I broke out my new camera for Easter!

For the last couple of years, I've been really wanting a new camera. I've been saving my pennies and finally decided this was the time. After doing lots of research and talking to a few people, I am happy happy to report that I'm a proud new Canon owner! And what better time to try it out than when we are looking and acting our best...Easter?! 

I'm going to go ahead and make the disclaimer that I have NO idea what I'm doing. At all. A few people have shown me some specifics, but right now, I'm just clicking away in Automatic mode and letting the camera do the work. That may never change. 

Of course, after church and the annual DO NOT CHANGE YOUR CLOTHES YET lovely family picture:

Love my babies. At least I got a smile before Levi changed into his ever-loving basketball shorts with a shirt that doesn't match and Maggie spilled mac n cheese all over the front of her. Good times.

And, of course, it wouldn't be a great holiday without your brother stealing your camera to take horrid closeup shots for you. (I will choose not to tell you which foundation is majorly failing me in this picture...)

He's really great at capturing the grumpy cat, double chin photos, too.

On to better things. Like sunflower peep cakes! Good job, Jenny!

And my Easter cookies...

...that I bought. ;-)

It was gorgeous outside, so we were thrilled that the kids could do their egg hunt outdoors. 

Each year, I tell myself to remember to pick up cute baskets for the kids do use for their hunt. And each year they end up using a Target bag. ;-) Details.

I hid Maggie's eggs, so they were very easy to find. Eric hid Levi's. Poor Levi.

Even better than finding all the eggs is the anticipation of what's inside.

Maggie announced that she'd gotten fifty thousand dollars from her eggs. She was just slightly off. 

It was so beautiful outside that we did what every other normal family does on Easter Sunday: we loaded up and went to the gun range.

Jenny got some practice in with her cute little pink take-your-eye-out gun. I shot a round through it and screamed when a shell casing came back and hit me in my sunglasses. TWICE. ;-)

Presh. Boys and their guns.

The kids waited patiently until it was their turn to shoot their guns. They got Drill Sergeant Travis asking them the three important rules of gun safety...

Aaaand, go! 

Even Mags got in on the action! This was her first time shooting. To answer your question, YES, you can shoot a gun with a big ol' bow on your head! :-)

Had such a great day with my family!

Getting old: Gretchen's birthday edition

So, THIS was a conversation between Jami, Gretchen and me the other night:

I couldn't help but chuckle the entire time! Oh how our conversations have changed over the years. :-)

It did get me thinking that I never blogged about GRETCHEN'S 40TH BIRTHDAY! What a bad BFF. So, I jumped into the archives of November and started downloading some pictures. It was a sweet reminder of a really fun evening. I'm kind of glad I waited. Now I get to chase away some of the January blues.

It was pretty much an evening a year in the making. A lot of our convos would end with G saying, "OMG, I'm going to be 40! What are we going to do?!" Ultimately, she decided on a night on the town when she was home over Thanksgiving break. That meant getting all gussied up. 

She picked a wonderful restaurant in Louisville called Varanese. It was perfect. Great atmosphere, fabulous food, and pretty awesome company. ;-)

From the beginning, our selfie game was pretty strong. 

Somehow, we managed a good shot after 49 tries.

Okay, back to the food. I mean restaurant. It was SO nice! They had our table reserved and it was very elegant. We thoroughly enjoyed just spending time together.

These are three of the best guys you will ever come across. Love each of them dearly.

And, I could not love these girls more.

There were two guys playing some great little jazz music and after dinner - as if on cue - they started playing "Happy Birthday To You". 

All for this little chica!

I think she was pleasantly surprised and loved her birthday dessert. 

Love these peeps!

After dinner, we headed to 4th Street to keep celebrating. (Hilarious moment: G thought she left her phone at the restaurant. She, of course, flipped out because she is very dramatic. Paul and Eric dashed off to make sure she hadn't dropped it in our car. While they were frantically looking, she found it in her pocket. If only looks could kill...)

On with the night! One more of the ladies (before my pictures came to a screeching halt.)

And, the guys...

Operation give-Gretchen-a-fabulous-40th was a huge success!

Sooo very thankful for this girl and that we get to do life together. I miss her dearly. When she moved, I worried how it would change our friendship. It has only made it better.

Love you, G. Happy 40th. Here's to 40 more!