Easter...Finally

If there is one thing Kyle & I differ on it is how to handle fictional holiday characters. I'm a realist and have a hard time trying to CONVINCE my children that a large man in a red suit comes in to our house on Christmas Eve and delivers presents. If that isn't weird enough, how about a large walking bunny??? Kyle loves holidays and the magic of them and doesn't think it is damaging their sense of reality in the least :) We certainly see eye-to-eye on the FOCUS of both Christmas and Easter obviously being Christ and his redemptive work and thankfully Tucker is already able to at the very least vocalize the real meaning of both. He did one art project in school where they did a picture of the empty tomb and he came home and told us the FULL story of the resurrection. Pretty cool. So as long as he's got it on some level, why not throw in a few egg hunts??
We had a really special Easter this year. We went on Palm Sunday to our friends' church -- they are in the choir and did a special Resurrection music program. It was amazing. Then on Easter morning we had a little hunt OUTSIDE (didn't want to have the Easter Bunny in our house :))

We dressed in our favorite Easter clothes. I love the sweet outfit both Tucker and Mac have been able to wear (thank goodness Mac is significantly bigger than Tucker was to close the gap on the 6 month size difference!) We went to our church. Below is our dear friend Emily "Kjell-baby" (as Tuck calls her). She is a favorite of Tuck's and ours!

Then we headed to Ponte Vedra for their 5,000 egg hunt. That's right. 5,000 eggs. It was chaos.

...But always gorgeous.

... and Tucker was so overwhelmed by the 40 seconds of craziness that he ended up with THREE eggs. I literally don't know how Kyle even got this picture with eggs on the ground. It was that fast.

Random pics of Mac waiting for us to get finished with the Hunt. Forever in his car seat.

And almost always this happy.

Then we headed to Mimi's where Sandy and Joe (Sandy was Mimi's best high school friend in Dallas) were visiting. We ate and watched the Masters. It was just a fantastic day!

*Thank goodness Mimi no longer needs the cane after a successful back surgery!! YEAH!

Mimster and her baby JMR.

Tuckerisms

Tucker has started asking why I don't want him to go with me places.

I went to a meeting the other night and left him with Kyle. When I got back, he asked "Why did you not want me to come to your meeting?"

Or he asked why Sally & I didn't want he and Tucker Sharp at work with us. He was satisfied with my explanation that we knew they'd have more fun having a play date, but then I later heard him tell someone on the phone "Mama went to work. She didn't want me to come."

He's quick!!

__________
The other day at breakfast he says:

"Remember those pancake rolls we had in Hilton Head?"

Yes.

"They are $50 chocolatey. That means REALLY chocolately. Because $50 is a lot."

Makes sense to me.

baby blue eyes

JMR... bringing us SO much joy.

Easter Parade & Hunt at SUMP

Yet again, Jacksonville's finest "Easter Dog" made an appearance. This costume has been following us for years.
Tucker leads the parade. The boys wore ties. Ms. Jennifer made Tucker's extra special. It says "Hi Mom!" and has a sweet framed picture of him on the bottom.

Meaghan, Susie & Tucker waiting for the Hunt!

Tucker's class. They are pumped about this picture!

Each kid was supposed to end up with 8 eggs. Tucker had about 20.

Tucker, John M & Nicolas post-hunt.

sweet bedtime

We love this Bible "The Jesus Storybook." Tucker always asks Kyle to read the story of "Joliath."

the boy and his umbrella

His Mary Poppins "satchel" - it is not a purse!

Funny Tuckerism for 4/2/2009

Libby talked to some friends who let their 4 yr old name their new puppy. Let's be honest, that is a total roll-of-the-dice. You don't know what they will conjur up; you have already given them the idea which is the same as a promise to a 4 yr old; and you are stuck with what they come up with....or lots of tears will ensue. So, this 4 yr old comes up with "Tanner"...cute and sensible for a Beagle puppy.

So Libby asked Tucker what he thought a good name for a puppy would be. After explaining that we already have a "Jackson", he came up with this winner:

"Lisa".....yeah, Lisa.

Where did that come from? He knows no one named Lisa; no Lisa on the Handy Manny or Curious George; and has never spoke that name in his entire life. Cannot wait to see what tomorrow will hold for us!

4 months

cutest 4 month ever. oh. you have a 4 month old? sorry, ours might be cuter :)

Five days of freedom

Oh, Phoenician. How we miss you.

Kyle won an all-expense-paid trip to The Phoenician Resort/Spa in Scottsdale last year from Caterpillar.....though it was called the "Gold/Silver Travel Award" (no Caterpillar name association) when we were there for obvious reasons (think AIG).

It was the most gorgeous resort and we were treated to the most incredible food, spa treatments & golf all week. But I think my favorite part was the moment you set your eyes on a chair at the pool, your towel was laid down for you and they brought a pitcher of ice water and cups to your side table within seconds. I could get used to that kind of service.

Cactus Garden.

One of Kyle's three tatoos from the Harley Davidson party....Grim Reaper, Cobra and a Shamrock.....HE THOUGHT HE WAS AWESOME!

Me getting my tatoo.

The three RingPower guys - Mark, Kyle & Robert. With their very manly Manhattans.

The Florida (RingPower) crew on the last night.

View outside our room.

We did miss the boys... but it sure was nice to be away. Words cannot express our appreciation to our mothers for holding down the fort!!

Studly Daddio

Kyle after the Gate River Run (15K) here in Jacksonville. He rocked it.

Savannah

Nan (my mom) came in town Saturday and we headed for a quick trip to Savannah to meet up with all our Henman cousins! Tricia and Rob live there now and we had a fun lunch at a cool place in downtown Savannah and then... the kids played with Tricia's incredible Lego village. Which included a CAR WASH. We had a really hard time when it was time to leave!

Above: Tucker playing with Hannah (3) and Lucy (4)

Below: Cousin Nancy & I.

To Scottsdale we go...

We had a fun dinner at Ragtime in Atlantic Beach last night to celebrate Nan's birthday a little early...

because...

We are off to Scottsdale tomorrow and Mimi and Nan are ON DUTY!

Best of luck to them!

Twinsies

The Courtrights in Chicago sent these ADORABLE pajamas for the boys! Mac grew tired of the photo shoot...

Making our way through March

Sweet John McCormac Ryan... greeting Daddio after work.

Mac in the firetruck outfit.

Tucker in the firetruck outfit.

Tucker at work cooking "Lincoln Log Stew"... yummy!
And there is no doubt why our house is constantly a disaster. He likes to dump and then play.

Tucker's newest hobby. He got some incredible clubs that are just his size and he is all about practicing. I often say my full time job is keeping Mac alive and Tucker playing golf is just yet another hazard!