Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone. I hope you all had as wonderful of a day as we did. We woke up this morning to a smiling happy baby, and the day just seemed to get better and better. We all got up and got ready for church and headed out. After church, it was back home for me to hide Austyn's eggs for him. This was the first year in many that he actually wanted to color eggs. I think he forgot how fun it was, because when we finished 12, he said..."that's it"? haha. We had a lot of fun together. So, Andrew dropped me off after church so I could get them hidden. Austyn is aware of the Easter Bunny situation, but he still has fun looking for eggs, and presents!

When we got all done with that, it was time to start my first attempt at a "formal" Easter dinner. I have mastered Thanksgiving, but had never done Easter. I have never cooked a ham. And I know, they are already cooked, but you still gotta "season" it and throw it in the oven. I am not a huge fan of ham, but Andrew is, so that is why I cooked it to begin with, and I wanted it to turn out good. And..... it was DELICIOUS! A success! I am quite pleased to say that I am turning into quite the good cook. :) Along with the ham, we had... redskin potatoes with butter, garlic and herbs (YUMMY!!), corn and biscuits. It all turned out very good, and was done right on time. I also made an "Easter basket cake". Which, 1. I forgot to take a picture of, and 2. not that sad that I didn't get a picture because, of course, it didn't turn out quite as pretty as the picture in the recipe. But, isn't that always the case? Not really a cake decorator either, not really my thing I guess. Oh well, it tasted good, and that's all that matters, right? (it wasn't THAT bad, I just am not satisfied with my work unless it's PERFECT, that's just me, though.)

We had our neighbors over for dinner. So, there was 8 of us total. Hudson slept right through dinner, which was actually kinda nice, especially since he gets around pretty good now. I was able to eat all of my dinner at once, while it was warm. :) Jen, our neighbor, brought me a beautiful Easter Lily, pictured below, and I loved it! I used to buy my mom an Easter Lily every year at Easter, but have never gotten one myself, so it was really nice, and kind of extra special for me since it brought back the memories of Easter with my mom that I have missed out on since I moved up here.

After dinner, Jen went home along with her oldest son, and Andrew and I took her two youngest kids on a walk with our family. Hudson absolutely loves to be outside, he just can't get enough. He smiles and screeches and coos, it's so cute! We walked up to the school and let the kids play at the park for a while, then did a little loop back around to our house. The day was gorgeous, the food was delicious, the kids were so well behaved, I really could not have asked for a better day. So, again, I hope you all enjoyed your holiday as much as us. Please enjoy a little taste of our wonderful day with the pictures below. :)




My beautiful Easter Lily. It smells wonderful too!!



Hudson in his Easter outfit. Too cute for words really!




Our family photo before church this morning. Thank goodness for self timers!

Spring break, vacation and a half birthday...

Wow, spring break has come and gone. It kinda snuck up on me this year. I guess we have been pretty busy, between working full time, getting settled into a new house and taking care of a new baby, things go by pretty fast I guess. It's all been great though, and I have no complaints. Most people I have talked to say that the winter dragged on and was too long. I usually feel the same, but this year it seemed to be very mild compared to most winters, and it seemed to go by fast. Here we are, into spring, heading towards summer, and I am EXCITED!

First things first, AUSTYN GOT ALL A'S ON HIS REPORT CARD!!! We are so proud of him. He always does well in school, but ALL A's?!?! I rewarded him with $5, and I was thinking I should take him to get a book or see a movie also. I really want to encourage good grades, studying and working hard at school. It's important to me that he understands how important it is to do well in school.

We went downstate for spring break, which seems to be our "thing" the last few years. The weather wasn't great, but not that bad either. It was what was to be expected for the first week of April in Northern Michigan I guess. I don't mind at all though. I get to see my family, for a whole week, which I love. It's really tough living so far away from them. I have always been very close to my mom, so my week at their house for spring break, no matter what the weather, is very important to me. We didn't really do anything to specatular or exciting, but it was fun in any case. My mom, sister and I did some crafts. (to prepare for the craft show we will be a part of in May at the Superior Dome.) We did some shopping, I got a lot of great deals at second hand stores for Hudson's summer wardrobe. My brother came over just about every day to hang out too, which was awesome. We all just hung out, grilled out and chatted. It was a really good time.

Austyn got to take his BB gun and get some target shooting in, which he was excited about. My mom has chickens and ducks, so Austyn was in charge of collecting the eggs in the morning and evenings for her. I think he liked it, it made him feel helpful. :) Which he was. After the first day, he asked if we could get some chickens. I don't think we really live in an area that is, uh, chicken friendly. haha. But, if we ever move to a farm, I will keep that in mind. Hudson was quite interested in the chickens and ducks as well. We took him out to see them, and he would just stare and stare, not really knowing what to think. It's fun to see him check out all the new sights and sounds.

On our way home, we stopped in St. Ignace to stay the night in a hotel with Dewey and Susan. The boys got to play in the pool. Which, this was Hudson's first time, obviously. He didn't really know what to think at first, but then he seemed to be enjoying himself quite a bit. His little legs were just kickin' away under the water. It was cute. :)



The stay at the hotel was pretty nice, it broke the long drive up nicely. We came home on Sunday, early afternoon, and that was convenient. We had time to get everything unpacked and put away, and get all of our laundry done. Then, since it was so nice out, we decided to take a little stroll. Austyn was finally able to get his bike out from the winter storage, which he has been dying to do, and Hudson got to relax in his little stroller while daddy pushed him along. He was having a good time. We walked up 7th, and through the cemetary. I really love the location of our house, it is soooo convenient. We are both so close to work, Austyn's school, the park and the beach. We have all kinds of "routes" to take for family walks. I LOVE it!!

As the title mentions, Hudson is 6 months old now!!! Time is just flying by! I can't believe how fast the first 6 months have gone by, maybe a little too fast. He is getting so big, it's just crazy. He hasn't had his 6 months check up yet (that's tomorrow), but when he was sick a few weeks ago we took him to the doctor, and he was almost 20 lbs! He is a big boy. He is trying to crawl now, he can get up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth, but so far, no forward moment to speak of. He can scoot backwards, but it usually just makes him mad because he is getting further away from his goal. It's cute though. He is still such a good baby. He giggles and smiles all the time and it just melts my heart. He seems to be interested in everything now. He grabs at things, and looks at everything so intently. We all just love him so much, he really is a wonderful baby and a joy to have in our lives. I am the luckiest mom ever to have the 2 most handsome and smart guys for my boys! :)

These are a few of my favorite pictures from spring break. The one on the top is Hudson checking out the chickens. haha. You can tell he doesn't know what to think of them. (p.s. that is the hat my mom made for him and its absolutely ADORABLE!) And the one on the bottom is, well, just perfect! What a great smile. So.So.Cute!