Road Trip - Grandpa's 90th Birthday

Ten years ago, my family took Brian with us to Dallas for the first time. It was Brian's first time ever visit to Dallas, Texas. We were recently engaged at the time and planning our wedding. We had a great time and did some fun touristy type stuff while we were there. The reason for our trip was to celebrate my Grandpa Osborne's 80th birthday. Well, we made that trip again for Grandpa's 90th birthday; but this time it was with our three daughters! Where does the time go??

We had a great weekend. For this trip we went with my parents and Kelsey and Micah. God is so good...He worked it out so that Stephanie and Caleb were in Dallas at the same time! The girls were so excited to have Stephanie, Caleb, Micah and Kelsey all with them at the same time. It was so fun!

We took advantage of being in Dallas and took the girls to the American Girl store. Oh.my.stars!! It was amazing. The girls were overwhelmed but had a great time! The big girls picked out bags to carry their dolls (I regret to note that I forgot and left their dolls at home. Mom fail!). Ellie also got a journal and Mollie picked out new glasses for her doll. Annie got accessories for her Bitty Baby. They all three had a great time. After our visit to baby doll wonderland, we crossed the street and walked around the Galleria. AHHH! I was in heaven. So fun!!

While we were shopping, my dad took the guys (Brian, Micah and Caleb) out to eat and to drive around a bit. They did the dad tour of SMU. They all had a great afternoon. After relaxing back at the hotel, we headed to El Fenix (YUMMO!) for dinner with my dad's sister and her family. It was so great to see them.

On Sunday, we headed over to my aunt's house to celebrate Grandpa's 90th birthday! It was so fun to have our entire family together. My cousin Chris wasn't there. He recently started a new job and wasn't able to come home. However, all my other cousins (4 guys and 1 girl) were all home. We had a great time.

Annie loved the cupcakes.

Grandpa blowing out his candles.

My aunt is always so sweet and has something fun for the girls. They loved playing with the chalk she bought for them.

They were serious about their art.

Kelsey, Mollie and Ellie

Ellie and Stephanie...Ellie was especially glad to see Stephanie and Caleb. She has the most sensitive spirit when it comes to family who don't live close to us.

Mollie and Kelsey

Mama and her baby boys

Some things never change! :)

We missed Josh, Mandy, Noah and Sam. They weren't able to go with us. Maybe next time! :)

It was so great to be a family. We are rarely all together. It's times like these that make me miss my grandma. I know she would have LOVED to see the girls and to play with my cousin's little boy.

Where are the eggs??

Easter is one of those holidays that I love but that always stresses me out. Typically we are in an super Easter mode at church as we prepare for our big Easter Egg Hunt. This year, it was decided that we would not have a hunt this year. I have to say that I was super relieved. It's not that I don't enjoy watching the kids. I love filling the eggs and getting everything ready. However, our hunt last year didn't go so well. I definitely don't want to relive it. Every time we mentioned it as we got closer to Easter, I broke out in hives.

This year, our Sunday school class had a big get together and egg hunt at Cherie and Craig Carney's house. It was so FUN!! My friends Suzanne and Donna organized everything. They were so sweet and wouldn't let me help. It was a great treat to be able to attend an event without working it. :) The kids hunted for Easter eggs and played and we all enjoyed a great cookout. It was one of the most relaxing days. We had a blast! The kids were surrounded by their friends which was so wonderful!

Mollie was attached to Susan! It was so funny but so special!!

Brian and Annie ready to hunt!

Addi and her mommy Heather, such great new friends that God has brought to us!

Gotta get some eggs!

Found one!

The big kids were so ready for their turn! Susan and Mollie carefully plotted their strategy.

Ellie got some awesome candy!

Guess who has candy??

Ellie, Morgan and Alivia with their baskets full of candy!

Addi and Annie...These two are such good friends but can get into so much trouble!

Ellie and her sweet friend Morgan...she is such an answer to prayers for a good friend.

Mrs. Cherie had prizes for the kids to take home at the end of the afternoon. We started to notice that the big kids were "disappearing." We found them lurking around the prize bucket staking out their prize! :)

Christ the Lord is Risen Today!

We began our celebration of Christ's resurrection with the girls checking out their Easter baskets. It's always so fun to watch their faces as they discover all sorts of treats. The Easter Bunny is still learning the best things to put in the baskets, but I think he's doing a pretty good job!

We have worked hard to remind the kids on several occasions that the focus of Easter is not on the Easter Bunny. Instead, it is on the fact that Christ not only died on the cross for our sins, but he rose again! Because of his death and his resurrection, we too have the opportunity to spend eternity in heaven with Him! What an incredible gift! He sacrificed everything for you and for me. It is truly amazing!

Mollie and her mini ladybug pillow pet.

Ellie and her mini-sock monkey.

Annie was all about the CANDY!!

After we had gone through the baskets and safely put the candy out of the reach of both Gidget and Annie, we headed to church. I love Easter Sunday. The worship service is always amazing, and it's so fun to see family friends who have come home for the weekend. After church, we headed to Mimi and Papa Jim's for family lunch!

