Pro

Spring is in full swing around here. The sun has been shining and the spring showers have been rolling through -- all of which makes for lots of blooming trees (and lots of pollen!). 

Luckily, yesterday's showers subsided long enough for us to do some Easter egg hunting. After three years of practice, this kid is an egg hunting pro.

Her Easter basket runneth over.

She even got the seal of approval from this guy!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

Professional Egg Hunter

Today we went to the annual McKendree Easter egg hunt. Steve and Penny Hooper have been holding this wonderful event at their house for the last 37 years! Today marks the third one that we had the pleasure of attending.

2009

2010

2011

I hear that this is the last year the Hoopers will be hosting an egg hunt. I completely understand, but I'm really hoping they reconsider. Come on, just 7 or 8 more years! Please?!?

We had a fantastic time. The weather was beautiful and the eggs were plentiful!

Last year, Harper's basket runneth over with eggs. This year, I wised up and got her a bigger basket.

Taking a break to check out the loot.

Well done, kiddo!

After the hunt, the Hoopers have all kinds of snacks and activities set up for the kids. Harper blew bubbles for at least an hour.

All in all, it was a fabulous day that culminated in an epic nap. She's still sleeping in fact, which has given me ample time to pillage inspect her eggs!

Egg-cellent

A few days ago, Harper colored Easter eggs for the first time ever! She concentrated very hard on making each one the perfect color.

Here, she is explaining that she can't look up at the camera because she has to pay attention to her eggs.

I have to say, she really was very gentle with the eggs and they all turned out great!

She also tried really hard not to make a mess...that is until we ran out of eggs and she discovered that she could also color her fingers!

Thank goodness it all came off in the bathtub!

She Prefers Baby Dolls To Bunnies

Last week Harper and I met our buddy, Katie, for lunch and bunnies. And by bunnies, I mean that we went to Phillips Toy Mart to see their annual display of bunnies.

If you are ever in Nashville, I would highly recommend going to this toy store. Whether you have kids or not, this place is an experience. They've been in business since 1946 and every millimeter of their store is jam packed with toys (and not just the every day run of the mill toys that you find at Target. I'm talking about some of the coolest toys I've ever seen.)

But getting back to the bunnies... Every year they have a different theme for their display. This year it was The Year of the Rabbit (which was very appropriate, because Katie and her husband are about to move to China!).

Katie and I thought the bunnies were awesome. Harper was a little more impressed by the array of baby doll accessories in the isle next to the bunnies.

I love the expression on Katie's face in this one!

I tried and tried to get Harper to stand in front of the bunnies and smile. This was the best shot I got. If it looks like she is in pain, she is. Posing for pictures is torture when there are baby dolls to inspect.

Hippity Hoppity

Easter's on its way.

Easter Recap

What an awesome Easter weekend! We had so much fun hanging out together as a family and spending time with friends. After church yesterday, we went to our friends' house for lunch and an Easter egg hunt. It was great! Here are some pictures from the hunt.

I think this is my favorite one.

Poor kid ran out of room in her basket and was forced to make a pile on the ground.

I included this picture as a matter of record for Harper's future therapist. It's not unusual for this kid to have a crowd standing around her, taking pictures, and commenting on how cute she is. It's probably going to give her a complex. I'm ok with that.

Game Changer

Good Friday

Today was a good day.

My daughter actually said the following: My mommy loves me.

Score!

Also, I totally got my butt kicked at a circuit training class that Rob and I took at the gym. It was horrible and awesome all at the same time.

Also, I have a Savior who specializes in resurrections. You can read more about that here.

Also, I like this song.

Random Thursday

A couple things for today...

• First, American Idol so got it wrong last night. Didi should not have been the one to go. I can think of at least 2 people (not mentioning any names, Katie and Siobhan) who are not as talented as Didi. But, I guess I can't complain too much because I didn't vote. Now, I think I'll jump on the bandwagon and root for Crystal.
• Just in time for Easter, Harper has pink eye and an ear infection. Darn you baby school. Rob took her to the doctor this morning and the good news is that we caught it early enough that she can just take oral antibiotics instead of having to do eye drops. Silver lining, right?
• Speaking of Rob and Harper, they are best buddies these days. Harper wants very little to do with me when he's around. She even tells me "no come, Mommy" when they go down stairs in the morning. Oh well. It's just one of those things.
• Here are some pictures from the Easter egg hunt last Saturday.

Easter Egg Hunt 2010

Easter Candy Rocks

Of all the holidays, Easter definitely has the best associated candy. You just can't beat the Sweet Tarts shaped like ducks, bunnies, and chicks. And the selection of jelly beans is fantastic. I'm partial to certain flavors of Jelly Belly Jelly Beans (which you can get all the time and is not specific to Easter). But in terms of Easter jelly beans, the Sour Patch ones are pretty great as are the Star Burst ones. Here's a video of Harper eating some Sour Patch jelly beans last night. She must have a high tolerance for sourness, because she barely even flinched.

On a side note, Harper and I saw a rainbow on our way home last night. The conditions were right for a rainbow, so I was keeping an eye out. And sure enough, we saw one. Although I understand the physics of rainbows, I want to believe that God made that rainbow for me to see to remind me that He keeps His promises and that everything would indeed be ok. After the morning I had yesterday, that was a nice visual reminder.

Easter Egg Hunt 2009

You know what's great about having a kid? Holidays are fun again. On Saturday, Harper took part in her first Easter Egg Hunt. It was held at our friends' house and it was wonderful. Our friends have been hosing this annual egg hunt for about 30 years now. People who participated when they were children are now bringing their children to take part - talk about the gift of community! Penny and Steve - thank you for your generosity and for the great memories that we made. We're already looking forward to (and strategizing for) next year!