Easter Egg Hunt and Assorted Saturday Stuff

Colin attended his first Easter egg hunt this morning! Our town sponsored a big hunt at one of the city parks and it was adorable. Ellen and Aubrey joined us and we all had so much fun. The hunts were sectioned off by age group and it was mass hysteria. Colin's group went first, which was 0-3 years. For that group, one parent got to walk with each child...which ended up making it really crazy. The eggs were gone in a matter of seconds and Colin only got one little piece of candy. It did not bother him, but he did seem to wonder what we were all doing walking up the side of a hill holding baskets. We were at the back, so the eggs were snatched up before Colin even touched the field. It was still a blast despite the hunting debacle. :-) There was a bounce house, Smokey the Bear and the Easter Bunny, lots of booths with goodies for the kiddos, and two big parks to play at. The event was also sponsored by a tree farm who handed out free baby trees. I thought that was SO neat and we managed to get one before they were all gone. The only drawback to the morning was when Colin tried to get in the bounce house. He was holding two handfuls of prizes that he could not take in with him and he very literally flipped out when I took them away. Gotta love those meltdowns! I sat down with Colin to calm him down and put his shoes back on when a gentlemen walked up to ask where we got our tree. We told him that they were all gone and then from behind me I heard a voice say, "Chalna?". It was Dana's friend Melody! She and her son Luke were the ones we met during our special playdate with Dana and Gabby a couple of weeks ago. Her husband just happened to ask us about the tree. Such a small world! I have already decided to harass Dana into giving me all of her info so that we can schedule another playdate. Sorry Dana, I think I am stealing your friend. hehehe!

I had one of my introspective moments today during the event. The mayor was there and as he was opening the festivities it hit me that I now consider this place my home. We have lived here 4 years next month and I finally feel like this is my "base" and where I am from. I feel apart of the community and I have a vested interest in what happens here. It was such a sweet event and I was proud to be a member of such a great community. I found myself picturing Colin in that same park over the next few years, hunting eggs in each different age group and I finally realized that I am home here and our roots are settled. I love that!


Afterwards we headed over to our favorite Mexican place for breakfast and back to the house for a pit stop. I felt bad that Colin missed out on the eggs, so I scattered plastic eggs around the backyard and he had a blast picking them all up and putting them in his basket. It was adorable! Colin was too keyed up to nap and we packed up for a trip to Toys R Us. We finally purchased a toddler picnic table and climber slide for the backyard. On the way home we got Sonic for a late lunch and took it to the park to eat and play. Jer put the new goodies together in the yard when we got home and Colin was beside himself with joy! He LOVES IT!!! We played until dinner time and even then I had to drag the little man inside. What a GREAT day!!

Here are some of our pictures from this morning. This is our little family shot taken at the park.




Colin hunting eggs in our backyard.


Waiting patiently with Daddy for the hunt to start. I really wish that horrible shirt was NOT in the background. ;-)

Ellen, Aubrey (under her arm) Colin and I grabbing loot from a treasure chest. They LOVED this part!

Aubrey and Colin grabbing goodies!

Bluebonnet Photo Shoot 2009

Today was our second annual bluebonnet photo shoot! It is a Texas tradition to take pictures of the little ones in a fresh field of bluebonnets (our state flower for those readers who are wondering why I dedicated a post to this!) and today was our big day. We went to the same field that we used last year which is just about 10 minutes from the house located on an access road off the highway. I had been waiting because the field was a little sparse as compared to last year, but I think the cold snap we had earlier kept the blooms light. I realized that the season is almost over and decided to take care of it before we missed our opportunity. I made my mind up that today was the day, but it was certainly not the best choice! The winds today were gusting at 49 mph!! It was insane! It was bright and sunny, but the wind was serious. Colin thought the wind was odd and he kept giving me faces like, "What are we doing here??". I took 40 pictures and most of them were of Colin running away from me in glee. I asked...er...pleaded with Colin to sit down for a few shots but the answer to that was a resounding NO. I still managed to take some adorable ones and I am so glad!! I hope to have a whole series of frames of my children in the bluebonnets every year. They will probably be embarrassed, but I will LOVE IT. :-) To see how much my little man has grown, check out last year's shoot!

