Just Because

...just because my two girls are lookin' so cute in this picture...but if you look deep into those sweet puppy eyes (Sprinkles, not Kayli, ha!) trust me, she's not so innocent...she's just thinking..."what can I drag under the coffee table and chew to bits before someone hears me or notices!" But, we love her anyway, and it motivates Kayli to keep her toys picked up!

A Little Girl and Her Dog...

Need I say more?

Easter

The week before Easter, Kayli and I were invited by a co-worker to her church for an Easter egg hunt. We've participated in this Pre-Easter fun festival for the last couple of years, and they usually have bounce houses, crafts, prizes, and they usually have someone tell a short rendition of the "Easter Story."This year they had some cute puppets to "help" tell the story, and the kids loved it!

on your marks, get set, go...

Woohoo, I got soooo many eggs!

crafts...

It was Kayli's lucky day when her name was drawn out of a hat to win this FABULOUS Easter basket!

It had a cute bunny, jumprope, frisbee, yo-yo, sidewalk chalk, bucket and shovel, very cute "Beginners Bible" and more. Kayli was "on top of the world!"

Easter morning, Kayli woke up, told me she was going to use the bathroom, came back a few minutes later and said "Hey, Mom, I saw the most AMAZING things downstairs!!!" Apparently she got a little sidetracked on her way to the bathroom , ha ha.

Kayli wants to know how the Easter Bunny knew her initials?

She got the much coveted Build-A-Bear pretend cell phone for pretend texting! Also, some flip-flops with Jelly Beans?!!!

some very cute ducks for our bathtub collection...

and a whole lot of other great stuff...

the Easter Bunny even brought MOM a giant chocolate bunny this year, Woohoo!

Kayli and I hosted an Easter Brunch for our family this year. We had a large number of people (19) to plan for! We started with this cool idea from fellow bloggers and pinterest for making some beautiful Spring-like cupcakes...

 yep, they made such a great decoration that I had to remind myself to make people eat them!

I baked a ham, and everyone brought an array of fabulous food items for our brunch.  

We even managed to "spring Dad" from the Care Center for the day, so he could enjoy the fun food, and festivities!

I was extra pleased with the beautiful, sunny day, that allowed us to take advantage of the outdoor seating!

then, it was time for the Easter egg hunt. Players take your mark...

and they're off...

there were two different age groups "hunting" at the same time.

and there were some "puzzlers!"

and "AHA" moments...

and, "Look, how many I found, Mom!" moments...

and, "Let's count them to make sure we got them all" moments...

and then, while the "big boys" continued to seek out the hardest hid eggs, and Laura and Anna were ready to give clues if need be...

 Kayli joined Marion on the big swing, where the two of them entertained themselves by singing...

then the last egg was found, and it was time to gather the gang for pictures and prizes...

in addition to the quarters and candy found in the eggs, there were gift certificates to McDonalds for everyone! Nick got a cool "jelly bean laying" chicken. Colin got a new app for his phone. Jake got a new app for his ITouch. The girls were thrilled to get candy necklaces that had light up easter eggs on the end!!!

We took advantage of the beautiful "backdrop" my bridal bush offers, to take a few family photos.
First up, Marion, Jim, Jake, Nick...

next, Eileen, Gary, Anna...

Mickey was home, sick, today, so we didn't get a Laura, Mickey, Colin family pic. Robert's clan is still back in Washington. Kevin, Karen, Adam, and Mamie posed and they probably could photo shop in Matt at a later time, but I was dealing with some kind of minor catastophe in the house at the time and missed the picture. Oh how I hate it when I can't be two places at once! But, then, all my siblings and I managed to get a family picture with my dad...

I even managed to get someone to take a photo of me and Kayli...

and, of course Kayli with Princess Sprinkles, who did NOT want her picture taken...

and finally, Kayli begged me to let her show Sprinkles how "cute" she could look with some bunny ears, Ha ha! Poor Sprinkles...

Whew! So much fun!

St. Paddy's Day...March 17th, 2012

Today really is the GRAND FINALE of our vacation, and what better way to spend it than by wearin' our green and immersing ourselves in the St.Pat's Day celebration taking place all around us. On the riverwalk, they dye the river green, hold a family day festival, and have a short parade of boats on the river! We were ready to go from the break of day, and dressed from head...

                                                                                                      to toe...

Kayli couldn't make up her mind between the fancy headband or the flashing tiara, so she just wore the fancy headband to breakfast, then switched to the tiara for the rest of the day! We also had "glow bracelets and necklaces" for the night!

Here comes Kevin, Karen, and Matt, down the river, on a boat ride!

you can really see the green river in this picture below...

we just "happened upon" this Radio Disney Dance Contest, where all the participants received prizes!

Kayli was rockin!

check it out, live...

always time to stop and pose with a leprechaun!

we started to watch the parade from our hotel window, but Kayli quickly realized that they were throwing prizes to the crowd and we had to get down there QUICK! We managed to get down there just in time for her to catch a "lucky gold coin!" Whew!

We were back and forth and all around the riverwalk and hotel throughout the day. We even managed to spend some time in the sun, at the pool today and there was Karen, wearin' her green to the pool...

 Kayli had Matt pretending they were in the SeaWorld show, and she was riding the dolphin...

as we sat in the beautiful lobby of the hotel, enjoying our last appetizers with complimentary drinks, Kayli began complaining that her throat REALLY hurt, and her head REALLY hurt, and her body REALLY hurt. So, I did what any good mom would do...I finished my drink (well, there's no sense wasting), gave my last "drink ticket" away, grabbed a plate of nachos, and took my daughter back to the room, where we relaxed and soaked up the view from our windows just one more time...

I took my sweet pea's temp and...

thanked our lucky stars that she waited until the last day of our vacation to spring this one on me! On the ride home, the next day, she was in good spirits with a little Ibuprofen in her system, and was a fine little traveler. The fever disappeared when we got home, but a week later, I got a call from the school nurse that Kayli had a fever, and the following day she was diagnosed with strep throat. Sooo, on the tail of a great vacation, I had a couple of unexpected "days off" to "regroup" and "recoup"!