Each year the kids build bunny nests. The Easter Bunny always makes a special stop at Mimi and Papa Jim's and leaves special treasures for the kids. This is a big deal in our family. We have been building bunny nests since I was little. We would build them in Mom and Papa's back yard. This is a tradition that my mom (my grandma) passed down to us. It was something she did as a child. :) This year, the kids built their nests inside the house because rain. They didn't mind at all. They were having a blast!!

Mollie will hate that I included a pic of her and her paci, but that's where we are these days. :)

Sweet Mollie LOVED that the Easter bunny wrote her name on two eggs!

It's never easy to get a pic of all three of our girls....

You just never know what faces you'll get!

But getting to be cousins is priceless!
Ellie (7), Noah (3), Sam (7 mo), Mollie (4) and Annie (almost 2)

I just love the progression of these pictures....and my nephews too of course!

To end our photo shoot, I wanted to get individual pics of the girls; but Mollie had had enough for one day. :)

Our Ellie...she's an amazing kid who is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.

Sweet Annie. She's growing up way too fast!

Easter is a very important holiday to Brian's mom. Unfortunately, she was really sick this year; so the girls did not get a chance to spend any time with her. Pawpaw brought the girls their special treats from their house, and they were thrilled! They got tons of little bracelets and fun trinkets. Hopefully, everyone will be feeling 100% next Easter!

Annual Osborne Egg Dying

I love that the holidays mean passing on traditions to our kiddos. Both my mama and my mother-in-law have done a great job of teaching the girls different things that have been important to their respective families. A big thing for me and my brothers was to dye Easter eggs. This tradition has continued since Josh and I have had our own children. This year was a little quieter and more eventful than most. We ended up dying eggs on Good Friday which meant that Kelsey and Micah weren't home from Fayetteville yet, Josh was still at work and Caleb & Steph were in DC. :( However, the kids had a wonderful time. Brian chose to sit this one out. I'm pretty sure that that is just because Micah wasn't there.

The girls all put on aprons to protect their clothes. Obviously, I didn't trust Annie to not make a mess. :) She was totally OK with just wearing a diaper.

Mimi had a few instructions for the girls as we began. Notice the look on Mollie's face. I love it!

Sweet Ellie...she loves a project!

Writing your name on an egg can be very serious business.

A little help from Mimi so that ALL the eggs didn't crack. :)

Mollie had so much fun. Although I have to admit, she typically has a great time wherever she is!

Annie was convinced she could dye eggs all by herself!

Sweet Sam!

No matter what I did, Noah would not look at me. ha! I just love getting to do fun things like egg dying with Mandy and the boys.

Annie was having the best time partly b/c she was "nekkie!"

My artistic Ellie always striving for perfection!

Such a fun day with Mimi, Mandy, Noah and Sam!!

My sweet Noah...

One of my most favorite guys in the entire world is my nephew Noah. He is amazing! My friends laugh at me and even roll their eyes a bit when I talk about this sweet boy. I just love him! I love that he loves my girls and that my girls love him. He is the perfect balance to all their girliness. :) They love playing cars with him and doing all sorts of fun things. It's hard to believe that this sweet boy is 3!

His big friend party was too much fun! The theme was "Noah's Favorite Things." There was a firetruck bouncer, a basketball goal, golf (of course!) and the motorcycles that he has at his MarMar and Papa D's. The food was also all of Noah's favorites: McDonald's Cheeseburgers, Chicken Nuggets, Mimi's mac and cheese, cupcakes, fruit and limeades. This little boy was in heaven! So fun to be able to be a part of his celebration!

Annie loved getting to bounce with Noah before the crowd arrived.

Ellie was the oldest kid but still had a great time.

Sam got to hang out with Mimi and all the grandparents during the party.

Annie was thrilled to see Sam!

And to get to hug him! :)

Noah's party was Mollie's third stop on her party circuit that morning. When she got to Noah's party, she finally got to eat a cupcake!

I love this picture! There was a little incident at the party. Someone (identities have been concealed to protect the innocent) decided that he wanted to play with Noah's special golf balls, and Noah didn't want to share those golf balls. So while the adults tried to "negotiate" with the 3 year olds, Annie took matters into her own hands. She gathered up all the golf balls - as many as she could carry - and carried them around until she could put them in someone's safe hands so that Noah wouldn't be sad. :) I just love her sensitive spirit!

Mollie got to bounce with Noah too! He was so excited when Mollie finally arrived at the party!

We celebrated Noah's birthday with my parents and grandparents during our Sunday lunch. It was so fun to get to focus on this special little boy. Kelsey and Micah were home for Noah's lunch that made it even more fun.

Noah and Ellie....I love to watch these two! They are so sweet.

Mollie and Kelsey...such a special & sweet bond between these two!

Ready to blow out those candles!

He's finally 3 and definitely a blessing our lives!