Easter 2011

Everyone was very excited for Easter this year. We did the egg dyeing thing, and everyone had Easter baskets on Sunday morning. Ruby loved the large amount of Starburst Jelly beans (Dad's favorite), and Hallie learned what Jelly beans are. James loved some M&M's, and a good time was had by all.

Ruby learned about another one of Dad's favorite things - deviled eggs. We peeled a couple of eggs and had them for breakfast on Sunday. James & Hallie weren't the greatest fans, but they did mostly eat them. Ruby devoured hers. James managed to get a bit of a fat lip by trying to take a header off one of the couches. Boys will be boys; and as our pediatrician tells us he's in the phase of trying to kill himself - proof of our parenting skills will be if he lives through it or not :)

Enjoy the photos!

Hrm. This looks interesting.

That was fun. Let's do more :)

Mom helps. Dad takes pictures. Who's smarter?

James and his Easter bunny from Great Grandma & Great Grandpa Cox.

Hallie and her Easter bunnies. Seems she's taking after her mother with her choice of favorite bunny....

James opened an egg with jelly beans in it.

Sorry it's fuzzy. Hallie has a red jelly bean in her mouth.

Ruby and Daddy with their Easter baskets. Daddy didn't get the camera that morning.

Ruby working on peeling an egg.

Hallie and James eating their hard boiled eggs.

I think she liked the egg. Not sure though!

Too cute of a photo not to post. Kid's got some amazing faces.

Busted lip. Looks like teenage years will be fun with this one.

Farmer Jason! (no, not **that** Jason)

So while Jason (Dad) was in Orlando for a business trip the PBS hit Farmer Jason came to the Children's Museum of Oak Ridge. Jessica took Ruby to see him and she had a blast! There was singing and dancing, and all sorts of fun. Ruby was in the "doggie dance" up on stage with 4 other children and Farmer Jason. It was a dancing contest... and she WON! She was SO excited. The prize was an autographed DVD from Farmer Jason. (Whew! saved us $15 there :) ). Photos from the event follow. Smoky Bear (mascot of the Tennessee Smokies -- Farm team for the Chicago Cubs) was there and Ruby had her picture taken with him as well. Plus there was some Yoga lessons courtesy of the folks from National Fitness Center, and some crafts and such. Finally Ruby was out playing in the caboose that is part of the train exhibit. Lots of fun was had that day.

It's Farmer Jason!

The doggie dance contest, with your winner... Ruby Hill!

Ruby getting to dance alone on stage after winning.

September Peters, Ruby, & Farmer Jason

Ruby with Smokie

Yoga

Craft time! Peanut butter & bird seeds to make a feeder for the back yard.

Loves trains. Don't know where she could have gotten that from. (not her father! :) )

Bella's Ball!

A couple of weeks ago we had a blast at Bella's Ball. This is a fundraiser for the March of Dimes that started up last year. It is a big family costume party (though you can see that Jason and I did not dress up). My sister made Ruby and Hallie's costumes and they turned out fabulous. Everybody asked where we got them and couldn't believe someone made them for the event. They were the prettiest princesses at the ball! We couldn't figure out a costume for James, so he went as Oscar the Grouch.

Jason is out of town this week, and that has been a bit difficult. I do not envy single parents in the least!

Zoo Trip!

Here are a few of the pictures I took at the zoo yesterday. We had so much fun -- and I even got a sunburn! James loved the petting zoo, but he insisted on calling the goats doggies. And, because I hired Crystal (one of Ruby's Camp Faith teachers) to come with, Ruby was able to do the things she wanted to do without having to stay with the twins all the time. I am very excited that the weather is consistently staying nice here again ... I think we will have many more zoo trips in our future!

Visit by Ted E. Bear (Ruby's class mascot)

For more information on Ted E. Bear, scroll down a few posts to the Spring Break update -- there are details in there!

BirthDAY photos

Here are a few pictures we took during the twins' birthday breakfast at Razzleberry. (And, yes, Ruby is feeding our server!)