EASTER FESTIVITIES, PART 2

So, I'm finally getting the second part of this done - whew!!
We started off Easter morning by letting the kids find their Easter baskets (which I just learned this year that not everyone hides their baskets. Growing up ours were always hid somewhere, and I thought everyone did that??) Anyway, J.D.'s & Mady's were hid in the bathtub and J.D. was so excited he found it all by himself. He was screaming and yelling - it doesn't take much to excite him! :)













We then went to my parents house for lunch. The kids all got baskets from Nanna & Papa, and of course had an Easter egg hunt. My mom gives prizes, and J.D. won for collecting the most eggs. A whole $10 to buy a toy for himself. He was so thrilled to have won the money, although he knows nothing about the amount. She could've given him a quarter and he would have been just as excited.














































We also had a great thing happen that day as well. Ashley & Andres got engaged!! Yay!! He put the ring in an Easter egg and when she opened it up, he proposed. Awh, so sweet. Congrats, guys! So happy for you!!




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After a LONG day, we finished up the festivities at Barbara's house. We did another egg hunt, the kids ate so much chocolate that they were throwing up - literally (SG), and it was a great day had by all. We made some wonderful memories, and had a fabulous time. HAPPY EASTER!!

EASTER FESTIVITIES, PART 1

Wow, did Easter just sneak up on us! I was SO ready for spring, but somehow still managed to not be prepared - shocker!
We started the "Easter activities" with an Easter egg hunt at the church rec fields. J.D. was SO excited and looking forward to it, however once it came time to do it, he was NOT into it. When they yelled "GO", he decided he'd rather pout on the bench, then look for eggs. So, a few minutes later when he was good and ready, or course there were only a few eggs left. Things escalated from there when he opened them up to discover that someone had already taken the goodies from inside...can we say meltdown!! Mady, however, was having a great time, but only got a few eggs as well because she decided she needed to EAT the candy inside before she could progress to the next egg! Ha!! Oh well, better luck next year! :)




















We decided to attend Easter service on Saturday night instead of Sunday morning. We did that last year and it really helped Sunday seem a bit more relaxed. The kids looked ADORABLE, if I do say so myself. J.D. looked so handsome in his suit, and Mady was precious in her outfit as well. We got some great pics outside after the service.






































Lastly, just had to jot this funny story down. We decided after all the talk from J.D. about the Easter Bunny, we should make sure he knew what Easter was REALLY about. So, we quizzed him to see, and of course, he was coming up blank. (yes, I'm a great mom). So, Jimmy and I told him the Easter story several times and thought he had it down pretty good. So next quiz went something like this:
me: "what does Easter mean, or why do we celebrate Easter?"
J.D. : "umm...Jesus died on a cross?"
me: "good, and then what happened?"
J.D.: "he went in a grave."
me: "great! Then after three days, what happened?"
J.D. : (with SO much enthusiasm because he just knew he had this right) , "The Easter Bunny comes!! YAY!!!"

By the way, we're still working on getting that story nailed down in his head. Dying, the grave, raising from the dead...all difficult concepts for a 3yr old! Ha!

MY "BFF"

J.D. has been saying something really cute lately. I'm not sure where he heard it, but guessing he's picked it up from somewhere. Out of nowhere he will say, "Mommy, you're my BEST friend", and give me a big hug and kiss. Adorable, I know. Then sometimes he will say things like, "you're the best cooker in the whole world" (which is strange seeing how I have to threaten to spank him just to eat his dinner), or "you're my best mommy" (as if I'm competing with his other mommy? huh?).
Anyway, it's really cute and so sweet. I told him the other day that he had to promise me that I would still be his best friend 10yrs from now - of course he agreed, but we all know better.
He's also been so sweet with Mady lately. When she cries (which is a lot), he will try to console her and give her toys, food, etc. He will rub her arm and say, "it's OK Mady, it's OK" in his best baby voice. I think part of it is he's just being sweet, and then there's probably another part that is just trying to get Mady to shut up! Ha!
Anyway, he is such a sweet little boy and has such a tender heart and I pray that God continues to grow that in him and that it doesn't go away as he gets older.

