Easter

Easter Baskets on Sunday morning.
Natalie & Stephen have wanted this FOREVER!! Stephen LOVES bugs like no other person I have ever seen and Natalie pretty much only likes girly types of bugs--butterflys are on the list!! But of course the major reason they have wanted this for SO long is the commercial for it on t.v.

Oh my little Natalie and commercials, she has such a long and funny history with them. And Stephen is following in her footsteps. Makes me laugh just to think of the funny things I have heard come out of their mouths related to commercials. Natalie LOVES to repeat them and does it with her perfect Natalie flair. In fact, we just got the catepillars that I ordered for our butterfly experience the other night and after seeing the container and counting them Natalie turned to me and said, "But Mom they didn't double our order."
I love the joy on his face as he is opening this handmade gift from his cousin. Priceless!
Could there be a better shot? Natalie has had this basket since she was a baby and I can't seem to part with it even though it is too small--this picture makes me happy that I have kept it around.

This sweet little boy of mine couldn't have been more excited to hunt for Easter eggs than he was on Easter morning. The joy he got out of it filled the entire house with energy.
This picture particularly stands out to me because it reminds me SO much of a picture on Easter morning in 2008 when we were in Oklahoma City. The same hair, just shorter, blurred and flying as Natalie darted out of bed--the same excitement. And the real reason it is so poignant to me is remembering the pictures of Easter 2007 when she could hardly walk to look for her eggs and had to keep laying down. Some of the weeks surrounding that Easter were the very hardest and that is saying a lot.

Easter of 2008 was the first time when I really felt like she was doing well with her tummy issues and that was huge to me- it didn't last- but it was the steps to better and better and it was the first time things actually were improved ENOUGH that you could call something a true backslide. I remember my feelings so vividly and how I felt that morning as I watched her look for eggs on a playground- the high was so high as I remembered where we had been not long before. It truly felt like a miracle- the first time it seemed her intestines wanted to work and the first time we got the combo of drugs even close to right to make that happen. And she was eating for the first time ever really!!! Funny that one picture can bring that all back.

Silly girl. Natalie & Stephen got a special Easter package from Karen the Seamstress! Thanks Karin, we love you!!! Lady Bugs are of course one of the other girly bugs that Natalie likes and she sent Stephen all sorts of cute froggy stuff just like his favorite boots.
This picture makes me laugh- these piles of candy brought about a lot of jokes related to the movie Hop. My kids adored that movie and we have had so much fun listening to them sing to the "I Want Candy" theme song--especially Stephen he is quite the funny character.
Easter weekend also brought about quite the stormy weather. This was on Easter- my sister in law was sure she saw some of the clouds starting to rotate. A few days before when we took them to Natalie's favorite restraunt for the first time (Chef Pointe) there were some of the blackest clouds I have ever seen and a tornado warning in effect. David was coming from work and got there before us- the wind and hail were pretty bad so he called to warn me to be careful and let me know about the tornado warning. He told me to keep my eyes open and I asked him what I should do if I saw a tornado--of course he told me not to drive into it. He is always a smart alec. Everyone thought this was hilarious and little Stephen AND my sister in law were dying to see a tornado.

The night before Easter we were out at Six Flags and they closed early because of severe lighting. Lighting also cancelled the fireworks at the Rangers game the night before. Natalie is SO safety conscious about lighting and she was quite scared to be outside walking back to the car with so much of it lighting up the sky. Funny because she LOVED LOVED LOVED lighting as a baby. As a baby I used to use the knickname firecracker or my little lighting because even though she was so good her personality has always been such that she brings dazzle and spark everywhere she goes. She has a special kind of spunk.

When we got home from Six Flags we found several sections of our fence totally blown over and at my sisters house a few minutes away they lost fence but also had their entire trampoline blown ALL the way across their yard and it landed on their playground equiptment--like hanging there broken apart. Crazy!!! We came home and staked ours down and I don't think anyone was wishing to get a glimpse of a tornado after that.

These next few pics I love. David bought these fun hats for Natalie and I at Six Flags- pink and blue sparkly. Besides how cute these pics are, they also remind me of how hilarious it was watching Stephen and Natalie change hats and sing "I'm a girl" or "I'm a boy" depending on which hat they had on. It was complete with funny voice changes and perfectly made up tunes. I think it is a spin off from a game they play when Natalie washed her hair- when there is shampoo in her hair she is a boy and then when she washed it she is a boy. They are so silly and fun.

The other thing I love is that these pics remind me of the time we spent shopping in the store where David bought them. Since we were with family from out of town they were interested in looking around and so we were in there a while. Stephen was just about the most funny I have ever seen him. He has always had a thing where anytime he sees a statue he likes to hug (and usually kiss since he is quite the kisser) the statue. Apparently manicans fit into this--even ones without heads. He hugged this headless manican and then he went around the store finding hats, funny glasses, belts, and necklaces and one at a time bringing them over to put on the manican. It was honestly the funniest and cutest thing ever- somehow he has as much character as Natalie and it just added to it.

Natalie loved this little Easter bunny that she so much that she made this little home for him from a special box I gave her a few weeks ago.
I love all the little things she put in his home. A pillow, a nice blanket, a book that kind of looks like green grass, her pink survivor scarf, and I thought it was interesting and at the same time fitting since it was Easter that she put a picture of a resurrected Christ. I think the funniest thing she put in there were the orange ear plus. She told me, "bunny likes squishy things." I think they were supposed to be some kind of squishy toy for her bunny- so cute.

Coloring eggs!


I thought it was fitting that we tried sparkly eggs this year.
Easter was a lot of fun this year!

At Natalie's school last week they had a Spring Fling. I took the kids while David was at work and it was a lot of fun. Stephen and Natalie did a cake walk and they were mostly giving away several small mini sized cakes each round. But on the cake walk these guys did--Stephen was the winner!! They only had one winner that round because it was for a BIG cake. They let him pick it out and he picked this very fun Easter one. The excitement on his face really was priceless but I hated carrying that cake for the next 50 minutes--my arm was cramping:)

As you can see Natalie was almost as excited about the cake as he was!

After such a good week with my brothers family, I think everyone was worn out! The kids had a fabulous time; with all the fun things we did I think playing on the trampoline was still the highlight.

Here are a few cute Easter videos. I think the last one when Stephen is eating his bunny is my favorite. I love that he was hugging his chocolate! On a funny side note, Natalie still hasn't eaten her bunny and hardly any of her Easter candy.