Easter Weekend

Our Easter weekend kicked off with a rocking Good Friday concert featuring Chris Tomlin and David Crowder. You know, I have to say that one really feels alive when they can get away and do something to revive the spirit and refresh the soul. We went with another couple and had the best time.

The next morning we took the kids to an Easter breakfast with the Easter Bunny. They did a little egg hunt after breakfast in the church yard. In comparison to some of the egg hunts we took C to last year, this one was much more relaxed which was perfect for our toddling 15 month-old.

That evening we had a little cookout with our good friends, Chip, Crystal and their two kids, Bri and Braxton. The kids had fun playing in the yard and eating outside on the deck.

Sunday was much quieter. We went to church then did our own little egg hunt in our back yard. I didn't feel like cooking or cleaning up after a meal so we decided to eat out. So it was Mexican for Easter this year. Can I just say...yummy. The best part was coming home, putting the kids to bed and not having to clean up a mess. Momma can put her feet up and write a blog. It's a real treat. (P.S. A big shout out to Grandma Stallings for the adorable Easter outfits the kids have on. Thanks sooo much! They looked stunning!)

Hope all your Easter celebrations were filled with the love of Christ! He has risen! He has risen indeed!

A Zoo Day

Even though Leo currently has Hand, Foot and Mouth disease, we decided to go to the zoo for the day yesterday. He stayed quarantined in the stroller while Ella had a play date with a friend. They had so much fun. Ella even learned how to use the camera on my phone and took a few photos herself; some of which turned out pretty nice.

Here are Carmella and Kendall posing for the camera in front of the tiger habitat.


Here they are roaring for the tiger. If you look in the background the tiger lifts her head. She must have heard the girls roar.


The girls had so much fun. They are finally at the stage where they play with each other instead of playing side-by-side. It was totally refreshing for Kendall's mom and me too. We had a lovely time talking with each other with minimal interruptions.

Swim Class

Carmella loves her swimming lessons. Her excitement gets her in trouble at times. The problem is, she has a hard time closing her mouth when she puts her face in the water because she is smiling too much. It's so cute. She is the youngest child in her class by a year or more, but she holds her own. She has improved so much since the first day. In the beginning she wouldn't put her face in the water at all. Now, she can hold her breath under water for up to five seconds. I am very proud of her. But to be honest, I just get a kick out of how much she likes it.

I have to back up a bit and tell you how we came to even get signed up for lessons at this particular pool. The pool is walking distance from our house and the lessons are by far the cheapest around. However, signing up is quite a stressful process. As a swim person myself, I really don't understand why it has to be so difficult to get a kid into lessons. Sign-ups start online at say noon on a Saturday. If you are not logged in and ready to go the second they open up the sign ups, you are out of luck. There is only one class per age group for each two-week session. I think there are four sessions total throughout the spring for which parents can sign up their kids. I knew we wanted to do the first two sessions so I got logged on and signed up the second the list went public.

Just for curiosity sake, I logged back in after I successfully added Carmella to both of the Spring sessions I wanted. Sure enough, only 4 minutes after the sign-ups went public, all classes were filled up for all four sessions. I felt lucky to even get on the list.

My thoughts are that if there is such a demand for lessons, why not add classes and teachers? They are missing out on a huge money-making opportunity here. It just kills me. I used to work at a pool and half my day was spent booking swim lessons. The more the merrier. If we had a wait list, we would simply add a class. I guess this place isn't quite at that level, but I simply see missed opportunity written all over it.

But isn't she sweet?