Easter 2019 Festivities

Easter weekend has come and gone and just like Christmas, I'm sad it's over. Easter is my second favorite holiday (apart from Christmas, of course). I've mentioned in before, but back in 2006, Jason and I were engaged over Easter, married the following Easter, had Brayden around Easter time in 2016, and I just love the overall special time this year brings, not to mention the significance of our risen Savior. The promise of spring, the colors and blooms, new life, new possibilities...it's all just so exciting!

We had so much fun during this Easter holiday and I hope you did as well!

It all began with our church's annual Easter Egg hunt last weekend. We had a "practice" run of hiding eggs in our living room the night before and lemme just say, it was a disaster. Brayden was throwing his basket, throwing the eggs...he just didn't want to "hunt eggs" the way we wanted him to hunt eggs and it was quite comical. I decided that I was just going to let him go to the egg hunt, have fun, and see what happened because...toddlers!

So, imagine my surprise when they called "GO" at the Easter egg hunt and he began running to the eggs and putting them in his basket!

 He racked up with quite a few....then he wanted to eat all of the candy inside, of course!

They also had horses and a train at the egg hunt and Brayden loved them both!

He had a chance to ride the horses twice and the train three times! So much fun!

Over Good Friday and this weekend, we spent a little time dyeing eggs. We had fun choosing colors and placing stickers all over the eggs!

After a birthday party for a nephew on Saturday, we decided to try the Easter bunny at the mall one more time. Remember the Santa incident from Christmas where it took three tries and we finally got a picture? Well, the bunny took two. I didn't warm him up enough on Thursday after picking him up from school and needless to say, he wanted nothing to do with the Easter bunny!

On Saturday though, it all came together and he was totally ok with seeing the Easter Bunny! Toddlers are funny creatures.

We also spent time at my parent's house on Saturday afternoon for a crawfish boil! My dad also set up Brayden's new swing set in the back yard and he had a blast playing on it!

On Easter Sunday, the Easter Bunny visited us and left a fun Easter basket as well as a few "hidden" eggs. Brayden also enjoyed a leftover breakfast of bunny cinnamon rolls!

So yummy!

We attended church on Easter Sunday morning followed by dinner at Jason's Aunt & Uncle's house.

The kids loved having an Easter egg hunt and checking out all of their goodies!

Brayden also had fun playing with his BFF, Brody. He LOVES this dog!

I hope you all had a blessed Easter and enjoyed your weekend! He is risen, risen indeed!

Fitness Friday - April 6

Happy Friday! Long time no Fitness Friday!! This week I actually did enough "activity" worth blogging about, so here we go!

Currently Training For:

• Dopey Challenge 2018 - Walt Disney World
• Rock n Roll New Orleans Half Marathon 2018 - New Orleans, LA 
• Warrior Nation 5K
• Contraband Days 5 Miler
  

Sunday - Rest Day
Monday - Squats/Lunges/PT Routine
Tuesday - 3 mile run
Wednesday - Cross Training with the Tone It Up Girls 
Thursday - 3 mile run
Friday - Rest Day/Party Prep

So my recap this week might not look or sound like much but here lately, this is great for me! I've also been birthday party prepping for the last several weeks so needless to say, that's consumed a lot of my time.

The week began with a Monday night dinner with my parents and "Easter Bunny" gifts. Yes, the Easter Bunny still passes for us (even the grown kids) and now there's an overload of chocolate in my house. Yikes.

This basket is about 30 years old!

After dinner, I did my usual PT squats and lunges routine. My right knee has been tweaky lately (not IT Band tweaky) and I realized that the lunges made the pain worse. After backing off of the lunges this week, my knee is feeling a little better. Hopefully it continues to improve. (It honestly feels like runners knee.)

On Tuesday, Brayden and I went out for a 3 mile run and as I mentioned yesterday, we discovered a new route! 

Y'all have no idea how much of a game changer this is for me when running with Brayden. Lately he's started getting "bored" after about 2 miles or so and if we have to loop back in front of our house and pass it again, he's not a happy camper. So, with lots of snacks and no need to loop back in front of our house, we are good to go again!

Another crazy storm also threatened our area on Tuesday night but I think they overshot this time - they predicted all kinds of stuff and nothing happened. I'm sure they just didn't want a repeat of last week. Guess that's how the weather works for you! Better to be safe than sorry, I say! 

We also got a little rained on during our run but it wasn't anything too terrible and passed rather quickly.

On Wednesday, I picked through the Tone It Up Girls YouTube channel and found a workout that I liked and could modify with my tweaky knee.

Thursday was Brayden's birthday and also an opportunity for us to try out our new route. It worked great! Another 3 miler in the books an gorgeous spring (although kind of humid) weather!

After work on Thursday, I also met up with my sister in law for a cup of coffee at PJ's! She was in town for an appointment and it was nice to catch up with her.

