Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Easter Sunday

On Easter morning we woke up early, got showered and dressed, and headed right downstairs to see if the Easter Bunny had visited our house!


After playing with their new goodies for a bit we were off to church! And after church we went straight to Oma Bosch's house for our annual Easter brunch and famous egg hunt!

Our family photo! Don't the boys look so cute in their matching plaid shirts?

Love my boys!

The boys played in Oma Bosch's backyard all morning! Despite chilly temperatures, all the cousins ran around having a blast! Oma's backyard is like a little piece of heaven for curious and busy little boys! There are so many little areas to discover and gardens to explore!

My Easter cake pops! They were a lot of work and EXTREMELY sweet, but I think that they turned out pretty cute! I like the cake inside better than the chocolate and sprinkle shell! Not sure I'll be making these again any time soon!

All the kids ready and anxious to hunt eggs!


Let the hunting begin!


Nolan had so much fun searching for just the right color egg each round! He had to crack it open right away to see what was inside and sample a few jelly beans or a piece of Easter candy corn!

From all the hunting we were all exhausted by the time we got home!

We skyped with Grandma, Grandpa, and Auntie, watched Veggie Tales Easter Carol, and hit the hay early! We are so blessed to have such an amazing family to share holidays like this with and to have such an amazing God so full of grace!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Easter Fun!

We've had so much fun celebrating Easter this year! I love being a part time stay at home mommy so that I have time to do lots of fun and memorable things with my boys around the holidays! Here are some pics of our Easter activities leading up to the big day!

Nolan and I worked on a top secret project for Grandma & Grandpa & Auntie!

He carefully stuffed a lot of Easter eggs! 48 to be exact!

Each egg included candy and/or a little note!

Do you know my Kerri? If you don't...you should! She is super fun! And super good at stealthy jobs! We sent her our eggs...

And she went on a mission...
Mission Accomplished!

The Johnson family was EGGED! They had a fun treat to wake up to in the morning...hunting the eggs all over their yard and opening them up to read the fun messages and take out the yummy candy! What a neat way to celebrate Easter with them from afar!

We were also egged in a slightly different way...by the Sloothaak Family!
They sent us this cool package!

The box was FULL of candy stuffed eggs and these most awesome talking egg toys!

When you turn them on they say fun things like, "You-Who, Over here!" You hide the eggs and then the kids have to follow the sounds to be able to find where they are hiding. When you find it you can crack it open and there is a cute little animal inside that says, "You found me!" We have played with them for hours! Thanks Trey & Rowie!

We also made Easter M&M oatmeal cookies last week!

And Nolan helped me make Easter treats for his friends!

What a sweet helper boy!

Our finished product...Peeps for some of his favorite "Peeps"!

Then we put together a tasty treat for Oma & Opa...

The World's Best Eggs for the World's Best Oma & Opa!

(And by the way, I found a lot of cute Easter printables to help with these projects here: eighteen 25!)

And finally, Nolan and Heath got a fun Easter package in the mail from Grandma & Grandpa...
So excited to open the box and find...

this hopping, singing, and dancing bunny! And boy does he LOVE this bunny! He has the song memorized and presses the button to turn it on constantly! We even hear it go off in the middle of the night! He also got the Charlie Brown Easter DVD and some gummies too!

Wow! And all that even before Easter Sunday!

Oh to be a kid again! The joy in his eyes and smile on his face as we do little projects or get gifts or participate in traditions is just so amazing! But what I love most of all is knowing that every night when we say his prayers before bed, we say, "Thank you Jesus for dying on the cross to save us from our sins and for rising from the dead so that we can live with you in heaven forever! And thank you Jesus for the white bird (the dove from Noah's Ark) and for riding on the donkey (Palm Sunday)." Love that kid!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

root root root for the Cubbies!

Last weekend we took the boys to the Rockies/Cubs game downtown at Coors Field! Of course we had the usual battle pre game as to what the boys would wear! I got them dressed earlier in the day and put them both in Cubs shirts. When Mark got home from his baseball game later in the day he immediately changed Nolan into his Rockies shirt! So we ended up compromising and we each got a boy to dress! Heath sported his Cubs shirt, Nolan-his Rockies!

Nolan has been to a couple of Rockies games before this. But this was Heath first game...and best of all- it was the Cubs!
We went with Brad, Jayne, Cohen, Ernie, and Kim!

Nolan had fun watching the game, trying to find the ball, "reading" the jumbo-tron, and singing & dancing to all the fun songs!

It was great to catch up with the Krauths and have yummy Rocky Dogs too!

