Easter Morning

 Sunday morning was a wonderful experience! We were able to sleep in a little bit, get dressed without too much stress, serve in our various volunteer spots, and hear a great sermon about the empty tomb! 

Because of traveling and working with the three-year olds, Steve and I have been out of big church for the last month. It was refreshing and calming to worship with our congregation and hear Pastor David's message.

He spoke on the true joy of the empty tomb, and how Jesus should be our one, true source of peace and joy in our lives. Steve and I were volunteering as parking lot attendants/welcome hosts for visitors, so we missed the music this morning, but I'm so thankful we got to be there for the entire message!

Yep. This was me during Sunday School...standing on the street corner in front of church, holding a sign to direct visitors to the right parking lot. Steve had a sign at the opening of the lot to show them where to park. I felt a little bit like we should have been offering car washes to visitors, or at least telling them about a really good pawn store.

 

Getting Evelyn to smile ended up being a breeze since Mel was behind the camera! It was almost impossible, though, to get Bella both looking at the camera and smiling.

 

I knew the yellow door would pay off in future photo-ops!

 I went with dresses in jewel tones this year instead of pastels. I loved it! Bella wore her dress from Evelyn's baby dedication, so that made it easy to choose Evelyn's!

I had to include this one, because it's so...natural!

 Steve wore one of his new suits from work, and I saved one of the new dresses I had gotten for Christmas.

My beautiful sister! Mel leaves for India in 3 days; I'm so excited for her!

Checking out her Easter basket...

 

"What up! I got stickers!"

We call this "special occasion hair"! After Bella's bath last night, I separated her wet hair into 6 different braids so it would be thick and wavy this morning!

Bella was really excited that her necklace was just like Mama's!

Celebrating her goodies; we included some the loot from Grandma's Easter box into our own baskets. Sneaky!

 

Love this joyful smile!

"Were you there when God raised him from the tomb?
Were you there when God raised him from the tomb?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when God raised him from the tomb?"

Happy Easter and praise our risen Lord!

Spring!

 Today was a great day! Steve was working from home, so we got to spend a lot of extra time together and with the girls. We didn't get to participate in a Good  Friday service, which stinks because I heard our church had an incredible experience! But we did have a wonderful time together as a family.

 

I got a Home Depot gift card for my birthday and used it today to get some colorful flowers for the pots on our front step. Bella and I got to play in the dirt,  catch worms, and pick flowers (not the new ones that we just planted!).

Look at our colorful front step! It's so beautiful and happy! We had so much fun, we added some pretty color to the back porch, too!

 

She's going to hate me for this picture one day, but I couldn't resist! We were watching TV after all of our gardening fun and Bella asked to sit on my lap. About 5 minutes later, I looked down and she had passed out! This never happens! This little girl is a continuous ball of energy who never stops, especially if something is going on around her!

 

Even after she shifted positions, she was still passed out. The sun and dirt must have worn her out!

Flirting with Daddy on the way to dinner.

 

Look at our little 11-month old Squirt!

 

Dinner was at a sushi/Thai restaurant, and Bella tried chopsticks for the first time!

Like an old pro!

Today was the perfect mix of productive and relaxing; it was so nice having Steve home and getting special times with the girls. And we got to play in the sun! It was actually warm today! Looking forward to another fun day tomorrow and a wonderful Easter Sunday.

Evelyn's First Oreo

We were at a prayer meeting for Mel's India trip tonight, and there were cookies! I love me some messy babies!

Watch Out For The Cheetahs And Boobies

Bella and I were walking down our street on one of the warmer days last week, and she suddenly freezes, jerks my hand, and gasps, "Mom! Mom! I hear a cheetah!" When I started to question her, she starts yelling (in a frenzied whisper) MAMA!!!! SHHHHH!!!! A CHEETAH!!!

.....

  While snuggling in her bed tonight, Bella looks down my shirt and says, "Mama, your boobies are falling out." She then proceeded to try and tuck (a.k.a. shove) my chest back into my bra. Those are good times right there.
.....
She woke up scared of a bat - which turned out to be a spot of dirt on her windowsill - and I told her that if she saw the bat again, she could pray and Jesus would be right next to her. She thought about it for a second and then said. "Mama, does Jesus have a sword? I think he has a sword. When I pray, Jesus is gonna bring his sword and give the bat a boo boo." Amen, baby girl, amen.

Better Late Than Never

 I was supposed to put pictures on here for Evelyn's 10-month "birthday", but I completely forgot. Even though she'll be 11 months old in just a few days, I couldn't resist adding these cute pictures from when she was playing with Steve.

 

We are loving every minute with this precious baby girl! Her major milestone this past month has been standing up and new teeth! The teething has not been fun (at all!), but she is slowly getting back to normal. We were able to enjoy a few wonderful afternoons in the sun this past week, and I can't wait for warm weather to be here for good! I promise to not complain about the heat until mid-July!

Slumber Party And Cowboy Birthday!

