Easter Afternoon

Here's Austin in action...jumping in the COLD pool! The water temperature was only 72degrees. They had to swim before Caleb and Kamy got here because Caleb is in his cast.


Here's Logan with his goggles on! He was the first to jump all the way in- quite quickly, I might add!


My first attempt at making Fried Green Tomatoes...the tomatoes weren't quite green enough for my liking (or Roger's). They were okay, and I look forward to the next time...just hope they are little more tangy! All the other food was YUMMY! We grilled burgers, had MY homemade potato salad, a few dips, and chips! Watermelon and strawberry shortcake followed for dessert. Not the typical ham Easter lunch but still very good!!!


It's funny how they all seemed to rush around together, afraid that someone else was going to find "the" egg! Kamy seemed to be the "big" winner with the total amount of money she found! Nonetheless, they all seemed happy with what they got out of the eggs!


All of the Taylor Grandkids! Austin, Caleb, Kamryn, and Logan
They all had a blast playing together and hunting eggs! They got along GREAT!


Here's a testiment that the hammock WILL flip you over if you aren't careful! I won't disclose exactly who is in this picture, but if you were hear, you KNOW! :) Of course, I had to take a picture before anyone helped this person up...ha ha!

Easter Morning!

Here are the boys checking out their basket of goodies! Always fun to wake up to a sweet surprise!


Logan spotted this egg about three seconds before Austin. Then, they both were reaching for it! Austin was a nice big brother, and helped Logan get it! The Easter Bunny hid some in tough spots!


These things bring back memories of my childhood Easters. I think I got JACKS in my Easter basket every year when I was little, and the boys got them this year. Logan has really enjoyed them, and he and I have played them a good bit. He makes me play the "real" way, but since he can't bounce the ball, swoop up the jacks, and catch the ball all in the same move HE gets to play by "his rules!" Which is him bouncing the ball away from him and swooping up jacks until it rolls back over to him. It's really cute to watch. These rubber ones seem harder to pick up than the metal ones I remember (or, it could be I am just out of practice)!

*I have a video clip of Logan telling the Easter story with the resurrection eggs he made at school. I'll have to post it later though because for some reason it won't go right now. So, it's coming soon along with the second part of our day! Hope you all enjoyed your Easter!

Dying Eggs

Before we dyed our eggs today, we got to go help Hannah celebrate her 2nd birthday! The kids had a blast (all of them!). Logan seemed like a pro at hunting eggs! And, Austin was such a great sport letting only the little kids hunt (and pointing the eggs out to the younger ones that needed some help). I have such good kids!!! This is one of my favorite shots from there! How long before they quit liking each other (ha!)??? Hopefully never!!!!!!!!!!


Here is Logan's little hand! Watching him lay on the couch the other day, we realized he now fills up the entire couch all by himself! I remember when his little, baby self didn't even fill one cushion! :( He can also reach things that are on top of the mantle (in the back)! Guess our little man isn't a toddler anymore...really, it won't be much longer, and he won't even be a pre-schooler! When did that happen?!? Time goes by so quickly...especially when you see your little ones growing up too fast! We've ALWAYS only wanted to have two children, and we ALWAYS wanted to have two boys...but it's a good thing we can't have anymore because realizing we aren't going to have a little one around the house is kind of sad. Don't get me wrong; I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE watching them do all the things they are now both doing! Seeing them grow up is a blast! I just know that before I know it, they'll be grown and ready to move out....but I still have at least eight more years before even one of them can move out! And, I'll treasure EVERY moment!


Here they are hard at work!


Both boys with their finished products! Now, to leave them out for the Easter Bunny to hide!

Hammock Time!!!

The boys have been wanting a Hammock since last year. So, as an Easter present for them, we finally got one. It came last night, and Roger told the boys he'd put it together for them today (not knowing it was going to rain all day). We didn't let that stop us! Roger built it in our living room, and we'll move it outside tomorrow (when it's not raining). We've all enjoyed it at some point today. It's pretty comfy! It will be a nice addition out by the pool (which is about ready to swim in...just need the water temp. to get higher!)!


Austin has already called dibs for sleeping in the hammock tonight! Think he likes it?


Logan has been having fun on the hammock since Roger finished putting it together!


The boys (so far) have enjoyed it together too!

Strawberry Picking!!!

Me and my boys!!!! We started out our day pretty early by heading out to The FARM to pick some strawberries! We tried our hand at this last year, but we came on a "bad" day. This time it was a huge success!!! We met Katie and Hannah there, and all the kids (and even the adults) had fun! I got LOTS of great pictures! Too many to post on here! I may do a Smilebox later, but I hesitate doing that too often because when I finally do print out my blog into a book, the smilebox's won't print out...so, for now, here are a few of the good ones that help showcase each one of my boys! I highly recommend going to do this to everyone! The timing is perfect! The strawberries are so sweet and juicy, and the weather is perfect ot be out in! They told us today they hope this crop will last through the first of June! That gives us time to go back when we just have to have the perfect strawberry again!


Heading out into the field to begin the picking!


Hard at work! Amazingly they worked well together the entire time...pointing out "GOOD" ones to each other!


Austin had to make sure the strawberries were "safe" to put in our buckets! "Mmmmmmm! These are SO good!!!!"


I think Logan ate as many as he put in his bucket! It's really a good thing they don't make you pay for the ones you eat! :) Those are such a SWEET, JUICY bonus of picking yourself!!!!


Both my boys were quite proud of their filled buckets! Of course, they are filled with ONLY the perfect strawberries!!!


