Pink & Blue Easter

When Zachary and I went shopping to get his Easter duds we were also out shopping for the Gender Reveal Party.  Zachary insisted we needed to wear pink and blue for Easter.  Honestly, I think he got confused on what we were buying for what event but I was not going to say no to some pink.  Uncle Vern...don't worry he doesn't wear pink all the time. :) 

Here's how pictures go for Zachary these days....it's an entire sequence of emotions. CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT.  I had to capture all of the faces and moods of Z.  My moms says I have no room to complain because she said I was a lot worse when it was time to take pictures at Zachary's age. I used to stick my tongue out at the camera.  Sorry MOM!  I now get it! 

Our "normal" Easter morning routine is Karen & Marvin (my in-laws) come over before church to eat breakfast and take family pictures however this year they had to be at church super early for choir.  We missed them.  We missed their picture taking ability too.  Since they were not present we had to improvise.  We put the camera in a kitchen cupboard and set it to do automatic pictures.  After the fact Kevin and I could not stop laughing....You'll see why...Check em out. Zachary totally looks like a ventriloquist.  I asked Kevin to pick him up for the pics and this is what he did.  Crack me up! 

 Yes..Kevin is holding Z like this, he is not sitting on a table or anything.  These two guys make me laugh all the time.  It's hard to believe that in less than 20 weeks we will have another little guy to keep me entertained or awake all night. I really can't wait to see what Baby A will look like and what his demeanor will be like.

I hope everyone had a blessed, fun Easter of 2011. 

Egg Dying and Gram's Birthday Party

The day before Easter we all got together to dye eggs, celebrate Grams Birthday (very belated) and celebrate Easter.  Because of conflicting work schedules and family plans we did Easter at my parents on Saturday so that we could do the egg hunt with Elliott & Jerrytt.  Let me just begin by saying it has been raining here for the past 3 days, so we had to do everything inside. 

Zachary getting ready to dye eggs....playing with Grams special egg dying tools.

 Monkey see...Monkey do....Elliott had to do it too.  These boys crack me up!

 This is how my parents dog greeted us at the door. Sweet Claire Bear

Our sweet baby Jerrytt

 Jerrytt hunting Easter Eggs....he did quite well...until he found a hidden container of baby puffs.  That stopped him in his tracks.

 The Three Grandsons at Grams & Pops

 Celebrating Grams Birthday!

 Grams with her favorite little guys! Happy Belated Birthday MOM!

On Easter Sunday we celebrated Easter at my in-laws house with my mom (dad had to work).  Unfortunately I did not take a single picture.  :(

Up from the Grave He Arose!

Easter morning 2010 was quite eventful. Zachary woke up super early insisting he heard the Easter Bunny spill his jellybeans in the middle of the night. He was right. The EB had his hands full and spilled the beans on our porch and entry way. Then Z headed downstairs for an indoor egg hunt. After we had breakfast and then rushed around to get ready for church. Church was bitter sweet because our friend Jason had a cardiac arrest the night before Easter. The church was celebrating Jesus rising from the dead but praying for Jason to make it. After church my inlaws stopped by for pictures. Later that afternoon we went to my parents for a wonderful Easter dinner. Funny part of the day was both Zachary & Elliott fell asleep on the way to my parents. We had to wake them up after at least an hour nap to get them to go outside to hunt eggs. Neither one of them wanted to. They just wanted to take naps. I could not believe it. After about 30 minutes of waking them up they went outside forcefully to hunt eggs. After dinner we celebrated my moms birthday with Coconut Creme Pie and cake. What a great day!

Here's the beans the EB spilled
Zachary's basket
Photos after church

Karen, Marvin, Zachary, & Kevin


Zachary wanted a family photo with Matt, Rachel, & Elliott
Celebrating Egg Hunt...Z is overloaded with baskets!
Elliott showing off her Big Brother shirt
The boys with their loot!

Gram's Birthday on Easter Sunday
Praise God for sending His Son to die for our sins!

Prepping for Easter

The night before Easter we had my parents, and my sister's family over for dinner and egg dying. We had a great evening and the boys LOVED it! Zachary could hardly sleep knowing that the Easter Bunny was going to be hopping through to drop off a basket!



The final product!

The boys were a mess after the dying so we popped them in the tub.

Getting Ready for Easter!

Well, we are getting ready and excited for Easter Sunday. Today we are have been getting our Easter clothes ready for church and boiling the eggs for the Egg Dying party tonight with our family. This year Zachary really gets it. Well he "almost" gets why we celebrate Easter. On Thursday Zachary told Kevin that "bad guys" killed Jesus and then he was super strong and rolled the big rock away from the Tomb, and then he woke up and is alive. See he gets it. Kind-of!

This morning we were getting ready to run some errands. He was in the driveway and I see him smashing earthworms. When I asked why he was stomping on them and killing them was his reply was..."don't worry mom they will raise from the dead tomorrow."

