Easter morning

Easter morning and The Easter Bunny!!

The Easter bunny brought the kids: swim-suits, new beach towels, flip-flops, and Mickey Mouse shirts! Candy of course and gum!

No--It's not a $100 bill. You'd think, by the look on Tyler's face. That's why I love kids-- $1 means the world to them!! The funny thing is, I have other pictures of Tyler with this EXACT same face. Pure/Genuine excitement!!

And crazy guy--Just being funny showing us his egg.

Side note on the PJ's--Tyler started "mis-matching" his PJs so then of course Jaden wanted to too. So, for several weeks, they purposely wore pajama's that did not match. (Not good for photos.)

Their new Mickey and Minnie t-shirts!

Posing with dad--first thing in the morning!! Everyone looks a bit tired!

FUNNY STORY ABOUT JADEN--Jaden, of the 3 kids, is the most afraid of things and doesn't like to try anything new. Saturday night, before Easter, we were putting the kids to bed. Jaden asked to have his door shut (which he ALWAYS wants it completely open!) Then, he told us to lock it. It took us a minute, but we figured out he wanted the door locked to keep the Easter bunny out!! Steve and I both talked to him and told him the Easter bunny doesn't come in his room. The bunny just fills up their baskets in the kitchen and then quickly hops to the next house! He said he understood, but still wanted his door locked!!

The next morning we heard Jaden yelling from behind his closed door. Steve and I both went in there and tried to get Jaden to come out in the front room. He didn't want to. Finally, I peeked around the corner and told Jaden I thought I saw flip-flops in his Easter basket. He then allowed me to CARRY him out to the front room---to of course find the Easter bunny was NOT waiting for him!! Too Too Funny!!

More Easter

Easter morning we went to our church and then headed to Newton, right after church for Easter lunch with Grandpa and Grandma Balzer.

This was our best picture of the kids in their Easter attire. And, believe me....

we tried MANY times!!

I have to tell you about the kids' Adorable outfits!

Tyler's shirt is a "pass down" from his cousin Jeremy. Jaden's shirt was Tyler's first and Paige's dress came from her cousin Sydney. So, whoever says you have to go BUY new Easter clothes is wrong :) This was the first time the kids had worn these clothes, so to them...

they were NEW!!! Does Jesus care what clothes we wear? I think not...

Our Girly Girl, with her new bracelets and freshly painted finger nails!!

Future Jewelry lady!

She's striking a pose with a mouth full of Easter candy!!


And, Jaden striking a pose. Some pictures just portray their "real" selves....

and this is one of those pics. It's Jaden's ornery look that we see all too often!!

This picture cracks me up!

YES!! Candy!!

I must say....both grandparents do a good job of giving the kids other "goodies" and not just candy!! We appreciate that!

Table Decorations!

The week before Easter all 3 kids spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa so Grandma could do Easter crafts with them. Of course, we loved it!! And so did the kids. Grandma B. always has TONS of great crafts to do with the kids and she knew we wouldn't get it all done on Easter Sunday.

These are the bunnies and chicks that Grandma (and maybe Grandpa??) made with the kids. Then, we got to take them home for our house next year!

The kids dyed Easter eggs too. Here they are looking at the eggs they had dyed the week before. They are finding which ones they had made.

Easter Games?

Who can run to the couch the fastest, without dropping their egg?

Don't all families play games on Easter? Like egg races...

Well, Grandma had played these games the week before when the kids stayed the night, so she was showing the parents now....the fun games they played!!

Who can push their egg the farthest with their NOSE?

Fun for ALL!!

A Fabulous lunch, Easter baskets, playing with cousins, egg races, and hanging out with family.

Happy Easter!

Easter celebrations

Our Easter celebrations started Good Friday with Easter at Grandma and Grandpa Roth's!

Grandpa Roth makes maps for the kids to follow to find their Easter baskets. This is something he has done since Steve was little. Steve loves the memory. The maps are DETAILED, using the floor plan of the house. Of course, Paige's is hidden in the family room---easy enough to find without a map!

The hit of the day was Jaden's mini basketball. Jaden has become obsessed with b-ball. This ball was our "leverage" for a good week. "If you don't listen, we'll take your b-ball away," we would say.

