Happy Easter

So, Easter came and went and we had a spectacular day.  We went to church and saw great friends, spent time with family, and then spent time with our small group.  It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed it.  Elaina crashed out hard that night - it took her about 45 seconds to fall asleep.  The day was filled with Easter baskets, candy, food, easter egg hunts, family, and friends.  We are so blessed and thankful that God sent His Son for us to die for our sins.  Here are some shots of the day.

Here is what the Easter bunny brought...  Our Easter morning started off with a 3 year old a bit on the cranky side.  She did not want to wear her dress. This basket helped the mood a bit (thankfully).

 

Going through her loot



strike a pose - that's a harmonica in her right hand.  She loved this prize



And another pose....  I'm not sure her deal with posing but it's pretty cute if you ask me



Elaina and her momma (she has been calling me "momma" lately rather then "mommy" and I like it)



So precious....  Daddy's little girl

Elaina took this pic...not bad other than being dark

After we went to church, we headed to Clark Park in Oak Ridge for a Easter Day cook out with Erik's side of the family.  I do not have pictures.  Sorry, I did not bring my camera (oops).  But we spent a few hours eating, we had an Easter egg hunt, and we enjoyed each other's company.  It was a fun time.

We came home for about an hour before we had to head to Small Group.  While home, we got a knock on the door from our neighbor asking if Elaina could come over for a quick Easter egg hunt.  So, we headed across the street for that.  It was very very nice of them to ask us over.  Elaina had a good time and we got to meet some neighbors we had not met yet.  After that we quickly headed to our small group for an Easter party.  There, we ate (some more) and then the kids had an Easter egg hunt.  The adults got to hunt for eggs too (adult eggs) so that was fun.  Erik and I did not make out too well in that hunt.  Turns out we are not very good egg hunters.

We actually got the kids to sit together and take a shot - this is not too bad, you can see everyone's face :)
From left: Patrick, Caitlyn, Alec, Owen, Elaina
Back from left: Jack, Olivia, Aidan

Easter 2011

So, I thought I'd get a jump on the Easter post since we are headed out of town next week.  We did Easter with my mom today (Saturday).  We ate food, dyed Easter eggs, and painted eggs that were blown out (the yolks, that is).  It was a fun day.  Oh, and there were Easter egg hunts too.  The weather was gorgeous and it was a fun day.  Not everyone could make it so it was a small crowd but still a good day.

The Easter egg hunt... there was a lot of this going on (digging in the grass/flowers for eggs)

Pink was her first color of choice (of course)

Not sure why the face... but, Quentin prefers this face over a smile lately.  I don't know, he's 11, we just go with it.

The master egg dyer, Alexandra.

The whole crew dying eggs

Our little girl...

Elaina wore an old shirt of my moms.  I just thought she looked cute in it, so hence the picture

Then it was outside to paint the eggs.  Elaina really liked this and got into it this year

Quentin and Alexandra painting their eggs

Even Erik got in on the action

A shot of all the finished eggs...

The last egg was just rolled around in all the colors for a tie dyed look

Mom, Kate, and Alexandra.  Kate exaggerated the head tilt as a tribute to my mom and all her sisters.  They are head tilters from way back.  You don't see a picture of them anywhere where their head is not 90 degrees in 1 direction or the other

Kate made the most adorable cupcakes.  Look like flowers with the dum dum suckers.....

random fun around the house....

Just a couple of shots of what goes on on a typical week night at the Stringfellow household

Elaina likes to help wash dishes - who am I to say no.

This is the way I feel after I wash dishes too :)

She does this quite often on her trampoline

All the blood rushing to her head has got to hurt...  Remember doing that when you were a kid and not even noticing.  If I were to do that now, I'd pass out.

Bowling

My nephew Quentin celebrated a birthday at the end of March - his 11th to be precise.  To celebrate, my dad came up on a Sunday afternoon and my sister, Abby, and her family came into town to celebrate too.  At first I was not sure how bowling would go with a 3 year old but it turned out to be a lot of fun.  Having other kids there certainly helped.  Fun was had by all.  We will for sure go again.  Here are shots to capture the day.....

Sadie prepping for her first big roll (is that the technical name for what you when you bowl??  I don't know)

Celia (aka - CeCe)

Check out this action shot....  don't know how we got this but it cracks me up

This was actually her first "roll," "bowl" (whatever we are calling it)  A funny - about halfway through the game, Elaina and I were about to push her ball down the lane.  She said "I want to kick it."  Before that statement registered in my brain, she stood up and proceeded to kick the ball down the lane.  It looked like it hurt but she thought she was big stuff kicking it.  She didn't try it again.

Sadie, Alexandra, and Elaina.  How gorgeous is Alexandra??  Just sayin...

Kate with Sadie

Celia squeezing Elaina (so sweet)

Sisters - Sadie and Celia

Elaina with Aunt Abby

For some reason the kids got on their stomachs to watch the ball go down the lane

For some reason my dad felt compelled to join in... :)

Another cute pose - again, Celia is squeezing Elaina.  E does not look as happy this time. :)

Elaina crawled up in her uncle Doug's lap.  I looked over to see her sitting there.  So sweet.  Uncle Doug, my bro-in-law, is such a cool person.  All the kids love him - including Elaina

Don't ask....  cause I don't know.

Now on to some bowling technique....  you be the judge on the best form

Abby??

Quentin??

Erik???

Brenda???

I could not get pictures of anyone else's form.  My camera is hit or miss on those types of shots being a digital "non-fancy" one.

And finally a pic of my dad (Pappaw) with all the grandkids.  Not a bad shot really

Picking Flowers

A few Sunday's ago, Erik and I ventured out with Elaina to a local track so that Erik and I could run some laps while Elaina rode her new Barbie Jeep and some bicycle around the track with us.  It was a good idea in theory but......

It was a beautiful spring day, we were ready to get some much needed exercise and she was not into us leaving her by herself to ride around the track.  So, we ended up alternating turns playing with her while the other one ran some laps. 

Although it did not turn out like we had liked, I still got some quality time with her.  And, by quality time, I mean we picked flowers - or weeds that blossomed into some pretty flowers.  I don't know if it was the fact that it was such a beautiful spring day but as I squatted down picking those weeds, I mean flowers, it took me back to a feeling I had when I was a little girl.  Squatting down with my little one really was a sentimental moment for me.  She was so excited to be picking these flowers and I remember feeling the same way when I was little.  For all she knew, these flowers were the cream of the crop and nicer then any flower she could get at any store.  She was so proud of her bouquet that she picked for me and her daddy.  It just made me realize that we should all see life as our children do everyday.  Life would be so much sweeter.  Those "weeds" as we would call them were the most beautiful flowers in the world to her.  I think children see everything in life that way - they don't care how cute or stylish a person's hair or clothes looks, or how much something costs.  They just see things for the natural beauty that God gave them - just like those weeds.   

These pics were taken from my phone as I did not have my camera.  I wasn't expecting to have an "Ah-Ha" moment that day but I did so out came the camera phone.....

Those flowers are gone - she was so upset when she walked out into the garage where she left them to see them dead.  She said "uh oh, daddy.  They are dead. I'm sorry." like it was her fault.  So, precious.  I told her we could pick some more some day soon and I can't wait until we do :)