We managaed to get a shot of the three (Hannah, Austin, and Logan) of them before we left! I am really glad we went on a "picking day" this year! Last year over Spring Break, we attempted to go, but it wasn't a picking day. So, we headed to The Farmer's Shed instead. We still had a good time, but this year was certainly better! I look forward to it again next year (or later this year because the strawberries are SO good we just might have to go back!)!!!

STAY TUNED to see how the boys' lemonade stand goes.....

Easter Cookies (Round 1)

Spring Break is, of course, a much needed time...but I know the week will go by too quickly! I'm trying to pack in as much as I can with the boys (and still get some relaxing time at home too!). Today began with my MRI (which hopefully will have some results tomorrow) followed by lunch with the boys and Haylee's crew! Then, it was off to Michaels (they have some good stuff on sale this week!) in search of meringue powder and then to the pool store. We got all stocked up on chemicals for the summer, or at least, for most of it! The water will "chemically" be ready for the boys after tomorrow, and I think it's still too cold to get in, but they are determined to get in that pool before we go back to school. We'll see how blue their lips turn! :) Once we got home, we began our first attempt at Easter Cookies with Royal Icing! They came out pretty good, especially for our first time doing it!


Here's Logan tasting his finished product!


Logan decided to taste his cookie icing as soon as he finished decorating it (hence the finger smear)! He did a good job decorating!


Austin's cookies are more swirled all over! His cookies look neat too!


Austin tearing into his cookie creation! He dripped icing all over Bree's head when he initially picked his cookie up (because he didn't let his dry). I should have taken THAT picture!


This was the first one I made. I didn't make too many cookies tonight since Easter is still a ways off. We just wanted to practice working with the Royal Icing. It dries pretty quickly (even with adding the glycerin), but the colors are so bright! And, I like how it actually dries on the cookie! We'll certainly be making more later this week! I have a chocolate sugar cookie recipe that I can't wait to try!!! Tomorrow morning we'll be out at The Patch picking strawberries! Can't wait!!! I LOVE spending time with my boys!

Chuck E Cheese and More...

Here are my two boys yesterday at the start of our break together! LOVE them!!! Can't wait to spend the next 8 days with them!!! So much to do!


So, First Day of Spring Break and we all woke up pretty early anyway...which is sort of annoying, but at least it was without the help of alarms! Logan decided to get himself dressed right away all by himself, and this is how he came out of his room. Notice the pajama top (and he did NOT sleep in it last night)! Cuteness! And, no, I didn't let him leave the house like this (though he argued that his shirt was NOT pajamas and wanted to!). :) He'll thank me one day!


Logan got a little help from Dad! To quote Logan, "This was the BEST family day today!" A little rain never hurt anyone! It just changed our plans a tad! We've actually "owed" Logan a trip to Chuck E Cheese's for quite a while, and we just haven't had time to go! It is always fun as a mom to watch the boys having fun! I can't imagine that Austin will humor his little brother too many times as we go there. I'm sure it will change over to Frankie's Fun Park before too much longer! We have to go back to Chuck E Cheese's sometime because we still have a TON of tokens left! :)


Winning the "extra bonus" for more tickets ALWAYS puts a smile on Austin's face!!!


We tried to fly the kite Mrs. Merri gave Logan today too! I didn't think it was possible to be too windy to fly a kite, but THAT seemed to be the case today. We had fun trying none-the-less (is that one word?)!

Katelee's Prom

So, Flashing back to my prom for a brief second....here's Katelee with me! How little she was! And, How fast time has flown by!!!


Here I am with her now that she's growing up! So pretty!


Here's my little man giving her a quick kiss! Before we know it, it'll be time for his prom!

Times to Remember in the Future!

Austin and Logan posing for a quick picture...I have a gazillion pictures of the the boys (and I can never have too many!), and most of the ones with Logan in them he's not looking at the camera unless he's tricked into it. He's always so busy with what he's doing, and he has a hard time with "not" doing it for the mili-second it takes to take the pictures.

I love being a mom more than anything else, and this week for one of the first times I had to go with my gut and make a decision about letting one of them do something I wasn't really all that comfortable with. It was only over a birthday party, but I knew there were going to be other people there I don't think are good influences, I didn't know know the parents, and there didn't seem to be a clear plan for what the kids would be doing...I chose to stick with my gut, and I am so glad I did. This time Austin wasn't even upset or mad that I didn't let him go (Phew! God has blessed us with such great kids!!!), and I did have a back up plan...we packed in the weekend with fun, and we let Avery spend the night (his first since his diagnosis)! I'd say I passed my first "nursing" over night, and the weekend has been a success! We still have most of the day left today...soccer later and of course, more pics out in this beautiful weather! It's going to be a great day!

(Griffin, Logan, Eddie, LJ, Daniel, Cole) It seems like just yesterday when Austin was in 4K with Mrs. Merri at Springdale Baptist Preschool. But, he's grown like a weed and is about as big as me! Now, Logan is there (and not even for much longer) and loving it! We went to LJ's birthday party yesterday. LJ is one of Logan's best little friends from school. After talking with his mom it's good to know that LJ talks about Logan as much as Logan talks about LJ. We plan to get the boys together this summer!
While the "little brothers" play in their t-ball games, Austin and Riley provide entertainment for us...but more importantly for themselves! They were fully aware I was recording them for this, and they even asked for me to start over once! We'll be able to hang onto this video for bribery later in their future! And, we'll also probably get a little teary-eyed when they are grown and we miss these days!
I take lots of pictures at Logan's games, and today was no different. However, I also took a video shot today of the handshake after the game! I want to capture every minute I can of my boys and all they do! I want to leave nothing to chance when it comes to memories later in life...or now, for that matter!