We Got Egged!

Today we got egged by our sweet neighbors, Jolea and Jacob.  When we opened our front door, we discovered this note:

It said: "You've been egged!  The Irvin family hid 12 eggs in your yard.  Enjoy the hunt but don't be discouraged when you find an empty egg.  It's a simple reminder of Jesus' empty tomb.  For He Is Risen!"

The kids loved racing around the yard trying to find the 12 eggs.  Each kid got to find two eggs and Ryan was the lucky one who found the empty egg!

We are so blessed to have such wonderful neighbors!  What a fun way to be reminded of what Jesus did for us this Easter weekend!

Tinley's Birthday Party/Easter Egg Hunt

Today we got to help Miss Tinley celebrate her first birthday with an Easter egg hunt and a cookout.  I have know Tinley's mom, Tara, since she was 4 years old and it has been so fun to watch her grow up and become a mom herself.  Tinley and her parents live on a huge ranch with a big pavilion that was perfect for a birthday party. 

 

We started the party with a HUGE Easter egg hunt for all of the kids.  I had told Parker on the way to the party that he needed to find a few eggs and then help the younger kids find the rest but there were so many eggs that they were all able to fill up their baskets! 

The kids even cooperated and let us take a few group pictures!

After opening all of the eggs, we enjoyed a hot dog lunch complete with yummy birthday cupcakes.

The kids all had a great time helping Tinley celebrate her birthday today!  We hope she felt very loved on her special day!

Thursday School Easter Egg Hunt

Eden and Lily had their Easter egg hunts at Thursday School today. I love having three kids but there are times when it's hard to be two places at once.  I tried to make it to see both of them hunt their eggs and ended up missing both.  While I was checking in on Lily's party, Eden's class started their hunt and when I got back, this is what I saw: 

I was finally able to calm her down enough to get her to open her eggs (that I had "hunted" for!).

Next, while I got Eden started eating her party treats and headed over to see Lily hunt her eggs.

But I was too late and missed it all!  Instead I watched her eat her party treats before loading everything up and heading home. 

Things did not turn out as I had planned but the girls seemed to have fun, even with the tears! I hope all of the other hunts we have planned this weekend go better than this one!

Sunshine Preschool Easter Egg Hunt

Today Eden had her Easter egg hunt with her friends at Sunshine Preschool.  She was so excited about the hunt but got a little nervous when it was time to start.  After holding my hand and finding her first egg, she regained her confidence and was off!  She found the rest of her eggs on her own and even helped her friend Zoe find a few too!  It was a fun way to start all of our Easter celebrations!

Let's Go Rangers

Today we enjoyed our first Rangers game of the season.  We had four tickets and couldn't decide if we wanted to take Eden this year.  Last year, she lost interest easily and became a little high maintenance during the games but she kept promising us that she would not complain if we let her go.  I thought I had convinced her to stay home and play with her cousins but at the last minute she told me, "Mom, there are four tickets and I'm going!".  Needless to say, we took her and she did great! 

We were worried that the game was going to be cancelled due to rain and possible hailstorms/tornadoes, but just as the game started, the rain stopped, the skies cleared and the sun came out.  The weather ended up being perfect during the entire game. 

 

The kids were even a little bit cold at the beginning of the game.

But they quickly forgot about being cold once the nachos and cotton candy was served!

After the game, we stayed for the Mercy Me concert that was held on the field.  We were able to move down and get front row seats for the concert.  Parker's good friend, Cullen, and his family were also at the game so we saved them seats and were able to enjoy the concert with them!

At one point during the concert, they came around with the TV camera and we ended up on the Jumbotron.  Parker thought that was pretty cool!

It was a great day spending time together as a family and I look forward to Lily being old enough to get to come with us next year. 

March Recap/Photo Dump

March was a busy but fun month!  With Aunt MerMer's wedding, spring break, and the start of baseball season, it seemed like we were constantly on the go.  I posted about all of the big things that we did during the month, but still had a few things that didn't make it in that I want to remember.

 

The girls had pictures taken at Thursday School this month and I'm happy to report that they made it through with no tears!  I was so pleased at how they turned out and love those sweet smiles so much! 

Baseball season started again and Parker is loving it!  He is on a team with several of his former teammates/friends and is enjoying playing pitcher.  During the second game of the season, he made his first home run AND his first strike out.  Luckily, he's played long enough that getting out doesn't send him into a meltdown like it used to do when he first started playing.

 Lily and Ryan are two of his biggest fans! 

Parker continues to love reading and earned enough points to attend the AR reward trip to Flight Deck Trampoline Park.  He had a blast and can't wait to go back again one day soon!

Parker's class ended their unit on Texas by having Western Day.  They ate chips & salsa (which are some of his all time favorites) and Mrs. Brightwell even got him to try some chili that she made.

Eden had a playdate with a friend from preschool last week, so I got to enjoy lunch alone with this cutie.  She picked "Old McDonalds", which is not my favorite, but I loved getting to have some one on one time with her.

A couple of weeks ago, we drove out to Emily and Jon's land to see the progress of their new house.  We decided to cook out with their new neighbors and let the kids play.  Their favorite thing that night was the dirt pile the workers had made after digging the septic system hole.  It's a good thing it was bath night because they were covered in dirt from head to toe by the time we left to go home!

We went to a local craft fair and I splurged and let the kids get their faces painted.  Lily refused to participate but Eden chose a butterfly and Parker chose Spider-Man.  They also got to jump in the bounce houses while I shopped which they loved!

It's hard to believe that we are already a week into April.  Summer will be here before we know it!

Butterflies

For Christmas, Emily, Jon and the kids gave us a butterfly kit.  It came with a certificate that you could send in to get five caterpillars.  I decided that spring break would be a fun time to start this little adventure since we would all be home to watch and observe our caterpillars change into butterflies. 

 

Our caterpillars arrived at the beginning of the week and the kids could not stop watching them.  It was hard for them to understand why it took longer than a day for them to change into butterflies. 

After about a week of watching them get fatter and fatter, they finally started making their chrysalises.  We moved them out of the cup and into their habitat and again started watching and waiting.  This was definitely a good lesson in learning how to be patient! 

Finally, one day when we got home from school, we had our first butterfly!  Over the next several days, we watched as all 5 butterflies emerged from their chrysalises.  The kids loved taking turns giving them fresh oranges and watermelon to eat.

After watching them fly around their habitat for a few days, we finally decided to let them go this past Saturday.  We invited Addison, Aubrey, Ryan and our neighbor Jolea over to help us with the release. 

It took the butterflies a few minutes, but they finally flew away.  The kids were excited and sad all at the same time!  They chased them around the yard for a while and were even able to catch a few of them before letting them go forever. 

If you have never done this with your kids, I would highly recommend it.  Parker, Eden and Lily learned so much by watching the life cycle process and now every time we see a Monarch butterfly, they wonder if perhaps it is one of the ones that we let go!