Easter 2011

Love-love-love these kids!
Love this-Hobbes is always genuine!
Madeline and I in our Easter hats.
My 2 incredibly handsome men!
Chatting with Grandmommy (Bray's grandma!) after church.
ready to play badminton.
being busy.
the whole fam-unfortunately we took this after church, when both kids were ready to play with their new toys...
Caleb and Taylor.
Matt and Megan.

Madeline's birthday bash!

Love this little girl's energy, exuberance, enthusiasm and desire to help others-she wants everyone to be happy! So glad you've been with us for 4 years Miss Madeline!
cute little 4 year-old. She was a perfect hostess, and did not have a bad attitude the whole time!
Playing under the table while I was decorating-when I look at this pic, I cannot believe how big they have gotten! They are truly our joy.
2 excited kids.
The party table-ready to go!
1st experiment with fondant, with a huge amount of help from my friend, Rachel Huber!
Apothecary jars, candy and Easter grass. So fun!
I had so much fun with all the Easter/bday decor!
Cousins Madeline and Laura Belle. On Bray's side of the fam (just his Mom's) there are 12 boy cousins and only 4 girls! Guess we need to add a few girls?
Hobbes and cousin Elias, who shares Madeline's bday. Hobbes loved Elias. He kept checking up on him.
Adding legs to Daddy's chalk bunny.
The Easter Egg Hunt!!
The crew. We had 15 kids altogether!

Easter-1 year ago.

Can you believe it's been exactly 1 year since we moved from Seattle? Boy, does time fly. Hope we can get as cute a picture of them in their Easter duds tomorrow! Happy Easter to yall!

Birthday Extravaganza!

The cake-my first experience with fondant-with a HUGE amount of help/instruction from my good friend, Rachel Huber!
Kids, ready to party.

Due to Easter being tomorrow, I will not get all the party pics uploaded/blogged about till Monday or Tuesday, so here's a sneak peek! It was seriously the smoothest kid party I've ever been a part of! All the kids played well, nobody got hurt, and everyone went home happy-what more could I ask for?

4 years ago...

...this sweet girl joined our family. She has been a constant joy and delight, and we are so thankful for her! So happy 4th birthday to our Madeline Lucy, our Lulu-we love you big girl!
She is so lucky to have a sweet, loving older brother.

Bach, Boots and Busyness!

Hello all-

well spring 'madness' is truly upon us. I had forgotten just how crazy life gets when doing anything with a university, school, and of course, music. Bray and I have both been involved with a few things together, and although loads of fun, it makes it tricky with the kiddos. Last night we performed Bach's Cantata 140 under the baton of Bray's cousin-by-marriage, Jarrod Richey. It was his graduate conducting recital, and it was amazing! It was truly wonderful to be able to sing together in a choir again. Tonight we are starting rehearsals at the local theater here for Oklahoma! Bray is playing the role of Curly, and I am music directing, so the kiddos will be spending much more time at the theater than ever before! To add to all that, I have many recitals/finals to perform for at the university, and Bray is getting new audition rep. ready. This week is the busiest, too, not only because of Easter, but Madeline's 4th bday/bday party is Friday and Saturday! So I will post pics when we resurface, but for now, Happy Easter to you all!

pals.

with both kids starting school next year, I know things will change quite a bit-new friends, playdates, etc., but I hope they stay as close as they are. I love how they love to play with each other-with our crazy lives, they've really only always had one another, and it has created quite a bond. So here's to my 2 favorite pals.

little artist.

Madeline is definitely our artistic child-while Hobbes loves structure and building, she loves drawing....mostly from her imagination. She did these 2 'versions' this morning-in about 5 minutes! 2nd draft-birds were added.
Madeline drew this this morning...this was the first draft.

Before and After: Decor makeover.

Kids' dresser as it was before.

After: fixed bottom drawer, new knobs from Hobby Lobby and new paint.

love.

guess whose party is coming up??

her invitations...

my crazy, nearly-4-year-old.

enjoying the weather.

we grilled out again last week, and Madeline 'decorated' their table, all on her own. She was so proud to show me the flowers she'd found and put as their centerpiece...makes me so proud!

2 happy, cute kids.

yum. LOVE this grill.

spring things.

my new, wonderful apothecary jars.

wheatgrass: 5 days growth! It is now about 4 inches taller than that....and we've already given it 1 haircut!