Spring in West Michigan

Yes it's spring, and yes, we received 3 inches of snow last night. But there's nothing like living in the country on a bright clear morning after a fresh snow, with this view in your backyard . . .

The view out of Eli's window this morning.

My three favorite trees in the backyard.

What a beautiful view out of the living room window!

Peeking through the trees to the pond.
It looks like a private getaway. Gorgeous!

Easter Egg Hunt!

On Saturday night we decided to do an Easter egg hunt for the kids (so it didn't get to crazy and busy on Sunday). Grandma took all the kids for a walk after dinner so the adults could clean up and hide eggs. We hid them all around Jeff and Lori's first floor and had 170+ eggs. Which mean the adults had to get creative in some of their hiding places (underneath a cup on the table, Jon!). We let the little kids come in first and start hunting so they could get the obvious eggs and the older boys had to search a little harder.

Eli understood what he was supposed to do from last year's hunt, but he wanted to open up each egg he found first to see what was inside it before moving on to find another egg. It's find or have someone else find though, so he caught on quickly that he needed to get to the next egg - FAST! He found eggs in the bathroom, under the piano, under the couch, in the kitchen, everywhere. He thought the funniest was when he spotted one in a shoe. He picked it up and said, "Egg in shoe! That's silly, Mommy!"

After making sure that all the kids had equal numbers of eggs (not an easy feat, let me tell you), Eli got down to the business of checking out what was inside of his eggs. He needed to empty EVERY ONE on to the floor (with a few samples of candy along the way), so we let him have fun with his candy for a bit. Then he had to pick 3 candies to eat and we put all the rest back in the eggs. Fortunately he thought it was pretty fun putting the candy back in the eggs too, so he didn't whine or complain at all.

I think this picture sums up what Eli thought of the Easter egg hunt! He LOVED it!

Here's a slideshow of the egg finding fun (I couldn't choose just a few pictures, sorry!).

Easter Egg Dyeing!

On Saturday afternoon the kids were all set to dye Easter eggs (after having them postponed from the evening before because of the snow storm and people getting in later). Elijah wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do at first, but once Jon got him going (and he saw the other kids), Elijah got really in to it.

Taking out my first egg. Hmm.

This is getting more fun. I'll plop this one in here.

I did it! I'm so proud of myself!

Did you just see what I did? That was great!

So this funny water turns them colors? Cool!

Eli wasn't so good at the waiting for the egg to be dyed part - so one of his eggs he kept moving from one color to the next after about 5 seconds in each one. Turns out that that egg is one of his coolest, with swirls of different colors (though an overall brownish tinge). He forgot about one of his eggs in the red dye though - and as a result got a vibrant red egg which everyone loved! Uncle Scott figured out how to "shrink wrap" the eggs in these little egg sleeves, so we made Eli try that with one of his eggs. He really wasn't sure about that at all, but now he loves that egg and calls it, "my egg Uncle Scott baked!"

Mom said to take this to Uncle Scott . . .

Eli wanted to keep dyeing and re-dyeing his eggs, but eventually it was time to call it quits. He was most upset about that and carried on for quite a while about his eggs being put up on the counter. That led to an early nap for Elijah (which was needed since he had stayed up past 11 the night before!). Eli had so much fun dyeing eggs he didn't want to stop! I think he's all ready to do it again next year!

I never want to stop! Let's keep going!

Eli poses with his masterpieces!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to everyone (a few days later, but you know how it goes!). I took this picture at the mall play area a few weeks ago of Eli on the bunny (and Elijah is really shouting Happy Easter at the top of his lungs, much to the amusement of the other moms!).

Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter weekend with my brother Scott being in town with his family. They stayed with my brother Jeff at his new house and the kids and adults had a great time! The only bummer was the freak snow storm that arrived on Friday - as Scott and Jill were driving in and Jon was driving back from his business trip in Chicago. That complicated the drives a bit, but everyone still made it there safely.

We had a fun weekend together playing games, dyeing Easter eggs, having an egg hunt, and of course all going to church together on Easter morning (pictures and posts to follow of course). :) Before you knew it it was time for Scott and Jill to head home though - the weekend was too short. On Easter Sunday in the evening Jon and I had tickets for a play (which I bought a month ago, never thinking that March 23rd was Easter Sunday!). We saw Twelve Angry Men, and it was great. Our tickets were in the third row which made the play even better (those seats close up really do have a better view, go figure). :) It was a relaxing way to cap off a family weekend, and nice to be with Jon as just a couple after having him gone all week. An unconventional way to finish Easter Sunday though!

I do have to share that when we got home from Jeff and Lori's on Sunday afternoon, Elijah was playing at the table and singing, "hallelujah!" over and over to his cars. At church the choir sang the Hallelujah Chorus and I guess that made an impression on him! In all the hustle and fun of the weekend together, it's easy to lose focus on what the day truly is about - celebrating Jesus and his resurrection. I'm glad Elijah heard the choir, soaked in what they were singing, and helped me remember to focus on Christ. Happy Easter everyone!

Outside! Finally!

It was just beautiful on Friday afternoon, so Eli and I headed to the park that is near Jon’s office, and he met us there after work.

I'm outside! I've been waiting for this for a while!

Eli had fun running as usual, but also surprised us with going down all the slides at the park, even the very big twisty slide that is completely enclosed. Last year at the same park Eli didn’t really go on the slides until the end of the summer and then only one of the slides and only if Mommy was at the bottom. And Eli went right to the fire pole this time, which he rarely wanted to do last year, and could barely wait for Daddy to get there before he jumped off. Guess Eli’s become more adventuresome over the winter!

Trying the little slide out first . . .

Time for the MEGA SLIDE!
(And the mega drop too! Eli caught himself, thank goodness,
since Mommy was busy taking a picture.) :)

Catch me, Daddy!

Eli found the caterpillar to climb at the park as well and climbed right to the top, and then yelled, “Daddy help!” to get down.

I'm climbing the bug!

I'm at the top. Now what?

The Eli spotted the swings and did that for a while – but I think that his days of the smaller swings are almost over. He is so big in them now and it’s hard to get him in and out! Eli wanted us to push him for a bit and make sounds but then said, “Mommy be quiet now. Just swing!” He wanted some peace and quiet to enjoy his time outside, thank you very much! What fun it was to be outside again after winter! I’m ready for spring to arrive in full force!

Here I go! My first swings in months!

A swing, a park, a beautiful day.
What more could a boy ask for?

I'm getting underdogs and losing my tummy! Yay!

Sorry for all the pictures, but we just had too many cute ones to not post them. And here's one more that Jon thinks is pretty nice . . .

Mommy had a good time at the park with her boys too!