After Easter baskets, we eat a YUMMY lunch, with wine!!

Our best picture of the 3 kids before they were off on their Easter egg hunt.

Luckily the weather cooperated and we could go outside for our Easter egg hunt! The kids each get their own color of eggs to search for. It makes it much easier!!

Jaden had a tummy ache during the Easter egg hunt and sat on the ground to rest. He really was in pain, but he was so cute, sitting there---I had to take his picture.

This was proof that eating too much candy really does make you sick!!!

Grandpa and Grandma with the 5 grandkids!

Precious Picture!!

Paige on Uncle Scot's shoulders. Scot is so good with our kids---it's funny that they used to be scared of him! Not anymore though! (There was never a reason to be scared of Uncle Scot---he would just tease them and didn't get rave reviews from the kids a few years ago!!)

Grandma Roth and Precious Paige! Paige is grandma's girl! Jaden definitely Grandpa's boy and Tyler--it depends on the day!

After our Easter egg hunt, it's inside to open all the eggs, eat dessert and just hang out with family! Happy Easter! What a fun day!

Anniversary Picture

Us---after 9 years!! Aren't we cute! (LOL!!)

Ever since I learned how to edit pictures--it now takes that much longer for me to do a post. So, that's why I am just now posting he picture from our anniversry, even though we took it on April 8th!!

Anniversary gifts!

I can't believe I forgot to tell about our anniversary gifts!!

Side note: I have wanted "cow girl" boots, for MONTHS!! and Steve knows this. He was going to get them for me for Valentine's Day--and then "something came up" and he didn't get them. So, I thought maybe for our anniversary!!

Another side note: Gifts is NOT my love-language, but I would like Steve to buy me gifts (at least for holidays) without my help. When he does get me a gift, he does a GREAT JOB!! It's just not that often that he does it! AND--I usually get upset when he doesn't!

But, I am happy to say that after 9 years, I decided to just not be upset about my husband's "gift-giving struggles" and I would just buy myself an anniversary gift!! he he

So, I bought Steve's gift, wrapped it up (sack and tissue paper). And, then I also bought my own gift (my boots I wanted) and wrapped them up as well.

I gave Steve his gift when he got home from work! Then, we played outside and I had my gift sitting on the kitchen counter when we came inside. I acted like I didn't know what it was. I said, "did you get this for me!!!!!!" of course I was acting EXCITED!!! (I am laughing as I type this!!) Steve said he had no idea what it was. I opened it, and said, "ohhhh, you bought my boots I wanted.. thank you...." Steve was shocked. He didn't know what to say. He knew he had not bought it, but didn't know who did. Finally, I told him I bought it! Funny stuff!!

So, no more being mad about not having a gift. I got what I wanted and it fit! I guess I should have thought of this 9 years ago !!

Yes, I still love when Steve buys me gifts! I really love it! But, I just won't get upset about it--he claims it doesn't mean he doesn't love me!!

Steve's additional comments after he read my blog: Steve wanted me to be sure to write that, Tuesday, (the day before our anniversary) he came home from work and said he wanted to re-felt the pool table for his Anniversary gift and I could go buy my boots! BUT---being the day before, I had already bought his (our) gifts!! But, he did have the thought....

Happy Anniversary to US!

Wednesday, April 8th, Steve and I celebrated 9 years of marriage! WOW! That seems like a LONG TIME. As we were having Easter last night with Steve's family, his 17 year old niece honestly did not believe us, that it had been 9 years. I guess time flies when you're having FUN!!

I was hoping Steve would take off Wednesday (really it was just an excuse to get him to take off). Then, we decided he should take off Friday instead, because the kids would be at Grandma Balzer's, so we could spend the day together.

So here's how we celebrated Wednesday--
Steve did come home about 3pm.
We played outside for a few hours with the kids. It was beautiful!
Then, to Carlos O Kelly's for dinner.
The kids were AWESOME!!!
We like going here because the cheese dip and salsa keeps them occupied.
They were SO GOOD! Happy Anniversary to US!!
That really was a great gift!!
Then, we went to church.
After church we watched a little TV and went to bed.
9 years--that's what you get!

