Happy Resurrection Day!!!

I am so behind on all of my posts right now. Just so much going on, I am having a hard time keeping up.

So, obviously it is not Easter anymore. It went pretty good though, other than the fact that it was Bailee's first year to miss the Easter church service and class. It was definitely a bummer since Kyle had taken the day off to be with us. He only gets to come with us to church every fifth Sunday, so this was a very special treat for us. But we made the best of it and she made it in time for lunch and then the egg hunt.

All of my babies

Braxton and Madison

Bailee and Kenzie

Isn't that HILARIOUS!!

Peeps and M&M's....yum!

I just have to give a huge shout out to Pinterest! They have the BEST ideas to make every holiday a little extra fun. Oh, and to Connie for actually doing it for me :)
After lunch, it was egg-hunting time and the kids couldn't stand it!! We started out first in the backyard...

So excited to find one of the eggs they dyed

Mr. Braxton filling his basket

I had to make her stop running to get this shot :)

Smiling cause she knows she got the most eggs

This was really all the pictures I could get. They were so fast this year. By the time I tried to get Bailee's picture, the hunt was over.

On to the front yard....

They can hardly contain themselves

So much for the garden. Oops ;)

She is such a little diva

A two-hander

We will have candy for a month!

They had a lot of fun and got way too many eggs :) I am really starting to enjoy all the holidays...even more, that is...and that it give us a reason to get together as a family. Our family get together's really are mainly the holidays and now that we are past the baby stage with the kids, they are a lot more relaxing. They can go and play and do without one of us constantly following them around making sure they aren't flushing something down the toilet or trying to cut their hair off. And what better holiday to come together for than the resurrection of our Savior.

To set the saying straight, "Jesus is the Reason for EVERY Season".

 I had to get one of me and the husband before I go...

Well, that's all for now.
Happy Resurrection Day from the Lodholm's!!!

Ready...Set...DYE!!!!

Getting ready for Easter is so fun for the kids. A little stressful for me, but they love it. It's one of the few holidays that they get to participate in almost all of the preparation.

I don't know a single kid that doesn't love dying eggs. But when you have a gaggle of children like we do, you have to set a limit on how many each kid can dye. Don't get me wrong, I love me some deviled eggs and egg salad sandwiches, but I don't know that I could eat it everyday for two weeks. So we set their limit to five eggs a piece. That's twenty eggs plus all of the plastic ones they will be hunting tomorrow. Sounds good to me. We got all of the colors ready and off they went...

Only a few of the massive line up we had

I love Madison's expression

Kenzie waiting patiently for her turn

Madison and "her" Bailee

My little bunny man :)

Brightest colors EVER!!!

We ended up with some of the brightest eggs we have EVER dyed and all we used was the plain ole PAAS brand dye kit. We put just a little of vinegar in each glass and it made all the difference. If you have not ever added the vinegar, I highly recommend...

Have you ever made those little cookie houses? Most people do them for Christmas. You know, the gingerbread houses...well, the kids' Mimi keeps buying those little houses for every. single. holiday. I would like doing them if I wasn't so darn anal about decorating them with the crappy icing packets they provide in the box. It is so hard to work with and you can NEVER make it look as cute as it is on the box. False advertizing at it's finest...needless to say, she bought another one. I was actually pretty impressed on how it turned out though. It is the best one we have done to date. But she is still banned from buying another one...

Three hours later..

But they were pretty proud

  They enjoyed helping with their "Bunny Hut" too.

Well, eggs dyed and the bunny house is done. We are definitely not the over-acheivers this year, but they had fun anyway, so...bring on the Easter Bunny!!!!!

Birthdays and Babies and Showers, Oh My!!

It's APRIL!!! Where is the year going?!

 My baby turned 9 last Sunday....how is that even possible? 

Birthday Princess!!! The girls always wear my tiara from my wedding on their birthday :)

 I feel like I am dreaming as her life continues to flash before my eyes and that I will wake up to my baby again...and I never do. All I can say to new mommies or new mommies-to-be is enjoy every minute, even the not-so-fun minutes. They are gone before you know it.

She wanted a chocolate cake...that is definitely a chocolate cake!

Me and my baby

She loves him too, I guess...lol!!

I think she will forever have the Beiber Fever...sigh.

Daddy's favorite part...birthday spankins!!!!

We had a lot of fun with her on her birthday. Several days before, she had her sleep over with some of her girl friends. Honestly, it went pretty well considering there were FIVE eight and nine year old girls in my house! Everyone got along and had fun!

Kenzie and some of her friends.

Mommy can't make cake like Mimi can, so we had cupcakes :)

Wouldn't be a slumber party without popcorn and a movie!!!

I remember having slumber parties when I was younger and how much fun we would have. I love that I can still be apart of all the memories she is still making and I know that day will come to an end as she gets older. Just trying to hold on to as much of her as I can :)

April is turning into a pretty busy month. It seems like every day on the weekends are full.

Started with Kenzie's birthday, next is Easter Sunday....tomorrow. I am pretty proud of myself. I have everything they need minus one pair of shoes. Braxton's. It may 10 o'clock tonight, but it will get done :) Their outfits are going to be soooo cute and, of course, I will post pics.

Tomorrow night, we are having dinner with some friends, Monday the kids are having their pictures made all together, Tuesday is back to school and work...

It's bitter-sweet when we are so busy. I like that we can keep busy, surrounded by people who love us and keep our minds off of "things", but at the same time it feels like our life is flying by so much faster. I am pretty sure we took the kids trick-or-treating a few days ago and now it's EASTER??!! I just want my life to slow down!! Catch my breath.... 

There is still more to be said about April, but I think that is all for now.

Oh! We have started planning for my friend's baby shower!! I think the last time I talked about her, she had just found out she is having twins. Well....since then, she bit the bullet and found out the sex of the babies. It was so hard for her to do it. She loved not knowing with her first baby, but I think now she is glad she did. She can have EVERYTHING ready this time when they come. They had a Gender Reveal party to find out together with all of their family and close friends. It was perfect!!!

What will they be? Hmmmmm...

Me and my preggo bestie before all the other friends & family arrived :)

Anticipation is over!! Baby "A" is a BOY!!!

and....Baby "B" is a BOY!!!!!!

 BOY, OH BOY!!!!  So excited for them and little Natalee. She will be a great big sister and I know God knew what He was doing when He blessed them with twins. Can. Not. Wait.

Let the Pirate Baby Shower planning begin!!!!

Well, that's all for now, so.....I'll see you after Easter!!