Easter Weekend!

This past weekend was Easter, one of my favorite holidays of the year!  I love love love that spring is finally here and I love love love celebrating with this sweet girl!  

We've had plenty of fun between last weekend's Underwater Easter Egg Hunt (read about that here) and this weekend's candy-filled fun!  We did not, however, overlook the only reason we celebrate this wonderful day.  Gracie was so sad about all of Jesus' "ow-ies" last week, but felt reassured as we celebrated His resurrection this week.  All the talk of death and heaven has made her a tiny bit fearful about things, but I continue to pray that she grows out of this phase of fear and worry.  

Just like Christmas and Valentine's Day, Easter was so fun to expose Gracie to.  This is the first year she knows what's going on and can truly participate!  Such a fun time in her life!  And mine!

The weekend began on Saturday morning with all of Gracie's cousins attending the Easter Eggstravaganza at church!  It's always such a fun time, but was extra special for Gracie to get to share it with Annabelle. Afterward we brought Annabelle back to our house where the two girlies snuggled in the rocking chair for a bit!

Later that evening we painted eggs and played with the Weaver side of our family. It was a perfect evening for swinging and sliding. Gracie enjoyed watching Annabelle swing for the first time and helping her slide for the first time, too!  

Gracie is a crafty girl like her Momma, so she had fun coloring Easter eggs. She's definitely not a priss.  She just gets her hands right in there to keep turning her egg!  We soaked in the bubble bath for 30 minutes afterward to get her hands un-colored!  Worth it!

On Easter Sunday we woke up early to find hidden eggs all over the living room and a basket of goodies, too!  G got a big kick out of that silly bunny this year. He hid an Easter egg in her church shoes!  "That silly bunny!"  She said!  Inside her basket were several fun things, but her favorites were a toy camera, a water shooter, and a purple nightgown. 

We made it to early church on time, surprisingly, and all of us crammed into a very full church. The kids were happy to see each other and everyone looked so handsome/beautiful in their Sunday best! We snapped a few pictures after church before eating a little Boy Scout breakfast and heading home. 

The picture below is the best picture of all 4 kids I've ever taken!  All eyes on the camera!  Look at Nat!

Beautiful best friends!

We are a happy family!

It was so weird when we got home because we actually found more hidden eggs in the front yard!  Daddy just happened to look out the front window and saw a colored egg in the bush. Gracie went out to investigate and sure enough, that bunny had left more eggs out front!

My little princess... hair all blowin' in the wind!  So pretty!

A couple hours later, the Sevedge side of our family came over to celebrate. And you'll never believe it, but the Easter bunny had left eggs in our backyard, too!  Each kid had a specific color of egg to search for, per the Easter Bunny's orders. It was a fun hunt!  

After eating lunch, the kids headed out to play and ended up begging for a water fight with their new water squirters. Because my niece and nephew tend to freak out when their clothes get wet, I made everyone sign a contract, in pen, that stated what the consequence would be for any and all fit-throwing.  It actually worked and everyone had a super fun time soaking each other and our entire backyard!  

It was a busy and memorable weekend!  

World's of Fun

For Christmas, my mom bought all of us season passes to World's of Fun!  It's the first time I've ever had a season pass!  Gracie has been out there before and loved everything about riding the rides... well almost everything.  It took her a while to get over strangers buckling and unbuckling her seatbelt.  But now, it's safe to say that Gracie is a thrill-seeking, World's of Fun addict!  The rides can't go too fast, spin too much, or swing too high!

Saturday night Graham Cracker, Uncle John, Aunt Steph, Kyle, Kia, Natalie, Gracie, and me ventured out for opening weekend.   There were a few hiccups getting into the park, but after taking care of business, we had the best time!  The park was busy, but since we went late enough, Camp Snoopy wasn't too bad at all.  We didn't wait in line for anything and the kids could just run to the next ride, without us having to worry.  Gracie and Kia are 36 inches tall now, so they can now ride a few rides that were off-limits last year.  Gracie's favorite new experience was probably the bounce house.  She would've jumped in there all night if I'd let her!

Gracie's Graham Cracker is so cool though!  First of all, she rides rides with all the kids... getting dizzy and giggling right along with them.  But even cooler was her experience with The Detonator.  She'd never been on that ride before, so I convinced her to ride with John and I.  It's really a fun ride, not too scary, unless you're afraid of heights.  We waited in line behind 5 teenagers who approached my mom, asking if she was a Grandma.  She confessed that she is a Grandma and they just went on and on about how cool she is to be riding The Detonator!  At first, I thought they might have been teasing her, but they were genuine.  As we all took our seats to take-off, one of the teens yelled, "Go Grandma!"  We all just laughed!  The actual ride was fun for us.  I'm not sure who screamed louder, me or Graham Cracker!  But she'd ride it again, I know!

