Resurrection Sunday!

On Easter Sunday my parents came to church with us and then we all headed down to their house for dinner with family and friends. 

Zeke was exhausted by the time we got there so we took our pictures first so he could take a nap. I had no idea how the other kids clothes were going to look after his nap! 

Our traditional silly Easter picture! 

After nap time we got the kids in the family room so we could give them their baskets. 

Ga-Ga & Aunt Stephie got Easter baskets for all the kids...included our friends Bill & Christina's kids...Caleb, Anna & Addison. 

Ga-Ga also bought the kids their Easter clothes. They all looked so nice! 

Snugly little boy!

These kids seriously did not eat one good thing all day! 

They were pretty strung out on sugar! 

Ella in her cool shades from Ga-Ga. 

Jack & Caleb in their Spiderman shades! 

This guy loves his "chocat"! 

Aunt Stephie got all the kids a shirt with their favorite character on it. Owen isn't really into characters...he's so hard to shop for. They got him Planes and he was very happy! 

Can you tell this guy likes Spiderman? He is a seriously cool dude! 

Zeke of course got a McQueen shirt! He had to wear it that day too! 

Ella chomping on her Reese's carrot! 

Zeke said, "Eeeee" over and over again. He was quite a ham that day! 

Since it had poured down rain the day before Ga-Ga & Pa's backyard was a swamp so we decided to do the egg hunt in the front yard this year. It wasn't bad at all! 

I told Ga-Ga about the color coded egg thing so all the kids got their own color which made it so much easier. Zeke's color was light blue. 

Owen got the orange eggs. 

Jack got to hunt for the dark blue eggs. 

One of the nice things about having each kid look for a specific color it meant we could hide the older kids eggs harder. 

Owen was having a hard time finding his egg in this bush. 

But with a little help he finally saw it! 

Ella of course got to search for the pink eggs! 

All the kids had 6 eggs to find and they were all found in about 4 minutes! 

The weather was so nice in fact a little too bright! 

Zeke only managed to stay in one group picture...he couldn't take it anymore. All the kids had a great time! 

Bowling!

The Friday after spring break the kids didn't have to go to school because of student led conferences so Michael took the day off so we could have another family fun day. The week before we went to Owen Beach and this time we took the kids bowling. I had bought a Groupon for a bowling alley in Tacoma a few months before that for 4 people to bowl one game and it included the shoes for only $14! We did have to play for one more game and one more pair of shoes so I could bowl, but that was only $6. Family fun day for only $20...not bad! 

This particular alley had been remodeled all except the first 8 lanes. They left those ones older I'm thinking for families with kids. That way the newer ones don't get wrecked! 

Ella Bean wanted to wear her dress that matches her baby doll Lucy. She was quite fancy for a day of bowling!

At first the kids didn't want to use the ramp, but then they thought better! 

I had to get some selfies with my loves! 

I never really thought that Owen looked like me, but I see some similarities here....maybe it's the glasses! 

Pretty girl! 

This guy could barely hold still! 

Michael had a good game...he got 3 strikes! 

Ella was being silly and sitting in this bowling ball holder. She also had a great game...in fact she beat me by 2 points! 

In the end the order was Michael, Ella, Me, Owen and Jack! It was fun! Afterwards we took the kids out to eat at MCD's with a playplace. When we got there Jack yelled....THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!!!! 

Japanese Maple!

For years Michael and I have wanted a Japanese Maple for our yard. It's funny because almost every other yard in our neighborhood has one so I thought it was funny we didn't. We had always heard that Japanese Maples were quite expensive so we were surprised when we visited Carpinito Brothers last week and they were on sale for $45! The normal price was only $55 which was wasn't bad either. We also picked up a few other plants and seeds for the yard/garden. It seems like every time we go there we end up staying until they are closing the doors. 

They had Japanese Maples that were all different sizes and were the same price, but we wanted a smaller one. We didn't really think about the fact that we'd had to get it home in the van. It was a tight squeeze and Ella ended up having to sit in the back with the boys in Logan's car seat....but we did get it to fit. 

