Tween & Easter

Do you have any idea how grateful I was the day Natalie turned 10 that she was alive and that we could do something nice for her?  Well, if you went to her friend’s funeral a few days before like we had, you do understand.  I was so emotional I forgot what Natalie even wanted for her birthday and she did too. We had been talking about it for months. Along with a party at our house and a Squishmallow, she really wanted to paint her bedroom different colors. What she had was pretty bold and in a small room she was ready for something different.  Here’s a before photo:

When I look back on this, even though she loved it at the time, I can see why over the years as she added more things to her room it was just too much for a small bedroom.  Everyone except Kate pitched in to help (she was feeling sick and spent all weekend in bed) and it really didn't feel like a chore at all.  It took 3 coats of paint to cover up such bright colors but in between coats we baked Natalie a cake and decorated it.  My mom had given us this great cake pan that took almost two boxes of cake mix to fill up and made a giant cupcake.  It was pretty fun and lasted for days!

The best part is we took back the bedding Danny and I had purchased earlier that day when we realized hand me down sheets from Michelle and Danny's twin sized quilt from years ago looked perfect in there.  I know you can't really tell from there but the sheets tie a lot of the colors together nicely and better than what we had purchased.  Happy 10th Birthday, Natalie!  We are so glad we had a day to focus on you!  Natalie told me she was so happy with her room she could barely believe it was real life!

We kept things pretty simple for Easter this year, especially with the project of painting Natalie’s room the day before. We opted for online church after an egg hunt in our backyard. Danny helped me dill up the eggs but Michelle was the one to “win” by finding the one with the $20 bill in it. It was kind of funny because that was the only egg I hid well so at first the kids didn’t find it. When Michelle realized the egg with the $20 hadn’t been found yet she bolted out that back door and found that sucker before the other two egg hunters had a chance. It made me laugh pretty hard to see her put two and two together because she realizes I had checked a certain spot before coming indoors. I thought it was just as well she be the one to find it because she had gone to Target with Grandma and spent her own money to buy Natalie birthday presents like Reese’s Pieces, hair clips, and a big Squishmallow. Natalie was thrilled by those but not impressed by finding the “empty tomb” egg (even with Danny explaining it to her). Lol. She was still willing to help make deviled eggs and she let all of us (especially Michelle) help her with the puzzle she got for her birthday. Hubby did a magnificent job making a lovely steak and salad dinner for us. Plenty of protein to help make up for the fact my egg hunters had been eating candy all day. My parents didn’t come over because my Dad hadn’t been feeling well and poor Kate missed out on most of the festivities because didn’t feel well the entire weekend. She woke up with a sore throat on Friday morning and felt miserable but really didn’t want to go to the doctor. She was convinced she has whatever her best friend, P, had earlier in the week and that it would only take her a couple days to feel better. But when she woke up Monday morning still having a sore throat I made her a doctors appointment even though she was not happy about it.

We also made sure to take pictures with our favorite rabbit on Easter Sunday.  Marshmallow turns 8 years old next month.  He continues to be a wonderful bunny and I the weather was even nice enough the next week that I could clean out his hutch for him and give him new bedding.  But since I have already added ten photos here I'll save the next week for the next post.