Happy Easter!

Hayley helped Grandma Heidi prepare for our family Easter Party. First on the list was frosting and decorating the Easter Bunny Cake. I remember making this same kind of cake with my mom when I was little. Hayley loved it just as much as I remember that I did.



We also colored eggs, which Hayley seems to love more and more each year.

Jackson liked grabbing them and banging them on the table until they cracked.



He was pretty excited when we let him bang the plastic eggs to his heart's content on Easter Morning.



Hayley posed in her new Easter Dress, courtesy of Grandma Heidi.



And more of the "No, of course we won't both sit on the stairs, look at you, and smile at the same time. What are you Mom? Crazy?" act.



After church on Easter Sunday, it was off to Grandma Bachman's house to find more eggs with all the cousins.


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And pull out a few model poses for Aunt Katie's camera.


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A great holiday full of food, family, fun, and faith.

The Bunny

Took the kids to see the Easter Bunny today. You know, because they love it so much.



Okay, fine. So Jackson hated it. Hayley liked it though.



Hayley's trying really hard to get him trained on Easter Bunnies and Bunny Ears.



Such a cute big sister!

Disneyland, Baby!

After a long 10 hour drive, complete with an overnight stop in Vegas, we finally arrived at the Happiest Place on Earth. It also felt like the Hottest Place on Earth. It was in the mid nineties the first day we were there.



We headed back to Toontown, caught Minnie outside her house, and quickly learned that Jackson was scared of the characters. Didn't help that Minnie tried to chase him down. He's not in the picture because he was busy having a fit.



Jeremy rode a few rides with us, since he was leaving the next day with Grandpa Bob to go scuba diving at Catalina Island.



While they were gone, my mom and I did a few more days at Disneyland with the kids.



Hayley loved all the characters. She saw Mickey dressed as Steamboat Willie, Aviator Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Tigger, Winnie the Pooh, Aurora, Rapunzel from Tangled, Tiana, Ariel, Jasmine, Fairies Iridessa and Tinker Bell, Mickey's bear Duffy, Woody and the Green Army Man, Gepetto, and Mary Poppins and Bert. And we saw Snoopy, Charlie, and Lucy at Knott's Berry Farm.



After a few more days, Jackson also warmed up to the whole vacation idea, including the characters. At least, as long as he was sleeping or someone was holding him.



Jeremy and Robert got back from Catalina and joined us for a few more days at the parks. It was so nice to have the grandparents with us and be able to go on a few rides together with Jeremy.



Plus, Jeremy got to see Jackson's change of heart regarding his Disney friends. Goofy was the last one we saw on our last day, and Jackson couldn't get enough. He kept flicking Goofy's whiskers and laughing like it was the funniest thing ever.



As fun as our trip was, it was still so nice to get home and back to our own beds and back to normal life. And for those of you who are wondering if we ended up with annual passes this trip, the answer is sadly no. Because I thought my family would appreciate being able to buy groceries when we got back home. I know. Some people's priorities, right? :) There's always next year!

P.S. There's way more pictures. Scroll down to the bottom of the blog for a slide show of them coming soon!

March/April Faves

Favorite Food: Yogurt
Favorite Treat: Fruit Rollups
Favorite Friend(s): Kali and MaKell
Favorite Toy: Mr. Potato Head
Favorite Book: Polar Animals
Favorite Movie/Show: Tangled and Hannah Montana
Favorite Song: "Grandma and Grandpa Gwendelyn" from Preschool
Favorite Things to Do Inside: Any "craft" that requires scissors and tape.
Favorite Thing to Do Outside: Go to Disneyland.
Favorite Thing About Jackson: When she can get him to say new words.
Least Favorite Thing to Do: Be told to quit bugging Jackson.
Funny Things She Says: "That's insane!" and "I think something just shifted to my lower intestine." (After burping.)

Favorite Food: Melon (any kind)
Favorite Treat: Goldfish Crackers
Favorite Friend: Grandma Heidi
Favorite Toy: Any Shape Sorter
Favorite Book: Sesame Street: Eyes, Ears, Mouth, and Toes
Favorite Movie/Show: Still with the Barney.
Favorite Things to do Inside: Look for binkies that Mom and Dad haven't thrown away. We're on Day 4 of No Binkies!
Favorite Things to Do Outside: Hold your hand and walk.
Favorite Thing about Hayley: Pulling her hair.
Least Favorite Thing to Do: Go to bed without his binky.

New Things He Says/Does: Says "Tee" for "Pretty" and "Up" for "Cup." If you say "Hand" he'll reach up and grab your hand. He'll climb absolutely anything he can, including the rails in his crib so he falls out.

May I Take Your Order?

