Josh Turns the BIG 3-0!!

 Josh is officially an old man.  I like to tease him that I'm still in my twenties and he's too old to understand.  ;-)  Turning 30 is a big deal and I LOVE to make a big deal over my sweetheart.  This had to be a special day.  Instead of a special day though, we turned it into a special weekend.  It was a blast.

 Josh got some new running shoes for his bday.  I didn't even know that running stores existed that specialized in JUST running items.  We went there and had this big assessment done and found him the perfect shoes.  We were super impressed with this store's helpfulness and will never buy from anyone else.

The day of Josh's actual birthday was also Daniel's first day in Nursery at church.  Here are a couple of shots of him getting ready for his big day.

 Daniel still has not gotten the hang of going to nursery and cries for most of the time he's in there.  Those poor nursery workers. They have special blessings waiting for them in heaven.

Opening presents and cards.  I love to buy this guy stuff.  It's totally my love language.  

 How do you like that birthday cake?  This is what was left after I made two cakes for his surprise party.  It actually was the perfect amount and fed us without any leftovers.

 These kids LOVE their daddy.  Daniel especially has become such a daddy's boy.  He just adores him and listens to Josh way better than to me.  That little stinker.

 So, I threw a big surprise party for Josh two days before his actual birthday.  I was trying so hard to work on things for his party without him knowing.  It was tough, let me tell you.  Josh was winding down at school and would often come home early.  I would have to rush and clean up whatever it was that I was doing so that he wouldn't find a trace of any birthday decor.  I guess it was successful because he had NO idea.

 We bought a bunch of pizzas and made a big salad for everyone to eat dinner together.  There was also birthday cake of course.

 Can you spot Daniel's mark on the cake?  He was just trying to make sure it wasn't poisonous.

 Little things sure do take longer than you would think but it's all worth it when you know the person you're doing the work for appreciates it.  We had so much fun spending time with our friends at the party.  They are seriously all just the best!

 Let's just say, I slept really well that night.  It was a fun night for our family.  Happy Birthday to Josh!

Easter 2014

 This past Easter was a bit of a blur.  We moved two days later so everything was kind of crazy at our house.  However, I really wanted to still make everything feel special for the kids.  We stilled dyed eggs and had a hunt and made special food.  The kids probably didn't know that my heart was super stressed but it all turned out.  It always does.  Our apartment complex had the Easter Bunny come and had a big egg hunt at the playground.  The kids loved every second of it.  We loved getting to spend a little more time with our friends, so everyone was happy all around.

 Here are all of the kids right before the hunt.  Aren't they darling?

 Bunny ears!

 Looking at these pictures seriously makes me miss these girls.  I don't think I could have ever dreamed of having friends as wonderful as these.  Good friends is what made St. Louis so wonderful for us.

 Daniel quickly understood that these eggs weren't just for show.  There was a treasure waiting inside and he devoured it up as quickly as he could.

 Let the race begin.  These kids had focused and determined little faces.

 Family picture.  ;-)

 Dying eggs was quite the disaster this year.  I bought the kit that comes with little plastic cups, thinking that we would have fewer dishes to do.  They were awful and I will never recommend them to anyone.  As soon as one of the kids touched them, they would spill all the dye out.  It was a MESS let me tell you!  Sigh....

 Miss these little boys!

 He tries so hard to give me a big smile.

 Look at that face!  He looks super skeptical of what is going on.

 At the end of dying eggs, the kids were happy.  Even though it was a disaster, I guess you can call that a success.

 Easter morning after finding their baskets.  Anna was THRILLED that they got Frozen.  We now have that music playing in our house all the time and she knows most of the words.  She also tells me every day that she wants to be Anna, no Elsa, no Anna, no wait...Elsa for Halloween.

 LOVE him!

 Easter pictures!

 Our sweet friends and next door neigbors were kind enough to invite us over for Easter dinner so we didn't have to make a big meal right before we moved.  It was so fun to spend Easter with them.  The night before, we watched their boys for them so they could go out on a date.  While the boys were there, they all got to decorate a sugar cookie to eat after Easter dinner.  Everyone loved the sugar high that they were on.

 There's that "big" smile again.

 Easter dinner at the Gublers!  So, so, so delicious and super fun!