PIGTAILS

No one will probably care about this, but I had to journal it nonetheless.
Unfortunately for her, Mady got blessed with MY hair. It's fine, wispy, and static-y (is that a word?) and won't do much of anything other than go where it wants to. It's at that awkward stage where it's too short to put up, and looks straggly hanging down. At night after her bath I have been attempting to blow dry it in hopes of it looking better the next morning. I dry it with a roller brush and it looks really cute - Jimmy says she looks like a "little dutch girl", and makes fun of me for drying it. Oh well, the things we do for looks, huh? Anyway, she was still waking up with crazy hair, so I wondered if I could get it into pigtails, and I DID!! It looked so cute from the front (the back is a little sketchy), and I just had to get some pics. She looks so much older, so not sure if I like that, but she seemed to not mind, and didn't try to pull them out. So here's some pics of my little piggytail girl!! :)

"They say the darndest things!"

My little man, J.D. has said some really cute things lately, and I just had to record them so I would never forget.
#1:
He was talking at the dinner table something about "Spanish", and how he could talk Spanish. So, I figured maybe he had retained one of those annoying "say it two ways" from Dora or Diego, so I asked him if he knew a Spanish word. He didn't quite know what I was asking him, so I said:
"Do you know how to say hello in Spanish?"
"Yes, Mommy. Hello, Spanish!!"
He was so proud of himself and it was so cute.

#2:
His new favorite thing to "help mommy" is to push Mady's stroller in whatever store we are in. I am usually not opposed to this as it seems to keep him distracted from touching everything and asking if he can buy whatever he sees. Anyway, we were in a store and I told him we were almost finished and then we were going to Chick-fil-a. He started jumping up and down and cheering (obviously his favorite place), and then he went around in front of Mady, took her face in his two little hands, and said to her in the cutest little baby voice: "Mady, aren't you so cited? we going to chick-a-way!!" It was so darn cute and of course Mady had no idea what he was talking about.

#3: (and my favorite)
I heard him calling for me in the morning on the monitor, which he normally does, but he sounded whiny and a little upset. I went in to get him,
"What's wrong, J.D., why are you crying?"
(I immediately could tell his nose was stopped up and was developing a cold)
"Mommy, I so sad. I can't smell my Woobs. See? (sniff, sniff). And I WANT to smell him, but I CAN'T!!"
He said it in such a pitiful tone and I felt so sorry for him. His "Woobs" is his most favorite friend and he loves to just sit and "sniff" him. Don't ask me.
Well, that's all I can think of for now, I'm sure I forgot something. What a cute little boy he is and he makes me laugh all the time.

Middle-of-January Update

Well, I haven't journaled in a while, so here we go...

On New Years Day we headed up to Jacksonville for the FSU game and to see Bobby Bowden one last time :( It was quite an interesting trip. We left at 6:30 in the morning (which might as well be 3am to me), and drove 4hrs to Jacksonville. On arrival, the temperature was a cold 49deg. and raining. Yes, I said raining. Pretty much as miserable as you can get. I was trying really hard to be a trooper, and the Lord must've noticed, because in the second quarter it stopped raining, and we actually had sun shining on us. It was short lived, but nice while we had it. Anyway, it was a great time, and I know Jimmy will always remember it.

Other than that, not much really exciting has been going on. We did take J.D. to the circus (Mady stayed home - would've been a nightmare!). He had seen a flier in the mail about it, and was SO excited to go. Not that he really knew what it even was, but excited none the less. He would ask every day about 10 times a day, "Is it time to go to the circus, yet?" Note to self - don't tell him until the day before. His favorite part of the circus was the "train" that brought the circus into town. No, not the elephants, or tigers, or motorcycles...he loved the make-shift train they had. Although, I think the popcorn came in close second. He and Kate sat together and shared a box of popcorn - it was so cute. They would take turns holding the box, and they would tell each other to clap at certain points. They are adorable!! It was nice to get to spend some one-on-one time with J.D. I'm sure he's been missing that over the last year! :)

Not much new with Mady. She got her first illness. She had a fever for a few days, but she was acting normal, and no other symptoms, so I put off taking her in. By day four or five, she was just really cranky and still had a fever, so I decided to go ahead and take her to the doctor (did I mention how much I hate taking them? that's another post!) Anyway, I felt like an awful mother because after looking at her, the Dr. informed me that she had a viral infection AND a double ear infection!! No wonder the kid was cranky!! Yikes!! So, antibiotic given, and first major illness done with! Yay!!

