How I Spent my Good Friday Vacation.

For this year's Good Friday, my mom got conned into bravely volunteered to take both girls for a whole 24 hours.  I had the day off and had a list a mile long of things I couldn't wait to do in my empty house.  After making a run for it dropping the girls of, I hit the ground running.  Here's the breakdown:

1. Stopped by Guardado Landscaping.  Bought an agave plant. Chatted with the salesgirl for a full 15 minutes without any interruptions from the kids.
   
2. Randomly discovered the best fabric store in DFW, The Cabbage Rose.  Spent an hour in my own little heaven looking at all the fun patterns and colors.
   
3. Dropped $150 at the liquor store, and enjoyed laughing at the drunk guy trying to find 100 proof vodka.
   
4. Mailed a "Coping-with-two-kids Survival Kit" to our dear friends, Joe and Susan.
   
5. Stopped by Target to pick up a plastic storage unit for my closet and some Round Up for my weeds.
   
6. Cleaned every single nook and cranny in my house and realized just how hard it is to simply walk around my house with kids demanding my constant attention.
   
7. Hemmed a dress for my nanny, Gloria and some pj's for Shelby.

   

   First attempt at alterations....dress is now shorter by a foot!

8. Organized all our meds, creams, sunscreens, etc. Label makers make me happy.  And, I might be a nerd.

   

   See all those cute labels?  It's as organized as a drug store.

9. Went to dinner at Cafe Italia with my hubby.  Since it is BYOB and we didn't have to pay a sitter, I sprung for the expensive champagne to enjoy with our meal.  Like Italian?  You MUST go to this little hole in the wall and order a steak!
   
10. Went to Lowes.  Bought tons of flowers and two sago palms to replace the dead ones in our front yard.
    
11. Converted Haley's crib into a toddler bed.  Find out why here.  Also hung a painting in her room that had been sitting on her dresser for two months waiting to be attached to the wall.
    
12. Planted agave, two sago palms (too shallow), and some ground cover.

    

    I hope you like your new home, Mr. Agave!

13. Filled out my new dry erase-magnetic-weekly menu planner and headed to the grocery store.

    

    Wonder how long this will last...

14. Remembered how wonderful grocery shopping can be without kids.
    
15. Cooked a Poppy Seed casserole to freeze for nights I do not want to cook.

    

    Love those freezer casseroles!

16. Made Paula Deen's "Not yo' mama's banana pudding" to take to mom's on Easter.  Resisted temptation to have just a tiny bowl.
    
17. Savored my quiet house for a few minutes and then went to save my mom pick up the kids.

All in all, I would say I accomplished everything on my list.  It was indeed a Good Friday!

Our Over-Achiever

Haley is 18 months old.  She just gained the wonderful ability to climb out of her crib by learning to use her tiny little toes to grip onto the slats and shimmy over the side.  Something about the idea of her plopping onto the hard tile was keeping me up at night.

So, her crib got converted to a toddler bed WAY earlier than I would have liked.  She quickly fell in love with the idea of being able to get in and out on her own. 

And, Miss Monkey was very eager to pose for pictures in her big girl bed!

I wasn't so thrilled with the idea of Haley no longer being contained at night.  But, at least I can sleep knowing she won't be cracking her head open in the middle of the night.  

Nothing brings a smile to a mother's face more than a sleeping and safe baby!

Easter Egg Hunting...

Nash Farms in Grapevine has the best Easter egg hunts.  This year didn't disappoint!  We arrived early to make sure Shelby and Haley snagged a great spot when it was time to storm the field for eggs.  Needless to say, keeping them entertained for an hour before egg hunting was tough.  

Where do the eggs go, Haley?

Her newest favorite thing?  Pushing the stroller!

Waiting to see the Easter Bunny

One's picking her nose.  The other's screaming for dear life.  

 Once we finally got to hit the field running, it was all over in a matter of minutes.  Both girls snagged lots of eggs and then really loved discovering the goods in each one.  They ate their weight in sugar before we could blink our eyes.

Yum!

What sugar delight does this egg hold?

YUM!

Cheese!

Haley's still wondering if there are more eggs to be found!

The Highlight of our Easter Egg Hunt

Today, we took the girls to Nash Farm in Grapevine for the Lions' club's annual Easter egg hunt.  We arrived way too early and lucked out be being the first ones in the petting zoo.  We had a blast with all the baby animals.  

Feeding grass to the llama and horse

Haley was in hog heaven

Checking out the goats

Feeding a baby goat

The biggest, fluffiest bunny I had ever seen.  Plus, some chickens that barely survived Haley's taunting.

Ducks and chickens

Guinea pigs, "Just like Linny on the Wonder Pets," said Shelby.

baby ducks

Haley trying to squeeze the baby duck.  No worries, it survived!