Weekend Recap :: Easter

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and Easter Sunday.  Ours was busy and fun and also weird because Jason was out of town all weekend for work.   I hate that he missed Colin's first Easter, but sometimes work has to take priority.  Don't feel too sorry for him - he was in Chicago attending college basketball playoff games, sleeping in and enjoying lots of yummy meals.  I know he would have rather been home with us, but at least it wasn't a total bust. 

On Friday morning Jason left for Chicago until Monday.  This was the longest I would have the boys on my own, but I was up for the challenge!  I checked out of work a little early to get a mani/pedi before our nanny was off.  I knew this would be my only "me time" the entire weekend so I fully enjoyed it.

Essie Fiji

Friday afternoon my mom came and picked up Jack to spend the night with her so I could have one night caring for just one.  Jack had a blast at Mimi's house that night making cookies and playing.  Colin and I ordered pizza and got as much rest as we could since I knew the rest of the weekend was going to be cray!

On Saturday morning my mom took Jack to an Easter Egg Hunt at my grandmother's home while Colin and I slept in.  Creepy bunny alert.  I'm shocked Jack wasn't scared of him!

Once my little tornado got home from his hunt it was back to crazy toddler life!  We packed up the car and headed to my dad's house across town for an early Easter celebration.  Jack hunted eggs with his cousin Brody and we had a yummy lunch.

On Sunday we were up early to see what the Easter bunny brought.  We face timed with Jason so he could be part of the fun, but because we did that I have no pictures of their baskets before they were tore into!  I had every intention of taking the boys to church by myself, but after attempting to get us all ready among the crying and chaos I finally waved the white flag and just got us ready for lunch at my mom's giving us much more time.  I've taken the boys to church by myself before and it was exhausting - I just didn't have the fight in me this time, especially knowing that the service would be longer and more crowded than usual.  #easterfail

We had a great afternoon at my mom's eating lunch, too many sweets and egg hunting.  Jack had a blast squirting everyone with water guns and playing outside for hours and Colin had fun being passed around all afternoon.

He and Colin were exhausted by the time we left so it was quick baths and bed for the boys followed by lots of laundry and picking up for me so Jason didn't have to come home to a disaster zone! 

It's been a hectic time with Jason being out of town, planning his birthday celebration that we had yesterday and now he is wrapped up with Final Four.   Hang on with me as I navigate through the crazy and hope to post more consistently. 

You Sit On a Throne of Lies :: Easter Edition

If you follow me on Facebook, this is old news, but it is too crazy not to share.  Yesterday afternoon around 4:30 I took Jack to see the Easter Bunny at our local mall...nice suburban mall.  It was daylight and early and I was excited to beat the bunny crowds on the weekend.  

Jack loved meeting the Easter Bunny giving him lots of high fives until it was time to actually sit on his lap.  Then it was tear city.  That's okay, it was quick and painless, we paid and went on our way.  I loaded Jack up in his stroller, did a quick trip to Bath & Body Works which is just a few feet away from the Easter Bunny and as we were walking out we stopped one more time to wave goodbye to the bunny.  

That's when we start seeing people running to all of the exits.  At first I just saw one family running out and thought they were just being silly.  That was until the dad looked at me with a crying kid slung over his shoulder and said, MOVE IT - HE HAS A GUN!

I pushed that stroller so fast and ran in my heels faster than I've ever run before.  Luckily we weren't far from the exit we needed to get right to our car.  Even once we were in the parking lot, I wanted to get as far away from the mall as possible just in case they came running out the same exit.  I've never thrown the stroller in the car so fast or buckled Jack in his seat so swiftly.  I'm proud of myself for staying calm though - I don't think Jack even noticed anything weird was going on. But I am kinda ticked at the people in the car next to me just watching as I frantically got everything in.  They knew what was going on, but seemed to be enjoying the show. 

By the time we were driving away, cops were just starting to pull up to the mall.  According the news, it was a two man "smash and grab."  They both had on masks and one had a gun.  No shots were fired and no one was hurt.  I think they got away too.  

The jewelry store that was hit was just across the aisle from where the Easter Bunny was setup.  I could have easily walked in that direction with Jack and almost did when I remembered that I needed to stop at Macy's for some beauty products.  Thank God I was too lazy!  We would have been even closer if I would have made that choice.  

I know you shouldn't live in fear, but I've decided to stay away from the malls when I'm by myself with Jack.  The scariest part of the whole ordeal was that Jack was with me.  All I wanted to do was get him to safety.  There have been too many crazies out there who don't care that it's daylight and there are tons of people around.

At least we are left with some gorgeous pictures of Jack with the Easter Bunny (sarcasm)...

Very reminiscent of our Christmas Edition!

And I promise I wasn't trying to torture my son!  He loved seeing the Easter Bunny last year...here is proof!

Spring Has Sprung

Happy Monday!  Who else is enjoying this weather lately?  We spent the majority of the weekend outside and all loved it.  I'm excited to get our yard looking pretty again.

About two weeks ago we took Jack for some "Easter photos" with Amanda of Mommas Gonna Snap {same photographer who took the recent Houston Moms Blog Headshots}.  We love Amanda and she works great with Jack who happened to be super cranky that day for pictures.

I was about to throw in the towel, but Amanda just knew it would happen and patiently kept trying different things until voila!

Easter Basket Goodies for a Toddler

It's that time of year again to start pulling together a few goodies for your little one's Easter Basket from good 'ole Peter Cottontail.

You can read what I did for Jack last year here.

This year we are using the same basket from Pottery Barn Kids {which I plan to do for many years to come}.  This year I didn't want to spend a huge amount of money filling it and he is definitely not getting candy quite yet {his toddler tantrums do not need extra sugar}. 

I had great luck at the Dollar Spot at Target with some Easter themed goodies I know he will love including some duck shaped bubbles, egg chalk and a Peter Rabbit Coloring Book.  How can you beat $1!

I have also added a few other items below:

Hoppy Easter Jammies
Llama Llama Easter Egg Board Book
Jellycat Woodland Bunny
Crayola Egg Chalk


What are you including in your little one's basket this year?  Or do you just stick to an egg hunt?  I'd love to hear!