On Thursday Brooke had to go back home to NC after staying with us since Sunday. The original plan was to meet Mike and Peggy in Greensboro for a third time, but throughout the week we had plans cooking about my dad possibly flying us to the Rocky Mount/Wilson airport. When Thursday came, the weather was great and we were able to fly!

She flew the plane for a few seconds!

My dad is so cool :)

Brooke says goodbye to Roanoke. It was a beautiful day to fly...we could see pretty far out.
Reunited with her mama! Mike and Peggy met us at the airport and my dad took a few extra minutes to take them for a ride in the plane, too. They found their way to Dalmar Road so that they could fly over their house.

That morning before we left, we took the girls to the duck pond to do one last fun thing with Aunt Brooke. We definitely made the most of the time she was here...there wasn't a spare moment.

Notice how Brooke is holding Kate back here...I was never certain that Kate wouldn't just jump right in the water.

"Ewww mom I have duck poop on my hand!"

They loved the duck pond...

On Friday we invited Gramme over to our house for an Easter egg party! I got the $1 kit at Walmart with the color tablets and stickers for decorating.

It was a little ambitious of me to think that such a project would go smoothly with a 1.5 year old.
Kate thinks about taking a sip of the blue water. I love that Vivian is checking her out...it's as if she thinks what Kate does is interesting, but would never do those risky things herself.

Don't laugh at my rabbit ears...the girls wouldn't wear it. I was being festive :)
My mom and I had very high heart rates during the whole activity. Kate was throwing the eggs like they were balls. She got very close to dumping the water out of the cups about 34 times, but thankfully we intercepted each time at the last second.

We waited a few minutes to let the dye soak in!

The not-so-patient toddler eyes the eggs to see how she can participate.

While we waited for them to dry, we colored and made Easter shapes out of playdoh.

Vivian poses for a picture with her finished eggs! She had a great time partying with Gramme for Easter projects. And we had the special bonus treat of going out to eat for lunch with her after the crafts!

Someone in our house is suffering from severe seasonal allergies (we think):

A couple of Saturdays ago, mom ran in the 5k in Salem for the Susan G. Komen foundation. She had been preparing for it for several months. It turned out that Joey and Sierra ran it together also, so Joey ran some of the way with mom and they got some pictures on her cell phone when it was over. Very cool!

I had to share her accomplishments! We are doing another half marathon in September in Virginia Beach...mom, me, and Aaron. I guess I should start running...or at least walking fast :)

This morning at library storytime the kids did an egg hunt! We did our normal stories and songs for the first half and then went outside to find some eggs. Vivian caught on quickly and found lots of eggs. The pictures are out of order, sorry! The first ones are of the kids opening their eggs to see what's inside, and then the last ones are of them hunting for eggs :)Aunt Brooke is here this week to hang out with us, so she helped Vivian open the candy.

Last Thursday before naps we met our friends at Moyer park (great park, by the way!..it was our first time there and I was impressed). I am using Kristin's pictures from her blog because she was the thoughtful one to take pictures while the kids played.

Kate loved this slide. That's the only thing she did while we were there...down, and back up again!
She did take a time-out to eat some yogurt for lunch. I get so uptight about her trying to feed herself. It's almost always a sure mess.

Baby Mason fell asleep in the sun...looks like a nice idea to me!

Surprise...Vivian got a haircut that morning!

Kate and her BFF Lilah on the big kid swings. Check out the sucker in Lilah's mouth...and of course right after this, Kate fell off the swing and so we left soon!

Brother and sister taking a drive...

We didn't make it in time for lunch, but here are all the other little ones chowing down at the picnic table!

This is the BIG story around our house this past weekend and this week. I will try to explain it concisely.

This is a picture of all the clothes that Vivian and Kate have worn and outgrown since they were born. They were just thrown in Kate's closet...every time she outgrew something, I didn't take the time to put it away, I just tossed in the closet behind closed doors. !!! Can you believe that?! There was a mountain of clothes in there.

Aaron and I played Scrabble one night last week.

I almost won, but in the end I could not defeat him. He is unbeatable. It was still fun, though!

Part of the favor for Carissa's Bubblecake shower was this awesome keychain that Crystal Mitchell made for us. I stole the idea from the favors at Kaitlyn's bridal shower (actually, Kristin let me borrow the idea :)). I hope everyone loved their new keychains...I have "Love is Kind" from Kaitlyn's shower (different colors) and now I have "Love is Patient" to go with it :) Thanks, Crystal, for sharing your talent!

