An Easter Weekend Extravaganza. . .

Easter weekend was filled with gorgeous weather, Zach's first T-Ball game, Chase Parker's first Easter Egg hunt, a Bella Kate photoshoot, and a wonderful Easter Sunday. . .

Saturday morning my car was already packed.  Chairs ready to go and the camera bag filled with a charged camera, all the lenses, and three memory cards.  We were headed out to Zachary's first T-Ball game.  His team, the Mets were to start playing at 9AM.  We arrived at 8:30AM and the coach handed out all the tshirts (with their names on the back!) and hats.  Zachary looked SO ridiculously cute in his little uniform. I have no idea what the "score" was but the game lasted a little over an hour and Zach got to see quite a bit of action.  We were definitely proud parents on the sidelines.  His best friend, Drew, was playing on his team too so that made it even more special.  Both boys did exceptionally well.  Later that evening, after the game, when I was showing him some pictures he leaned over and asked me, "Mom, will I play baseball my whole life?"  I replied, "Not if you don't want to."  He said, "But yes!  I want to I want to!  I just love it!"  We shall see how the years and talent unfolds. . .

After the game we headed home to change clothes and get ready for the easter egg hunt at Grammy's church.  We usually try to go every year.  They have bounce houses and slides for the kids and always serve a yummy delish lunch complete with desserts.  This year was the first egg hunt for Chase since he wasn't even walking at his age last year.  The boys had a blast and I got a few good pictures.  Zachary was SO excited because he was the winner in his age group with 50 eggs.  He loved his prize.  The church is so generous to put this on for the community each year and we thank them!!  Fantastic day. . .

That evening I took Bella Kate outside just to see if I could get her to pose for a cute Easter picture.  I didn't have bunny ears available so I just grabbed the colorful, fun Dr. Seuss hat.  The dog is 98% human and a female so she is born to pose.  She was incredible!  I've already shared the "real" Easter picture on this post here but I have included, below, "out takes" from my shoot for your viewing pleasure.

Sunday we attended Easter services at our church.  It was packed as expected and we are thankful to be able to celebrate the real meaning of Easter.  Easter egg hunts along with all the trimmings are definitely a fun part but I want my kids to know the real meaning behind this special day.  I'm glad they do.

And, now, the pictures. . .

Can everyone say. . . ."AWWWWW!!!!"  How freakin' adorable is he!

two best buds for life. . . . 

getting instruction from his coach. . . 

Chase Parker eyeing the action.  (check out those eyebrows!)

SO PROUD OF MY LITTLE MET!!!!

His first egg hunt. . . he loved it!  Got 16 eggs!

Can you find the stud muffin in the picture?

Gettin' some lovin' from Grammy and Daddy. . . 

Out takes from our shoot. . . check out her mouth!!!  She looks like she's going to devour the eggs.  

Super Cool Bella!

The girl just has style. . . 

Happy Easter!

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Easter Sunday.  I will be back on the blog soon to update you on our fun weekend of Zach's first t-ball game, Bella Kate's Easter Photo Shoot,  and, of course hunting Easter eggs.  But, for today, I leave you with something our Pastor shared with us this morning.  The following was published in Sports Illustrated back in November of 2001:

The 2001 World Series will go down as that of the comeback. So how does it rank among the biggest comebacks in world history? Here are the 10 greatest, according to us:

10 Elvis Presley, 1968
Following years of making schlocky movies, the King wows fans and critics with an electrifying live 1968 TV special,Elvis on NBC

9 Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1929
After quitting academia to teach primary school and to labor as a gardner, he returns to Cambridge University to begin Philosophical Investigations, the seminal work of 20th-century Anglo-American philosophy.

8 Go-go boots, 2000
Three decades after their kicky heyday, the knee-high footwear stages a surprising fashion revival.

7 Harry Truman, 1948
Trailing in the polls by a wide margin for most of the presidential campaign, he turns the Chicago Tribune's DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN edition into a future treasure on eBay.

6 Humanity, 14th century
After 25 million Europeans perish, mankind surges back from the Black Death.

5 Muhammad Ali, 1974
Seven years after being stripped of his title and his boxing license, the Greatest KO's George Foreman in Zaire to win back the belt.