Okay, so. My friend Hayley posted this on her blog, and I commented, and then realized that my comment was a little out of control in the length department, so I posted it here instead. She shared her Cafe Rio order, and asked what other people's orders were, so here it is. Enjoy.

Used to be I got the salad because I thought it was healthier. And then I realized, "Really? Who am I kidding?" So the standing order now is this. (It's the family's order, but only the family order will give you the full effect.)

Pork Burrito, black beans, mild sauce, enchilada style. (Jeremy's)

Fire Grilled Chicken (or Steak, depending on my mood), black beans, mild sauce, enchilada style.

And a Kid's Quesadilla. (Hayley's. Technically. But she doesn't even really like quesadillas. We order it because it's supposed to be free with an adult meal. Sometimes they still charge us. Grr.)

That is followed by a slight break in stressful ordering. (Because really, have you ever been to Cafe Rio and NOT had them be in a huge hurry??)

Anyway, burritos come out of the oven, and the guy says, "Lettuce and salsa?" To which the answer is "Yes, but on the side, in a separate container." And I gotta say it fast, or it ends up right next to the burrito, and Jeremy thinks he's deathly allergic to lettuce, tomatoes, and pretty much every other vegetable. The other reason why is that that extra lettuce with a side of their creamy tomatillo dressing and the leftovers of my burrito make for a delish lunch the next day.

And because the guy doesn't think that I'm enough of a pain in the butt yet, when he asks, "Anything else?" I tell him I need a cup of strawberries (versus the ONE strawberry slice that usually comes on the kids quesadilla). Because, yes, I bribe my child with strawberries to get her to eat the cheese quesadilla that she doesn't really like all that much.

And I order some extra "chipper strips" (sometimes I cal them "stripper chips" just to see who's paying attention) for Hayley too. Because she missed those from my salad when I stopped ordering it.

And drinks. If they had anything alcholic at Cafe Rio, I'd need it after successfully ordering our food. But alas, they do not, so soda it shall be.

Feel free to take the dare and share your Cafe Rio Order. Unless you go there and order a salad with no tortilla, no beans, no rice, no cheese, and no stripper chips and no dressing. The lady in front of me last time seriously ordered that. I was like, "Lady, why are you even here?" So, if that's your kind of order, I don't want to know about it. Because I feel kind of sad for you. And I don't know if we can be friends anymore.

February Faves

Favorite Food: Oatmeal
Favorite Treat: Reeses Chocolate Eggs
Favorite Friend(s): Whoever can play. She's not picky.
Favorite Book: Princess Look and Find
Favorite Movie/Show: Blues Clues
Favorite Song: "The Poke Song" (Pokerface by Lady Gaga)
Favorite Things to Do Inside: Listen to CD's on her walkman.
Favorite Thing to Do Outside: Draw with chalk.
Favorite Thing About Jackson: When she can get him to stop crying by singing.
Least Favorite Thing to Do: Leave Grandma's or have Grandma leave our house.
Funny Things She Says: "Look at _____! Are you so impressed?!"



Favorite Food: Corndogs
Favorite Treat: Gummies
Favorite Friend: Cousin Zoe
Favorite Book: Bedtime Bears
Favorite Movie/Show: Barney (Much to my intense dismay.)
Favorite Things to do Inside: Try to play with the toliet plunger.

Favorite Things to Do Outside: Go "Bye Bye" in the car.

Favorite Thing about Hayley: That she shares her treats.
Least Favorite Thing to Do: Have his nose wiped.
New Things He Says/Does: Points to his stinky diaper and says "Ka, Ka." And he'll whine until he has a spoon or fork to eat with, no matter what he is eating.

My Valentine

Jeremy and I are not big fans of going out on Valentine's Day. We exchanged cards and Jermey got me flowers on Valentine's Day, but we didn't have our Valentine's Day date until about 11 days later. My mom was nice enough to come over and tend the kids. Jeremy and I first stopped at the new Carhart store that's been on our list to check out for a while. They had a bunch of really nice stuff, but Jeremy and I restrained ourselves, leaving only with a skirt for Hayley and a hat for me.

After that we headed to one of our fave places to eat, Braza Grill. We pulled into the parking lot and realized just how long it had been since we had gone out on a date on the weekend. (Probably about 5 years, because Jeremy used to always be at work on Friday and Saturday nights.) It worked out okay, and we only waited about ten minutes before starting in on the Brazilian Barbeque yumminess.

After dinner we headed home and shared our answers to these:

They are little quiz books that I found at Barnes and Noble. They were fun to do, and funny to read over with each other. Plus we both "passed" with scores of about 80% and learned some new things about each other. It was so great to share a nice evening with my best friend, my sweet husband that I love so much.