EASTER 2013

We had such a great weekend with beautiful weather!!! We spent Saturday with family, and colored eggs, the kids hunted for eggs, had a bbq and my nieces dedication. 

Sunday was the first time we went to church with out coats- in a long time! Now that is BIG news! 

We are trying to teach the kids the real meaning of Easter and Christmas. We're trying to put more emphases on God and less on the bunny and santa... if Tony had it his way we wouldn't even acknowledge them. We went to church in Olympia, enjoyed playing outside and ended our evening with.... wait for it.... KFC by the fire pit for Easter dinner!! I actually LOVED IT. So unusual and lots of fun. 

 The sun comes out in Washington and we have no idea how to react. Poor kids. 

I've come to realize that with three little guys, this is about as GOOD of a picture as I am going to get! 

 Kingsley boy- the one who melts me with his incredibly SOFT cheeks!!! 

And side note- he spells his name! I was so worried he'd have a tough time with a long name like his! 

Guess not!?

 The 4 1/2 year age gap these two have is perfect. There is no competition or jealousy. Just pure LOVE. Ezra is head over heels for this boy and Eli feels the same. Tonight Ezra was holding him. There was lots of snuggles and even a kiss for the big bro. 

 Opening his basket from Grandma.

This picture sums up Kingsley. Silly, silly, SILLY boy!!! 

Well apparently I'm making up for lost time. I've even got another post up my sleeves. 

Coming soon!!! ;)

Eli is one!! 

We had family over on the 24th to celebrate all he has accomplished his first year of life! 

The theme: The Very Hungry Caterpillar. 

Why? Because this kid can EAT. And by eat, I mean everything in site! 

 We took a picture every month during his 1st year and displayed them on this caterpillar.

 I think cute. My MIL didn't get it and said it looked like I was hanging clothes to dry. Lol.

 Grandma Mann and Ezra made these cute cookies!

 I had fun with this cake and tried using gum paste for the first time! 

The recipes for the cake and buttercream were finally keepers!

 Eli's 3 tiered smash cake.

 My BIRTHDAY BOY!

 1st taste of cake. 

 Rockin' that mullet. 

 Couldn't pick my favorite picture. Look at those chubby arms!

It was so fun to celebrate my little guy. He is SO loved by all! 

Some facts about this 1 yr old.

Says:

hi

bye-bye

nigh-nigh

no no

HOOOOTTTTTT 

Ah dun 

danta (santa)

more

eye

toe 

e.i (eli)

eda (ezra)

mama

dada

ma-maw (grandma)

ba-paw (grandpa)

I did it

that's all I can think of for now....

Is 23 pounds 

30 1/4 tall 

points to several body parts

took his 1st steps on facetime with my mom on 2/26

starts putting two words together 

has a "fused tooth" 

his 1st animal sound was a sheep 

walks well

rarely sleeps all night

 typically very happy

eats tons

still has RED HAIR and brown eyes

is cuddly 

likes to play & be tickled 

gives tons of kisses and hugs 

has such a big personality 

nicknames: goat, Eli-o ( like old mcdonald had a farm...... )

He is SO WONDERFUL and we're so glad he is ours!!! 

We had an awesome time celebrating him.. he was so happy and such a little ham during the party.

Happy Birthday Elijah Asher! We love to you to the moon and back!! 

Happy Halloween!

Life is busy. I've thought about giving up my blog at times because I'm SO.FAR.BEHIND. I've also wondered what exactly the point is. But living 2,400 miles away from my two favorites is a little inspiration. I KNOW my Mom and Sis miss these three like CRAZY and would love to see me blog daily. So this is for you, guys. My blog will live on. . . and I will try to give it a little bit more of my attention!  

 

We are busy...

Dec. 14th Tony graduates!!!! Five weeks and counting!!!

Dec. 15th my Kingsley boy turns THREE!

***Christmas***

Another visit from Mommy Dearest

And then January!

 

The boys had a great Halloween. I made their Alvin, Simon and Theodore costumes this year along with little bags for candy. I'm finally getting a bit better with sewing and really enjoying it! They were adorable together but at school Ezra was called a wolf and Arthur and also told he was wearing a girls headband. The poor kid came home a little bummed and I felt bad for not sending him in some cool super hero costume. After Tony and I decided we probably SHOULDN'T hunt down those kids and punch them for what they did to our baby, we got over it and went to a church Halloween party. The kids had tons of fun playing games, going on rides, seeing the animals (including my favorite.. the camel!), going on a pony ride, eating cotton candy and more. I love these three and I thought they were the absolute cutest!

We're trying our best to embrace every single season. We enjoyed carving pumpkins, baking pumpkin seeds, celebrating Halloween and we've had our "Thankful Tree" up and the entry way for a couple weeks now. It's so cute to see what the kids add to it. I'll have to post on that soon! Happy Fall to you!!

"hi" from me and my little red head!!

We've been so busy enjoying the sun! Trying to spend every last second outside before FALL arrives. Just thought you should see his sweet face!! So here's a quick "hi" and "bye"!

My up and coming artist!

Ezra has a new found love for art. He has decided he is going to sell his masterpieces. He has priced them himself and is giving half of his profits to a charity yet to be decided (details coming soon). I'm posting this because he will not.let.it.GO! So here it is my friends and fam... Come and get yourself an original piece by yours truly, Ezra Mann. Contact me quickly as they are flying off the shelves as we speak.;)

Various pirate ships, priced as marked $1-$9 or best offer.

Times around here can be CRAZY....... but I'm trying to soak up moments like these. 

In case you couldn't tell.. Ezra is a tiger. ;) Love my boys!