Easter @ The Neumann's

I started by making Anderson some egg-shaped pancakes with spring-colored sprinkles in them.  (I can put sprinkles in or on anything and this boy will eat it like it's candy.)  He loved the pancakes and I even placed them on a bed of edible Easter grass, which he thought was so silly. 

Anderson had to do a quick check outside to make sure the Easter Bunny hadn't already left some eggs.  We explained to him that the Easter Bunny made his visits during nap time.  :)

He did discover his Easter basket full of goodies, though!

After church we came home and Everett went off to bed.  Anderson perched on the couch in the living room and got an Easter treat of a movie while Reese and I treated ourselves to a child-free stress-free cooking experience. 

We had a yummy lunch of ham, green beans, mixed veggies, macaroni and cheese, dressing, and deviled eggs that were spotted blue and other colors due to the dyeing yesterday.

While some little bunnies napped, the Easter Bunny visited the house, hid some eggs, decorated the front door, and even dropped some cotton from his tail as he left.

Anderson was thrilled when he woke up and saw his Easter basket ready and waiting at the door. 

Egg time!



(The cutest picture ever.)



 



This is just so adorable IMO.  <3

I think we figured out that Anderson needs some other kiddos at his hunts because he just went from egg to egg and just sat down to open it and eat the candy.  He needed some pressure to get those eggs into his basket!  I ended up picking up most of them otherwise we would've been out there forever and someone would've had a tummy ache. 

It was a wonderful weekend all around!  I love that Easter is a special holiday that we stay in town and get to celebrate Jesus as a family at our wonderful church.  I hope all my boys enjoyed it as much as I did.

E and His Food

Everett loves to eat.  He's my adventurous eater and will eat many things that Anderson won't.  Of course he gets rather upset when there are some food items that Mommy won't let him have yet, but are visible to him (popcorn, candy, nut products).  Well, these pictures sum up everything pretty well.  Today we went to a family Easter party at our church.  Anderson was enjoying a little picnic of popcorn and lemonade and Everett obviously wanted some.

 Hmmm...Brother has some food.



How can I get some of that?

Maybe if I just grab some?

Then Daddy & Mommy got out Everett's snack to distract him from the yummy, salty, choking hazard that Anderson was eating. 

Hooray!!  Food for me!

Then there was the spaghetti dinner. 



Our Easter Egg Hunt at the Zoo

Today Anderson, Everett, and I went to the Dallas Zoo for a MetroMoms Event. It was a zoo visit and Easter Egg Hunt all in one! (I go to lots of their events quite often and always have a great time!)

First, we started out at the children's zoo area where Anderson got to pet some farm animals like bunnies, pigs, goats, etc. Here's Anderson showing his small pig figurine (he has about 10 of these that had to make the trip with us) to the big fat pig.

Anderson got upset with the goat because he snipped at Anderson's hand looking for food. Anderson proceeded to stand there and talk to the goat about not biting for a few minutes. Hope he learned his lesson!

Poor Everett. He came down with a fever last night and had a BAD night sleeping, so he felt awful. (I couldn't cancel my ticket to the event/get a refund, so I toted him along germs and all- ooops.) He basically just rode around for the first hour or so in a sleepy,sick fog.

Here's Anderson showing the tiger his tiger.

A talking monkey we met along the way.

THEN, we got to the best part of the whole zoo (at least in my opinion)! The GIRAFFES!

Here's Everett standing at the fence showing us his super cute giraffe outfit.

Then, the giraffe came right over to us!

He was SO close!

For $5 we got to buy giraffe treats- leaves of lettuce. Here's Anderson feeding the giraffe. Look at that long tongue.

Here you go!

Anderson wasn't afraid at all! I wish I would've gotten Everett to go by the giraffe, but he screamed every time I got him close.

Can you tell I really liked the giraffe?

Time to hunt for Easter Eggs!

Anderson's collection

Anderson checking out his eggs with his buddy Brody.

The pictures abruptly end because Everett decided it was time to go since he felt like giraffe poopy.

Anderson's Easter Bento Lunch

So, I've been playing around some this year with Anderson's lunches on his school days. I've discovered the world of Bento boxes, which is a Japanese way to pack a lunch. On one website, they sum Bento up by saying "it's a meal nicely arranged and packed in a box." Usually Japanese Bento boxes are filled with sushi, rice, nori, fruit, veggies, etc. But, there are becoming more and more resources on the Internet to inspire cute and creative ways to send anything in a bento box. (See this blog that I follow.) Most moms will tell you that half the battle of getting a toddler to eat something can be won by making it look fun, intriguing, and cute. I've really enjoyed this bento box from Pottery Barn Kids. Anderson LOVES it. I've been getting more and more creative lately so I thought I would post some pics of Anderson's Easter lunch from Tuesday. (I'm disappointed in myself that I haven't taken any pics of past bentos that I've created)

Anyway- the best part is that Anderson's teachers make sure and write on his daily note how much he liked what I made. It's SO nice to know he's enjoying his lunch and hopefully feels some love from Mommy while eating.

Anderson's Easter Bento
Turkey & cheese chick sandwich (carrot beak and poppy seed eyes), bunny food (carrots and edamame), bunny graham crackers with 3 jellybean eggs, strawberries, and flavored water.

And....I should add a disclaimer... There's no way I do this for every lunch, etc. I don't want anyone thinking I have so much free time that I spend it all creating cute food. :)

Birthday Videos of the Boys

Everett's Birthday Song at his party:





Anderson's Birthday Song at his party:

Everett's 1st Birthday Party

This past weekend we had Everett's 1st birthday party. One of his best friends, Matthew, also turned 1 in April so we planned a joint party for the boys. The theme was Noah's Ark, so we had lots of fun with animals, rainbows, and each other! Here are some of the pictures from the fun.

Poor, Everett. He was (as we figured out later in the day) not feeling well for most of his own party. Apparently he was coming down with a stomach virus. So, by the time we sat him down for his cupcake, he wasn't really even eating anything and just wanted to sleep. He was such a trooper, though. I'm actually glad that we get to have a "do-over" on his actual birthday (the 26th). I have a feeling that once he's back to 100% that he will LOVE some cake!

Everett having fun on the slide!

The rainbow fruit tray I made

Daddy, Mommy & Everett

Everett's not so sure about this....

Nope...No, Thanks.

The only cupcake pic of Everett not crying.

Mommy, Everett & PaPaw

Mommy, Everett & Nana B

Boots, Grammy & Everett

Co-Hostesses, Party Boys & Big Brothers

Most of the guests

Everett enjoying his new big boy chair like Anderson's.

Present time! I LOVE my new blankie from Aunt Reagan!

Everett exhausted after a long day!

Anderson enjoying a Popsicle with Ryland