Dying Easter Eggs with Neighbors/Friends

We have the best neighbors. Their girls are great friends with the little boys. They play (for the most part) so well with each other. Their mom, Sarah, reached out to see if we wanted to dye Easter Eggs. Since I normally don't do the whole egg thing (who can eat 30 hard boiled eggs?!) I figured this would be a great way to let everyone dye eggs and send them all home with Sarah! Win Win!

To make things more fun, Christopher was at Costco when Sarah and I made these plans, so he grabbed a few pizzas for dinner and we made it a night! Sarah brought some brownies and cookies - and we were set!

Once we were able to get the kids to actually come inside, they loved the whole messy process! Thankfully Sarah is a thinker and brought art smocks to protect the clothes.....

We blew though the 24 eggs Sarah brought, but the kids were just getting warmed up! We tossed 12 more eggs in the pot and sent the kids outside to play while the eggs cooked and we did a little clean up. Once they came back in, we blew through 12 more eggs so quickly! 

My favorite eggs were dyed first (like usual) then dyed again using this awesome shaving cream/food coloring trick. They turned out so pretty! We then had brownies (some kids finally settled down enough to eat pizza....most didn't before eggs because they were too excited!)

Man, this kid is adorable!

VA Sunsets...and Mommies

I had to get a new phone thanks to Xander and Nick throwing my old one on the tile during a fight over who got to hold my phone to look at pictures.

Naturally I wanted to test out my new camera so when I looked outside and saw this incredible sunset I thought it was the perfect canvas!

Xander followed me out and comments on how pretty it was and if I would take a picture of him and his "Mommies" (nipples). How could I refuse?

 

Andrew and Xander get Moles Removed

Andrew has had a mole on the bridge of his nose right where his glasses sit for a few years now. Recently it has been really bothering him every time he wears his glasses. I decided to finally get it removed for him and get Xander's mollusk taken care of at the same time.

Xander has had a mollusk wart that has gotten bigger and bigger on his back, right at his diaper line. He is always itching it and grabbing at it. I figured two birds with one stone! 

Both boys were so brave. Andrew had to get a numbing shot right in his wart and he didn't even move. In 11 seconds it was totally numb! He didn't even flinch when they punched it out. They must have hit a pretty big vein because his face was COVERED with blood. The dr. put 3 stitches in his eye/nose area and we have to go back in 6 days to take them out. Then he put a massive white gauze pack over his eye and face. He looked a little rough!

Nick was there too, and was not helpful at keeping Xander's fears at bay. He kept taunting him about how much it was going to hurt and making Xander cry. Just what I needed.

The dr. was just as fast with Xander. I was able to hold him and he just shaved it off. Xander did flinch when Nick yelled, "It's fire!" at the laser the dr. was using to cotorised the blood vessel. Xander flinched at just the wrong time and the dr. got a piece of his back. ouch! All was well when the nurse showed him the suckers and Paw Patrol sticker drawer. Yes, we took 5 stickers and 2 suckers and no one stopped us!

Andrew was supposed to go back to school afterwards, but the lady at the front desk was sweet and wrote him an excuse for the whole rest of the day. Andrew used this free time very wisely.....

This picture of Andrew all cuddled up on the rocking chair with his feet in the foot massager is not from the day they got their moles removed...but the day before. He looked exactly the same on this day though with the added bonus of his white gauze bandage. He was so tired he slept from when we got home (noon-ish) until I woke him up for dinner. Poor kid!

 

My Actual Birthday

Papa came over and made us the biggest breakfast, full of scrambled eggs, toast, bagels, english muffins, fruit, cream, hashbrowns, orange juice! It was delicious! Already starting off the day feeling spoiled!

My flight was at noon, so we really didn't have any time to do anything but breakfast, visit, then off to the airport! I'm going to miss this being my every morning view....

Made it to the airport in plenty of time. Honestly the flight home was one of my most anxious flights in a long time. Thankfully my seat was in the back and an aisle seat...and the flight attendant was awesome. I was very happy when the meds kicked in and I passed out!

 

I made it home in time to make dinner for the boys. Christopher had a late meeting so wouldn't be home till later. We rode bikes, gwaked at the beautiful Cherry Blossoms, cuddled, and just enjoyed being back home.

When Chris got home we had dinner and some yummy cake Karen bought me. It was a great birthday!

 

Girls Trip: My Birthday Dinner

 After a glorious nap, we were getting hungry. Papa had made us a reservation at a fancy restaurant, but we were tired and once Emily said traffic was easily 45 minutes, we decided to cancel that reservation and go a different route. While we contemplated plan b, we played Ana's game again. I really need to pick one up.

Plan B become walking to the neighborhood Mexican Cantina. I have never been there before, and it was delicious! My favorite part was walking there and back home and just chatting about nothing at all. Our waiter was fabulous, the food was amazing, and the company unbeatable.

After dinner we walked back home in the dark, got on cozy jammies, watched a few comedy specials, played a few games, enjoyed Amy's gaggies in a mug, then called it a night. It was a great way to end my 42nd year and start my 43rd!

Girls Trip: We take on the Strip!

 After our complete success in Pickle ball, and then finding parking in Nashville, we had 30 minutes to walk the town! Remembering my threat of taking 100's of pictures today, we realized we did our day in reverse. We should have taken on Nashville THEN played pickleball - but we were here and we were going to make the most of it! But first we had to figure out how to pay for parking!

We went to this ice cream place, but no one really wanted ice cream. I really just wanted a cute picture - but it wasn't a cute picture type place - so we moved on!

As we were driving in I was seeing all these bars named after famous country singers, so of course I wanted pictures with them! Also, there is nothing like the sounds of downtown Nashville. Every bar, restaurant, store, food place had a massive open air window with a band blaring live music. It was a very different vibe then I'm used it! Behind the girls is Downtown Nashville. It's not huge.

A nice guy took pitty on our selfie attempts and took a picture for us!

Kids - you should know the reason why I took this picture....

Ana was not a fan of being photographed after our pickleball date. To be fair, she played the whole time! This is in front of Garth Brooks Bar, Friends in Low Places.

It was hard to pick a favorite group picture - so I added both. Please appreciate Amy's hair blowing in the wind....and Grandma's surprised face.

Then I made everyone take a Nashville strip selfie with me. It's my birthday - so they couldn't say no!

Amy understood the assignment! Love her photobombing!

 

I got all the pictures I wanted - all under 30 minutes! -then we walked back to the car and headed back home!