Easter...

Easter buckets!

searching for eggs inside

happy 1st Easter Theo!!

"hi!"

our little cuties :)

ready to head to church

Maryn and Theo with Great Grandma Spaulding

checking out his Easter basket

with Ceta and Mimi

we were running low on smiles by the time we took a

picture with Uncle Scott and Uncle Brad

Theo and Uncle Derek

Mamaw and Theo

cousin time :)

stick the nose on the bunny or on the door...that works too :)

this was Maryn's first time to ever play

Turner and Maryn in their swim goggles!

Of course we saved the family picture for the end of the...

the kids and I look so tired :)

the art of egg coloring :)

Maryn drew bugs on all of her eggs :)

Theo was more interested in eating the crayon!

a little sibling fun :)

dipping the eggs in one of our six colors

the proud artists

our beautiful eggs

our attempt at muffies...

Maryn loves to go to Panera and get chocolate chip muffies. As you can see, its a cross between a muffin and a cookie. It's not realistic to go get muffies everyday, so we made our own yesterday. I used my recipe for chocolate chip muffins, put the mix in a whoopie pie pan, and look what we have...muffies!!! They don't look quite like the ones at Panera, but Maryn loves them and that's all that matters :)

spring blooms

I love spring! I love to have brisk mornings and warm afternoons, the green leaves that begin to fill the bare trees, open windows during the day, the smell of grass freshly mowed, flowers in bloom, and daylight into the evening. One of my favorite flowers has always been tulips. I love all the bright colors they come in, the delicacy of their petals, and the sign that warmer days are coming. My other favorite is lilacs...they remind me of my childhood. Growing up, my Grandma and Grandpa Spaulding had a large lilac bush in their backyard. The smell filled the yard in early spring! Grandma would always let us pick them and put them in vases inside. While they don't last long in water, their smell is fragrant and clean. We have one in our backyard now. It's rather small, but still blooms those vibrant purple blossoms. It was special to me to share with Maryn that I use to pick these when I was a little girl :) Funny how the simple memories of your childhood can make you feel so good...

birthday love...

Birthday card from the kids...Maryn was pretty excited about the drawing inside :)

a new camera!!!!

could not have asked for two better sweeties to spend my birthday with :)

Jeremy fixed us a yummy dinner and brought home dessert from the Flying Cupcake!

(Maryn took this one and did a great job!)

the only candle we had :)

Maryn was excited that we were the same age!

in my "spare" time...

So lately in what down time I have (especially since Maryn has decided that nap time is not her thing anymore), I have been into following blogs. Some I have found on my own and others I have been connected to through friends. I've linked some of my favorites below so feel free to check them out. If you have any great blogs you follow or even your own blog...I would love to check it out :)

impressyourkids.org ...I love when I can find a blog that has parenting from a Christian perspective. Amanda has some great great ideas!

simplemom.net ...I really try to be organized and for the most part I am, but I could definitely learn how to simplify my life. This site has so many tips and the woman that does the blog has her own book out. She just recently invited people to participate in her four week "Project Simplify"....take one area of your house and de-clutter it in a week. I missed out, but am planning to follow thru with it yet this year :)

aholyexperience.com ...I wrote about this link in a previous blog entry. I've especially enjoyed reading it each day during the Lenten season.

seedsfamilyworship.net ...While looking on another blog I found the link for this site. Seeds Family Worship uses verses in songs. I recently purchased the first two albums- Seeds of Courage and Seeds of Love. They are catchy little songs taken straight from scripture. They just released their fifth album. The cool thing is that it comes with two cds- one for you to keep and one for you to give away...thus planting the seed :)

icanteachmychild.com ...great ideas for crafts, activities, etc.

pinkandgreenmama.blogspot.com ...This blog came to me from another friend and I LOVE it!! It is packed with great things to do with kids!!

Hello ZOO!!!!

Last Thursday, we made our first trip to the zoo this season! So thankful for a warm sunny day to enjoy :) This was Theo's first time there and he loved looking at everything! From his reactions, I think the penguins were his fav. Hopefully next time we'll have Jeremy with us and can get some better pics!

what do we see???

a baby giraffe!!

the baby was just born on April 4th....6 ft. tall and 145 lbs :)

a new exhibit...the warthog.

Not the most attractive animal at zoo :)

the african crested porcupines are new too

lots of smiles from Theo...this was his first time there!

bright spring tulips + Maryn= lots of cuteness!

we had a fun day!