Happy Easter

We had a wonderful, jam-packed Easter weekend with family and friends. We decided to spend Easter at our house this year, which was relaxing and enjoyable:) We had lots of stuff planned for Saturday and then I hosted lunch after church for Granny and our close friends, the Sterlings. We had a fabulous weekend and are excited to spend today with my parents (we're having round 2 of Easter dinner and festivities!) YUM!

Alley started off Easter weekend right! While collecting her snack items, she told me she had to do her bible study as well. So she ran off and got her little pink bible and proceeded to read through it while munching away. 

 On Saturday, we participated in an Easter egg hunt at Pres. Howard's house (the President of HSC). The girls had so much fun! Almost all of Alley's friends from preschool were there (because all their dad's work at HSC with Andy!) so she had a blast. Too bad the tiger had to show up! The two older girls Freaked.Out...yes, I ended up carrying Kendall while Alley clung to my leg...

Kendall getting a purple butterfly on her cheek...how appropriate for Easter! 

Alley was all the way on the opposite side of the table and she asked for a purple butterfly as well...I guess they have a little something in common;)

The girls. We had one of Alley's best buds hang out with us during most of the event because her mom was taking pictures for the school (of the event). Can you tell which child is a child of a professional photographer?! Yes, I would love to be able to get at least ONE good picture with all my girls smiling and looking at the camera...is that too much to ask?! yes....

Oh goodness, too many options...they had a cookie decorating table and the girls wanted to put everything on their cookies! Did I stop them?? Noooooo, I joined them;)

 

 The girls getting ready for the sack race. Kendall was pumped...Alley was a little skeptical;)

Kendall getting her game face on and checking out the competition...

 A little pep-talk from daddy

Aaaaaannnnnd, she's off...

 Yes, MC was there...but we kept her contained. Plus she had a runny nose and was boycotting naps and sleep in general...

 THE EGG HUNT! The girls did really well for never having done this before. We didn't even help them, so I am impressed:)

Which way do we go??

MC trying to help daddy clean up after our big Easter dinner

Aaaannnnndddd she's up...yikes! This is how I find her in her crib all.the.time...THIS is why she's not been sleeping...ugh!...

 my attempt at taking an Easter photo of the girls...failure #1

 2 out of 3...oh my...failure #2...I.AM.DONE;)

HAPPY EASTER!! He is RISEN indeed!! Praise the Lord:)

time outside

Smells like spring....the flowers are in bloom and wonderful aromas coming from the grill.

Feels like spring...the weather has been amazing every day!

Looks like spring...the grass is green, the girls cars and wagons litter the yard.

Sounds like spring...kids screaming and laughing in the yard while playing made up games. 

Therefore...it MUST BE SPRING!!! 

I feel as though the girls were caged birds all winter. Asking to play outside and even begging to a certain extent;) And with the arrival of spring, now they have been freed. Once freed, a bird never wants to return to its old cage...so it is with the McPherson girls! They want to be outside all. day. long...Here are some pictures from the past day or two...

Alley hanging out on the front steps watching the cars go by

In honor of Easter, the girls are doing the bunny hop;)

Skipping up the street to the "butterfly tree"...every year the butterflies congregate on this tree and the girls LOVE it!

Kendall walking back

an attempt at taking a sisters shot...I think this was the best out of 20ish;)

MC hamming it up for the camera

A little more sweetness from our little "smiley Cate"

Alley practicing her golf swing

Good follow through

Alley hanging out with Uncle John at the cabin

Kendall is in on the action of picture taking...notice the wonderful fitted shirt she's wearing;) She's a messy eater so I wanted to protect the dress and it was a little too chilly to go shirtless.

MC playing with Uncle John

All smiles as usual:)

Playing with Mimi

So sweet!:)

Finding a snail and being oh so serious about it

Alley yelling back up to us telling us about the snail...I love how she cups her face instead of just her mouth:)

Ok, I know this isn't a great picture of Kendall...buuuuut, I thought it was hilarious:)

Alley running

 I hope yall are enjoying the the wonderful weather and being outdoors as much as we are!!

