Easter 2018

Easter weekend started on Thursday for this crew... we headed to Cullman to visit with my family to celebrate Easter!

While there, we visited The Dutch Oven Bakery near my parent's house. 

It's Ahhhmazing.

We bought a lot or goodies, and Nanna bought fresh meats and cheeses for lunch! It made the most delicious sandwiches!

 Also (in a shortened version of the story)... the kids fell in love with some chicks and brought them home. :)

Burke named his "Cheep," and Hylan Marie named hers "Sophie," but since then has changed the name various times. :) We will see what sticks.

We also got to hang with Claire for the day! She is at the super fun baby stage! 6 months old is so so sweet!

Grandpa had lunch with us!

The chicks were played with non-stop.

The new "pets" had no idea what kind of wild ride they were in store for. Bless.

When we got home with our 2$ chicks (and 40$ brooder supplies), Ryan constructed a magnificent set-up for the baby birds. :)

Ryan is holding HM's face because she wouldn't stop pouting. She wanted to keep the chicks out to play well beyond bedtime. 

By Saturday, we were home and attending our church Easter egg hunt.

We returned home to ... you guessed it... play with the chicks. :)

Easter Sunday!

 I had set my alarm for 5:15, to take an early Easter morning walk, but guess who came into our room at 4:45, WIDE AWAKE. Burke Thomas.
He was completely convinced that he had seen the Easter bunny, and his two helpers (???). One is grey and the other black, incase your were wondering. I'm not sure if he was dreaming or seeing things, but he was so wound up it took him 30 minutes to stop talking about it and go back to sleep.

When everyone was up, we read out of Burke's new bible (a gift to B from us since he has started reading!) Mark's account of the Resurrection, and then went on our annual basket hunt the bunny sends us on!

I am so in love with sister's dress. I can't wait to pass it on to her if she has a little girl one day!

After an amazing church service celebrating our risen Savior, we headed to the lake!

Where the kids had a ball dying, playing all.the.games., and finding eggs.

We watched the sun go down on this beautiful Easter Sunday.

It was perfect.

I am so thankful Christ gave himself for me and for you!

Because he lives, all fear is gone!!!!

What's in your basket?

Ok, so my very favorite holiday is upon us.... EASTER! This season means everything to us! Our family looks forward to celebrating the our risen Savior everyday, but on this particular Sunday, we come together to celebrate the day the stone was rolled away and Jesus was not dead, but more alive than ever! Finally, a king had come to erase all the pain, suffering, and hard ships of this world! Now we can look past death, knowing that he paid His life for all our sins just so that each one of us can be forgiven and live forever in Glory! (Can I get an "amen?"!)

We start Easter morning with the kids excitement over finding their easter basket and the Easter story. We started a little scavenger hunt two years ago, and now Burke has already started talking to it to Hylan Marie. hahaha

So I guess it's officially a tradition! You can see a post about last year's Easter, HERE.

For Easter baskets, I try to keep it simple... something fun, something useful, and I try to put things in their basket that point to the REAL reason Easter is celebrated. And of course, a chocolate bunny or two will always make the basket. (And Sweet-tart Jellybeans... because... BEST. CANDY. EVER.)

Here are a few Easter basket stuffers that mine have either gotten or will be getting this year... and from Amazon. You're welcome. ;)

1) Fruit of the Spirit Plates

They got two last year, and we will be adding two more to the collection this year!

They have all the fruits of the spirit plus some other precious ones for birthday's etc. I love them because they have an image and one of the fruits of the spirit listed on each plate... which leads to great conversation! Our leprechaun even left one this year (because when momma saw it had a rainbow, she couldn't pass it up. :)

2) Movies!

Last year, we added Trolls to our collection. This year, I'm thinking the sweet Peter Rabbit movie or Ferdinand.

3) Books!

Hylan Marie is in love with David Shannon's, No David! So this follow-up to that story is on our way to the house as I type. :)

Burke is getting a REAL Bible this year! I'm really excited about giving this to him... so I don't know if I'm going to let the Easter bunny do this giving. :) I think it would be more appropriate for Ryan and I to share this with him on Easter morning. Never, the less, this is the one I choose after reading lots of reviews. I think he will find the pops of color within the black, white (and red :), to help keep him from getting overwhelmed at the amount of text at this point in his reading ability.

4) And these little things...

We use them almost daily at our table. Sometimes it's in the morning, and sometimes its at dinner, and I can't say enough good things about them! I will say some of the 3-minute devo book readings are a bit over Burke's head, so I choose wisely. I would LOVE more suggestions of kid friendly devotionals! Send them to me friends!

As for these flash cards by EeBoo... BOTH kids love them. I will share a video of them going through a few of them. It sets a great tone for thinking about others.

5) Magnatiles 

We have gotten many different versions of these through the years, and love every one of them! They keep my kids intrigued for longer than I could have imagined!

