Thanks Easter Bunny!

Thanks for all the chocolate, Easter Bunny!!

The Many Faces of Julia

In my family, making crazy faces for the camera and or catching someone in a not so flattering action shot is somewhat of an artform. My dad started this many years ago with constant pictures of people eating. I have some great ones of him. But when I was reviewing my pictures from Julie's birthday dinner, I realized that I had a good collection that really speaks to how diverse Julie's facial expessions can be. I picked some of my favorites to honor her for her big 30th birthday. And yes, I am aware that there will be an attack on me as there are countless crazy pictures of me floating out there.

My personal favorite. Julie's eyes are almost always red in photos and I think it just adds to the character of this picture.

Fake smile #1 This one is a 2-fer with Gilbert in the background eating.

Being weird reading her birthday card. I hate when people read cards outloud. Don't know why, but can't stand it. I am sure she was saying something really important.

Super fake smile #2.

Blurry, but priceless.

Julie, I love it that you are my sister and we have so much fun together. You are gorgeous. Just to even the playing field, here is a picture of me that Cory took.

Way less flattering that the ones of you, don't you think?

Easter/Birthday Dinner

We had Easter/Julie's birthday dinner at our house this year. My mom made all the food and it was delicious. It was so fun having everyone over.

Julie getting some loving from her girls. I love this shirt. If you can't see it, it says, "Mommy's new man". It is so true.

Mimi made the girls matching dresses. They were so cute. I hope someone got a better picture than I did. These 2 are hard to capture.

Lamb cake is a huge tradition in my family started by my Grammie. Lamb cakes are frequent for birthdays but always present at Easter. I love some lamb cake.

Juju let Sophia help blow out the candles.

Easter Morning

Easter morning started early. 6:50 am. Good grief. The Easter Bunny hadn't even hidden the eggs yet. So, while the Easter Bunny sprang into action, we watched a little Dora. The E.B. decided to hide the eggs inside this year since it was so cool outside. Sophia didn't seem to mind. She loved finding the eggs and loved the chocolate. It was fun seeing her get so excited. Since then, we have hidden and found eggs probably a dozen times.

Going for the chocolate Delicious. You love the outfit, right?

Finding eggs on Daddy's desk.

The blog pose

Do I take a lot of pictures of Sophia? Hum. When I asked her to smile for a picture with her eggs, this is what she did. I think the answer is, YES.

Showing off her egg loot.

Isaac wore himself out with all the excitement.

Dressed in his Easter finest. Can you even stand it? Check out the shoes.

The Cissell Men

Daddy and his girls (Might as well include baby doll. She goes everywhere we do.)

The Family.

Isaac is looking a little disgruntled. Poor guy.

Dinner with Juju

Sophia loves her Aunt Juju. She wants to go over to Juju's house every day and play with Baby Eba (Eva). She especially wants to go to Juju's when she is in trouble or it is time to go to bed or take a nap. So she was really excited to go over after her nap to eat dinner. The first part of the evening she spent running around the kitchen and family room squealing and playing with Eva. Those 2 girls are a hoot together. I hope they grow up to be good friends. Julie fixed a really good dinner. It was pork tenderloin. I ate 2 pieces which must be a lifetime record of meat consumption at one sitting for me. No, I am not a vegetarian. I just don't particularly like meat. So, 2 pieces is a big deal and just speaks to how good it was. Thanks for inviting us over. We had a great time. Aguilars: I know things have not been easy for you 3 since you have moved here, but it is times like these when we are all hanging out, that make me so happy that you are here.

Isaac enjoying his meal.

Sophia's favorite part. Playing in the playroom.

Easter Eggs

Today was the day to dye easter eggs. Sophia and I were both really excited about it. I have such fond memories of decorating eggs when I was younger and I was looking forward to sharing this memory with Sophia. Well, we created a memory, that's for sure. It is really stressful decorating eggs with a 2 year old. I read other blogs about how much fun people had and how wonderful it was.... Don't get me wrong. There were moments of wonderful and fun but mostly just stressful. I think it is Sophia's attention span. Or lack thereof. She wanted egg after egg. I was trying to get her to put more than one line of paint on the egg but she just wanted to keep moving. It was fast paced that's for sure. We burned through 2 dozen eggs in record time. That girl always keeps me on my toes. And yes, we will be doing it again next year.

Painting with glitter paint. Not the best idea I've ever had but she loved it.

Daddy teaching her how to dip the eggs.

The most fun she had was splashing in the dirty paint water after we were done decorating.

Our masterpieces.