Decorating Easter Eggs

The kids were so excited to decorate eggs again this year!!!

Owen can hardly wait

Julianna & Caleb

Dylan concentrating hard

Tiffany & I had fun with the egg wraps!

Doesn't that look good?  Way to go, Tiff!

Christian found these stickers stuck on his arm - so they are no his eyes....get it?

Rebecca with her eggs

Jordan made some cops & robber eggs.  Here's the cop!

Here's the robber!!!

Julianna with her eggs

Christian's Ninja egg

Owen had so much fun

Gabby was proud of hers, too

Caleb - what a cutie!

The big boy eggs

Our set of Veggie Tales eggs

Owen snuck one and I had to chase him down to get this picture.  Too cute!

New Responsibilities!

Matthew took Christian out and taught him how to drive the riding lawn mower.  He has great hopes that Christian will take over this job for the summer!

He doesn't look real thrilled, does he?  Man, I tried to tell him that not only did I have to push the mower in my days, I also had to rake up the clippings and bag them!  You would think he'd appreciate it....oh but if you've read my previous blogs, he's now 13....'nuff said!

A Surprise Gift!

I have not blogged about the personal journey I've been on and won't necessarily go into it now, although many of my readers (ha - I know it's just my family who reads this, if I'm lucky!) already know what I've been doing.  But since November, I have been changing my diet and exercise habits.  I have a personal trainer, who just happens to be a friend of mine and she's my own little miracle worker.

I showed up for my work out and weekly weigh in in April and much to my surprise, my sweet friend had a 20 pound gift for me.  That's not how much the gift weighed, but a gift to me for losing my first 20 pounds!  I was so overwhelmed with her sweet gesture.  So I had to take pictures and do a short blog on it.  I had to share with you!

Isn't just the package the prettiest?!?

I got a Gatorade, a hand held fan (because I'm always complaining about how hot I am), a cold pack for when I get too hot, a soft towel to get wet & drape over me when I'm too sweaty for my liking and a wonderful set of ponytail holders that have major gripping and hold my hair back.  Isn't this the greatest?!?  

Thanks to Rachel, my trainer & more importantly my friend!

Easter weekend Visitors

The McDonald family came to visit us again this year over Easter.  They are friends who moved here from Ohio and we got to know them from church and then they moved back to Ohio.  But we love having them come visit us.....especially on Easter weekend.

The usually arrive on Thursday evening and then spend Good Friday with Family as we usually go to Leiper's Fork with my family.  But our plans changed this year, so we stayed home while they went to visit with Ryan's sister.  It ended up being a really good thing for us to stay here and get a few things done.

Julianna ended up with a fever that Friday and took a nap (without being told!) 

The house seemed awfully quiet and this is how we found Christian - sound asleep on the couch (that never happens!)

Matthew got the chance to work on his message while Julianna napped & I worked out!

This is Carter - the baby of the family - what a cutie!

As always, we love a bit of friendly competition

Ryan is one serious player, regardless of what it is we're playing

Gabby & Carter watching

Sweet little Maggie

This is Owen - the only Tennessee born McDonald - see the hat???

Julianna with Dylan & Caleb

Christian's First Job

Christian took a Referee Certification Class during the winter.  Based on his passing this class, he is able to be a soccer referee for both recreational and select teams.  On Easter weekend, Christian had his first games to ref.  

Christian in his uniform

As fun as he thinks it would be, I don't think he'll be actually giving a red card anytime soon (at least I hope not!)

He wasn't thrilled with his parents taking his pictures on the side line, but we did anyway!

Coach John was the center ref and he and Gage were the sidelines refs.  During half time, Coach talks them and gives them tips!

This coach talks to Christian and asks for some verification of  the rules - this was his first year for the girls to play at this level so a few of the rules were changed.  Good thing Christian could answer his questions.

Christian refereed other games through the season but I didn't take my camera.  I wish I would have - he was the center (& only ref) for some of the U8 games and he really liked those.  But I've learned my lesson and I'll make sure I take my camera with me next season when it starts up again!

Christian's Birthday Party

Christian asked if he could have a birthday party with friends from school because it was his 13th.  We were a little hesitant since we'd already decided that part of his birthday gift was going to be taking some of his buddies to the lake in June.  But we decided it would be okay.  He invited a bunch of people from school, one friend from church and one from soccer.  He had quite a turnout, too,

We had the party at the church and started with a great game of Star Wars - no matter what, kids LOVE that game.  The only way we got them to come inside was when the pizza was ready.  After pizza, we played some other "youth" type games and then had great intentions of showing them a movie.  Regardless of what movie it was, most of the kids were not interested in sitting quietly and watching it.  :-)  Oh well, they still had a great evening and I think he really enjoyed this time with his friends!

Lined up to play Star Wars

The Birthday Boy

The others ready to start!

Christian is the Jedi for his team

This is Kayla, Christian's friend

Julianna liked the girls!

Dakota was one of the victims of the game!

(OKay - my pictures are out of order - that's Dakota trying to figure out the game)

A portion of the crew

The party crew

Christian & Michael

And of course the "silly picture"