visit from Nonny and Papa.  They traveled all the way from Idaho to see us!  They drove across the country, stopping to see family along the way.  We were their last stop and we got 3 very special days with them.

We started off with a walk at Windsor Castle trail.  It was much colder than I anticipated, but the fresh air was nice.  The trail is one of my most favorite places in the world and I loved being out there with my family.


Plus, it's not everyday that you get to go for a walk with your great grandparents.


I was so impressed with Nonny and Papa.  They are definitely not your typical great grandparents.  When we first got on the trail, Papa took the stroller and ran with Alison down the path.


After our walk, we had lunch at the Bakery, went to the Isle of Wight museum and the peanut store.  Then we got on the ferry and headed to Jamestown.  We explored for awhile and ended up eating ice cream in Williamsburg. 
*note to self: go back to Williamsburg when we have a whole day! 

The next day, Ben took Nonny, Papa and Alison to see the ships he works with and to the Fort Monroe museum.  I heard they had fun :)  The boys and I got ready for Easter.  When everyone returned home, we colored eggs.  We used the same technique as last year and I think I'll stick with it for a few years.  I put food coloring in shaving cream and then they painted the eggs.  It dries quickly and it's more active than just dropping it in water. 


I was snapping pictures when I realized that Eli was in Christmas pj's and Alison's in a snowflake shirt.  Is it sad that these attires are our "norm"? 


I broke out our traditional Easter treats...Starburst jellybeans and peeps.


I love Alison's face here.  Not sure why, but she reminds me of my sister.  She's giving me a "Mom. Don't tease me about peeps" look.  Surprisingly, they both loved the peeps.


I used those jellybeans to bribe Eli for everything that weekend.  Did you know that he will smile for a jellybean?


After eggs, we had an egg hunt and I actually put chocolate in them this year.



Then we started cooking food!  I made deviled eggs with left over hard boiled eggs (they didn't paint all of them).  Eli was convinced he liked them...he doesn't.


Nonny and Papa were trying to plan out their trip home , but kept getting interupted with little people.


We had our Easter dinner Saturday night and it was a fabulous decision.  I loved that there was no pressure to have food done at a certain time, or rushing to get it done after church.  We had ham, sweet potato casserole, real green bean casserole, zwiebach and cheesecake.  I'm sorry you could not all be here, because it was amazing.

Nonny taught Alison some multiplication problems during dinner...Alison just soaked it all up.


Bonus to having dinner the night before; we had easy, yummy leftovers for Easter!

April 16, 2014

Spring Break, Part 1


Top item on Alison's list was 'go to the park'.
Check.
Sunday afternoon was beautiful, so after some yard work, we took a walk to the park and played.

Colin was so happy to be on the big swings.  He thinks he's so big, but is stuck in a tiny body.

Monday morning, we went to the zoo with some friends.
Eli trying to make himself look at the camera

Alison looks like she could fit in with their family and loved having lots of girls around.  She's right in between Natalee and Lydia, so they all play really well together.

It was kind of weird being with so many girls.  My "normal" day, Alison's at school and it's just me and the boys...never thought my normal would be boys.

Christen taking a picture of the girls


It was thankfully another beautiful day and it was great spending so much time outside.  Everyone else thought so too, because the zoo was packed.  I've never seen it so busy-we even saw Alison's teacher there!

Holding hands with Lydia.  I love how close they are!


We were getting ready to leave and Christen asked if she could take our picture, knowing how hard it is to actually get in a picture with all of your kids.


She laughed and said, "Um, Jen.  Look at Eli."
So this is what I got...


Alison went to the park with the girls while I took the boys to doctor appointments.  She definitely had the better end of the bargain and I'm pretty sure she got ice cream too.


Today it's raining and we painted some pictures for Nonny and Papa, who are coming later this week and Alison made some bracelets while the boys played cars.  I'm enjoying some quiet now while Alison's at a friend's house and the boys are napping. 

April 15, 2014

Happy 4th Birthday Eliot!

Eli was not a big fan of his birthday shirt this year, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUBBY!


After we got Alison on the bus, we went to get donuts.  He had swim lessons that morning and then we went to Alison's school for her "spring party".

That evening we invited some friends over for a little party.

  

We had a car and cheese themed party and Eli was happy to change into his Cars shirt.
 
Ben made cheese pizza and I planned on making a cheesecake, but he last minute decided he wanted a chocolate cake.




making crazy faces.  Lydia and Julianna joined our party
 



Colin fell in love with his train presents.  When Eli was done opening them, he snatched them up and sneaked them away to look more closely at them.   It made me laugh because that's what Eli did to all of Colin's presents at Christmas.
Once the presents were opened, Eli fell into toy heaven.
He's showing Juls all of his Angry Birds:


He didn't even want to stop playing for pizza, which is crazy because it was the best pizza Ben has ever made.
 



At the end of the party, the girls ended up watching a movie and Ben helped Eli put all of his new Angry Birds on the iPad.
 

 Happy 4th Birthday Eliot!  We love you to pieces!