Here is my normal view point. Running AWAY. :-)



This one is easily my favorite of the day and will be framed for sure. I think he looks like a little angel!



There was a LOT to look at!

Hey Mama!!! Look over THERE!!! (this is when I would have to take off running since he was heading to traffic!)

This is right when we got there. Colin was all about checking out the field. He could care less that I was trying to take pictures! Occasionally he would yell, "CHEESE!!", but it was when he was running away at the same time. Nice moves. ;-)

The day was good all the way around. Jer, being the scientist that he is, found out the space station was going to be visible in our night sky tonight and he even did the work to tell us the exact time and he took me out into the backyard to show me exactly where it would come from, the exact path it would take and when it would disappear. That man is a lot smarter than me. Anyway...it was SO COOL! We stood outside together and watched it trace across the sky...it felt so strange to know they are up there working in space and I am standing in my aggie pj's in my suburban backyard watching them. Having an aeronautical man living in your house has definite advantages. :) I love you, Jer!!

HAIL!

We had a storm last night that was absolute insanity. I quickly realized at around 10:30pm last night that I had never been in a serious hail storm...until that moment. The thunderstorm kicked in right as we were heading to bed at 10pm. We did not give it a second thought at first...but then the hail started. They were golf ball and SOFTBALL sized!!! It honestly sounded like we were being bombed. I have never heard anything so scary in my life! It was so insane that Jer and I looked at each other and literally took off running for Colin's room. I was in a complete panic. It sounded so horrible that I thought he was going to be scarred for life. Okay, so I am being slightly melodramatic. It WAS insane, though. Colin stirred, but quickly put himself back to sleep. Luckily it was over rather quickly, but it left a lot of damage in our neighborhood. Jer and I keep both of our cars in the garage and it was quite obvious this morning who does not. There are car windows out all over the neighborhood as well as a lot of roof damage. Our roof looks okay, thank goodness! Our grill took a major beating; both side tables got shattered (!) and we had to pick up the remains of it this morning. I am very thankful that the grill seems to be our only loss from the storm.


Colin has not taken a nap or gone to bed without a fight since Jer got home. He even woke up last night at 2:00am needing to be rocked, which has not happened in months and months. It seems that he is afraid that Jer is going to leave again. Poor baby!!! He gets very upset and reaches for Jer every single time we move to put him to bed. It is breaking Jer's heart a bit, but I think he should shake it off soon.


Here is the adorable Colin shot of the day...Jer was using the Swiffer and Colin decided to "help". Precious little boy!!

A Day of Daddy!

Colin is one happy little man today! We had a great day home with Jer that included a fun trip to Going Bonkers, lunch at Wendy's (Colin's all time favorite nuggets), zero nap (too excited) and lots of play at home. Jer has been carrying Colin around on his shoulders and he thinks it is the best thing ever. I got the adorable pictures below...I adore the action shot where Colin is gleefully beating Jer upside the head. The last one is the look on Colin's face when Jer told him to stop hitting him or get down. Hilarious and priceless! ;-) I love my boys!!

DADDY IS HOME!!!

OH HAPPY DAY!!! Jer made it home yesterday morning and we are one big happy family again!! It feels wonderful to have him home and know that we are done with this winter of being split up. Colin was so excited to see Jer and he smiled from ear to ear when we found him at baggage claim. We headed over to Cristina's for lunch on the way home and then got settled in back at the house. The weather finally turned sunny and warm again, so we spent the remainder of the day outside. Jer got a taste of Colin's new love of being in the backyard, so we decided to head over to the neighborhood park for a bit. Colin was full of energy and thrilled to be playing with his Daddy for a change! After a very busy afternoon of serious play, we headed home for dinner and bath time. It feels amazing to have my husband back!! Colin slept late this morning in a happy peaceful slumber and all feels right with the world. Jer is already at Home Depot this morning...he jumped up first thing to start taking care of all his spring "honey-do" projects. I could see him chomping at the bit yesterday, noting all the things he needed to do. One of Jer's best traits is his almost OCD like need to have everything fixed. :-) He already fertilized the lawn last night! He is the best husband in the world.


Here are a few pictures from the park yesterday. We stuck close to home going to the one in our neighborhood.