She is really growing up too quickly. She's like her own little person, now. She feeds herself completely (won't let me get near it), she plays on her own, she just has her own personality. She is very stubborn. She gets her mind set on something and you better just move out of the way. I have been informed (by my mom) that she is JUST like I was at this age...strong willed, throwing temper tantrums, stubborn. Yikes! I think that means I have my work cut out for me. But look how great I turned out, so I'm sure she'll be just fine! Ha! However, as frustrating as it can be sometimes, all it takes is for her to smile at me, and it's all better. Her smile really lights up her face and she's just so darn cute. She's a mess, but she's a delightful mess and wouldn't change a thing about her.

J.D. is just as sweet as ever, as well. He is so compassionate and has the most tender heart. He struggles when Mady takes the trains he is currently playing with, but other than that, he's a great kid. I really enjoy spending the days with my kids and even though I need a break every now and then, I wouldn't give up one second I have with them.

I love you guys so much and love being your mom.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

WARNING: This a VERY lengthy post. This is more for my documentation purposes, so if you want to keep going, proceed with caution.

I LOVE Christmas!! The cooking, baking, shopping, wrapping, scurrying around for that last minute gift, spending time with family....I love it ALL!! And this year was no different. We started Christmas off by going to the Christmas Eve service at church. Our church growing up never did that, and I've really enjoyed doing it and hope to keep that tradition as the kids get older.
Off to church: (J.D. was not cooperating)

After church, we headed over to Dennis & Mariana's house for dinner. For the past couple years, they've done a "Noche Buena" celebration on Christmas Eve. This is the first year we've been able to go, and I was so excited. It was good to be with all my family, and the food was delicious. Mariana had all the traditional Spanish food - roast pork, rice, peccadillo, yucca...yum yum!!!

When we got home that night, Jimmy & I witnessed one of the funniest things I think J.D. has ever done. We had given him the "spiel" about how Santa doesn't come unless you are sleeping, so when we said it was time for bed, he ran as fast as little legs could carry him to his bed. We tried to do our usual bedtime routine (prayers, kisses, hugs, etc), but he was NOT having it. He kept saying, "Get out NOW. Santa's coming. Get out, I have to go sleep!!" We were cracking up. He's usually the king of bedtime stalling, but not that night! A minute or two after he got in bed, we heard Santa (Nanna) outside his window saying "Ho Ho Ho" and jingling his bells. We went in to see if he heard it, and he was laying there stiff as a board with his eyes closed tight. He was not interested in talking about what he heard...he just wanted us to get out of there so he could go to sleep! Hilarious! Such good memories. :)

The next morning was awesome. They both came out of their rooms and were so excited to see that Santa had been there. And J.D. was also excited to see that Santa and his reindeer enjoyed their cookies and carrots.

They had a great time opening up their presents. J.D. wanted to open up every toy he got before unwrapping the next one - typical kid. After unwrapping one, Mady was pretty much done - thankfully big brother was so kind to help her. Ha!

After they opened all their presents, we found a note under the tree from Santa saying he left one more present in the backyard. So off we went to discover what he left. A playground!!!!

They had such a blast. It was actually sprinkling, and I'm very proud of myself that I didn't let that stop them. I put some shoes on them, and off they went. The look on J.D.'s face was priceless. He was so excited!!

After much needed naps, we headed over to Meemaw's (Barbara's) house to celebrate Christmas with her and Chris & Karen (and Bradley and Sarah Grace). It was a great time. We did presents, then had a yummy dinner, and then we started a new tradition...we played "Gassy Gus"! It's a fabulous board game that fits in perfectly with our family (I won't go into detail). Some families go caroling, some read the Christmas story....we play Gassy Gus. Trust me, you don't want to know! Ha!

The next day we went to my parents house. My family decided to celebrate it the day after so that we could all have a little more relaxing Christmas Day and not have to be running around. Thank you so much, Mom - you're the best. It was actually nice to spread it out a little bit. Two days of eating instead of one sounds like a winner to me! My mom tells the Christmas story and has all the kids act it out with a nativity. She started it several years ago, and it has become a precious time. We then opened presents and had yet another scrumptious dinner. It was a wonderful time.

It was so special to see Christmas through J.D. & Mady's eyes, and I can't wait until next year. We have two of the best families in the world, and it was so special to share Christmas with them. We know from experience that Christmas is not about the presents or the "hoopla" - it's about celebrating the birth of Jesus, and spending time with your family. We often take our families for granted, and it's a good reminder to really cherish them because you never know what the next year holds.

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"