 This weekend was Sean's 6th birthday, and it was so much fun! We took David and Charli on Friday night to give Whitney some extra time to prepare for the party on Saturday morning. The slumber party went really well - David and Bella acted like a couple who hadn't seen each other in months - lots of squealing and excited chatter! Charli and Evelyn followed the Terrific Twosome around, dazed and excited at the same time!

Recovering this morning from a crazy night!

Captain America costume, red cowboy hat, and soccer shin guards...the outfit of champions!

The snazzy little ladies. Bella was acting like a pony and Charli pretended to feed her.

Let's face it, it was only a matter of time before one of them ended up naked. We just try to make sure it's not at the same time!

Little diva in her Mrs. Potato Head accessories. 

Every Captain America cowboy needs his Buzz Lightyear along for the ride.

Bella trying to wrangle a pony at Sean's party. Whitney did such an amazing job with the cowboy theme! I can't even list all of the elements, but all of the kids were crazy with excitement - they loved it!

Evelyn enjoying her cowgirl cupcake...practice for her birthday cake next month!

 

The "photo op" was so much fun! Bandanas, hats, and little mustaches. The kids loved dressing up like "bad guys".

She was tuckered out from the partying and craziness! We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at home and doing random chores on our to-do list. A great day!

Steve's First Day At The Federal Reserve

My hubby is the man! His first day at the Federal Reserve was on Monday, and it went great!

He got an overload of information and looked a little bit like a deer in the headlights by the time he got home, but he still loved it. 

The only thing that gave him any sort of pause was the sports aspect (always a concern for Steve when meeting new co-workers). My man loves music and motorcycles. He'll watch soccer if it's on, but that's about it. We can usually manage to get excited for championship games, but we're definitely not fans of any particular sport or team. 

As Steve was walking around the office and meeting everyone, he noticed that every cubicle had a full-sized football helmet in it. Apparently, his boss uses stickers as an "atta boy" when someone does something good just like real football players put stickers on their helmets for touchdowns, sacks, etc.

Seriously. Can you imagine being a grown man in an office environment and getting a sticker from your boss when you do a good job? It makes me chuckle just thinking about it. It also makes me feel bad for Steve who doesn't follow sports. He had a great idea today to use one of his old motorcycle helmets for the same purpose. I think that's an awesome idea and keeps him from having to fake enthusiasm for a team that he picks at random.

Back to the job...most of his time throughout the first few years will be spent working through classes and modules online as he works towards his certification. He found out that his first trip away will be in May, so we have plenty of time to prepare. The assignment is in Tampa, so I'll be able to travel down to Florida, and maybe even see him since Tampa's so close to my parents' house. I'm excited about the potential to "cushion" that first time away!

I'm so proud of him and I've loved hearing his stories from his first few days! Can't wait to see what the future holds for him!

He knows how to wear a suit.

I love these new shoes! So dashing!

A "panoramic" view of Steve's cubicle. Since they travel so much, cubicles are simpler. Steve said half of his floor is out on different assignments at any one time.

Weekend In Athens

This past weekend was incredible! We slept in (well, at least until 8:00...a miracle in this house!), ate our way through downtown Athens, and watched a huge amount of cable.

We got into town on Friday night and found Globe Pub. We wanted to fend for ourselves and explore a little of the city, so we didn't ask for a lot of recommendations before we left. The Globe was awesome! Good, simple food and a warm, pub vibe.  

My french dip sandwich with fries. So good!

It was so great to get out of town together and just be alone.

I caught my husband laughing! He laughs a lot, but rarely in front of a camera. Oh, and a random lady photo-bombed our picture.

We woke up on Saturday, grabbed New York-style bagels for breakfast, and came back to the hotel to turn on the History Channel. We started watching a Swamp People marathon and got addicted quickly. I can't tell you how many alligators were caught in that amount of time, but the bayou accents were impressive.

Lunch was at a great deli with a Cobb salad and a tomato/mozzarella panini. We bought cupcakes from Gigi's and took a walk around the University of Georgia campus. The weather was gorgeous. I think the high was 76 degrees and sunny! It was pretty windy, but as long as the sun was shining, we didn't care!

I tried to edit this picture, but the computer wouldn't let me save it since it was from Steve's iPhone.

Sunshine and a leisurely walk through the campus.

Picking a pink flower for Bella!

Dinner on Saturday night was our "fancy night". We found a great steakhouse called Porterhouse. We had such a relaxing night, and Steve didn't mind that I redecorated the entire restaurant in my head (and of course, out loud) while we were eating. (They needed a woman's touch.)

We ate breakfast on Sunday morning at the Mayflower Restaurant, which claims to be the oldest restaurant in Athens; it was a classic diner and delicious! We loved the chance to get away, hold hands, and spend some quiet time together. I'll admit, by Sunday, I was ready to see the girls.

Little Squirt at the park.

 

 Pictures the Mel sent us throughout the weekend to give us our "fix". It was good to get back and hug these babies! Thank you, Mel, for being a weekend babysitter for us!