Easter Weekend Recap...Finally

Hey friends and fam!  Happy twelve days after Easter!

We've been busy, busy, busy over here.  So much so that an Easter recap never came to fruition.  Actually, I've had this post mostly ready to go since early last week, but I was just too lazy tired to type words to put the finishing touches on this bad boy and hit "publish."

Better late than never, eh?

Let's rewind all the way back to three Wednesdays ago when we had to go and retake the kids' Easter pictures at our favorite photography studio.  The first session didn't exactly go as planned - lots of grumpy faces and jumping out of the set (mostly Henry).  Lucky for us the sweet owners set up a private time for the kiddos to give it another go.

So nice of them, right?!

The first session included a real bunny, as it does every year, but for the second time around they had the most adorable little ducklings on their set and oh-my-goodness... I soooo wanted to smuggle one out of there!

For the record, no smuggling of ducklings occurred.

Here are the kids right before we went inside for the professional pictures to be taken.

Oh and by the way, they did great!

Phew!

Let's jump over to Good Friday.

It was absolutely gorgeous outside, so much so that the kids asked to put on their swimsuits and for us to hook up the sprinkler.

Say what!?

Oh man, that warm Michigan weather felt awesome!

 

Look at my Hubby pulling weeds down by the lake - what a fella!

BTW, I was also working hard.  I was just taking a break for some photo ops.

Ahem...  ;)

Saturday we did more yard work and spring cleaning and at the eleventh hour, I mean I'm talking right before bedtime, we finally dyed our Easter eggs.

We usually don't wait so long to dye Easter eggs, but the weather was too beautiful to be inside.

But we did it!

Bam!

Henry was loving the fact that the egg dyeing kit also came with a marker.

Little man grabbed my phone and took some close-ups of his eggs.

For your viewing pleasure, I've included three of his masterpieces..............you're welcome.

After the obligatory dyeing-of-the-eggs, I cleaned up the kitchen and Jon gave the kids a quick bath.

Henry had a super loose tooth and he was certain his tooth was going to come out on Easter Eve!  He thought it'd be awesome for the Easter Bunny AND the Tooth Fairy to have to make appearances on the same night.

Unfortunately that tooth didn't wiggle itself out in time, but you know what - I don't think Henry even gave it a second thought come Easter morning.  In fact, that little man was so excited about the Easter Bunny that he quite literally bounced into our bed around 2:30 a.m. informing us that the Easter Bunny had been to our house!

We snuggled with him for a bit and then Jon carried him back to his bedroom...only to be jumped on again nice and early Sunday morning!

These kids were p-u-m-p-e-d for Easter morning!

The Easter Bunny left lots of Shopkins for Eliza, a Pokemon book and Legos for Henry.  The rest of their Easter baskets were filled with a little bit of candy, bubbles, a Curious George book, bunny ears and the movie, Moana.

We watched Moana that morning while the kids ate breakfast.  They then slowly turned into some sort of sugar zombies, especially the one with the pink bunny ears...

Terrifying, right?  ;) I kid, I kid.

Next up, Easter egg hunt...

Need I say more?

 

We had made reservations for an Easter brunch at one o'clock at one of our favorite restaurants about 40 minutes north of where we live.

We put on our Sunday best and out the door we went.

Here we are attempting a family photo with a lovely parking lot behind us.

We headed inside to wait for our turn to be seated.  I was about to take a picture of Jon and the kids when a woman told me to get in the picture, too.  I was thrilled.  I really wanted a decent family photo.

Welp, folks - this is the best we could do.  At least all of our eyes were open...AND there's not a parking lot in the background!

We try, we really do...

After a wonderful brunch and a relaxing car ride home we came back to the house and just enjoyed being outside.

Then I decided it was time to show off more of my gorgeous and amazingly comfortable dress.  

Ladies, you NEED this dress!

Oh my comfortable.

I won this dress from Stefanie's Pink Blush giveaway over at LexieLooLilyLiamDylanToo's IG page.  

Thanks again, girl!

A model I am not, but this dress was too fabulous not to photograph!

Seriously, go buy one!

I also knew I wanted to get a new blog profile picture of myself on Easter.  At one point I had asked the kids to take a few pictures of me while I was wearing makeup, sporting a pretty dress and while I still had my hair down.

I couldn't waste all that effort!

Henry was up first to help out his Mama.

Brother actually snapped some decent photos, meaning I was actually in the frame, but I just wasn't feeling the angle.  Haha!

