Hoppy Easter...

Our Easter celebration included sunshine, smiles and sweaty kids! We took advantage of a free weekend filled with sunshine and spent many needed hours in the yard. We prepped the garden for another season of barely-producing-veggies, cleared out flower beds and even attempted to move a few bushes to a new home with our fingers crossed that they don't die in the process. I have zero pictures to prove any of this happen which is proof of time well spent together. 

Once we cleaned all that dirt from our nails and wiped off our grass stained knees, we headed to the backyard to dye some eggs. I tried to literally be Martha Stewart after seeing a video that used food coloring and shaving cream instead of the traditional method of dropping that famous color tab into vinegar and water. 

We were not at all convinced that this was going to work. Dye was all over our hands and a little on Gigi's clothes and the eggs looked more like a giant mess than a masterpiece. 

The eggs actually turned out pretty awesome and we loved it so much we've already decided we are going to try it again next year with a few modifications. ;) 

That evening we headed to Easter Vigil mass which meant that we were going to be up well past anyone's bedtime... 

but it also meant that we got to sleeping in a little later, too!

They were super excited to see that the Easter Bunny pulled through and made an awesome delivery of goodies that included a sensible amount of candy (ha!), bathing suits, flip flops, bubbles, a movie and this book. 

We had a few friends over for lunch and an egg hunt... and well, Radley was clearly outnumbered by the afternoon... 

I'm pretty sure we hid 200 eggs ... I'm less sure that they found them all. 

Hope that you were surrounded by ones you love and that your Easter filled with time to be grateful for grace.

Surf and Turf-ey Day...

We made the executive decision to have a low-key Thanksgiving this year... and it may have been the smartest thing I've ever done in the history of ever. 

On Wednesday the kids and I made all of the desserts which consisted of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, cool whip pie and this delicious pumpkin dump cake. 

Instead of making a ton of food that we wouldn't be able to eat, we decided on steaks and salmon and our favorite sides which left us lots of time for eating those cookies... 

practicing music... 

and enjoying the perfect fall day.

The day was simple and filled with a whole lot of nothing special...

which usually makes the event that much more spectacular. 

A day to spent with this crew is worthy of all my thanks each and every day!

Fun on the 4th of July...

We headed north to celebrate July 4th this year - we trade back and forth between hosting and attending and since we hadn't seen Pops post surgery we allllll wanted to go to Waco. (Plus Gigi makes the best beans and potato salad around.) I was in charge of ZERO things which was also awesome. Landry did help me prep my world famous BBQ bread though - I seriously probably ate an entire loaf by myself. 

But that's okay because I also prepared a Whole30 potato salad myself and let me tell you - THIS WAS THE MOST AMAZING SIDE EVER. Like for reals. I had brainstormed this recipe in my head but once we all tasted it, I was immediately convinced that I should have my own show on the Food Network.

Clearly we can't have a holiday without taking 1 or 183 pictures. So after lunch, I hauled them out under the pecan tree to snap just a few photos... 

The girls would officially like to announce their candidacy - Emmy and Landry 2052!

Isn't it funny how you can tell that your children are fake smiling? That is not Rad's real smile at all - it's cute and makes a great picture, but I ain't falling for it, buddy!

And then we went full on photo shoot... 

he wasn't as amused... 

and she doesn't really love to share the spotlight.

Can you tell?

We5Kings love a good color coordination. 

The entertainment for the day was a combination of watching a Momma bird bring food to her babies and these lizards. I think they must have had 103 in their yard (or the same two just kept running around). At one point this GINORMOUS lizard was RUNNING on his hind legs through their yard. It was crazy and also awesome. 

Pops is doing great and has his follow-up appointment tomorrow! Will update as soon as we hear from the doctor. And yes, he missed the RWB memo but feels that LSU gear is appropriate for any occasion. 

We stopped by Jenni's for a while so the kids could play and swim and fill themselves with more sugar. I love these gals - leaving home gets harder and harder when I see my kids love to play with their kids. 

