Easter Eggstravaganza

Today we hosted an Easter egg decorating and egg hunt party for all of the Costello cousins. There were 13 kids here, 11 participating in the festivities, and lots and lots of chaos. Eli's competitive spirit (that he inherited in heavy doses from both his parents) came out strong during the egg hunt and then he talked his cousin Max into hiding on the side of the house to eat their candy in secret after they were finished. We're pretty sure he ate a pack of fruit snacks, a large PB Egg, and a handful of jellybeans before we caught onto him. Can't say I wouldn't have or didn't do the same thing when I was almost 4 years old.

It was a great afternoon and the start of a fun Easter tradition that we all agreed to carry on in the family in the years to come. These kids are all so blessed to have their cousins as their closest friends. Happy Easter!

 The Decorating

The Hunt begins....and that tongue means business

The smiles of success and wow is this family growing

Movin' On Up

We are officially out of guest bedrooms in our house, and it fills my heart knowing that in a few months all of the rooms will be occupied by our 3 sleeping babies. I never liked having a cold guest room with the vents closed and dust settling on the unused furniture. With 10 short weeks until the arrival of #3, I decided to get started on converting the spare room into Norah's big-girl space. She's not quite ready to be out of her crib just yet, but we're hoping to have her fully settled in a bed before baby comes. My lovely mother-in-law, who is a speed-painter, offered to come and help me paint and ended up doing most of the work while I tried to keep the kids out of her way. I was inspired for the walls by a Lowe's magazine article showing how to create your own tree-art canvas with painter's tape and spray paint. The original idea was just to make a 12" X 12" art piece for above the bed, but then that seemed a little boring and I decided to magnify the concept onto an entire wall. I was pretty apprehensive as I was pulling off the painter's tape at the end, but the tree wall turned out great and I love the way it ties into her tree bedding. I was working with a very limited budget for this room so I did a lot of re-purposing and repainting of items we already had around the house. I painted the lamp and nightstand, wrapped the shade with ribbon, updated the hardware on the dressers, dug out the yellow curtains from our cedar chest and spray painted the bird cage that I bought on clearance. The books ledges were an Ikea bargain and the wreath above the bed cost a total of $5 including the "N" and the flower, which was an old pair of Norah's pants I cut up. My biggest splurge was on the bedding, which I found at the Pottery Barn Outlet and was still a great price.

Norah likes to jump on her big bed and read books in there but that's about as far as we've gotten for now. And for now, having her contained in a 4-walled crib makes this pregnant mama's life a heck of a lot easier!

Randomness

I haven't been very good at taking pictures lately or keeping up on "keep-saking" activities, which always gives me anxiety. You'd think without Facebook and TV I would have endless hours to fill with these things, but ever since my friend lent me the first book in the Hunger Games series, I have become a bit preoccupied.

According to my camera, here is what has been happening so far in March...

Eli had his first preschool musical performance, which was much anticipated. Unfortunately, stage fright got the best of him and he stood like an angry statue on the stage while his classmates danced and sang their hearts out. He would occasionally make eye-contact and give us a nervous smile but then immediately recomposed back into his solemn self and refusal to participate. Oh well, he still got ice-cream afterwards and still hasn't stopped talking about what a great job he did on the stage since.

My favorite time of the week....lazy weekend mornings where daddy makes waffles and I pretend I am a guest in the house. Norah is always up plenty early to help lend a hand, while Eli has to be woken and convinced to come downstairs and grace us with his presence.

The kids and I celebrated Saint Patty's day pregnancy-style, with a big fat shamrock shake from McDonald's. And it was delicious, up until my yoga instructor informed me the next day that these little gems have 700 calories.  Uh thanks??

 Norah has started taking an interest in potty-training herself and can often be found perched on our furniture or jumping off the couch in her birthday suit. Her reward of choice is a mini-marshmallow, which Eli insists on rewarding himself with as well each time she goes.

 And hard to believe that we are enjoying 75 degree weather in Ohio in March. Lunch picnics on the deck are in full-swing. Here I tried to delight the kids by giving them a bit of iced-tea with their lunch, only to have it rejected as "yucky." More for me I say!

And finally, this little boy is going to be 4 years old next month and I can't believe how big he is. He is every bit as silly and ornery as 3 year-olds come, and then some. He is VERY excited to meet his new brother or sister in June.