Eastery Stuff

Late on Saturday afternoon, we went over to Jon and Mo's for an Easter egg hunt and cookout. Jeremy and Raven and their boys joined us too. Josie hasn't quite gotten the concept of looking for the eggs, but she really enjoyed running around the yard. She did manage to find a few, unlike her friend, Kennedy who was basically a pro. haha

As you can see, she was on the move a lot!

Deuce also had fun, even though he didn't care too much about finding the eggs. Actually, his method was way better: he waited until all the eggs were found, and then he'd steal them from the others' baskets.

After the egg hunt, we had a wonderful dinner of cheeseburgers, grilled shrimp, pasta salad, fresh fruit, and candy. Needless to say, I didn't count any WW points this weekend! I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends!

On Sunday, I managed to get the kids ready and out the door in time for our Easter breakfast at church. I thought that was pretty impressive considering that the kids needed baths and they were dressed much nicer than usual, and I normally barely get us to service on time!

I was really thankful that Kim offered her daughter, Emily and son, Tyler to watch my kids down in the nursery so I could listen to the sermon. Pastor didn't give a typical Resurrection Sunday message, but he did tie it in with a message about forgiveness. I really enjoyed hearing something different. I also liked that we didn't have very many guests. Haha that sound bad, doesn't it? I'm ust glad that we didn't have a bunch of C&E "Christians" showing up and making a mockery of what Christ did for us on the cross. It's one thing to come to church, actually seeking Him; it's another thing entirely when you think you only need to come on Christmas and Easter to get into Heaven. It just isn't that easy. We can't just be hearers of the word. We must be doers of the word too!

Anyway, after church, I tried getting pictures of the kids. It wasn't very successful, but see for yourself.

Josie did not want her picture taken. She just wanted to go home!

Tyler Bessa tried helping, without much luck.

The afternoon was relatively low-key. I spent a lot of time preparing an awesome Easter dinner. I was pretty happy with the results too! I made marinated baked pork chops, au gratin potatoes (from scratch) and crescent rolls (from scratch). Everything turned out really yummy! I love cooking for my family. It's so rewarding!

Anyway, before we ate dinner, the kids got to see what was in their Easter baskets that were not from the "Easter Bunny." Josie ruined her dinner by eating most of what was in her eggs. At least I filled them with goldfish instead of candy!

Here are a few pictures of my cute kids, although none of them are exactly the best quality. 80)

Backtracking: Green Bay

Justin and I decided that we needed to get away. So we requested his mother to come up and stay with the kids while we took an overnight trip to Green Bay. We invited our friends Kim and Ty to join us, and it turned out to be a great trip!


I had originally suggested going to Cedarburg, but Justin thought it was too close, and there wasn't anything manly to do. So we compromised  by going to GB and staying in a bed & breakfast. It was the first time for all 4 of us. We left around noon on Thursday, March 31st in our van*. We stopped for lunch on the way, and when we got to Green Bay, decided to hang out at the mall for awhile until we were able to check in at our B&B.

We arrived at Astor House and were greeted by the two very hospitable owners. They showed us to our rooms, and we found out no one else was staying there that night. Justin and my room was on the 3rd floor by itself, so it was nice and private.

We all went out for dinner at a place called St. Brendan's Inn and I can't say enough good things about it! I don't think I had one mediocre bite. And I had a lot of bites haha. I've never really had authentic Irish food, and now I can't wait to eat some more! Seriously, next time you're in Green Bay, you should definitely check it out. There's a restaurant in Milwaukee called County Clare, which is somehow associated with St. Brendan's Inn. I'm looking forward to paying that restaurant a visit. Mmm I'm hungry!

After dinner we went to Walmart, because that's what cool people do. Haha. We later went back to our room and played a game called Phase 10 Dice, which was pretty fun. Justin liked it so much that we played another round after Kim & Ty went back to their room. And we played again in the morning! (This is not a euphemism, by the way lol)

We had very yummy and adequate breakfast prepared for us and served in the parlor (I wish I had a parlor just so I could say that word regularly.). It was nice not leaving a meal extra stuffed. It was also nice having a quiet breakfast, which is hardly the case in a hotel lobby. Anyway, we hung out for awhile, and then got ready for the day and checked out.

We spent almost the entire day at Lambeau Stadium. We first checked out the Pro Shop, where I bought a pair of Packers pajama pants. (While we were waiting for our friends to finish shopping, Justin and I sat looking at pictures and videos of Josie and Deuce on our phones. haha Pretty pathetic huh?) We also cruised through the Packers Hall of Fame Museum and then ate lunch at Curly's Pub (fried food galore). We ended our afternoon at Lambeau with a tour of the stadium. It was pretty interesting. I've never been to a Packer game, and I'm not exactly a huge fan (I just prefer college football), but it was kinda neat standing right by the field.

After that, we decided to head back to Milwaukee. We weren't quite ready to be home so soon, so we stopped at Culver's for one last treat before returning to our children and responsibilities. Even though it felt like a really short trip, it was so nice to see the kids. I had such a fantastic time being away with Justin that I can't wait for our next trip! We definitely need to get away more together, just the 2 of us.


* So, I realized that I never blogged about our new van! I love it! It's a 2009 Chrysler Town & Country with lots of bells and whistles. I am so thankful for a vehicle with ample space that is also much safer than my old Cavalier.

Reluctantly Returning

Not that I don't enjoy blogging or reading others' blogs, because I do. But I admit that I've felt pretty free these last 40 days. It's so easy for me to get sucked into Internet Land. I really need to be careful that it doesn't become a stronghold again. I think it's good that I hadn't been counting down the days until blogging would commence. In fact, I didn't think about it that much at all. Overall, I'd say Lent was "successful" in that I spent a lot more time (not everyday) reading my Bible in the mornings. I'm planning on continuing that trend, and maybe it'll become a daily habit - but not in a religious, legalistic way, of course. I also feel like I spent more time with my kids. When I was on Facebook, I know that I sometimes had a hard time pulling myself away to tend to my children. I'm so thankful that it's easy for me to get up and walk away. If Josie wants me to play "Ring Around the Rosie," or Deuce wants me to read him a book, I usually have no qualms about getting up that moment. I don't want to miss anything! And I don't want my kids to feel like I wasn't there. In addition, I'd like to think I took better care of the house, but I don't know if that's true or not. For sure, I've gotten a lot better at keeping the house presentable in recent months. Anyway, sorry for the rambling. I am glad to be back, but I pray that I don't get too cozy. ;0)

Next blog won't be so pointless, I promise. lol