Easter 2014

 I have decided that I will never be caught up on this blog, so enjoy what I can get done:)  I took a solo trip with all three kids down to my mom's house last week and I think I deserve a medal for surviving the crazy DC traffic that makes our trip twice as long as it should.  (Or maybe the kids deserve a medal for being all-star car riders for a 6+ hour road trip with just me at the wheel!)  We had a great week at my mom's house despite the fact that she worked during the day.  We enjoyed our favorite park down there, spent lots of time with my grandma, visited the local children's museum, took advantage of the great trails, and of course had to take a couple visits to Meme's classroom!  

We returned Thursday night and quickly unpacked, grocery shopped, and "somewhat" organized before our next round of visitors.  These visitors are special because they come all the way from the West Coast, Uncle Andy and Cynthia! The two of them flew in on Saturday and boy, did we show them how chaotic our days can be.  My brother, Andy, has a short-term job assignment from the government to help with some of their computer logistics (which is really awesome and we are so proud of him!) and Cynthia decided to join along to visit us and a few other friends on the East Coast.  We love spending time with them because we only get to see them once a year so this was BIG for us!

We woke up Easter morning to the visit from Mr. Easter Bunny.  He brought the kids a few random things:  books, Leappad game, card holder, and bath colors.  Simple and sweet.  I whipped up some homemade cinnamon rolls, eggs, and bacon.  And then we did the usual Sunday morning rush to get ready for church with a few minutes to spare for a family picture... 

We arrived home and snuck in a few more pictures of the kids...

And then we welcomed my sister, Jill, and her family down for the afternoon!  A very rare time when you can get more of two of the Ruff siblings together, so we enjoyed a nice afternoon in the sun just hanging out and being together.  The kids played outside all day which was awesome!  And we had our annual Easter egg hunt which the kids loved.  

And of course before Jill and Tom left that evening we had to get an updated picture of siblings (minus Jenni!) with the kids...

It was a lovely Easter and I am so thankful for any moments that I can have with my family!

One...

More about our little one year old at The Chirping Moms...

The Many Faces of Andrew

You never know what Andrew may wake up for the day.  Silly Andrew.  Grumpy Andrew.  Joyful Andrew.  Quiet Andrew.  Funny Andrew.  Etc.  He is a boy of many personalities and many faces.  All these pictures are just from the past couple weeks.  You have to love the three year old multiple personality phase!

Our Month of March!

Seriously the months just fly by.  Welcome April and Happy Spring!  Some sun and warm weather is exactly what this family needs:)

The month started off with a Daddy/Son movie date to Lego Movie.  I would have to say that the boys were pretty thrilled to head out with the dad!

And what was I doing back at home?  Well, while the little sweet girl napped I was busy preparing our house for Grandma and Grandpa Rogers to come take over while Chris and I took a nice three-day vacation to Florida!  Chris and I headed south to Naples, Florida where we met some friends of ours (that we met while we lived in DC before) and enjoyed lots of time at the pools and beaches, good food, lots of rest, and a much-needed vacation.  This is the first time that we have really headed away for a few days without kids and although I missed them like crazy, we had a wonderful time.  And Grandma and Grandpa survived, although they were pretty exhausted after a few days with these wild ones!

 We arrived home and the next week, it was time to celebrate someone's big first birthday!  Sweet girl Abby turned one (more to come soon!).  And what happened on St. Patrick's Day here, but yet another snowstorm.  So Abby's birthday turned into a SNOW day where we just hung out at home with her all day!

Aiden also got to be the STAR of the Week this month.  Although I have to admit a mom fail.  Aiden decided he wanted brownies for his special snack and we bought the mix when we were doing grocery shopping the Sunday before the week.  I was busy rushing around the Thursday that snack was supposed to be brought in, when all of a sudden I realized that I forgot to make the brownies (AND we had to leave the house in fifteen minutes to head to MOPS).  So we snuck out of MOPS a few minutes early, headed to the grocery store, and picked out some fun pre-made cookies instead.  Me, who loves to bake, failed and brought the store baked stuff instead.  Thank goodness for happy kids as they didn't care at all!

Last weekend, we were excited to have Aunt Jill and cousin Jack come visit!  They came down on Saturday where the moms and big boys (Aiden and Jack) headed out to lunch and pick up groceries.  The next day, we decided to head into DC to see the dinosaur exhibit at the Smithsonian before it goes extinct again for the next five years!  Although it was fun to see the big dinosaurs, I could have bypassed the massive crowds and freezing sleety weather!  

What else did we do this month?  I have to admit that we spend a lot of time in our pajamas...

And as much time as we can soaking up the sun..

And here's the best family portrait we have this month---do you notice Chris and I have on ratty old sweatpants while the kids are all cute?!  That's a snow day for you!

Here's to another fun month where we have lots of fun things planned already...