Easter Egg Hunt

We (along with every other family in the county) went to an Easter egg hunt at our local nature center. *You may remember my post dedicated to my love of the nature center here.

It was perfect: walk in, choose from ten thousand poorly hidden eggs that don't actually have anything inside, turn eggs in for a small goodie bag, see animals, and go home. No one cried or had a meltdown, no one was bitten by any of the animals, and everyone got to leave with an obnoxious noise maker. Win-win.

Fired up about all of her empty eggs

Showing me her eggs

This pic makes me happy and sad - how did she get so old?

And then this pic ... I can't look at it without laughing out loud.

Two of my favorites

Noisemakers? Check.

She made me stop on our walk back to the car so that
she could make funny faces.

She also laid down in the middle of the path.

The pig was my favorite. He was doing exactly
what I wished I was doing at that point in the day.

I just want one

I just want one.

I don't need more than that.

I don't want it every day.

I'm being fair, right? Not too greedy?

I just want one dinner (that does not consist of mac and cheese and chicken nuggets) that consists of all four of us sitting down to dinner and neither girl complaining about the food or crying.

Then again, based on Caroline's reaction, the dinner must be pretty bad. So bad, in fact, that one must stare her mother down, start to cry, and throw her head in her hands.

Sigh.

Nana and Yoinkie

Did I mention that we owe Nana and Yoinkie one million thank yous for everything they did to help us this week?

Here are a few pics I snapped in the last two days. We were working outside so much and were so tired at night that my papparazzi skills were lacking.

Princess cupcakes (complete with princess rings) were a big hit:

Regardless of how busy our days were, our mornings were always spent watching Scooby Doo, snuggling on the couch, and drinking coffee and juice.

Except Caroline - this child never sits still

What an animal

Here is a picture of Boog looking particularly regal.

It may not look like much ...

It may not look like much, but we have made some serious progress in the backyard.

You may remember this awesome pool and deck:

Minus the pool:

Minus the deck:

It took about 12 to 14 hours from me, Steve, and Yoinkie to break this monster down and load it into the dumpster we rented. It also took many hours of Nana entertaining the girls while we worked.

I'm not sure it's the "vacation" they bargained for, but we never could have done all of this without Nana and Yoinkie's help.

Nana and Yoinkie have also allowed us to get a lot of other yardwork done in the backyard. These raised beds just beyond the patio were surrounded by a rotting picket fence (which was half wood and half plastic nonsense) and we were able to get the fence out of the ground and dismantle one of the raised beds that was too damaged.

We have also done a ton of raking and garden maintenance that looks as though it hasn't been done in years.

Don't mind the fence that is missing more rails than it actually contains.

I suppose it would be more impressive if I had done before and after pics, but I was not put together enough for that. We still have plenty of work left to do, but it's slowly but surely coming together. Next weekend we are filling the pit that was left behind by the pool.

A HUGE thank you to Nana and Yoinkie for coming here to basically be manual laborers who get paid with chicken nuggets, two insane children, and a lumpy futon to sleep on. To say that we couldn't have done it without you would be a crazy understatement.

Thank you, Tammy, Marc, and Keenan!

I do feel a bit bad because Caroline's birthday came just after we had closed on the house and just before we were moving. She had cupcakes and opened a few presents, but there certainly wasn't as much hoopla as there normally is.

Tammy, Marc, and Keenan were nice enough to send along presents for both girls' birthdays. This came at exactly the perfect time because Lucy had grown very tired of watching Caroline open presents. Both of the girls loved both presents and shared nicely into the evening.

Lucy hovering while Caroline opens a present next to
a mountain of linens that were being packed into boxes

Thank you again, Tammy, for being so thoughtful. The girls loved their gifts and they love you too!

Snow Day!

This is a bit delayed, but our last day of school before spring break was canceled for snow. These ladies were happy to stay home and enjoy the day with Mom and Dad and Cookie who eventually took them for a fun weekend in Marion.

A few pics of the new house

Below are a few pictures of the house. We continue to try and chip away at the smaller projects and get our minds right for the bigger projects. In any case, we are so happy with our new house!

Our living room and dining room:

Our kitchen: (not much to see here)

Our family room: (don't mind the PURPLE walls and horrific window treatments that will be painted and replaced next week)

Lucy loves the new house

And perhaps the biggest immediate project is removing this monstrosity:

This pool is MASSIVE. And Steve and I can't wait for it to be gone.
We are already halfway there.

And here it is without the pool:

Nana and Yoinkie arrive in a couple of days, and unfortunately, Yoinkie gets the grand pleasure of breaking this deck down with us.

And here is a pic of the house from the driveway: