Easter Celebrations

 We had a very nice Easter weekend, and I hope you did too! Here are pictures of our celebrations.

Carter was out of school on Friday, so I took the kids to our MOPS Easter egg hunt. 

Pause for a few quick pictures before the fun

So sweet

Love them so!

All 3 smiling!! AWESOME!

Great smiles, but Cole's just about done with pics.....

They divided the kids up to hunt by age.... Carter was in the 5 and up area. Each kid was allowed 12 eggs. Carter took off and was back to me literally in less than 60 seconds. He was convinced it was a race. HA!

He was so fast that the only pictures I got of him were on his way back! But look at that smile!

Ella was a little nervous for some reason, and since Carter was already done, he offered to go with her and assist. Sweet boy!

He stuck by her side while she got her 12 :)

Then it was over to the toddler area

Carter made it his mission to show Cole what to do.... but he just wasn't completely getting it.

He was cute as ever though, and fun to watch! He mostly enjoyed tossing the eggs in the air, and reaching into other people's baskets. Hunting and gathering, not so much!

My kiddos plus Carson. We've known this sweet boy and his family for about 3-4 years now. His sweet Momma (Lindsay) is the reason I joined this wonderful group! The boys have had  alot of fun through the years, and actually ended up playing soccer together this season. Fun to watch them grow up together

Here is Cole hunting

After the hunt, most of our group headed over to the park for some playtime. 

Here is Ella with her fellow redheaded friend who also happens to be named Ella. Two Ella's with red hair! Love it!

On the way to the car I realized that I didn't get a picture with me and the kids, so we paused for a quick selfie on our way out. Fun morning with my babies and some sweet friends!

Later after lunch, the kids got to dig into their eggs. Even Cole :)

Not Easter related, but haave to include because it was just a special occasion..... but my parent's were nice enough to treat me, Carter, and Ella to an afternoon at the theater! They took us to see The Little Mermaid, the musical at Fair Park in Dallas. But we couldn't leave Cole and Daddy out completely, so we settled for a yummy brunch with them at Blue Mesa beforehand :)

All dressed up!

Me and my handsome boys. Cole was not having it. Even the American Express couldn't keep him happy! Ha! We tried.

At the theatre and ready to go in!

Good looking group!

With Nana & Grandad

Taking a break at intermission. Happy girl!

And with my boy too.

Skittles and Grandad make for a happy boy

Ella and Nana looking pretty!

What a fun and special afternoon we had! 

We went straight from there back to my parents to meet up with Eric and Cole and the rest of my aunts, uncles and cousins for family Easter dinner and egg hunt. 

Ella's on it!

They actually got to hunt this time instead of just pick them up from a field, so they enjoyed that!

Cole's off.....

Found one! But now what?!

I'll just leave my basket here and come back to it each time. Who wants to carry that heavy thing anyway?

CUTE!!!!

Love them!!

So Cole refused to sit and take a picture because he was wanting an open egg. So I told him, "Ok, I'll open this for you but you have to go sit and smile for a picture" And what did he do?????

And what did he do as soon as he got that open egg but go and sit down and smile really big! Smart boy! It was really hilarious!

Checking them all out...

We enjoyed a great meal and a good time with family. Fun as always! 

Ready for church on Easter Sunday. Love the smiles!

Look at Ella and Cole holding hands. :)

We got home from church and the Easter bunny had brought some goodies!

Ella was so, so excited about the craft scissors they got. You know, the kind that cut out fun borders....

And the glitter glue. And the erasable markers.

A few family shots before we change and get ready for brunch!

It was windy, so we tried inside. Love my family!

And with Nana and Grandad.

Cole is done. And notice Ella's pose in each picture. Not sure what that was about but it sure is funny to me!

Fun with new craft stuff

We had a yummy brunch complete with mimosas..... the we all crashed for long afternoon naps!

Fun and blessed weekend with my family!

Soccer Season is Upon Us!

We've made it halfway through the spring soccer season, so I figured it was time to post some pictures!

This is Carter's second season of soccer (first was Fall 2014). We changed teams, and he coincidentally ended up on a team with a long time friend, Carson. They've known each other since they were 4! So, we were happy to have a buddy right off the bat. They're the Goal Getters and they're bright orange! Dad's favorite :)

Goal Getter's first practice with Coach Joel

This is Ella's first season to play, and we requested to be on a team with some nearby neighborhood friends! They're the Zebras, and they love their color.... purple!!

Here is Ella right before her first practice... she was pumped!

 Her team practices at the park at the end of our street.... so nice and convenient to be able to walk there! Coach Christy is awesome and lives just around the corner from us!

 She did awesome at her first practice! No hesitation, whatsoever!

They play on opposite sides of town, and often at or near the same time..... so unfortunately we've had to do a lot of splitting up this season. More than I would like. We take turns s much as we can, but I hate missing their games, or even just part of their games! And I don't like that they're not able to watch and cheer for each other. But, we knew that would be part of two in soccer at the same time. 

First game... 2/13

 Carter is #20

 Ella's first game, also 2/13

 While she had a great first practice, apparently a game is, well, "a whole different ballgame". HA! She wasn't feeling it AT ALL. She didn't want to do anything but stand in the middle of the field and pout. So that is what she did, pretty much the entire time.

 When she had breaks, I did my best to encourage, help, and pep her up! (Eric was with Carter at his game, but I could've really used his help pep talking!).

 In the final quarter, she decided she'd run with the crowd. Small victories!! Happy to see her keeping up and smiling!

 And Cole did pretty good. He mostly hung out on the sidelines with the girls, and only tried to run out on the field a few times! ;)

Week 2, and this time they get to watch each other play!  

Pictures together were necessary before leaving the house. 

 LOVE!

 And with their biggest fan, little bro!

 Eric and I got to go to each game this time, too! So that was nice!

 Warming up

 

 Game time!

 Ella pretty much ran with the pack on game 2 as well. Near the end she started to pout because she said, "they're not giving me a turn".... so we had to have a long talk about the game of soccer and how it's played. For some reason it never occured to me that she might actually be waiting on a turn. HA! I guess we never did tell her that there aren't turns, you just go for it, but still.

 Onto the next field for Carter's game.

 Fun on the goal posts

 Week 3 was picture day at FC Dallas stadium where they took individual and team pictures on the field. How cool is that? Haven't gotten these pictures back yet, but anxious to see them!

Ella's team headed down

 Cool shot of the stadium

 Posing Ella

 Carter's team waaaaay down there

 Game 3 Ella did a little better about trying to go after the ball. No goals, but keeping up and sticking her feet in there a little!

 Cole cheering for sis!

 Hanging on the sidelines.

So we've just hit the halfway point, and had the week off of soccer for Spring Break, but we're back at it this week and weekend. As of now, neither one of them have scored a goal yet. They're just not the super aggressive type, and I'm okay with that! But, Ella does a great job of staying with the pack, and she's pretty much the fastest runner on the team, and even of all the teams we've played. That girl can smoke anyone!! Carter does a great job defending the ball, and has gone for it a few times to take it up the field, to no avail. Their team has played some really awesome teams (for being only 6 and 7), so I don't blame him if he's been a little intimidated to go for the ball. Hoping they both can improve enough to each get their first goal this season! We shall see! Also, need to go through videos and see what I've got. Will post those separately later on.