Adventures in Spring Break: Day 1

Ahhh... And Spring Break 2011 finally begins! Well, for Cade anyway... Hudson still had to go to school today :( Cade - bless his sweet, little heart - had a rough start to his first morning of Spring Break... listening & following directions, that is... but he got it together shortly :) After Hudson got home from school & guitar, we enjoyed hanging out together as a family. The boys cleaned up the playroom floor and we made a "tent" in there for them to sleep under/play in. (Since the weather has been, & is predicted to be, so up and down, we opted NOT to put up the real tent outside. Some other time, soon, hopefully.) They thought it was really cool, and I did, too! I'm so glad that sometimes it's still the simple things that can bring such joy!

Palm Sunday

Ok... Here come lots of pictures :) I've made them smaller so I can put more on this post.

Palm Sunday was a busy Sunday at our church. During the service, the children proceeded in with palm branches. After a church-wide lunch, there was an Easter Egg Hunt for all the kids!

Hudson was my "serious" hunter. He was only interested in filling his basket, not me taking his picture :)

Cade was my "let's go have fun & hunt Easter eggs!" hunter. He was just ready to go load up his basket with colorful eggs with treasures hidden inside :)

This was Callie's FIRST Easter Egg Hunt! She was SO ready. It's like she instinctively knew what to do with an Easter basket. She was a little possessive, too... ha! If anyone touched her basket, she yelled "mine!" She had a lot of fun, too :)

The Easter Bunny made an appearance at the Easter Egg Hunt. The boys got about as close as they wanted... Cade for a "shake" and Hudson with Daddy in between :)

 Callie was most comfortable just staring...

 ... She really didn't want to be anywhere near Mr. EB!

 Awww... but a sweet hug from the boys, at last. Thank you, Easter Bunny!

 Callie found a melted chocolate treat in one of her eggs... yuuummmm!

That night at church, the children put on their Easter program. Both boys participated, and did so well! Hudson sang and had a speaking line in the program, and Cade sang his little heart out. We were so super-proud of them both! (I only have a picture of Hudson because I was helping the preschoolers when they were singing.)

What a wonderful Palm Sunday! Great musical messages at church, and fun for the children, too. Looking forward to Easter!

Windy Days

What is it with the wind this spring?! Seems like every day that we begin to get warm temperatures, the wind could blow you away! Today was certainly another windy day, but today's temperatures weren't very warm for spring. Hudson, however, has been begging to fly the kite that's been in our garage for... well, I don't really know how long it's been in there. A long time. His Daddy made his day when he got it out, and the boys tested kite flying in the front yard...

 Like I said, it was quite cool today, so Callie & I watched the activity from inside :) She did find the kite, but was more interested in watching Daddy & her brothers. You can see her right hand knocking on the window to try to get their attention :)

Cade's Easter Egg Hunt

Callie and I joined Cade for his own first preschool Easter Egg Hunt. It was spectacular! And over in an instant (lol!), as egg hunts usually are :) The kids were all so cute, and had a lot of fun filling their baskets, playing on the playground, and eating yummy party food! We loved watching him & all of his friends, and he was so proud that we were there with him! 

We love you, Cade!! Happy Easter!!

What a ham!

Callie, otherwise known as "our constant entertainment"!

Pics from late March... She went to her room & pulled out a clean sheet, wrapped it around herself, put on her bracelets, and was walking to the front door, blowing me kisses & saying "bye-bye"!

 It was pretty cool at the first baseball game she attended, so I had gotten out her hat & gloves. She wanted to play with them more the next day :)

 Here is her dip in the Desitin this week!! Oh my!!

Chi Omega Reunion

Xi Zeta Chapter of Chi Omega (at UT Martin) held its 50th this year! All alumnae & actives were invited to attend several events on campus celebrating 50 years of Chi Omega at UTM. It was very well planned, put together, and executed. There was a great turnout! Everyone I know there had an awesome time visiting, catching up, and socializing.

The day began with a "meet-n-greet", campus tour, and luncheon. Not all of my "pledge-mates" were able to be in town for these early activities, so a few of us took a private tour of the new Student Recreation Center and met for lunch. The Student Rec Ctr was fabulous!! State of the art workout facility, small class rooms, student lounge, campus rec facilities... all for students & staff only. UTM definitely has a huge asset in this new building. Our lunch together was equally fabulous :) We talked & laughed while waiting for everyone to get into town... I enjoyed it very much.

 A social event was scheduled for the evening, and Chi Omegas turned out looking beautiful! It was so great to see familiar faces, to catch up on where our lives are now, and to reminisce about "old times". I can't put into words how much FUN we had!!

There were a lot of people that came from our pledge class! This picture is missing a few, but captures the majority of us :)

SHADES

"... There'll be many memories, there'll be many letters, there'll be lonely hours 'til we meet again then, We'll have our reunion, There'll be toasts & singing, And you'll hear us bringing praises to you til then, Chi O now departing, come bid sweet adieu, Chi O ever-after we'll remember you!"

Baseball 2011 Begins

It's baseball season again!!! And this spring, we're all on the same team... Hudson, Cade, and Daddy as Coach.

 Callie gets to cheer from the sidelines with Mommy at some games :)

 Their first baseball game of the season... My mom took the pictures for me since I was helping out in the dugout today.

Hudson at bat... He's one of the first three batters this year, which means he hits off the coach's pitch or he strikes out. No "T" for him. He's doing really well, getting some good hits. Howie says he's one of the most consistent hitters. That has earned him his spot in the lineup.

 Cade-o is a good little player this spring, too. The T-ball teams consist of 4-6 year olds, so he's one of the three youngest on the team. He can play infield, or he's a good back-up in outfield, too.

 Yea... sometimes the field action is a little slow :), especially towards the end of the game. I don't think I know a player that doesn't like batting & running the bases better than field play!

 Both boys are running the bases well. Hudson really pays attention and is ready to go when play allows. And look at Cade! He's stretching out those legs and really running!

We're excited about the boys playing baseball together this spring. They're having fun, and Howie & I are enjoying being part of it, too. Cheering them on and watching them play & develop is so awesome... Love, love, LOVE our boys!!