Spring is in the air!

My kids and I went to a local garden with some friends to celebrate the beautiful weather and TULIPS! I LOVE tulips! It was so gorgeous, and the kids had so much fun! It makes me so excited for this summer, although I may not have enough energy to continue these adventures, the further along I get in this pregnancy. :D We'll see. Either way, I really enjoyed spending the day with my kiddies and catching up with my friends. I can't wait to go back!



My little cuties






One of the adorable little girls we went with.


Cody got pretty soaked at this little fountain. But it was really hot, so he was happy. :)


Samantha was a little more timid about it.


But she eventually worked up the nerve. When she did this, she splashed herself a little bit and walked away like she was angry at the fountain. It was pretty funny.

What a fun Easter!

We had such a fun Easter this year. It really helped that the weather was so nice. I love this time of year but really hate that we don't see much of Steven, so Fall is definitely my favorite. But there is definitely something to be said about Spring. It's such a refreshing time of year! I just love it! And Easter really makes it all that much more exciting. Anyway, that being said, here are some fun pictures from all the fun events surrounding Easter.



My brother and his wife put together a little easter egg coloring activity with the kids and I'm so glad they did. I really don't think I would've done it otherwise, but it was so fun to see the kids, Cody especially, decorate eggs and have a lot of fun. So, thank you Jake and Rachel



Uncle Jake helping Cody pick out stickers to put on his Easter Eggs.



The kids and I went to a local Easter celebration, and it was so much fun! They had bounce houses...


cute games with prizes for the little ones, like ring toss...


a couple different train rides the kids just loved, and so much more. They also had an easter egg hunt. The kids really seemed to have a lot of fun. I look forward to doing it next year too.

The Easter Baskets!



Easter Day!



Waiting for the hunt to begin!




The Hunt!



The Catch!



Grandma helping Sammy ride a scooter for the first time.


One thing I really like to do for Easter is to instill in Cody's mind the real reason we celebrate it. Well, I was in Walmart a few days before Easter and saw this cartoon called "He Is Risen". It was such a good way to show Cody the true reason we have Easter because he absolutely LOVES it. I was very excited about that! Now every time I ask him why we celebrate Easter he tells me it's because Jesus came back to life, and we can too some day. It's a beautiful thing to hear your child say that, even if he doesn't totally comprehend it quite yet. :)

The Karate Kid!

Cody started Karate last August and is absolutely loving it! He's getting better and better too. It's so fun to see him earn his new belts. Here are a few pictures. I tried uploading a couple videos, but couldn't get it to work. :( Oh well. Such a little cutie!!

Samantha's 1st Birthday Party

Well, this is 4 months late, but I've had a lot going on in the last 4 months, so better late than never I guess. :)
















The birthday banner. Didn't quite turn out how I wanted it to, since you can barely read the words, but it works I guess.















My pride and joy...the cake that I lost a lot of sleep over since I've never even attempted to work with fondant or gumpaste before in my life. Turned out to be A LOT easier than I thought it would be. :D



































Samantha's personal mini cake.










































Yummy mini macaroons!





















The favor boxes were filled with yummy strawberry yogurt covered pretzels.




































































I had a picture from each month of Samantha's first year lining the walkway to the house.










































I had pictures of Samantha all over the house.














She did NOT like that hat!































































This was as messy as she got. Didn't want much to do with her cake. She hates getting messy.














In contrast, this is what Cody looked like after he was done with his 1st b-day cake. Ha ha!

















































And...the photo props!










































































































































































































Well, it was a lot of fun to throw this party. It was A LOT of work, but so worth it. I also put together a time capsule for her to open on her 18th birthday. Everybody brought such great things for that. It will be a lot of fun to see in 17 years. Thanks again to everyone who came and helped me so much with this party and all the gifts brought for Samantha! We really appreciate it!!