4 John Travolta, 1994
Defibrillates his comatose movie career by taking a star turn in Pulp Fiction.

3 Michael Jordan, 1995
Quits baseball to make first triumphant comeback.

2 Japan and Germany, 1950s
Former Axis powers rise from the ashes of World War II to become industrial superpowers.

1 Jesus Christ, 33 A.D.
Defies critics and stuns the Romans with his resurrection.

To see the Sports Illustrated Magazine cover and this article go here: 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1024225/index.htm
I'm thankful that we can ALL benefit from the greatest comeback of all time.

HAPPY EASTER!!!

IT'S A FACT: Short Hair Makes You Look MUCH Younger

Yep, I always knew it.  Every time I try growing my hair out it never fails. . . a point comes when you just start looking older.  Don't know what it is. . . but it's a fact that shorter hair makes one look younger.  I'll prove my point. . . just take a look:

Before. . . 

And after. . . doesn't she look like a young pup????

The amount of hair MISSING from my floors has been amazing since she went to the spa yesterday.  I am LOVING it so far. Such a different look but hopefully it will keep her much cooler in our treacherous summer that is fast approaching.

I, personally, thinks she looks stunning.  But, then again, a mother always would, right?

I'll leave you with a few more cute pics of the beautiful, young looking, short-haired, Bella Kate. . . 

I'm a little too close for comfort!  That is a NASTY looking stinger he's got there!  

Vacay Update. . .

Ok, I've yet to post the pictures from our Spring Break vacay. . . shame on me!  I've been a little busy getting back into the swing of things after vacation, turning 40, etc.  But, nevertheless, here is my update.

We left on Wednesday of spring break week with every intention of going to Legoland and SeaWorld.  Part of it happened, part of it didn't.  The kids did fantastic on the ride to Winter Haven.  You know secretly, even though I love my Rover, I have been lusting after a minivan because they are just so kid friendly.  Amazingly, just a couple days prior to us leaving for the trip, Paul's truck had a recall.  When he took it into the dealer the part was on backorder (and still is!) so they gave him a minivan to drive.  It was completely. utterly. awesome to travel minivan style.  Both boys loved it too.  When we arrived we checked into our hotel.  I was curious to see how the first night would go with Chase Parker never visiting a hotel before.  I decided to sleep with him and Paul slept with Zach.  Chase did so well.  He cried a little at first and really looked confused that he was in a strange bed with his mother right beside him.  Soon he found out that it was really cool.  He snuggled so tight all night long.  Around 3AM his little head popped up like a turtle and he softly said, "Mama?".  He rubbed my head and tried to open my eyes then he put his head down and went back to sleep.

The next day Legoland was a blast.  Zachary and Chase enjoyed it alot.  It wasn't so big that it just drained the life out of you and I, especially, loved the Lego City display.  How awesome!  We arrived right when the park opened and left around 4pm.  It was a nice day.  It was tiring enough though that Paul and I decided we would try to talk Zachary out of SeaWorld the next day though.  It worked.  He was fine with the new plan.  We did still go onto to Orlando the next day.  But, instead of going to SeaWorld we had fun at the awesome water park our hotel offered and Paul had fun at a huge hobby store in Orlando.  The day was spent relaxing poolside and seeing the sights around Orlando.  It was fun.

Saturday afternoon we headed home and arrived around 4:30pm.  I was happy to see that Bella Kate and Blue had survived us being gone.  My nephew Aaron took care of our beloved pets while we were gone. And, the hair on the floor was not too bad despite my constant worry!  (Secretly though, the first thing I did when I got home was vacuum!)

It was a fun week and we did enjoy the time off with Daddio.  This was a small step towards building our courage for Disney World one day.

Enjoy some pictures.  I'll include the link to all of them at the bottom.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Lego City in the background. . . totally cool!

our fine city was featured!

Chase Parker and Daddy taking a nap. . .

The Pirate water ski show was pretty fun

Silliness at our Orlando hotel. . . 

Hotel water park. . . nice!

heres the link to more pics if you want. . .

http://www.flickr.com/photos/birdwellfamily/sets/72157629663221387/