Hmm...and what am I doing?  Taking my pulse?

Next up, it was Eliza's turn..

#almost

#soclose

#threeyearoldphotography

Then I tried taking matters into my own hands.

I set up my phone, continuously set and pressed the self-timer and took about a trillion embarrassing photos of myself.

I'm sure the neighbors a couple doors down thought I was nuts.

Anyhoo, it was a little more difficult than I had originally thought it would be.

First the wind...

Then I became a news anchor...

Next, I apparently morphed into a playful kitten...

#facepalm

Then I became a hunched over dinosaur...

Oh.

My.

Word.

*shaking head*

Posing for photos can be excruciating.  Can you say, Chandler Bing?

Ten bucks to the first person who gets that reference.

I'm more of a photojournalistic type of girl.  If I have to be photographed, I prefer to be photographed in the moment rather than posing with an awkward smile slapped on my face.

Anyway, I eventually got this one.

I've decided to use this one for this bloggity blog up there in the right hand corner.

My hands are a bit large in the pic, but whatevs.  Gotta do whatcha gotta do, you know?

*shrugs shoulders*

On that note, I'll now end this Easter recap...which also somehow quickly escalated into "Marie's Photographic Portfolio."

LOL!

Thanks for stopping by today, guys!

Marie :)

Life Lately

Happy Tuesday, friends!  Can I just start by saying thanks for all of your amazing comments regarding my "blogging confessions" blog post from last Thursday.  You guys made me feel so normal and not so lonely in this little blogging journey of mine. 

Tooootal change of subject, guess what?!  I'm drinking coffee again!

"But Marie, when were you NOT drinking coffee?"

Soooo...I never shared here on the bloggity blog that I'd given up coffee for about three weeks due to a few weird chest pains.  Looooong story short, I had some never-ending and annoying aches and pains in my chest.  I ended up scheduling an appointment with my Doctor, had an EKG and then waited two weeks to have a stress test.  I was diagnosed with two very common chest issues and I passed my stress test...so, all good things, all good things (knock on wood).  :0

As a result, I've slowly introduced coffee back into my life (Raise the roof!  <---Does anyone even say that anymore?)!  I'm trying to drink a very limited amount and ONLY in the morning...and with a little bit of milk to dilute it a bit.  Anyway, after about three weeks I enjoyed my first, yet very small, cup of extremely weak coffee.

It was a dream.

Hello caffeine!  Mama's back...well...kinda!

The weather.

This picture below was taken two Sundays ago.  We went outside...and ate lunch on the deck!  Spring had officially begun and was trying its best to break through.

We went for bike rides...

...and hit up the park.

On Monday, our first day off of school for spring break, we headed to the grocery store to pick up a few household essentials and some fun crafts for the kiddos.

We crafted out little hearts away...

It was a fun day, but it was a loooong first day of break.

By the end of the day I was all...

#facemask

#CadburyCaramelCremeEgg

Mommy already needed a glass of wine...but it was only Monday. ;)

On Tuesday...or maybe this is from Wednesday(???)...you know I really don't know what day this was...the days sort of ending up blending together...  LOL!

Anywho, on THIS day, we made popcorn together and settled in for an afternoon movie...

Somewhere in there Mother Nature decided to rain and rain and rain and rain and rain and rain and rain...

It.Wouldn't.Stop.Raining.

Then, on Thursday, Mother Nature said, "You know what?  Let's add in a wintry mix of snow and wind along with those pretty little raindrops!"

Oh and she did.

You guys, it was a wet, soggy, and crazy mess here in the mitten.

It also just so happened that we were planning to leave on Thursday to visit family up north.  Jon and I were all packed and ready to go on Thursday morning.  I was especially ready to get out of the house as I hadn't really left the house since Monday (with the exception of driving my car to the drive-thru library drop-off box - I'm not even entirely sure I was wearing pants)!

Kidding, not kidding.  :0

Anyhoo, my mom called and told me there had been eleven car accidents on the exact expressway we'd be traveling on to get to where we needed to be.  Jon and I checked the radar and the local forecast and decided against driving back.  We then went to a local coffee shop/restaurant here in our town and discussed whether we should still head north or not.  After checking the radar about a bazillion more times we decided to go.  We headed back home, picked up our bags and I grabbed bathing suits just in case we would have to get off the expressway and stay at a hotel, preferably with a pool.  ;)

Henry and I still weren't too sure about the decision.  I was a hot mess of a passenger the entire ride.  I can't tell you how many times I refreshed the radar on my phone...