Here's the view Michael had of Zeke. The last little push to get the tree in the van resulted in a branch flinging into the van, splashing water all over my face and freaking Zeke out. He was screaming his head off. Poor guy! 

Here was my view of the kids. I couldn't even see Owen! 

The next morning Michael got out and started digging where we wanted it to go. This garden bed hasn't looked very nice for years....ever since a bad ice storm we had broke the three trees that were there. Then finally last year we got around to ripping the tree trunks out with the help of our neighbor Lance and his truck. 

We had planted a few bulbs so those have looked night, but it wasn't substantial enough for that big of a bed. 

I think the Japanese Maple looks so nice! A couple days after I took this picture Michael planted some more bulbs and an azalea in the front closer to the street. We also planted a bunch of bulbs in the front yard inside the gate. Of course there are no pictures of those yet! I can't wait to see how pretty all the colors will be in the yard.

In the back yard we planted two more azaleas and Michael split one of the yukas (sp) we have. 

We also moved a blueberry bush we had up in the garden on the easement to this bed. It was just too hot up against the siding on that side of the house. The berries would just dry up! I'm hoping it will do better here, but it is a bit shady so we'll see. I also put one of my zucchini plants under here since they came in a pack of 3. I only wanted two anyway so I figure if this one doesn't produce a lot that's fine. 

In my big garden bed in the yard we planted the two big blueberry bushes I bought at Costco. I LOVE blueberries! Next to them we planted our two tomato plants and then the other two zucchini plants. 

When it came time to plant the seeds Owen couldn't wait to help me. We planted two kinds of lettuce in front of the blueberry bushes and the at the end of the garden bed we planted 4 rows of carrots and then 2 rows of beets. I've never grown beets so I hope they turn out good. I'm hoping to pickle them like my grandma used to. They were the best! I really want to get into canning things more so our garden will actually provide for us all throughout the year. I'm going to look up some tomato sauce recipes and I'm going to freeze some of our berries if I can keep the kids from eating them all first. The only other thing I really want for our yard is an apricot tree...yummy! When we get that we are going to plant it down by the fence in the backyard so the fruit that does drop won't fall on the yard and make it all yucky. I would like a plum tree to make jam, but our neighbor has one and he usually gives us a big bag at least once during the year. 

Kissing Game!

Last year Ga-Ga & Pa starting coming up on Monday nights so Michael and I could go to our Community Group. Then earlier this year our Community Group moved to meeting on Sunday nights instead. Since the kids were used to seeing Ga-Ga & Pa we asked if they would still like to come up and have family night with us every other Monday. Of course they said yes! Of course we also included Uncle Ry & Aunt Stephie...AKA "TT" to Zeke. I think we've had 3 family nights so far and it's been so nice. I love that the kids are getting to see their Auntie and Uncle more and we are too! 

Last Monday the adults were sitting around the dining room table chatting and Zeke decided to play with a mini water bottle. 

At first he was just rolling it a little ways from him and then grabbing it. But then he rolled it too hard or Aunt Stephie grabbed it....I'm not sure which one. 

Zeke got up on the table to retrieve it. This is when I said....yep the fourth child gets to climb on the table. Us babies of the family get away with everything! When he went to grab for the bottle Auntie said..."Kiss!" 

And he kissed her! Auntie is always trying to get Zeke to kiss her and he finally did. It was so sweet! 

He played with the bottle a bit in the middle of the table. 

I think Ga-Ga was trying to snag it from him here. That look is so mischievous! 

Then it was back to the game. Roll water bottle...climb on the table...

and give kisses! 

The funniest part of the evening was when Steph found out that Zeke has had a runny nose. She was thinking...great now I'm gonna get a cold! The next time Zeke came over to get the bottle she tried to turn her head so he would kiss her on the cheek. Instead Zeke just chased her lips. He moved to the left then she switched cheeks and he followed her. It was back and forth, back and forth until she finally kissed him on the lips! He's tenacious that one!