Wyatt's 3rd Easter - Part 1

I hope you are all having a blessed weekend! We have been B-U-S-Y. In typical Olis fashion, we definitely have tried to squeeze in three weekends worth of activities and household "to-do's" into two days :)

Knowing full well that most of you are the exact same way, it brings me comfort that I am not the only mom out there who is running around trying to pack in 9,000 things into one day.

We are looking forward to celebrating a beautiful Easter tomorrow, and so I have posted some "trial run" egg hunt preparations from Palm Sunday. Thank you Heidi and Anna for hosting such a fun hunt! Wyatt, Delaney, Steph and I had a blast with our little friends and their Momma's- and it was exciting to be there for Delaney's very first hunt- boy did she love those eggs!

I look forward to seeing everyone's pictures from this weekend, so keep 'em coming :)

Rachel, the OCD artist

We are iced in today, (roasting Duck :) as is most of the state is right now. I am so excited about the game tonight- I literally cannot wait to see our boys take on the Pac 10! I so wish we were in Arizona, but it didn't work out this time, so we will be watching it from our couch.

We literally did nothing this weekend- it was so nice just to chill out and relax after such crazy holiday season. I did have the most.fun.girls.night.ever!

Before you go thinking I was hanging from a chandelier, let me just say that I did not spend the evening in a bar (shocker, I know!) anyways, a bunch of my friends and I decided to check out the local sips and strokes... so I spent the evening with some of my best girlfriends, attempting to conjure my inner artist. An artist, I am not, which I found out very quickly. My OCD-self had a very hard time with the "manic" brush strokes, and my second attempt at an "office-worthy" piece did not come out the way I had expected.

My red tulips were not red, and my image looked absolutely nothing like the pictures that surrounded me... in fact none of ours looked the same. When I took it home and showed it o Mark, I was pleasantly surprised that he liked it so much-- even remarking that it was beautiful. Certainly not the reaction I expected, but I 'll take it!

It struck me all of a sudden, that isn't this exactly how life is?

The lines get blurred. Things get incredibly messy. Frustration mounts at times.

Anxiety builds. You have a few laughs along the way... and, voila! you right smack dab in the middle of a beautiful mess called life- which is nothing how you expected it to be, but it is beautiful all the same.

and, without further adieu...

My not so "red" tulips :)

Hope everyone is staying warm, and WAR EAGLE!!

Baby, its COLD outside!

It's been awhile since I have felt the crunch of icy frost under my boots, or the sting of freezing air on my cheeks. It is certainly not something that I miss. I am a Southern girl through and through, and I dread the cold winter and all that comes with it.

The low on Friday is a frigid 8 degrees here in Central Alabama! BRRRR. As Mark is plotting his hunt this weekend, I am planning to not leave the house.at.all. We are stocked up on diapers, milk, bread and Leap Frog DVD's... and we will be warm and toasty. If my crazy husband wants sit outside waiting on a prize-winning Buck in rut while turning into a popsicle- so be it :) As for me and this little guy- we will be as cozy as two bugs in a rug. If anyone is up for hot chocolate and a big long play date on Saturday- c'mon over!

It's Fall Ya'll!!

I am super excited about the break in weather- I am a total Southern girl, in that I love, love, love summer- I hate cold weather so I am not looking forward to winter, but for now I am thoroughly enjoying the crisp air in the mornings and the sunshiny afternoons. Thank you, Lord for the break in the endless rain and mugginess!

The cool weather is getting me in the mood for soups and comfort food. I can't wait to break out my crock pot this weekend. It is also getting me excited about Wyatt's Halloween costume- at first I was thinking he would be a Bumble Bee, but I think we are switching gears. He is going to be the cutest little Duckie you have ever seen :) Mark's mom is making his costume, and I cannot wait for our first trick-or-treating experience.

This weekend was pretty much the same as the past few. We watched our Tigers pull off another win (YAHOO!) and played and relaxed. I did go to the Southern Women's Show on Saturday, and hosted my first Southern Living at Home party on Sunday... so I packed a lot of "Southern" into one weekend , and I loved every minute of it :).

Wyatt starts his new school next week, and I am so excited. For a child who has never suffered seperation anxiety before, my thinking was that next week would be no big deal for him. For the past week, however, he has started crying every time we leave him. Daycare, the nursery at church, Grandma's house- so.... we shall see how next week goes. He does fine after we leave, so as long as I am okay, I think he will be okay :). We have orientation on Friday to we meet his new teachers, tour once more and learn about the new curriculum he will be starting. I am looking forward to it.

Happy Tuesday!