Happy Easter!

We started off the day with our Easter baskets...

 And got some new rain boots...

 And hunted eggs around the den.

 Ate our breakfast with our new shades on.

 Took a few pictures before church.

 After a lot of church and some long naps, we headed to Gigi's house for supper, where the GigiBunny had Easter gifts for the kids.

 We took a few more pictures.

 And then Uncle Gray hid some eggs and we hunted them (in our new rain boots, of course)!

 Even Brooks "found" one.

 We examined Mama Pat's festive caramel cake.

 Hunted a little more...

 And ate that yummy cake!

Birthday Lunch

This picture pretty much says it all, if you know my girl.  Mischievous grin and all.

Playing at the Park

We joined the Tates and Gambles (minus Hillary) at the park last weekend, and the girls had a blast.  (Brooks was a little hot and not so sure about this playdate.)

 Three men and two babies.

Sara spent the ENTIRE time on this swing.  Literally.  Which is pretty funny for a neurotic little thing that used to scream if you tried to put her in a swing.  Even now she will tell you she wants to swing "slowly."

 Hallie, Pierce, and Sara on the swings.  Notice the relative heights of Hallie and Sara's swings.

 Sweet Little Adelaide.

A sweaty, confused Brooks.  That face has "Mommy, WHY are we here?" all over it.

Linguistics

I'm at home with a feverish little boy this morning, who shows no signs of being sick other than his daycare-banning fever.  He's toddling around dancing to the bazillion toys we own that make music and babbling.  So I figured it's about time to record these first words before I forget what they were.  Hallie started speaking in paragraphs almost instantaneously, so I still don't know what her "first" words were...there were so many that followed! 

Brooks's first word:  Dada
Brooks's favorite word:  Archie.  He says this at least 10 times a day.
Brooks's first phrase:  Thank you.  It wasn't crystal clear, but the inflection and context made it impossible to misinterpret.

Most Important Word Brooks Has Yet to Say:  Mama

A Few More Pictures from the Picnic

Preparing for the feast.  I love the irony of the banner behind the high chairs.

 Hallie and her sweet friend Claire.

 Pre-Meltdown, giving Mommy a false sense of security.

 Getting some pizza from Miss Evelyn.

 Oreos!

"Sara, Sara...Storms are Brewing in your Eyes..."

(Heehee--couldn't help myself.)

Looks Can Be Deceiving

We had the Parent Pizza Picnic at the kids' school today.  Aren't they cute, with their little angelic smiles?

You would never even know that a certain middle child was about to sprout horns, flail herself to the ground, and scream uncontrollably for what felt like a neverending 15 minutes.  Would you?

Coupon Tips

For anyone looking for a pretty exhaustive couponing how-to guide, this is a good one.

If it gets a little overwhelming and your head starts to spin, take a break and start over...or give me a call.  (Not that I'm an expert--I just REALLY like to save money.)

Happy couponing!

Big Boy Haircut

Brooks got a big boy haircut on Saturday--gone is the tuft of baby hair on the back of his head (the televangelist look, according to his daddy).  Aunt Melissa came over for supper on Saturday night and got some snuggle time with the little buddy before he went to bed.

Googleheads

The girls love Jack's Big Music Show, particularly an episode with a song called "Googleheads."  The Googleheads have silly antennae on their heads and dance around singing a silly song.  So, all we were missing was the antennae.  This week Hallie said she wanted to make some, and we set out to do it on Saturday afternoon.  A fairly simple craft took much longer than it should have but we finally got them to stand up so we could bebop to the Googlehead song with appropriate headgear.

In progress...

Success!

We have the silliness part down.  :)

Self-Portrait

Cupcakes!

Daddy returned from a work trip on Friday night and brought with him some HUGE cupcakes.  As you can see, we enjoyed them!