Spring has arrived

We have been having spring-like weather for a few weeks now, but I was always afraid to say "spring has come!" for fear that it would suddenly get shy and disappear. And we wouldn't want that, would we?! ;) Well, I can now proudly (and loudly) announce that spring is here!! The trees are growing leaves, we have beautiful flowers in our yard...okay, maybe they aren't in our yard per say, but they are close enough;) I don't think our neighbors would mind me pretending that just for once I actually have something pretty in my yard. Sorry bushes, I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but lets be serious, you could use a little TLC and someone who has a green thumb...and that goes for you too grass...sigh...one of these days we will have a nice yard and keep it nice...one of these days. For now we will rejoice that our neighbors have green thumbs and beautiful flowers for the girls to enjoy:)

On one of these Spring like days last week, the girls spent some time admiring the flowers in the yard. They loved them (and loved being outside)! They played hard and we worked hard to get Kendall to not pick the pretty flowers! We wouldn't want to lose all the pretty growth so soon! Here are some pictures Andy took while playing with the girls.

I'm sure the girls were trying to figure out what these beautiful things sticking out of the ground were and why we didn't have any! ;)

sweet big sis sitting amongst the flowers

taking a break from it all... oh, who are we kidding, she's escaping from Kendall;) Sure dad, I will be in the picture!

Oh Kendall...don't pick that...can I blame the lack of "prettiness" in our yard on the kids?? Ok, maybe not...if I could keep it alive long enough, then maybe...

Happy Spring to you all!! And if we suddenly go back to winter...sorry! ;)

Time away

Over a week ago (I know, I'm slightly late on this post!), we all traveled to Roanoke for the ODAC Basketball tournament. We look forward to this every year. It's a fun time away:) We enjoy getting to go shopping in the mall, eat at place we don't have in Farmville, stay in a hotel and swim in the pool aaaaaaaand, eat a Krispy Kreme!!! Okay, I will admit it...the absolutely BEST part is Krispy Kreme. I mean come on, when that sign lights up "hot", who can resist?!! If you can, then you're just not human;) Anyway, we love this time away. This year we were able to go for the full time the team was there because I am not working (woo-hoo!).The first day was so much fun but very busy. HSC won the first game so we were gearing up for the big big game the next day. The girls had been having trouble sleep since they both had to share a pull out sofa bed...it was the size of a twin pull out...yeah, not so good! So not a lot of sleeping went on in room 437. At 2am I was awakened by a little voice saying she didn't feel good. So we went to the bathroom and she proceeded to throw up...awesome. We spent the rest of the night like this....aaaaaaand the next day. Yeah, so I'm just gonna be honest here. It was not fun or easy staying in a tiny tiny hotel room with a sick child and two other "spirited" children. The ONLY empty space we had in the room was right in front of the door and the bathroom. Yes, the room was that small. Anyway, we survived the weekend, but I don't think I want to do that again any time soon!

my two healthy ones watching cartoons on youtube. Another awesome thing about the hotel was that they had no appropriate channels for young children. PBS was over by 9am....thank goodness for youtube;)

another view of the fun we had...good thing we had snacks and stuffed animals

On another note, Alley was such a trooper. She always alerted me before she would throw up and she never once missed the toilet or the trash can...so it could have been a lot worse! She was so sweet the whole time and handled it like a champ. I just hated seeing her so miserable:( And I am so surprised no one else got sick!!!
Here's to everyone staying healthy!!

Snow Day!

How ironic that the last post I did was called "Sunny Day"...yes, we had several sunny, low 70 degree days and then a few days in the low 30s...oh I just want to thank the weather for the sickness it has brought on my family. How kind of you...:( Anyway, here as some pictures of the girls playing in the snow, which only stuck around for 1 day due to the weather not being able to make up it's mind on whether it wants to be warm or freezing. 

Running out to the field next to our house....Snow, glorious snow.

Kendall spent her morning looking like this...poor thing couldn't walk or run without falling...yes, I might have over bundled her, but I didn't have any snow outfits!

my two snow bunnies

making snow angels

oops...man down...

oh no! two men down...help;)

yikes, we are struggling to stay up-right!

umm, mommy...hep pweeeeeeese....(help please)

helping shovel/sweep the side walk

yes, please give us some direction Kendall...oh girl of great knowledge;)

Okay, we had our snow...now it can get warm and we can put all this craziness behind us. "pweeeeeese"