Easter 2008

Well, it's a little late in the week, I know, but this is honestly the first time that I have actually had a moment to write about our wonderful Easter weekend.

The kids and I headed down to Mom & Dad's on Friday and Jared followed on Saturday. Upon our arrival, I took the Babies by the bank to see Pawpaw. He enjoyed the visit and it was good to see some special faces that I hadn't seen in quite a while. Later on in the evening, Mom and I took the kids shopping in San Marcos, which was eventful to say the least! Mommies, you can all probably relate to this little story; So I am in the dressing room trying on a shirt. Hayden is with me like usual. Nothing new. We go back out into the store, I turn to look at him and he is proceding to take his shirt off. After several attempts to redress him and to explain to him the "No shirt, no service" policy, I gave up. Needless to say, we shopped with a half naked two year old. Friday afternoon, tired from the drive, who wants to fight it? A few odd looks, who cares. He's two and I'm picking my battles.

On to the next store. As Mom and I are trying to shop, Hayden has become restless, to say the least. Once again, I simply let him go. Now, I have a strict rule that my child, or any child with me for that matter does not walk. They must ride in the cart at all times (because we've all heard it, "it only takes one second.") So, no carts. Within thirty minutes, Hayden had either entered every dressing room available, occupied or not, or had peeked under every door. He had the store literally rearranged, items tucked away in new departments. He had, by this time, dropped his random loot of a womans handbag, a stuffed bunny and I think a box of earrings, and was laying on the aisle floor licking the tile. Being the germaphobe that I am, once again, I simply let it go (and I am still waiting for some strange rash to appear on Hayden.) The entire time this drama is unfolding, my Mother is smiling as if to say,"HaHa, and by the way, I did it with four of you!" She just kept reminding me about the shopping trip where my siblings and I managed to pull the tags off of EVERY item of clothing in the shop. She was in the dressing room and we were so proud of our handfuls of tags.....

Oh well. On to Easter. We had a fabulous time with about seventy of our dearest friends and family. The weather was perfect, the food was plentiful, and as always, the conversation was great! The children enjoyed coloring Easter eggs, a water balloon fight, riding Pawpaw's tractor, and an Easter egg hunt. It was awesome to see the smiles on everybody's faces, young and old alike.

For the rest of this entry, I will let the pictures tell the story. (Stanley, I decided against posting the "messy" photo of you!) I pray that everyone has a safe weekend.