Tuesday, April 17, 2012

It’s That Time of Year Again!

Time to celebrate Claire!!!  Check out her blog:  http://claire-elise-norton.blogspot.com/  There will be a new post everyday during the month of May!  I can’t wait until birthday month!  Only two weeks to go!  Yeehaw!

Friday, April 13, 2012

Easter

Cale’s first Easter was so much fun!  MiMi and PopPop came for the weekend!30

They brought the bouncer for Cale.  He loves it!29

Thursday night we took PopPop and MiMi to the gym with us to watch our babies swim.18

Steve had to work on Friday, so MiMi and I went shopping while PopPop sat in the van with the kids and watched movies.4

Friday evening, after we got home from shopping, Cale started crawling.  Yes, folks, at the age of four months, my baby started crawling – up on the knees and hands.  I keep trying to get it on video; but every time I grab my phone, he stops and looks to see what I am doing.  I will get it eventually, and I will post the video.

Saturday, we started our day at an Easter Egg Hunt.005

008

39

011

012

014

018

022

024

The egg hunt included many other things, like puppies…34

An inflatable slide…026

Airborne!!027

028

And a petting zoo!052

033

Next, we took Claire to The Disney Store for a special showing of “Tangled Ever After.”  She loved it!43

10

Then we went to lunch at Lupe Tortilla!  Yummy!42

Saturday night, MiMi and Pop stayed home with the kids so that Steve and I could have a date night!  Thanks, MiMi and PopPop!  We had a great time!  MiMi and PopPop gave Claire and Cale their Easter presents to enjoy while we were gone.  Claire got two egg frames that she could color herself.  (These will become a permanent part of my Easter decor.)45

And Cale got a sock monkey wearing bunny ears.5

6

Sunday morning, Claire and Cale woke to discover that the Easter Bunny had left us presents.001

008

003

004

005

009

011

012

Cale and Claire were both very excited to find chocolate bunnies in their baskets.  (And no, we did not let him eat it.)016

017

The Easter baskets were a huge success!  Afterward, we got dressed and headed to the 8:00 a.m. service at church.  Our church boasted having the “World’s Largest Easter Basket,” so we, of course, had to take our picture in front of it.028

Claire’s Sunday School project036

It says:

Red is for the blood He gave.

Green is for the grass He made.

Yellow is for the sun so bright.

Orange is for the edge of night.

Black is for the sins we made.

White is for the grace He gave.

Blue is for the hour of sorrow.

Pink is for our new tomorrow.

A handful of jelly beans – simple, colorful and sweet – reminds us of the reasons He makes our life complete!

Claire also came home with a bag full of candy-filled Easter eggs.  They had an egg hunt in class.041

After church we caught Claire hiding under the dining table sneaking chocolate Easter bunnies!  My silly girl!038

Steve cooked up a huge Easter brunch for us, and then we got ready to go to the beach.  Cale was so excited about his first trip to the beach!25

148

Claire and her daddy made sand castles.060

Cale loved his first trip to the beach.  Ahh… the feeling of sand in your toes.087

103.2

Claire really wanted to be buried in the sand.129

MiMi and PopPop loved a having a day at the beach!156

Unbeknownst to us, much of Houston’s Hispanic residents celebrate Easter at the beach.  We were even serenaded by a Mariachi band.083

On the drive home from the beach, Steve spotted his dream car.  As soon as he can afford it, he is going to get one of these.28

MiMi and PopPop stayed over until Tuesday morning.  On Monday, Claire stayed home and played with PopPop while MiMi, Cale and I hit the after-Easter sales.  We found some great deals!  And it was so much fun shopping with my mommy!  And PopPop loves to play “princess.”  With a daughter and four granddaughters, he’s very good at it.33

Claire’s favorite Easter decoration this year was a wind-up baby chick whom she named “Eggs.”  My girl is so smart and so creative!2

We hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend celebrating our Risen Savior! 

“The Lord is risen indeed!”  Luke 24:34Easter 2012