Spring Break, Jason's Birthday, Easter and Everything else that has happened lately...

This may be the longest blog you've ever read, but I needed to cover a month's worth of pictures and activities for the family... Bear with me - there really are some cute pictures worth looking at...

Xander had his blue and gold banquet and everyone was to bring a cake - I am proud to say, this one will not appear on the Cake Wrecks blog! Ok, so he is the cutest little Webelo in the world! He would make Grandpa Butler proud with how much he loves scouting... SPRING BREAK TRIP TO THE CHESAPEAKE BAY.... Since Xander has been studying the Chesapeake Bay in school, we decided to do some studying of our own. We went to Calvert Cliffs State Park and hiked the 2 mile trail. Eleanor was a trooper and Savannah and the stroller even made it. We had just had a fabulous talk in church about reverence and listening to the stillness. We had the children stop at some point and listen to the stillness...it was amazing. I felt like I was back in Oregon. It brought back so many fun memories of hiking with my family. I taught the kids "echo" -a game we used to play with my dad in the woods when we were hiking. We let them go ahead of us on the trail and then I would say, "echo" and they would answer back, "echo" and we would know where they were. They loved it and I cannot tell you the flood of memories that came back as we walked along saying "echo" to each other. Xander had chosen the blue jay for his report of a native animal of our area for school. We didn't see a blue jay, but we saw so many other cool things....

This was a tree that fell over and the roots were exposed. We had to make our own trail in some areas because of fallen trees.

The coolest thing of all was the beaver dam. We saw tree after tree that the beavers had chewed on. There were some that were almost gnawed through.

When we got to the end of the trail, it was so foggy, we could barely see the water. It was so beautiful! There were tide pools and millions of sea shells to find. We skipped rocks and looked for cool shells. It made me miss the Oregon coast and my family! I have the best memories of the coast trips in the tide pools and the fog and the absolute breath taking beauty of the water!

There were parts that were off limits due to the falling rocks and shoreline.

That night, we swam in the pool - it was Savannah's first time swimming and she loved it!

As you know, I have quite a few creative bones in my body - well, Eleanor has definitely inherited my creative side! She makes things and colors and creates all day long. She made these crowns for she and Savannah and insisted on wearing them all day long. Savannah thought it was so great, though she tried and tried to pull it off and she couldn't figure out how to maneuvre her little fingers up to the crown. She finally gave up and just wore it.

SELLING ROCKS - Xander, Garrett and Eleanor went into the back yard the other day and searched for the perfect rocks. the washed and cleaned them and set up a table on the side of the yard and sold them - yes, they actually sold them! Enough to almost pay for ice cream when the ice cream man drove by! It was priceless to see them negotiate and lure people in!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST DAD AND HUSBAND IN THE WORLD!!!!!

For Jason's birthday, I took him away for the evening and we came back to a closet full of balloons. There were signs everywhere from the kids and it showed that the had worked really hard to make their dad's birthday special. He is the most amazing man. When I met Jason, I had no idea the depth of awesomeness this man possessed. Every day I am reminded of how wonderful he is with his talents, abilities and willingness to be a good dad and father. The children love him and so do I! Happy Birthday Jason! We love you!

GARRETT FOUND THE SILVER EGG!

When I was growing up, we had a silver egg that was full of the best stuff - one time it was $10! It was always hidden in the most unusual places. This year, it had rained all morning and so we had to do the spring egg hunt inside.

Arriving at the Imeishes house for the "big kid" hunt...

The "little kid" hunt...

C.J., Eleanor and Andrew showing off their eggs...

EASTER SUNDAY

Here's my little Eleanor Princess in her Easter finery....

Dancing in her new dress... she is definitely a performer!

I made headbands for her and Savannah and bow ties for the boys.

Look what the Easter Bunny brought me!

Two very good and handsome little - well, not so little anymore, boys!

Garrett has always been the cutest little boy! We love him so much!

We are so blessed to have Xander and Garrett in our family. They are the best boys!

Happy Easter !

This is the cutest little lamb for Easter!

And the Easter Princess herself...

I hope everyone had a great Easter! I am now caught up! Whew!

The Last Day of Spring Break.....
It's always bittersweet for me when I realize everyone is going back to school in a few days.
We are lucky in that we have two full weeks of Spring Break! In years past we have headed down to Hilton Head and spent a week there, but Jason had a Strings Teacher's Conference in Atlanta this year and so we spent a night on the Eastern Shore and explored the Chesapeake Bay. (pictures to follow soon!)
The kids have had a slumber party every night in the playroom and jumped on the trampoline in their coats ( since it has not been a WARM spring break!) and played and relaxed and just had a great time. It definitely got chaotic sometimes (how do homeschooling moms do it?) but overall, we had a great time.
Eleanor and dad went on a date this afternoon to finish out the break. They went to the library and read stories forever and then out to lunch. They brought home several Angelina Ballerina books to read - Eleanor's current favorite!
Savannah has had her maiden voyage with dad and survived - or should I say, Mom survived. I always get so nervous, but Jason insisted and she was just fine!!!! He took her several times this week with him to run errands. She thinks she is the cat's meow heading out with the big kids and dad! It's going to be hard when the entertainers are not at her beck and call next week! She got lots of daddy time and big brother time this week.
I am always so grateful for Jason's willingness to be an involved father. He is wonderful. Every day that he was gone, the kids would say," When dad gets back we need to tell him about this!" of "How many days til daddy is home?" The day he was coming home, Eleanor woke up and squealed, "DAD COMES HOME TODAY!!!!!!" We sure love our dad!
So, on our last "official" day of Spring Break we look forward to getting back into all the good habits we got out of in two weeks and starting the countdown until summer!!!

The cutest kids in the world....

You're the cutest, the sweetest, the cutest little baby...oh, you're the cutest baby in the whole wide world....
Everyone always comments on Savannah's eyes....I wonder why!

I found my toes!

On my sixth month birthday, we decided to take some pictures with my brothers and sister...who do you think is the cutest?

Can you tell he and I are related? I love my big brother, Garrett!

Eleanor and I are best of friends! She is a great big sister...she takes good care of me and I love her sooooooo much! Yeah, I think I am the cutest! Xander isn't bad looking either!

I love my children...they are such great kids....even though having four is a lot of work, it is pictures like these that make it all worth while...we are so blessed to have these children in our lives...

My brother and sisters will remember this pose!

Happy six month birthday, Savannah! We love you!

These are the little Days of your life that make the biggest difference.....