Easter

Easter day was a toasty one in Tucson.  We started with Easter baskets.  As always, there was a bathing suit in there.  This year it's a one piece body suit for each kid. 

The candy hunt was next.  We, I mean the Easter Bunny, didn't do plastic eggs this year.  Nobody noticed so bye-bye eggs it is. 

I took exactly one picture of each child. Amazing!

The centerpiece on the island. 

We went outside for our family picture.  In scouting a location I thought I would show the lovely purple cactus in my parent's backyard. 

Official 2019

Elliott claimed this outfit was ruining his life. 

Ready for appetizers.

Ready for dinner.

Ready for dessert.

Oh, and ready for drinks. 

The food!

I was lacking on the people shots this year. 

And then it was time to drive home with an extra (approximately) 25 pounds of chocolate.  

Easter Saturday

We spent Easter weekend in Tucson.

Saturday started with a little egg dyeing. Egg dyeing in underwear.

Then my mom and the kids did their annual bunny cake.  And when I say my mom and the kids I really mean me.  I did the whole thing.

I took the official picture before remembering I wanted to add some decorations to the grass. 

Much better. 

My dad photobombed.

A five year comparison!

The table set up for the next day. 

My dad's afternoon nap. 

My mom and I went to Cost Plus that afternoon and bought these adorable egg cups.  I bought one pig and she bought the rest. I'm leaving the pig out year round. 

The baskets ready for the next day. 

Pre-Easter

Easter was so late this year!  It felt like it was never going to happen. Did I take pictures of the Easter decor before today though?  The answer is no.  That post will be up soon, but first, a quick review of last week. 

On Sunday the 14th I went to Lauren's house for our April Sisterhood get together.  Lauren put together a game of Kahoot for us with trivia questions about all of us.  

I somehow pulled out a first place win!

And in continuing the theme of me being on top of things, that evening I did my nails and took pictures right away.  This manicure actually lasted a full 8 days and I could have gone even longer. 

On Tuesday the 16th I parked next to this car when I went to Pier One.  My brother Nick used "yaya" for "cat" when he was a toddler, so I had to take a picture.  He had a stuffed yaya that he slept with for years. 

Elliott's 7 year 4 month pictures.  We took this one across the street. 

His official one was in our neighbor's yard.  That's our garage door in the background. 

With the news of the fire at Notre Dame in Paris last week I wrote this Facebook post with the following pictures on Wednesday. 

Michael and I got married on December 29, 2001. We spent our honeymoon in England, France, and Italy from January 1st to the 14th. This is a fantastic (and fantastically cold) time to visit Europe because nobody else is. There were, maybe, five other people in the room with us to see the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. It was also lovely because all of the churches still had their Christmas decorations displayed. The devastating fire at the Notre Dame Cathedral on Monday has been heavy on my heart, so I wanted to share the pictures I took of their beautiful nativity from 2001. We also bought some art prints from a street artist outside of Notre Dame and had them framed. They are one of my favorite souvenirs from our honeymoon.

The pictures hang in our dining room.  I really do still love them. 

I bought a set of four Easter wine glasses on Thursday.  I gave two as a gift.  These two.  You'll see the two I kept when I post the Easter decor. 

Someone, who I still haven't figured out, left this Easter bucket for us on Friday.  How awesome is that?

Look at all of this loot!

And finally, we drove to Tucson on Friday.  There was a pretty little sunset on the way. 

Book success and spring in the desert

I attended Spencer's final Battle of the Books at school on Tuesday the 9th. I will never, ever forget when he asked me if he could participate at the beginning of the school year, but just in case I do, let me explain it here. 

Spencer came home from school with a permission slip.  When I got home from work that day he told me he had something for me to sign but he wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it.  OK.  I was intrigued.  I asked him to explain.  He said it was something called Battle of the Books.  Everyone that participates divides into teams of three and then everyone on the team reads the same four books. Then they get together with the other teams and answer trivia questions about the books they just read. Then they read another four books, more trivia, another four books, more trivia.  The winning team from their school goes to the district level competition. 

Ok, Spencer...what did you think I wasn't going to like about you reading 12 books in a school year? He had no good answer.

Then I told him that he would just need to remind me when the "battles" were happening so I could drive him there.  He told me they take place during school hours. 

Then I told him to tell me when he needed the books so we could get them from the library or Amazon.  He told me he gets all of the books from the school library. 

OOOOOOOOOOOOHKAAAAAAAAAY.  So, you have to read 12 books this year and I don't have to drive you anywhere or buy anything.  YES.  DO IT.  Hand over that permission form. 

Anyway, I attended the first and third battles.  My mom went to the second battle in January. 

Spencer's team came in third place out of all of the teams.  Go boys!

I hope he wants to do it for 6th grade too.  Maybe work his way up to 1st place!

My manicure on the 10th.  Right before I took it off again. 

This cactus is in our neighbor's front yard.  But, you see that little wall?  That's the divider between our properties, so I get to see this whenever I leave my house.   

It was finally blooming on the 11th when I got home from work.  It has been covered in buds for weeks. 

So lovely. 

This ocotillo is across the street.  I can see it out our front windows whenever I walk by the dining room or living room. It is also lovely.  I think it's the biggest ocotillo I've ever seen. 

As I was taking these pictures a wee tiny hummingbird started buzzing around.  See him on the left? 

And finally, my aunt took the kids to the zoo on Saturday morning, leaving Michael free to do yard work and me free to read and approve quarterly progress reports. 

She sent me these pictures.