Chuck E. Cheese!
On Friday our playdate at the park with Avery and Rachel got rained out, so we switched our plans to something just as fun. We played at Chuck E. Cheese in the morning and then had Chick-fil-a for lunch.

FYI for moms with kids Kate's age, the Chick-fil-a on 220 near Tanglewood has a playground that is suitable for the smaller kids...she can climb all the way to the top to get to the slide. It was a fun morning!


The three times that I have been to Chuck E. Cheese, the adults that I am with have tackled the basketball hoops. There must be something about it that draws you in... haha

I'm sure Janelle did great and got a lot of tickets with Rachel helping her. :)

More photo albums...lots of stuff going on around here lately!! These are some of the pictures from Carissa's shower on Saturday. We had the shower at Bubblecake, a very cute downtown cupcake shop with a party room upstairs. It was beautiful. The room is so classy and fun, and the cupcakes were amazing. Lots of Carissa's friends from different seasons were there to celebrate her wedding with her. We shared our favorite memories of doing things with her, played some games, and watched her open gifts. We spent some time praying for her and Keegan's marriage also. It was a special afternoon and I trust that God was honored!

Carissa asked for a "girly" shower. From looking at the pictures, how did we do? :)

Yesterday afternoon we had the pleasure of a visit from the Stevens family :)

Last weekend I went to Richmond from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon for Carissa's bachelorette. We were missing two bridesmaids but we had a great time eating good food and desserts. Check out some pictures from the weekend!
Thanks to the hubby for playing with the girls all weekend :) I really missed them!

Back in the middle of March I attended a bridal shower for Kaitlyn, who is marrying Shawn this May. Kaitlyn is very involved in our children's ministry, and Shawn helps with Aaron to lead the high school Sunday School class. Kristin threw the shower for her and it was a huge blessing, not only to the bride but also to the guests! We had all been anticipating the fun afternoon, and it was not disappointing in the least. Lots of great food for lunch and encouraging friends to share it. Enjoy the pictures and be on the lookout for wedding pictures!
If you're throwing a bridal shower in the future, make sure you read the captions to get ideas...Kristin is very creative!

This past Saturday Aaron took the girls to Jax and Lilah's 2nd birthday party. They had so much fun and I heard all about it! I also enjoyed being part of the celebration by digging into these party favor buckets that Kristin made for her guests. There are so many goodies in there, all to match the Noah's Ark theme of the party. Vivian was so overwhelmed by all the gifts that she could only focus on the ribbon that Kristin used to tie the bags :) She played with them as necklaces before her nap. When she wakes up, we'll take another look at all the fun stuff.

Last Thursday night, Aaron and I went on a double date with Darren and Kristin to see Trombone Shorty live. I am sorry for everyone who was not there! It was an incredible concert...you cannot believe the way this guy plays the trombone and the trumpet, until you actually see it. His talent is mesmerizing, and I don't know all the history or the stats, but I'm sure he is unmatched. Check out the video below, although I need to find a better one because it doesn't do him justice!
This picture was taken after the show. Aaron and I had been dancing, so we might look a little sweaty. I'm so glad we could share it with our dear friends!

Aaron's dad gave him a CD of this guy and he listens to it all the time. He was really anticipating the concert and had gotten the tickets the day they went on sale two months ago.
Here are some pictures from dinner. The guys took us to Thelma's Chicken and Waffles. When I first heard that's where Darren wanted to go, I thought he was joking. But he was very serious and by the time Thursday rolled around, Aaron was also very intent on going there.

This is the bottom front of the menu. Does this give you an idea of what kind of restaurant we enjoyed?! :)

Yesterday I took the girls to get a trim. Yes, I said trim. There was no major cutting going on, much to my dismay. I would really love for them to have a cute bouncy bob for the springtime, just to change things up a little, but everyone else (including Aaron) wants for their hair to grow long. I'm completely outnumbered in the vote.

Kate did great. When she started freaking out after realizing her arms were stuck under that cape, the hairdresser quickly gave her a spray bottle to play with and she was all smiles after that. I bet the lady didn't realize that Kate might figure out how the bottle works...she got sprayed in the face several times!! :)
Vivian handled it as you can imagine. Perfectly still, no talking, no smiles, just complete concentration. Ha!