I mean, talk about red, white and CUTE!

We couldn't pass up the chance to snap a picture with this amazing mural in Calvert.

And Rad even managed to snag a good one of me and Ryan.

We made it home in time to put leftovers in the fridge, go potty and fill the cooler for the fireworks show before going to meet Holly and Shelly's crews. I don't know why but for some reason I wanted to wear my overalls. Y'all - these things go back 20+ years. 

And I'm clearly still rocking them!!

HAHAHA

(They are so much more snug than I remember.)

#morepotatosaladplease #andthebread

We surely had a fourth to remember. God Bless!

Home of the brave...

I love the 4th of July.

I love the food. 

I love the parades.

I clearly love the coordinated outfits.

I love that no matter where you are, we all celebrate. 

I love that the day is about being grateful.

I love that there is zero pressure.

I love the smell. 

The sights.

The sounds.

I love the people I celebrate with.

And I'm full of thanks for the men and women that allow us to celebrate. 

Happy Fourth of July!

Easter Blessings...

Sometimes you just want to go home - Easter has become that holiday for us. The kids and I headed to Waco on Friday afternoon for a whirlwind tour of the mall, HEB and hanging out at Gigi and Pops. Jenni came over on Saturday to take me to a fabulous flea market while the kids drove Pops and Gigi crazy spent quality time with the grands.  As soon as we got back, we had a request for the first confetti egg fight of the weekend.

A. I'm not sure who told them they could grow up so much. Karli will be TEN in May. TEN. 

B. He is so excited about the 1/2 inch he currently has on her.

C. Frousins are the best kind of relatives.

 We parted ways Saturday at lunch - the girls hit up Schmaltz and Target while the boys played four holes of golf. When we all got settled back at the house, it was time to dye some eggs.

The girls kept throwing their eggs in a cup and then would run off to practice their gymnastics/dare devil skills. They have learned how to climb to the top bar, hang do a flip and then let go. I am equally proud and terrified.

Ghosts of Easters past live in that ziplock baggie.

He hates it when I take random pictures of his face. But I want to remember every tiny detail... like that barely there scar that remains from when he fell and scraped his cheek on a door frame, his shaggy hair, those long eyelashes, and brown eyes that make me feel like I'm looking in a mirror. 

I look at him and try to imagine for just one second what the sacrifice God made for us feels like. I can't emotionally or physically take the pain - I can't even fathom what He must have felt knowing that His son was born to die. A painful death to save a bunch of sinners. That would just keep sinning. I look at him and see grace. 

We all voted that this year was the best our eggs have ever looked. Emmy's "King family" egg got voted best in show with it's rainbow hombre effect.

;) 

Mom pulled out this darling old table cloth and we both voted that it would make the perfect backdrop for a newborn Easter baby - we also voted that someone else would need to provide said baby.

Early bedtimes on Saturday for some early risers on Sunday! 

Ol EB did not disappoint with swimsuits all around!

Emersyn had an especially hard time decided between two bathing suits this year - but EB (ehm, GiGi) came through and got them their next favorite).

The girls also got matching pjs with their American Girls and Rad lucked up with this awesome game - I may do an entire post on how much fun we had making things up for it!

They all hurried and got dressed so they could find all the treasures that EB had left in the backyard, too!

What do you know... the Tooth Fairy celebrates Easter, too!

I need to confess - I didn't buy the girls new Easter dresses... I KNOW! I love these so much from last summer that I took all the risks and did a repeat. We survived.

Also. I wore pants.

You'd think that was all the fun we can handle for one weekend, but Gigi and Pops had one more surprise left. We stayed up late filling plastic eggs with coins. Each kid got to hunt for an egg of each color/type (I'm not sure why we never thought of this before). 

We had so much fun watching them and instead of fighting over eggs they helped each other find colors. Major wins all around!

Landry even made time to stop and pick some flowers.

Hope you all had a blessed Easter weekend. He is Risen and we are free!