But............we made it!  We could finally relax!  We were so excited to have arrived at our destination...well, almost.  First we had to eat at our favorite restaurant in Flint-town!

Three things here:

1.  These Flintastic shirts are awesome (thanks awesome neighbors).

2.  We Spring Breaked it in Flint, Michigan...because we're awesome.

3.  I need to bleach my mustache...like yesterday.  :0

After dinner we headed over to my in-laws house and they treated us to some yummy chocolate mousse pie, my FIL and I drank merlot, we had a dance party with the kiddos, and then we chatted all night.  It was really nice.

The next morning we slowly woke up and enjoyed a yummy breakfast that Jon's Mom had made for us.

After breakfast, we visited for a little while longer and then Jon's Mom headed off to work.  We then packed up our things and headed over to one of my favorite stores in Jon's hometown.

Jon and I both spotted this piece and we both instantly fell in love with it!  Before I could even tell Jon how much I loved it, he said, "I think we should get this."

Say whhhhhaaaaaattt?!  Um, yes.  Okay!  Let's get it!!!

Eliza's been needing something like this for her bedroom and the both of us instantly knew that it was exactly what Eliza's room had been lacking!

We called Jon's Dad and asked if he could come to the store so that we could load it in his van and have him bring it down to us the next time he comes to visit.  He, of course, said, "Yes!"

EEEK!!!  I'm so, sooooo excited about this, you guys...like, crazy excited!!

After our surprise furniture purchase we headed over to my parents' house, but not without driving by the local alpaca farm!  #springbreak #alpacafarm

Later in the day, we met up with my Mom, Dad, my niece Aurora, and my sister and her gorgeous family at the movie theater to finally see, "Beauty and the Beast!"  I was just as excited as the kids!

Here's my Dad with the kiddos!  Henry and Eliza were adamant that he sit next to them...

After the movie we went back to Mom and Dad's house for pizza.  My sister surprised me with these adorable birthday gifts.

She knows I worry too much...

Later that night, Jon caught this sweet moment of the kiddos cuddling in their sleep...

The next morning was my nephew, Christian's 6th Birthday Party!

It was being held up in Frankenmuth, Michigan at a Family Fun Center in one of the hotels.

If you follow my blog, then you know we like to go to the water park in this town and that we usually pass through this area when we're back visiting family.  So we were sure to arrive in town early to walk around for a few minutes and visit our favorite coffee shop.  I, of course, got a tea instead of coffee...but it was still awesome!

While inside the coffee shop, the kids started slow dancing to Ed Sheeran's song, Thinking Out Loud. 

I love their love for each other.

Then it was time to par-tay.  But first we had to venture over and through this really cool bridge!

Upon arriving at the hotel, we weren't sure where to go, so I went inside the hotel and politely asked where the "Family Fun Center" was and the concierge gave me wonderful directions and happily told me, "Once you get to the elevator, press 'F' for Fun!"  Ummm, "F" for fun?  Yes!  I don't know why, but I thought that was hilarious!  I was already loving this place!

Once we walked into the Family Fun Center everything seemed so familiar and I couldn't figure out why I felt like I'd been there before.  My sister mentioned something about the karaoke machine and then it clicked.  I had been at the "Family Fun Center" years ago, way back in high school, and I had gone to sing karaoke with a bunch of my theater friends!  Oh my word, it brought back lots of fun memories.

Now, here I was, years later creating new memories with my little family...

Oh my gosh, and I've just got to share this - this cracks me up.  My mom bought new clothes for my nephew from Gap, but she only had a Macy's box so she wrote over the Macy's logo and wrote, "GAP."  It's totally a thing only my Mom would do...

I love that woman.

AND finally...

This.

This is a little game Henry created about two weeks ago.

Go to your stopwatch and press "start" twice to see how low of a number you can get.  The lowest I could get was .06.  Jon was curious and Googled the lowest number others have achieved, because apparently we're not the only crazies who waste their lives trying this, and he seemed to find that most had only gotten .05.  I'm sure lower numbers are out there.  All I wanted for two weeks was to get a .05, but then this happened...

Too bad this doesn't come with some sort of prize.  All it tells me is that Doc Holliday and I have a lot in common...  LOL!

Okay, so...............................on that note, I hope you all have a great Monday.  I hope it's filled with lots of happy and memorable moments...and not dull and under-appreciated moments like this ^^^.

LOL!  

Marie :)