6) Maybe some new jammies from Kickee Pants, a special outfit or bonnet from TBBC, or some good ole character undies from Amazon will be good fillers if you're at a loss. :)

Don't worry... we only pick about two of these things to go into their baskets... it's not Christmas morning here... and pile some Robin Eggs and Peeps around it and call it a day. :)

I hope this helps anyone looking for some last minute meaningful stuffers, and would love to hear what's in your kid's baskets this year!

*I do get a small commission if you use a link to purchase... however this has never happened and I will believe it when I see it. hahaha!

Easter 2017 (warning... picture overload)

Easter is hands down my FAVORITE holiday.

From the meaning to the candy... it's the best.

This year, a few friends and I decided that we would make Easter morning a little less rushed by snapping some pictures on Good Friday at Pursell Farms (an absolute picturesque venue!) We are so fortunate to have a sweet friend that invited us onto their lovely homescape. 

So we dressed them up, and went to snapping...

Can you even?! All that heirloom lace in one picture is absolute perfection!

Left to right- Margo, Camille, Mary Grace, and Hylan Marie

The pictures of my kids turned out good.. but the pictures with their friends were even better! (You will totally see what I mean in a few.)

(SO CUTE! ^^^)

My fav of this five year old. #swoon

#thoseblueeyes

And the fav. of HM

Gabby and Burke look so stinkin sweet!

The last Peter Pan collar was right on the money. I will miss these days. So glad I have pictures!

THIS... just cracked me up! Happens every time I say "put your arm around your sister"... he definitely hears "put a choke hold on your sister."

After pictures, we headed home for lunch, a playdate with Candace and Jack, then naps... it was a full morning!

Sister slept so long that we were late for our friends egg hunt at the lake. But they had fun despite the fact they missed the main event! 

The next morning we headed out to our church Easter Egg Hunt! I got smooches from my girl before we left. (Please stay little forever!)

Right before he went in for the choke hold...

Side note... Burke cried upon me laying out this pink shirt for him to wear (I'm surprised it wasn't over the sun-sans). It's only the second time he's worn it (the first was on Valentines Day), and he really got on me then... however, it was my ONLY coordinating option (because I failed to pick up his BB polo from a boutique I had it shipped to.) They looked SO cute, but it will be the end for that light pink button down. My deal to him (and his daddy), was let me have this one last Easter to make my boy dress like a "little boy."

It sure was fun while it lasted. #Pleasecomebacktomejohnjohns

Secretly hoping my brother and his wife have a little boy so I can relive that stage again!

Sister really got into the egg hunting business. :)

It also helped that there was 786,937,019 eggs to choose from. ha!

When the Easter bunny came out she froze, and wanted nothing more than to go see it.

I think it's quite frightening, but she did not show any fear.

Burke loved him too!

Crazy kids! I would have run the other way!

Little did they know that it was Lilly Kate dressed up. :) Burke did see her hair poking out in the back and told me that THIS wasn't the real Easter bunny. That it was just someone dressed up. :)

Wonder where all my kids eggs are???

Told you there was a lot of eggs. I believe he dumped his basket three times. #thatsalotofcandy, #itsbeendonated

We had walked, and daddy proved to be quite the stroller pusher...

 The rest of the day was spent peeping and baking for Sunday, and a lot of quality family time.

We put out carrots for the Easter bunny, and sister decided she needed a snack. :)

Burke was not happy. Mommy and daddy were. (Who likes carrots at 9pm???)

The next morning, Burke woke up first and was itching to look for his basket. So I let him wake up sister. 

The Easter bunny leaves notes and candy around the house... in a scavenger hunt form, and eventually led them to "Coleman Park" (more on that later!)

I HEART EASTER BASKETS! 

Nothing super big, just always something biblical, fun gift (Burke got the movie Trolls), something silly (pooping bunny anyone?), candy, and something useful (bubbles/chalk/fun bath soaps, etc.)

Then breakfast was served... French toast!

Note... the plate! Each of them had one of them in their baskets. They are The Fruits of the Spirt plates... and we will be collecting all of them! (Link HERE). 

It brings up great conversations at the table... just by setting the table with them. Burke is constantly asking for his, and a reason to tell me how he has shown "gentleness." It provides a visual and conversation.

Once ready, and despite the fact we took pictures on Friday, I requested a family shot (I'm sure Ryan wasn't surprised.:). And I'm so glad we did. Everyone is looking and smiling!

After our beautiful church service, of celebrating our Savior, 

we headed to the lake for Easter lunch with Ryan's family. I so hate we can't be in two places at once! :( I so missed my family and hunting Easter eggs in the lawn of my grandma and grandpa Bartlett's house.

However, we got to spend it with these loved ones, and I'm so grateful.

Ree and Papa had an Easter scavenger hunt too! It eventually led them to the pier to their Easter presents... new fishing rods!

Boat rides were had.

And everyone slept well that night. :)

Thank you Lord for Easter Sunday. It is indeed the greatest gift! To celebrate our Risen Savior and what our unearthly future holds is a gift we can never earn, but by grace we can receive. 

Titus 2:11