Easter

We had a happy Easter. I did the 12 days of Easter and the kids loved hearing about all the events that led up to Jesus' death and resurrection. It will be a new tradition for us...

I got a few pictures of the kids on the front porch before church. These pics were taken at 7:15 (since we had to be there for choir by 7:30) and they were ready to pose. I made them all something out of seersucker. I made Sam some blue/white pants, Luke some red/white shorts, and Laney a pink/white dress with elephants embroidered on the fabric. I'm an Auburn fan, but I couldn't pass up the fabric when I saw it.

We went to B and Pops' house after church for lunch with my brother and his family. Laney got some good "flying" time with Pops.

Pops can always make them laugh for a picture.

My SIL and I didn't plan this, but her son was wearing seersucker and her girls were wearing white. The six of them looked beautiful together!

We enjoyed hunting for eggs. Laney enjoyed eating the chocolate (sans dress)...

Sam's sure telling someone something. Check out his intensity...

the tornado got us!

we're okay. praise the Lord, we're okay...

wednesday morning, around 5:30am, i began to hear sirens. ron was working out (swimming) with a friend before work and i was home alone with the kids. luke crawled in bed with me, scared. so i got up around 5:45 to watch the weather. sam ran in the den scared. by 5:50, i had determined we were in serious danger. i scooped laney up out of her bed and started running downstairs. as we touched the bottom of the stairs i heard a loud crash and felt the house rumble. yep, a tree fell on the house. over our dining room. it happened so quickly i didn't have a flashlight or candle or anything. me and the kids huddled together in the dark, shaking and praying, for the next 15 minutes.

three large trees fell in the back yard. two on the power lines...

...and one on our playset...

after a while, i let the kids come upstairs to see what happened. sam saw the playset and said "i'm so mad at that tree!" it was pretty humorous... luke's reaction wasn't as humorous. he just started crying; it was pitiful.

ron finally got home, after trying to come two different ways. he was amazed at what had happened. he quickly got on the roof and cleaned off as much of the tree as he could. stannon showed up to help and before long they had the roof covered with tarp in preparation for the next round of storms.

the boys even got in on some of the action...

and the kids, with such innocence, decided they'd gargle all morning. these kids are hilarious! seriously, we just experienced an E5 tornado and they're giddy as can be...

we're glad to be living 3 miles from my mom and step-dad who happen to have power. so we're spending our nights in an air-conditioned house with good food and good company.

we tried...

we tried to put laney in her big girl bed for the first time tonight. after getting up about 5 times, i asked her "do you want to sleep in your big girl bed or baby bed?". she said "baby bed, mommy. night night..." we'll try again tomorrow...

sam and laney

sam and laney enjoyed snacking on popcorn one day last week... she couldn't get close enough to him. she loves her brothers! (his eye is okay, by the way... he just wears a patch a few hours a day to correct his lazy eye.)

he kept trying to push her off. she is literally sitting on his lap.
and without him knowing it, because he's watching tv, she's eating his popcorn. good stuff...

more soccer pics

some more good shots by my SIL

iPhone images

i loved how laney was sitting while we waited to see the audiologist. look at those smiles! such joy!
luke was crawling around at soccer practice and laney didn't want to miss out on the fun.

i quickly snapped a photo before the professional photographer took the team's picture before the game on saturday.

wearing green on the green

ron went to augusta last week for a practice round at the masters. his kind boss gave him a ticket and they flew together on a private jet for the day. a side note and funny story, the jet belongs to ron's old boss, larry. he never flew on the jet with larry. anyway... ☺

he brought home a shirt for each of the kids so we took pictures in our favorite spot at briarwood

pig tails

sitting at b and pops' kitchen table sunday after lunch i realized something... laney's hair just might be long enough for a ponytail. i didn't have a small hair band, but i found a large one in my purse to use just to try it out. sure enough, it's long enough. i told my mom "i guarantee, she'll have pig tails by the end of the day".

so after her nap i put some pigtails in. oh my word they were so cute!! she kept grabbing her hair saying "pretty hair, mommy".

sent to me by my SIL, after she played around with it...

Flat Front Khakis for a Toddler

I came across this tutorial for boy pants. I made Luke a pair using some of Ron's old khakis. I LOVE how they turned out. I added a little chalkboard fabric to the back.

I used a blind hem stitch for the first time ever. Hopefully, Laney's dresses will be even more beautiful now that I can do this.

One thing I learned about chalk markers is that the writing stays on the fabric unless you get it wet. The slightest bit of moisture and it's gone!

I think it would be really fun to add chalkboard fabric to a t-shirt. That way, your child can wear his art.

No, the hem isn't even. I'll do better next time...