To-Do List

Our to-do list was getting out of control. So, I called my dad. And in one weekend, he completed everything on that list but one....he tried to start on that but I insisted he had done enough! Here is a pic of the men after they finished installing our new water heater and fixed the leak in our sprinkler system. They are awesome!

Easter 2013

Easter this year seemed to come and go so quickly. It kind of sneaks up on me every year. We did, however, have a nice one. Easter weekend was kicked off by a special delivery from one of our very good friends....her home made cinnamon rolls! They were awesome and completely gone by that night! Thanks to the Battreals!!

 

 As we always do we colored eggs for the Easter Bunny. We tried a couple new techniques this year that turned out pretty well. We used stickers and rubber bands to make cool designs on the eggs. It was so simple, I don't know why we never did this before. 

These were Lyle's creations. I was skeptical at first when he didn't follow the directions, but I have to admit they were my favorite! You can't really tell in the pictures, but they really sparkled. He was pretty proud of himself:)

Here is Ella showing off her "E" egg....sorry you can't really see it. We used an E sticker to monogram her egg.

This of course was Luke's favorite.....the dinosaur egg. 

I think we counted 3 eggs Luke busted that morning.....not the cooked ones either! He had a serious problem and couldn't stop dropping them!

This is our egg decorating station. Those glasses are only for egg dyeing. My mom and dad had the same ones when we were little and we always used them for coloring eggs. They were kept in the top of the cabinet and we only got them down for Easter. So, when all of us kids got older with kids of our own, my parents bought each of us a set of the same glasses so we could use them for our own traditions. We love them and the kids know exactly what they are for!

A couple of years ago, a friend of ours had an Easter egg dyeing party. She made these cute towels with their names on them to take home and use when we colored eggs. The idea is that over the years they will get more and more stains on them and remind us of all the Easters before. We have used them every year since and just love them!!

Easter morning was exciting! The kids woke up to a candy trail leading them to the Easter baskets where the Easter Bunny had left them lots of good surprises. See the placemats the baskets are on? Ella has made it her own tradition that every year she makes the name plates for the baskets so that the Easter bunny knows who's basket is who's. I don't think he really needs help here but she loves the tradition just the same!

The kids got umbrellas in their baskets this year along with books, flipflops and CANDY! And just for a reminder for later: our name eggs this year said: Dad- Good Job Coach, Ella - Jesus is proud of you, Luke - Way to play Soccer. We ended up not finding my name egg during the egg hunt outside so I can't say for sure what it said but if I had my guess I bet it said You are a good MOM!

After the egg hunt outside...it was time to get ready for church. I tried to get a good pic of the kids in their Easter outfits but it was IMPOSSIBLE! Here's the best I got!

I don't know what Luke's problem was but he couldn't make a normal smile for anything!!!

Never could his sister......being photogenic is not a quality anyone in our family got!

Lyle was able to meet us at church after he left the hospital. He unfortunately missed the morning activities, but was able to partake in the Easter brunch which included Luke's favorite banana muffins and our traditional breakfast casserole. 

Spring Break 2013---Chicago!!

This year for our spring vacation we decided to make a trip to Chicago to see some of our very best friends. We also decided to drive because flying is crazy expensive these days and since it was only a 10 hour trip we knew we could do it....plus we LOVE a good road trip! The kids were beyond THRILLED! The whole family went to the grocery store the Sunday before and each picked out a snack they wanted to take on the trip. Trip snacks are very important in this family! Ella picked Pringles, Luke picked fruit snacks, Lyle picked granola bars and I picked a bag of cuties. While the kids were at school on Wednesday, Lyle and I packed and loaded the car. Lyle picked the kids up from school and got them home to change clothes while I had to go to a quick meeting at work. When I got home around 3:15, the kids were bouncing around the house dying to dive into the snacks! I had to hide them at the house so they couldn't tear into them early. We jumped into the car and Ella asked if she could have a fruit snack... and I said, "Well, yeah! The vacation has officially started...let the snacks begin!" They literally jumped for joy! They settled in to watch the new movie I rented from Red Box "Rise of the Guardians" and we took off!
    We got about an hour past St. Louis to a town called Mt. Vernon, IL where Lyle had made a reservation at a hotel for us and called it quits for the night. The kids LOVE hotels and couldn't wait to get into the room. I remember being that excited about hotels when I was a kid. So funny to see them bounce around the room exploring everything. Its not the first time they have been in a hotel but for some reason Luke thought it was so awesome they had a closet..Ha!
    The next morning we left the hotel around 9 am and had about a 3 1/2 hour drive to Chicago. The kids watched the new movie we switched out for them at another Red Box (Hotel Transylvania) while Lyle and I saw farm after farm after farm. It was a very easy drive but not the prettiest...don't tell my dad I said farms were not the most interesting thing to see:) Soon, those farms were traded out for suburbs and then tall buildings as we got closer to downtown Chicago. We saw Soldier Field and AT&T Cellular Field (where the White Sox play) as we drove along side Lake Michigan. Our hotel was super easy to find and VERY COOL!! Ella and Luke were so excited because it was on the 22nd floor! Here is a pic of them looking out the window for the first time in our room.