Heath liked looking around at all the sights! He got a little tired and cranky later in the game and Mark ended up standing up and holding him.

Tulo's walk up song is Justin Bieber's "Baby Baby"! This is Nolan's most recent favorite song. So every time Tulo was up to bat he would say "Mommy they're playing our favorite song!" And he would sing and dance!

The game was pretty long and Nolan actually ended up falling asleep in my lap! I can't remember the last time that he has done that!

We had a fun night out downtown. The weather was great for a Spring evening. And even better, the Cubs won!!! Woo hoo!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Tubed

As many of you know Heath has had it all in his 16 short months of life! Reflux, constipation, seasonal allergies, eczema, and chronic ear infections! But despite it all, he still manages to have that infectious smile, hearty laugh, and killer big blue eyes that melt your heart!

Well, after one too many ear infections we finally decided it was time to have him tubed! It is a quick and easy procedure, but still hard none the less to see your child have to be put under and go into surgery!

Here he is last week pre surgery! Doesn't he look adorable in his little gown?!
He was NOT happy about the floppy gown or the bracelet on his ankle or all the people coming to bug him! Doesn't Mark look hot in his hair net and coveralls too?!
Mark went into the surgical room with Heath and sat with him while they put him under. He said it was so weird to see Heath breath in the gas, flop around, roll his eyes back, and fall asleep within seconds. After he was asleep, Mark came back out to wait with me in the waiting room. But then it was literally 10 minutes later and Heath was out and the procedure was done! It was a success, but Heath was super irritable coming off of the anesthesia! He had a grumpy couple of hours and a long nap but then he was back to his normal happy self in no time!

We are so thankful for great doctors and an easy recovery! And we are so blessed by this handsome, healthy fella:

"Heathy, where's your ear? It's all better!"

Now let's just hope that the tubes work, and stay in, and that we have NO MORE EAR INFECTIONS and FREQUENT TRIPS TO THE DOCTOR AND PHARMACY, LESS CO PAYS, and most importantly a HAPPIER & HEALTHIER BOY!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

One last sister post...

Wow! I only posted 3 times all last month and now this post marks number 11 for April! Can you tell how busy we've been?! But it has all been oh so much fun!

I want to wrap up my blogging about my sister's Spring Break with these two quick videos she caught on her flip cam! I really need to get myself one of those! They are so easy to use and upload! Much faster than my old (well not really, we got it just before Nolan was born) camcorder. I hardly ever post video on the blog because it's such a pain to upload! It has a mini tape...doesn't that seem old fashioned?! But at the time we bought it, it was the only thing compatible with my Mac! Technology sure does change in just a couple of years!

O.k. so here they are!
#1 Crunch Berries are depressing!

#2 Body Slamma Jamma

Thanks again Mal for a fun filled week, for watching the boys, for spoiling them, and for hanging out with me for 9 straight days! We LOVE you!!!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Camaros, Convertibles, and Mini Vans OH MY!

Nolan LOVES cars! So when the Auto Show was in town we knew we had to go! It was a gorgeous day to head downtown for a family activity!

checking out the BIG BEAR at the Convention Center

Mallory had gone to the Chicago Auto Show and had brought Nolan an orange Hot Wheels Camaro from it. So from the second we got there Nolan was on the hunt for the orange Camaro!

Yay!!! A Camaro...but it wasn't orange!

Look at that cool car for the armed forces!

If I could have any sports car it would definitely be a Corvette!

Look at this cute load!

exploring the ins and outs of each car


A trunk is a fun play place!

Nolan thought it was so fun that some cars didn't have tops! He now thinks that we need a convertible! In our dreams Nolan!

watching the Jeeps work

Auntie's Favorite- a Jeep! She has one, but not quite this color or size!

racing & crashing remote control cars

Nolan said he was having a party in this huge van! He danced and had imaginary balloons and food!

Nolan really liked the Camaros, and convertibles, but surprisingly his very favorite car of the day was this Honda...
Mini Van!!! AHHHH! He told me that we also really need an Odyssey! Sorry Nolan, we will not make your wish come true on this one!

He thought it was super fun that he could push the buttons and open and close the sliding doors! And of course he has always wanted a T.V. in the car! Payton and Brady have small DVD screens in their Pilot and he says to me at least once a week, "Mommy can I be lucky? I want a T.V. in my car like Payton and Brady!" Poor boy! He's so neglected!

One last shot with this pretty red Camaro on the way out!

We left dreaming of fancy & fast cars, that are shiny & clean, and that most importantly, do not have goldfish crumbs and fruit snacks in the cracks of every seat! It was such a fun day out in the city!