See what I mean...he "almost" has it. I laughed out loud and then spent the next 10 minutes re-telling the Easter story and placing emphasis on the fact that only Jesus has risen from the dead. Boy, do I love this three year old. I never know what he is going to do or say. He brings Kevin and I so much JOY!

Well, I hope you take time to remember why we celebrate Easter. Enjoy all the candy, eggs, Easter Baskets, church, new clothes, and all the fun stuff about Easter but focus on the new life we have in Christ! Happy Easter!

Way Behind Easter 2009

As you can see I am almost 3 weeks behind on blogging our Easter Festivities. I am hoping to catch up on my photos so that I can get back on track. This year was a little different Easter that usual. First Rachel, Matthew, and Elliott were off on a vacation in Hawaii. Second, Kevin's brother, Jeff was in town for business. Even though we were not with my sister and family. We got to spend it with Kevin's brother. It was a treat to see Jeff. We celebrated Easter at my parents house after church with the Lemon's family, Kevins family, and a friend from my mom's school, DeCarla and her children Cosby & Cali. We missed her husband Jamar but we loved on his kids for him. Seriously Cosby and Cali are two of the cutest and best behaved children I have ever met. Zachary always enjoys spending time with Cos and we will miss them when they move in the next couple months.

Zachary picked out some pre-made cookies at Wal-mart. He could not wait to make them!


Dying Easter Eggs the night before

This photo shows PURE JOY! when Zachary found a Bob the Builder that was left by the Easter Bunny



Zachary finding eggs and a Bob the Builder from the Easter BunnyKevin's parents, brother, and us on Easter Sunday at our church
Cosby and Zachary playing Grammy's piano
Zachary and one of his best buddies, Cosby
Cosby, Zachary, and Cali posing on Grammy & Poppy's couch

Pre-School Easter Program

Zachary is in the green, teal, and orange argyle sweater with his hands behind his back



Yesterday was Zachary's first on-stage performance. He had his Easter program at his preschool. We missed the Christmas program because he had a ruptured eardrum. So this was a first for us. Kevin and I were really looking forward to the program because we have been practicing the songs for the past two months. To be honest we were also a little nervous because we did not know what Zachary was going to sing or do. Zachary's class was supposed to sing "Jesus Loves Me" and "Jesus Died and Rose Again". "Jesus Died and Rose Again" is to the tune of "London Bridges" and it goes like this.

Jesus Died and Rose Again
Rose Again
Rose Again
Jesus Died and Rose Again
on Easter Sunday Morning

Kevin and I were a little nervous too because when Z sings this song at home he thinks it is all about my cousins dogs, Bubba and Rose*. This is what Zachary sings...

Jesus Died and Rose Again
Bubba and Rose
Bubba and Rose
Jesus Died and Rose Again
on Easter Sunday Morning

* Yes Jen we talk about Bubba and Rose ALL THE TIME.

Anyways, when Zachary's class got on stage. Z looked perplexed. He could not see anyone in the audience because of the bright lights. Immediately he noticed me and said HI MOM! HI MOM! I was shocked he was the only two year old that called out to their mom. The entire audience started to laugh. He started to walk off stage towards me. I just kept praying that he would not make a scene. His teacher lined him up again and when the music started he started to dance a little. He sang his songs with his heart, soul, and body. I must add I did not hear "Bubba and Rose" so I think he got it right. It was priceless. Kevin and I were so proud of our little guy. I can't imagine what we are going to be like when he gets older and participates in school stuff. We are going to be nervous wrecks and so proud. The preschool also had an art show in the hallway. Zachary's teachers selected a finger paint of Zachary's to be on display. He was so proud of it and he had to show it off to us.

Zachary standing by his artwork.


Zachary's Blot print

Easter weekend....what a joy!

Well, this weekend we had a lot of Easter activities to keep us busy. First, we went to my parents on Saturday night for pizza and dying Easter eggs. It was fun! A great surprise was that Kelli, Kelley, Jason, & Jacinda stopped in for a visit. It was great catching up with them. They gave Z the cutest police raincoat and boots. He loves them and was caught wearing the boots this morning with his p.j.s.

On Easter Sunday, we had the Austin's over for our "traditional" Easter breakfast . We have been doing this for 4 years. They come to our house for a yummy breakfast before we head to church. It's a great way to spend time with each other and take some pictures before church. After breakfast, we went to church to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord & Savior. It really did not seem like Easter because I taught Sunday School and then Kevin and I had nursery duty for the 3 year olds during church service. The kids were wound up, but very cute in their Easter outfits.

We celebrated Easter lunch at my parents with my in-laws, my sister & brother-in-law, and nephew. Lunch was VERY GOOD and the time with family was even better. After lunch most of the guys took naps before the Easter egg hunt. Zachary & Elliott were super cute during the egg hunt. Zachary was very satisfied with the one egg he found . He did not understand that you had to put it in the basket and find more. He just wanted to hold the one he had. It was cute. To sum it up, we had a wonderful Easter celebration with the ones we love. We hope that you did too. Love HIL

P.S. Kevin is still sick with a very SORE THROAT. Please say a prayer for him. He is miserable!