Soon after we checked in we headed out to explore the city. It was AWESOME!! The kids LOVED the busy streets. So much to look at everywhere.

We ate at Portillo's. It was a famous Chicago style hot dog place I learned about through a different blog I read. It was only about 3 blocks from our hotel and totally worth it.

We got back to hotel and the kids wanted to swim. They had been dying to do this ever since I showed them a pic of the pool on the internet before we left.

That night, we jumped in a cab and headed down a couple blocks to visit our friends. The kids loved trying to guess which cab was going to stop for us.

After visiting with our friends for a little while at their condo, they took us to Geno's East for some deep dish pizza. It was my favorite! The kids loved it too!

Here is Lyle and Randall. He went to med school with Lyle at UTSW and is currently doing his neurosurgery residency at Northwestern.

His wife's name is Melissa. She is holding Luke in this picture. They are great friends and we really miss getting to see them more in Dallas.

Now here is the real reason we came to Chicago!! Her name is Elise and she is BEAUTIFUL!! She is Randall and Melissa's 6 month old daughter. The cutest little cheeks and smile. This picture makes me miss her sooo much! Thanks for hanging out with us guys! You have a cute cute cute little girl! Hope to see you soon!

This next day, we took the kids to Willis Tower (Sears Tower) and walked out onto the skyledge. It is a box of glass that sticks off the side of the 103rd floor of the tower. You can look all the way down to the street. It is like you are floating on air.

Luke stopped dead in his tracks when I tried to pull him on the ledge. Wouldn't budge!

Ella finally crawled out there on all four! I have to admit it was a little scary. Made me kind of dizzy, but it was very cool!

We walked all around town in the snow! It was great! Gave us a true Chicago experience. This is the "BEAN" in Millenium Park.

Ella took our picture. That night we took a cab up to Lincoln Park where we met up with some other friends we went to graduate school with at UTSW. Amy and Chase. They are very dear friends and it was great getting to see them. They are also the ones we visited in St. Louis a couple years back. You can click HERE to see pic of that trip. They took us to a great burger place just down from their house and then was able to hang out with us most of Saturday.

We started Saturday off with breakfast at Eggsperience. Very good and lots of fun. It also happened to be St. Patrick's Day weekend so we were there for the dying of the river and the parade. It was packed! The river looked awesome! I had forgot to pack Ella something green to wear so the day before while Luke to a quick nap, her and I walked over to Eddie Bauer and got her a green fleece. While we were out, we got some GREAT popcorn..Garret's popcorn. It is now going to be our family tradition to order some every Christmas....Ella's idea....so we can remember our trip to Chicago!

We went to the Navy Pier. Here is Amy playing with the kids under the fountain.

Amy took the kids on their first city bus ride. They were thrilled! Here they are waiting at the bus stop.

Amy and Chase also took us to the Lincoln Park Zoo.

We tried to get a nice picture before we left but as always one of the kids had to cause problems and I guess it was Luke's turn. He just wanted to play not stop for a picture! Thanks for letting us hang out with you, Amy and Chase! We miss you guys and hope to come see you again soon!!

We miss Chicago and our little view from our hotel room!