Here are a few pictures from our super fun night!  I can't wait for summer so we can go more often!

Natalie's first ride! 

A happy girl in her Beetle Bug!

John and Kyle riding the "teacups"

Cool Grandma ready to ride the "teacups"

Spinning and spinning!
This is why Momma can't ride with Gracie!

Natalie's second ride!
Driving Momma!

Gracie drove me.
I was the kid and she was the Momma.
I kept asking for a water, kleenexes, and louder music the whole ride.
She would reach back and give me what I needed.
Afterward, she said this was her favorite ride!

Happy girls!

Happy girls!

Gymnastics

Gracie has become quite a little gymnast in the last few weeks!  She absolutely loves going to class and completely adores her coach, Coach Bree.  She asks nearly every day when gymnastics class is coming and squeals with delight when I tell her it's time to get her leotard on.

A couple of weeks ago I snapped pictures while Daddy and Gracie went to class.  Because I had to leave early for my volleyball game, I only got pictures from the first 2 rotations; warm-up and tumbling.   Beam, bars, and trampoline will come later!

Stretching

Warming up with a pink balloon!
She ended up trying to play volleyball with it... another sport she's really good at!

Listening to her coach.
Such a good student!

Demonstrating for her classmates with Coach Bree's help.

She's almost mastered the "two footed jump"

Keeping her balance as she jumps with two feet from letter to letter
(Notice the tongue... a vital balancing tool!)

Walking her feet up the wall to build her handstand muscles
Daddy ready to catch her, if needed!

Forward roll, in action!

I can't deny that gymnastics night is also one of my favorite nights of the week!  She really is good and she just loves learning new tricks!  I love to watch her enthusiasm and perseverance.  When she doesn't get the trick the first or second time, she says, "Let me try that again!"  Such a good life skill.

Saying Yes...

I recently read a blog post about being a "Yes Mom".  It put into words thoughts that have crossed my mind several times, both as a teacher and as a parent.  You see, sometimes when I'm busy or tired, I find myself parenting/teaching on autopilot.  And in these times, I've noticed that my answer to most questions is "No."  There's really no good reason for saying no, it's just a way for me to be lazy, if I'm being honest.  Most of the time when I let this happen, I think to myself, 'Why are you saying no?  15 years from now you'll be wishing she wanted you to read another princess story.'  or 'Why did you tell him no?  Why can't he work on his math on the floor?'

But I am reminded of what it's like to be a child and how one little thing can make your whole day!  I was reflecting on that just last Friday when a student shared that her parents were shopping for a camper today.  She said they might even try to go camping in it tonight!  I reminded me of when I was in third grade and my parents were going to pick me up early from school so we could go out of town.  I don't even remember where we went, but I remember that feeling of knowing I was going to be picked up early from school, and hardly being able to focus that day because I was so excited to leave early... something that never, ever happened to me.  As a parent, I want Gracie's memories of growing up to be full of special things.  I don't want to spoil her with things, things, and more things.  But there's no harm in saying yes to the little things her heart desires.

I practiced saying yes a few times this weekend, and it totally made her day... twice!  She and I hit up a few thrift stores on Saturday.  While we were shopping, we found some cute springtime cookie cutters for Play-Doh, which cost $1.00.  As we continued perusing the aisles, Gracie quickly spotted the baby dolls.  Naked, half-dressed, matted hair, colored-on baby dolls.  She also stumbled upon a purple and yellow stroller (her 2 favorite colors) with 3 out of 4 wheels in working order.  So she chose her favorite baby doll and put her in the broken stroller to push around a few aisles.  When it came time to leave, I told her to put the baby and stroller back so we could check out.  Of course, you know what happened next.  Gracie didn't want to put the baby back.  So I thought about it and realized that the springtime cookie cutters were more my idea than hers.  And really, she has plenty of cookie cutters for Play-Doh, that we don't use all that often.  So I gave her the choice to spend $1 on cookie cutters or $1 on the baby doll.  She happily put the cookie cutters back and snuggled the dirty baby tightly.  I put my foot down on the stroller because we don't need another stroller, specifically a broken one, to take up residence in our home.  But me allowing her to spend $1 the way she wanted to was a big, big deal to her.  When we got home, we pulled out her baby doll bathtub and gave her new baby a much needed bath.  She was so excited to tell Kianna about her purchase first-thing this morning!

As the days continue, I notice that Gracie is becoming more and more independent and likes to do things her way... which is just like me.  So I hope to say yes more often than no, in the situations where it really doesn't matter, in an effort to give her some freedom.  I notice that when I do, she feels really special and proud of herself, almost like we're a team - she and I.  And I like it when she feels that way.

Me and My Girl

She wanted curls like Momma this morning. She looked so beautiful all day! She was blessed with hair that holds curl well... something she got from me!