Easter!

We had such a great Easter this year!  As the kids get older, the holiday gets more and more fun as they understand everything...it was really awesome to hear Dave shout "He is risen indeed!" back at our preacher on Sunday  :)  Anyway, I took about a thousand pictures of our activities throughout the week, so here goes.

Last Thursday there was a campus wide egg hunt for the staff kids.  Ike enjoyed running around and Dave did pretty well with finding the eggs.

Ike posing with his basket.  

I was trying to get a candid of everybody hunting.








 Saturday we went to the Wabash Bunny Bash with the Frys (our neighbors).  We have been in past years and it is pretty fun, but it's always super crowded so we only do a couple crafts, visit the bunny, and head out.







 They were super good with the bunny!  Ike was really into him and kept looking up at him while taking the picture.

Dave forcing a smile while dying an egg.













Saturday evening we dyed our own eggs (well Ike put stickers on plastic eggs).

Dad and Ike having a blast applying stickers.

Dying eggs is one of Dave's favorite holiday activities.

Grandma and grandpa stopped in to help!












Our finished product.














After church on Easter.

Em took our family picture so it was only fair to get one of her in her Easter finest!











We headed over to Josh's parents after church for brunch and another egg hunt.

Ike picked up a few pointers from his first egg hunt.  Didn't really increase his egg count, but he was much more intense.

What?  Reese cups in the eggs!












My dad and stepmom mailed the kids some really awesome stuff for Easter, but the very best was the water balloons.  We have already gotten hours of entertainment out of those bad boys.

Dave was excited to bust open the first one of the season.

Ike's wouldn't break for the longest time.

And he was really confused when it finally did.












Hope everyone had a great Easter!  I will end with a video of Dave reading Ike a book at bedtime.

Ike is 18 Months (Where did my baby go?)

Ugh, it's happening again.  How can Ike possibly be a year and half?  His second birthday is going to be rough.  And then when you add in my 30th birthday in May...sheesh I am getting old!  :)  Anyway, Ike's awesome and just so darn cute and we are loving every minute of him being a toddler.  He gets really excited about everything so you can't help but be excited along with him.

Since I was gone in Kansas for his actual "birthday", my mom took some pictures for me (can you believe I remembered to bring the sign with us to Evansville? That's why I always make a list!).  She said he was not being very cooperative, which is how he ended up in the cozy coupe.

Feeling pretty pleased he got to be in the car.  He can be quite manipulative :)

















He looks like a wild man behind the wheel.













 I don't feel like he's changed a ton since the last update.  Still getting into everything, although he can get into more lately.  Have I mentioned how much he likes to open the fridge and dump random food items out on the floor? 

I am sure he has started saying some new words, but it all just runs together at this point.  Whenever he is learning to say a new word, he always enunciates it a lot.  I love how he says milk right now, he really emphasizes that "k".  He is trying to communicate more and more, but still insists on signing please and thank you despite being able to say both.  Not sure he'll ever vocalize those!

We are starting to get some resistance to naps and going to bed at night.  As I am writing this he is banging on the wall in his bedroom.  Meanwhile Dave is fast asleep (for now at least!).  I am fairly certain the boys are scheming against me so that I get very little sleep so that I am exhausted and then allow them to get away with more.  And it's working.

He has started asking for everything to be turned on-even things that don't have batteries (like a snow globe he found in Dave's room).  He gets pretty mad at me when I tell them that something won't turn on like he expects it will. Ike has also started to pee in the toilet before bath.  Here's hoping he continues being excited about that and potty trains sooner rather than later!








Just looking cute while playing in the living room.

I taught him how to fake cry the other day.  He is surprisingly good at it.  I am wondering now why I would ever teach him this.













I went looking for him the other day and found him in Dave's room wearing his winter hat.  Weird kid. 






Well, that about wraps up Ike for now.  He is just a super fun kid who constantly surprises me (and keeps me on my toes!).  Can't wait to see how his personality changes in the future.

Celebrating Grandma Colleen

Last Sunday my family lost a wonderful woman.  Grandma Colleen was truly amazing, and she will be missed by so many people.  Even knowing that she was suffering and not herself (she had Alzheimer's), it is still difficult to know that she will not be around us again on earth. 

I was so fortunate that Josh offered to keep the kids with him in Evansville while Tony and I traveled out to Kansas to be with my family and celebrate grandma.  We all had a great time reminiscing and telling stories.  My cousin reminded me that you could never say "yeah" around grandma without her making you say "yes" 10 times.  She sure was a stickler for proper language!  I even remember her telling me she called into news shows when the anchors misspoke on air. 

On the other hand, we all remember the time grandma did jello shots, and even have photograph evidence  :)  She also made the coolest pancake animals for breakfast.  I am still trying to figure out how she made the bunnies!  And I always loved that she made an effort to come to our stuff (basketball games, concerts, etc.) when we were growing up, even though she lived about 8 hours away from us.

I took pictures of some of my favorite grandma photos, and thought I would post those.  I will  remember her as the grandma who bowled and loved buses (she was a school bus driver and trainer for most of her career).  So the first picture is how I always think of her.






One of the years she made it to the state championships.

















Grandma on her wedding day.  Such a classic beauty, and that dress is amazing!

Grandma, me, my dad, and uncle Steve out on the old farm.

Dad, Tony, grandma, and her mom Grandma True.

Grandma with the boys from last October.

All of grandma's boys (my uncles) after the funeral service.









I am so thankful that the boys and I made the trip to see her last October.  We had such a great visit and I am glad that Ike got to meet her.  Tony and I made it out in time for the viewing and then the service and it was really nice to see everybody and hear firsthand how grandma affected so many different people.  She will definitely be greatly missed by all of those who loved her.