Easter Weekend 2015

I cannot believe it is already time for Easter!  We were so excited that Moppy and Poppy and GayGay and Uncle Bobby were coming down with Mimi and Papaw for the weekend!! GayGay and Bobby arrived Friday night and took us to dinner... no need for entertainment with Warfs and lobsters!

Especially when Uncle Bobby lets you feed him!!  Avery says "say ahhh, okay dip in sauce (butter), now here you go"

Sweet little man loves his GayGay! (and didn't put down the lobster claw the entire meal)  After supper, Gay Gay came over and watched a movie with us - the kids (and GayGay) were in heaven!!

The weekend of Easter, the Meck's always host the big Eggstravaganza, super egg hunt at their home!  This is always a highlight of our holiday weekend and the kids were so excited about it Saturday morning (albeit their 4th or 5th egg hunt of the season)!  Silas knew the eggs would really be hidden, so he was ready!  I was behind all the kids this year so didn't get the typical surge from behind the gate to start off the hunt... but watching about 100 kids sprint with buckets looking for eggs is such fun to see:-)  Here's the only shot I got that wasn't blurry:

 

 

It was wet and muddy from the 40 days and 40 nights of rain that we've suffered been blessed with, so Silas and Avery wore their rain boots. However, as indicated in the picture below, apparently the boots were hindering to the princess.

 



 

Our executive pastor joked that the Warf duo had "no fear" with the jumpy slide... the other kids sat down and slid down while our two viewed the top as a launching pad for a cliff jump...
We joked that minister's kids were pros/veterans at the Jumpy Jumps... haha.

This one is one of my favorites!

After the hunt, we bribed them into a short nap... they woke up to Mimi, Papaw, Moppy and Poppy!  The ladies went to run errands and Poppy was a good sport.

 

Precious moments. 

We cooked burgers at our house and had a great night!  Except that time KY lost in the Final Four. Bruce was a good sport... at the buzzer (after animated spectating for 2 hours), Bruce calmly said, "Wow. I think I'm going outside to talk to my dog for a minute."  He did finally come to bed at some point that night. 

Precious moments, number 11,728,901.  We LOVED having all the family in town.

Sunday morning, everyone came to church with us, which is such a treat.  It was a glorious celebration of our Jesus, the culmination of our Gospel, the reason we have HOPE. 

We all went to lunch... and I snuck a cute pic from way down the long table...

Then a coupla fun selfies:

Garnett is very picky with her snuggles... her Papaw is just about number one on her list.  So sweet.

After lunch, we kept with tradition and spent the afternoon at the Sturdivant's house. Some napping...

Some relaxing...  There's no better way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

 

Sweet little Garnett has no trouble hanging with the bigger kids. Actually, ("actually" ...if you read a previous post) Miss Avery might have met her match....

This reminds me of another funny Avery-ism.  We have been talking a lot about the meaning of Easter and now they say eggs only about 50% of the time:-)  Their little chocolate egg that the Easter Bunny brought them was hollow so we asked them what was inside... they said "nothing!"... like the tomb, right?!  They said, yes, Jesus is alive!  Heart smiles.

We were also driving back home from tball practice last night and the kids were in question mode (which is about 80% of their life). Silas: "Mommy, who made the machines and roads? How did they make that wire, that bridge, that..."  Avery: "God made the grass and the sun, right Mommy?" "God made the Bernstein Bears, right Mommy?"  Well........ ..........  sometimes, I must be really creative in my answers.

God did give us family and there's not much, if anything, that we are more thankful for.

 

What a fun, glorious weekend!!

 



Catching up...

We've wrapped up soccer for the Spring 2015!  This little team had the best time and became sweet friends. (Have I mentioned that I'm not sure if there's anything cuter than boys in soccer uniforms!!) They played hard, rain (lots of it!) or shine (one day!), and all said their favorite part was the snack. Of course.

We've enjoyed a few rites of spring with cookouts and friends!  Finally, we are seeing longer days and playing outside after work... fun times!

And princess dresses are inevitably involved in all events.

Last week, we went to a fun birthday party at Home Depot!  We received the invitation and thought, hmm, Home Depot?  Didn't know they hosted parties... but let me tell you, this was so much fun!  We arrived and were led back to the boardroom (no joke, with wood custom bookshelves, long conference table, and fancy pictures) by friendly workers clad in orange aprons... where we had our own aprons waiting on us with our tool kit materials. These kiddos hammered (by themselves!) and put together toolboxes, then custom painted them to their individual preferences:

Then, there was the piñata... and pool noodles...

Let's just say the boardroom might not ever be the same!!


Along with the end of soccer comes the beginning of t-ball! Avery said she didn't want to play soccer, but after watching Silas... she didn't turn down the offer for t-ball!  Here is the little lady at her first practice:  "Mommy, I'm ready!"  (We'll cover offense and defense later...)

While Silas is on a team with only 4 year-olds and younger, Avery is on a team with 4, 5, and 6 year olds... and coach pitch!  Look at this slugger!!

 

There are so many things I find myself saying, "Gee I need to write this down so I won't forget!"... and I remember to write some down... forget others...

