Breaking for Spring

The kids are on spring break this week. Of course Joe is still working and going to school and I am still working, but it's nice to have a break from the hustle and bustle of getting Jake and Jadyn to and from school as well as other extracurricular activities so it kind of feels like a break for everyone.

It's also a great time to do things and see people we don't get to see that often because of school schedules. On Monday for example, I took the kids down the hill to get Easter pictures done at Sears. I debated on just skipping this yearly tradition since Jadyn had just had some pretty good pictures done at school and Jake has school pictures the week we return from break, but with my Super Saver card if I go on a weekday I get buy one, get one free sheets, a free 8x10, not to mention the coupon I had for a free character collage so I decided to take advantage.

It was the best picture taking trip ever. The kids are old enough and used to it enough that we went in, they posed and smiled and cooperated, I picked out the pictures I wanted to buy and we were on our way. I didn't even take the stroller inside the mall. And as we were walking inside the mall heading to the play area to release some energy before the drive home, I couldn't help but notice all the stares and smiles the kids received as they followed my lead, hand in hand. It was a proud mommy moment.

On Wednesday we visited my friend Rose so Jake could play with his old preschool pal Gavin. His younger brother Hayden and Jadyn also go to preschool together now. We were there for other reasons, but I will be getting into that in a forthcoming post.

Later that day, we got to have our niece and nephew come over for a sleepover. Jake and Jadyn LOVE their cousins and since we both celebrate Easter with other family, I decided to throw together some Easter activities the kids could do together. It's kind of nice to have the kids be at an age where having more kids in the house is actually less work because they keep each other so well-entertained.

Here they are getting ready to dye eggs:

The crafty girls are hard at work:

The mischevious boys couldn't stop making each other laugh.

The same theme rang throughout the visit. Here are the girls cuddled up watching a movie before bed:

And the boys being super rambunctious fighting each other on the bed. And don't worry, Jake didn't get the best of Ethan. There were plenty of times where Jake was on the receiving end of blows like this:

The next day I took the kids to the park so they could have a little Easter egg hunt. I tried to take a group shot beforehand but it is obvious they are all thinking, "Yeah. Yeah. Take the picture so we can hunt for eggs!"

Jadyn takes it SOOO seriously:

Here is she is telling me that she only found 5 eggs:

But her brother and cousins shared what they also found so it all evened out in the end.

They finished off the afternoon with some playtime at the park and were all thoroughly exhausted by the time Joe drove Madison and Ethan home. It was a fun time and quite heartwarming to see the kids get to spend some quality time with their cousins.

And our upcoming weekend promises to be even more busy than the week. So I guess I better rest up. After all, this is supposed to be a break.