Friday we had a nice time together, running "errands". We went to Wal-mart, Office-Max, the bank, a few errands for Steve's work, then Towne East, Gap, and then the Golf Store! I got 2 pairs of shoes out of the day, a vest, a shirt, and a sweater! Not bad!! I think Steve got a shirt--and only because I needed to spend more $$ at JCP so I could get to $5o and get $10 off! It was a fun day but of course we spend money on days like this. There was breakfast out and then lunch out and then a coke in the afternoon! But, hey---we've been married 9 years, we deserve it...right??

It's been a good 9 years. We are in our 3rd house and we have 3 kids! Steve just drove by our first house today and said, "we've come a long way." We have. We've worked hard and we are blessed and I try not to never forget that or take what we have for granted.

We will continue to celebrate--in 11 days we get to go to Washington DC for a Premier trip. We love that our Premier trips always fall around our Anniversary---so it's easy for us to get away together!

So, here's to 9 years and another 9 and many more after that!

love you Steve!!

The Globetrotters

Last Tuesday, me and "my boys" (Steve, Jaden, and Tyler) went to see the Globetrotters at WSU. It was a fun night!

Paige stayed at Grandpa and Grandma Roth's house---even though she WAS NOT happy to be missing the "funny basketball players!"

Here's the boys--sporting their new Globetrotter "jerseys". They are actually t-shirts made to look like jerseys. You could buy a real jersey for $60. Obviously, we choose the "faux" jersey for $25 each!! The sales-lady told us the shirts shrink A LOT, so we should get a Small for Jaden and not the XS. So, we got the Small and Jaden did not like it because it was WAY too big. He cried, so we just got him the XS. Of course he wanted to be able to wear it NOW! So, I'll just have to be careful when I wash it.

Here's Jaden checking out his new shirt. From the moment we bought the shirt and put it on (immediately), he walked like this---looking down at his shirt. Steve and I were just cracking up. He just LOVED his shirt!

The fun started with GLOBIE, the Globetrotter's mascot. (I shouldn't admit this, but I didn't get the meaning of Globie, until we got in the car to go home!! he he)

When Globie came out, Jaden crawled to my lap and DID NOT LIKE HIM. He cried and even said he wanted to go home. Poor guy! Globie was out on the court for probably 10 min. before leaving for awhile. Once Globie came back, but he wasn't the "only attraction", then Jaden actually LIKED HIM!! Actually, when we got in the car to go home, Jaden talked about Globie more than anything. oh my....

And, here they are.

The Globetrotters!! #52 in the middle is the "main guy". The players and coaches wear

microphones so the crowd can hear what they say. #52 talks a lot through the night---he was the leader of the pack.

The boys!


Grandpa Roth gave the boys $5 to take to the game. So, they decided they wanted to buy a program with their $5. So, before the game Tyler and Steve looked through the whole book.

There was lots of clapping! And laughing---from most of us.

And, lots of eating.

BEFORE half-time, Tyler had eaten a carton of cotton candy ($1 in the Easter isle at Wal-mart!), a bag of cookies, and 2 bags of mini cheese-it crackers. By HALF-TIME!) Then, he ate more the 2nd half and tried everything to get Jaden's cotton candy! Remember-- I brought our own snacks and pop. There is NO WAY I could have afforded to feed that kid from the concession stand. And, YES, he had dinner before we went!!

Here's how Jaden sat 90% of the night. No emotion. I kept asking him if he was having fun or if he liked it. He kept assuring me he was having fun!! Even though there was no proof!!

This picture perfectly captures how Tyler was most of the night---just cracking up!!

(I think Jaden was a little young to catch all the jokes and when they did actually play b-ball, they passed the ball SO FAST I could barely keep up, there is no way Jaden could have been tracking the ball.) But, he said he liked it---that's all that matters.

How could stunts like this, not make you laugh!

It was a fun night. It was fun to be able to spend time with just the boys. It was pure JOY to watch Tyler just crack up and laugh and laugh and laugh! And, then it was a delight to hear them talk about it ALL THE WAY HOME and for the next several days.

We will probably go again next year--but we'll have to take Paige with us!