Silas and Avery are the funniest and most fun people I've ever been around. Bruce and I aren't joking when we say, "we've never had so much fun in our lives!"  So true.  I'll try to write a few things down here that they're saying these days:

Avery's new word is "Actually."  She says it all the time... "Well, actually.... " and "Actually, Silas didn't do this, etc.. " Hilarious.
I suppose I'll just sit and wait for the "like" phase... ha.

Silas still says "Why is Millie woofing?"  I repeat and say "I wonder why she is barking - maybe there is a duck out there"... and he says "yes, she must be woofing at the duck"

Yes, they both tarry for bed... I suppose this doesn't stop... it's hilarious. Mommy, I'm thirsty. Mommy, I need to go to the bathroom. Mommy, I NEED one more hug. Mommy, my tummy hurts. Avery says, "but mommy, I'm having growing pains." 

At the soccer games, it's the sweetest thing... Silas scored and "actually" ran off the field to give me a high five.. then he said "I need to go tell Avery" and ran literally 50 yards to where she was playing to tell her. She then proceeded to give him a high five and a HUG! 
Avery, when she is spending her 5 minutes on the sideline cheering for "my brudder" says as loudly as she can in her sweet high pitched voice, "awww, good try Silas, kick ag-ai-hun"!

I'm trying to mark these things in permanent ink in my small brain... we just laugh and laugh and savor every moment.  Man, we are blessed.

JA Egg Hunt and Party

Last week we had the kids' Jackson Academy Easter Egg Hunt and party. Of course I couldn't miss it. This was one of the rare days they didn't have to wear their uniforms - it was so cute seeing all their friends in play clothes!  I dropped them off in carpool and helped set up for the party then headed to the football field. They didn't know I was going to be there:-)

Look at that face in the middle.  Gets me every time!

They were instructed to "find" 12 eggs each. (12 eggs only)  One Warf was paying attention. I'll let you guess.

On cue, all 100 or so of them dashed from the 20-yard line to grab the eggs on the football field.  Which leads me to another little funny: Silas was so upset that they didn't hide the eggs... little buddy enjoys a challenge, I suppose. 
In the midst of the chaos of 4 year olds and parents, Silas ran up and hugged my leg, so proud of his 12 eggs!  It wasn't 30 seconds later that I hear Avery calling me as she is running toward me, her bucket overflowing with eggs (spilling out as she runs). She is smiling ear to ear and said, "I got the most!".  (I didn't know of the 12-egg rule at this moment) Silas said, "Avery, you got too many!" I thought he was just upset she had more than he... then he sat down and counted them out and told me about the rule....   oh mercy.

Their sweet teacher!  Oh, and Silas got a "star" on his card for following the rules at the hunt...

The Easter Bunny was there too!  Here is most of their sweet Dalmation class:

Afterwards, both Silas and Avery explained that that was just a grown-up dressed like the real Easter Bunny.  Geesh.

It was such a fun party! 

Soccer Saturdays, Snowy Days

Saturdays lately have been filled with soccer games… tis the season!  Silas is loving his JFC team and has met some new fun friends. He is having fun and we're proud!  Avery has enjoyed playing on the sidelines and cheering on "my brudder"…. well, most of the time. Sometimes she likes to color. 

Look at him go! Such defense!  He made two goals in one game and was so proud of himself.

Oh these particularly cold days… Avery wakes and asks if "Elsa came again?" We appreciate the cold, rainy days… but sure are ready for SPRING!  Elsa comes into our house, too.  This night, she led a masterclass singing her songs. She was particularly picky when it comes to technique.

He (whom Elsa dubbed as Sven that night) finally had his solo: 

 Last weekend, the kids and I headed up to spend Friday night at Mimi and Papaw's house before our trip to the Orpheum to see The Lion King. We saw that the show was touring in Memphis while we were at Disney… and after Animal Kingdom's show, we booked tickets before we left Orlando!  Friday night was filled with fun games after supper - the Pancake Relay was a hit!  Silas schooled Mommy and Papaw!  One plays this game by starting on one end of the room, balancing a level of a pancake stack (as denoted by the card drawn) and racing to the table to complete the stack!

Sometimes, the good ole string trumps anything!  String tricks with Papaw:

Then Saturday, GG and Eleanor met us in Grenada and we piled into the car to drive to Memphis in the ice and snow! (well, really just rain, thankfully). We decided to take advantage of the Peabody parking garage, eat lunch and pay the ducks a visit before the show.  These two ladies really love their Mimi. Well, actually that is an understatement.

We all love our Mimi.  And that's also an understatement.

 Ready for the show!!  I must admit, The Lion King is one of my all-time favorite Broadway shows (a close second to Les Miserables), and I was so excited for Silas and Avery to see it!  We had watched the movie several times at home in preparation… about 10 years ago, Mom took Grace and I along with Jan, Terra, and Meagan to see it - seems like yesterday. This time was no different: I caught myself sitting on the edge of my chair smiling with my mouth open in awe!
My and my little buddy:

 Avery and her calling. Or, so she now thinks!!

Mimi snapped this picture before the the crew caught her violating the no picture rule… and it's a favorite of mine… this is right before the last scene, which is a little intense as Simba battles Scar for King of Pride Rock. One of us knows how it ends, one isn't sure, and one still doesn't know… (he had fallen asleep [standing up] 5 minutes before the last scene)

We hope to return soon to the Orpheum!