Spring Holidays 2013

A friend of mine wrote on her blog a few months ago about all of those “non-gift” holidays we (especially moms) like to celebrate. It got me to thinking about these holidays, which I call “the Spring Holidays”, and how much I enjoy them. Most of them don’t warrant any gifts (other than candy), but they are a nice way to break up the period between Christmas and summer. Here’s a look at how our family celebrated The 2013 Spring Holidays. 

Valentine's Day: The girls got dressed up in their heart skirts and got their first manicures (i.e. nails painted). They got lots of candy and other small gifts, but I think the nail polish was their favorite!

 

St. Patrick’s Day: This year, St. Patty’s Day was especially cold, but we didn’t let that damper our fun. The girls wore lots of green and enjoyed “pinching” anyone not wearing green. Beware, if you’re not wearing green these little leprechauns will get you!

Easter: I love celebrating Easter with the girls. It wasn’t really much of a big celebration at my house when I was growing up, so I like making it a lot of fun for the girls (with a trip to church to honor Jesus, of course).  Whether it’s the Easter Egg hunt, pics with the Easter Bunny, or opening their Easter baskets…the fun lasts all week!

Homemade Easter Bunnies

Waiting for the Easter Bunny!

Merry-Go-Round after the Easter Bunny

 

 

 

On our way out to church!

Mother’s Day: We usually keep things pretty low-key on Mother’s Day. This year I actually got to go to the movies on the Saturday before (to see The Great Gatsby), which was a lot of fun. I love spending down time with my little family! :-)

Me and Leo!

 

Mother's Day 2013

Having a blast!

My kids love being outside…I mean they REALLY love being outside, which is funny to me because I would much rather enjoy the air conditioning ;-) A few of their favorite things to do outside include riding their bikes, playing in their Cozy Coupes, sidewalk chalk, and pushing their lawn mowers.

Helmets on, safety first!

Obsessed with sidewalk chalk

These ladies also have very vivid imaginations. At the beginning of 2013, they started going on witch hunts (looking for all of the “witches” that are found in Disney movies like Ursula, Cinderella’s stepmother, the Evil Queen, and Maleficent).

Flashlights out and ready to hunt for witches!

Last week, we also went to our first dance/tumbling class, which the girls simply call gymnastics. They did silly dances with bean bags and feathers, follow the leader, walked on their hands like a wheel-barrow, did somersaults/flips, and more! The class lasts for 6 weeks, and they seem to really like it already! (The pics are a little blurry because they move so fast!)

 

 

 

Practicing some moves at home!

This week was also a first for us. It was the first time I took the girls to the park by myself. I refused to do it when they were younger, because one (or both) or them was always running off to go exploring. Now, they do a much better job of staying close. We went to my childhood park on Tuesday morning, and it was great! We had the park to ourselves almost the entire time, which was pretty awesome! We ended up staying over an hour, and I’m sure we’ll be back many times this summer.

For comparison’s sake, here’s a picture of the girls at the same park two years ago. They are getting so big!

Madi's big grin!

Silly Lily!

It’s all pretty amazing. I love seeing the girls try new things and use their imaginations!!

Christmas 2012

I know it’s a little late, but I wanted to recap Christmas 2012 while it’s still (somewhat) fresh in my memory…The holiday fun started with our Christmas Tree. It was the first year we put up our tree since Lily and Madison were born. They thought it was awesome, and reminded me to turn on the lights EVERY morning!

Our annual trip to Crown Center was at the beginning of December. I love taking the girls up there to look at the lights, and it’s become one of my favorite parts of the season.

We saw Santa and the Christmas Princess this year, too. The girls totally understood Santa this year, and knew that he was the one bringing them presents. They also knew that we were going to visit him, and they were excited about it. But, apparently the “idea” of Santa is better than the actual thing…They weren’t excited to see him, better luck next year I guess! :-) They liked the Princess much better (probably because they are SUPER into Princesses right now)!

 On Christmas Eve, we met up with my Dad’s family and went bowling. It was a lot of fun (although, it was a little odd because my Mom, Uncle, and Grandma had all passed away…). The girls got to bowl for the first time, and had a blast!

 

 That evening, we went to our church’s Christmas Eve service. The girls got an early gift, sunglasses, and wanted to wear them in church. Let’s just say they were they were a hit with the people around us!

Christmas Day was as busy and fun as ever. The girls loved seeing their stockings full of presents and they loved everything they got…

Overall, the holiday season was great, all be it a little bittersweet. :-)

December also marked the first snowfall of the season (and the first time I let the girls play in the snow...they weren't impressed!)

 Love the holidays, but glad it's almost summer!