This week has also been all about baseball in my house! The Astros revealed their World Series Champions flag as well as their WS rings! I'm loving that baseball is officially back!! 

Tomorrow is our 11 year wedding anniversary and this year we are sharing it with Brayden's Birthday party! I've been so consumed with party planning, I haven't even thought about where to eat or what to do but I know we will end up doing something.

Have a fabulous weekend!!

Easter Egg Hunt 2018

Happy Easter Week! We spent the weekend doing a lot of Easter related things with Brayden and it was all so much fun! Seeing the world through his eyes is seriously the best thing ever!

Up first was our church's annual Easter Outreach filled with games, food, eggs, the Easter Bunny, and it always ends with a little message about the true meaning of Easter.

Throughout the week, we practiced his egg hunting skills and he pretty much had the system down, so he was ready!

Once we arrived at church, Brayden kid received a wrist band which correlated with his age group color. All of the activities available that day had a color coded mark on them so parents and kids knew which games were age appropriate! I loved this system!
 

We started with the jump houses and although he was still iffy about the jump houses by himself, he loved to jump with me!

Next up was the games! He slam dunked lots of balls and rung those flamingos like a pro!

After playing a few games, it was getting close to his group's egg hunt time, so we wandered over to the egg hunt ground area.

Over 2000 eggs were "hidden" for each group and there were a lot of different prize eggs in there, too!

Off we go! His age group was 0-2 and parents are encouraged to walk with their children for this one.

He even found a prize egg! Way to go, Brayden!

Pony rides were available for the kids as well and this was Brayden's first time to ride a pony! He ended up on Cowgirl! :)

I mean really, when did he get so big??

Last up on the activities list was the "train" ride.

One of our pastor's daughter's wanted to ride with "Ray-den" so we let her! So stinkin precious!

After the train ride, it was time to eat lunch and get out of the sun for a little while. Hot dogs were served and it took me a while to figure out the taste because they had a very slight kick to them - apparently they were cooked in crawfish/crab boil! Hello!

 We also spotted the Easter Bunny wandering around, so we had to stop for a picture with her!

The puppet show was incredibly fascinating and he loved the songs! It's funny because I was a part of the kids ministries team way back when and we performed some of the same songs year after year...now my son is being raised with the same! I love it!

After the puppet show and presentation, it was time for the prizes! Brayden won a box of chocolate marshmallow eggs!

He took a GREAT nap on Saturday! :)

Last but not least, we took him to the mall to see the Easter Bunny on Sunday. I'd received an  "early bird" coupon for $5 off and it expired on Sunday, so why not? He did great!!

Apart from more outdoor work and 2nd birthday party prep, that was our weekend in a nutshell! I've had some knee issues and I've been icing like crazy. We will see if that helps for this afternoon's run!

Have a great day!! :)

Brayden's First Easter Egg Hunt

Hello and happy "almost" Easter weekend! We are excited for this weekend as it will be Brayden's first Easter and we will have a chance to spend time with family and do a lot of shopping! Let's also not forget the true reason we celebrate this Easter holiday! :)

Last weekend, Brayden attended his first Easter Egg Hunt - and it just so happened that it was hosted by our church!

In the days leading up to the egg hunt, we spent a few minutes each evening "practicing" how to put eggs in a basket! By the time the day of the egg hunt came along, he had the concept down pretty well!

The event opened to the public at 10 a.m. with Brayden's group (0-2 years old) hunt beginning at 10:15 a.m.

When we arrived, parking lot attendants handed us a schedule which was really nice to have in hand so we knew what was taking place and when! 

Behind our children's building is a large field and that's what they used to "hide" the eggs. Some eggs were extra special with prize tags inside!

Parents were allowed inside the egg area with the 0-2 group, so I was able to help guide him where he needed to be!

 The Easter Bunny made a visit and started off the egg hunt!

It was a lot of fun showing the eggs to Brayden and helping him put them in his basket.

His favorite thing to do with them, though is bang them together. Typical boy!

In the basket they go...

I can't wait to see what he's going to do next year as he will officially be walking by then!

Look at my egg, momma!

Posing for a picture with the Easter Bunny!

My friend Kim had the idea to make shirts for the day and I love how mine turned out!!

Along with the Easter Egg hunt, they also had fun jumps, face painting, balloon sculptures, and a train for the kids to ride. I completely forgot about the train, so we didn't get to go - oh well, next year for sure!

After all the groups had finished, there was a puppet show and a fun little message from our children's pastor and kids ministries team where they shared the Easter story. Also, awards for the prize eggs were given out here.

In all, we had a great time and really enjoyed the Easter Egg Hunt! Easter is one of my favorite holidays and I absolutely love spring and this time of year!

I hope you all have a wonderful a blessed weekend! :)