Back to Easter! Part 72

So being that it was the first year  ever that we weren't traveling to visit family, we got to decide what to do all day!  Manifest Destiny!  Yahoo!!! 

And it's not that we didn't miss our families in Massachusetts.  We miss them every. single. day.   Painfully! 

But doing an annual Easter tour to visit all our favorite people in different locations with three small kids in tow, all dressed up and high on sugar, and getting piled high with more and more sugar all day, eventually leading to a crash of epic proportions, usually while sitting in traffic, or worse, while at a Nana's house trying to eat dinner, or worsest, while trying to put them to bed.  Can I get an "Amen"?

So this Easter I won't lie, we defiinitely had the urge to sit around in our pajamas and eat jelly beans all day.  But this really awesome guy named Jesus died for us?  To gain us eternal life?  Even though we're pretty much completely unworthy, even on our best day?  So we needed to get off our behinds and get ourselves to church to celebrate Him on this holiest of holy days. 

We went to mass at St. Raphael's, which is probably going to be our new church.  More on that later.

And since we were all dressed up and hungry, we decided to go hang out downtown in our Easter finery and wait for our 1:30 brunch reservation at Sullivan's Steakhouse.  It's an awesome restaurant, but more importantly, it's brunch was cooked to order, which meant we could go safely with Ben and his nut allergies and didn't have to worry about a giant brunch buffet where he could grab a pecan sticky bun and inadvertently murder himself.

Downtown Naperville is so beautiful!  It's settled on the DuPage River with quaint shops and restaurants, parks and gardens and wildlife - it's one of the most special things about this place.  That we can live in total suburban bliss in one end of Naperville, but within 15 minutes can be in a really lovely, vibrant, historic downtown.

It was overcast, but not frigid, so we decided to take a stroll along the river

 This is the Naperville Carillion Tower.  It's a big deal around here.

We got to peek at Centennial Beach getting filled with water. It's an old, double-quarry that the city turned into a legitimate beach.  I never imagined it was this deep - nearly 20 feet in some spots! 

That's a lotta wotah! (that was my best Boston accent for you there).

They made a bunch of improvements to the bath house this year and we can't wait to check it all out!

 There were so many little spots to enjoy.

Time to stop and smell the roses, er, tulips!

Sculptures and other interesting things to marvel at

And the river and all the geese and ducks to see.

 

This is a map of Naperville built into the sidewalk.  We looked for our neighborhood, but it wasn't even built when the map was installed!

Even with the crummy weather we've had lately, it's nice to see that Spring won't be deterred! 

Our Easter river-walk along the Riverwalk was a smashing success and I have a

feeling we'll be repeating the same new tradition next year.

And in case you were wondering, guests are welcome!!

Happy Mother's Day

A little project I'm working on.  And oh so appropriate for this week, the midway point of Marc's 2 week stint in Australia.




Motherhood.   Kicks my butt daily.

Before you're actually in the job, you have no i-d-e-a. And even when you are in the job, you still have NO  I-D-E-A. I have never worked so hard and still felt like I was running backward. Felt more flustered. Experienced more of every emotion (and all at the same time!) than I ever though humanly possible.  Failed so OFTEN...like, every five minutes!

And yet, when have I ever been so LOVED.  So USEFUL.  So PROUD and DEVOTED and BLESSED.  When have I ever been so at the center of the universe, than I am for these three little people that call me Mom.

I'm terrible at this job.  Mess it up every day.  Want to rip my hair out and cry every twelve minutes.  Want to curl into the fetal position at least once a day at how impossible it all is.

And I wouldn't change it for the world.

Except maybe if the three-year-old could stop running out into traffic?  That might be helpful.  And if the five year old could stop whining?  That would be awesome.  And if the eight year old could somehow lose the defiance he's worn as a badge off honor since birth.  That would rock my world.

But I swear, that's all.

I'm going to bed now before I think up more that I would change...my to-do list is already long enough!

Hoppy Easter Part 3: Goodies from Nannie!

I've been trying to play with the video feature on my new camera. I hope you enjoy this Deb and Phil! Thanks for the special treats - as you can see, they LOVED them!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled Easter broadcast....

To announce that my IDOL came to Naperville!!  And no, I'm not talking about Jon Bon Jovi.  I'm talking about Ree Drummond, aka Pioneer Woman!

Thanks to an email from JUDIE in New Hampsha' and later a phone call from JULIE in Massachusetts about a facebook post from KATE in Maine, about a book signing by REE in Naperville, followed by a text message to ULIA in Aurora...

My awesome sister in law and I got to meet possibly the world's most famous blogger.  She is definitely my most FAVORITE blogger.  Even though I started 'following' her waaay back when she was just a little ole blogger by her lonesome.  And now she's the head of a multimedia blog empire and a published author with a life story that is soon to be made into a movie!

But most importantly, and why she is my idol is that she is the most gracious, sweet, self-depricating, talented person ever.  On top of being an incredible photographer.  A talented chef.  A homeschooling Momma to her four little ranch-hands.  And a romantic wife.  And avid vegetable gardener.  And so SO much more. 

All of this and more, she shares freely and with zero ego to all of her minions (such as myself!)  She's kind of like Martha Stewart, you know, if Martha Stewart was nice.  And had a personality.  And dimples. 

And she signed my books!  And Ulia's too!

And made small talk like we were her special buds.

We'll never wash our cheeks again!

(Oh wait, we never actually made physical contact, a la Davy Jones and Marcia Brady.  I liked her too much to sully her with my snoteriffic Naperville-school-children germs.  So I guess we can wash our cheeks again.  Which is good, because I've been prone to breakouts these days and that would have been murder for my complexion.)

Hoppy Easter Part Two: 1st Annual Kinloch Easter Egg Hunt

My friend and neighbor Nancy was recently elected to the Homeowners Association board.  She was pretty much handpicked by all us neighborhood parents who wanted more stuff for the kids to do!  With four kids of her own and a no-nonsense way of getting things done, she immediately set out to organize a social committee.  And I'm on it!! (yes, I'm doing a happy dance  :) )  I have envied my friends Alex and Dianne for years because of the awesome neighborhoods they live in - where people aren't just 'neighborly' - they genuinely want to be FRIENDS and come up with all sorts of fun things to do together.  

And now...I live in that kind of neighborhood!!!  Yipeee!!!

Our first event was an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids, and it was a smashing success.  The kids had a ball, and the parents did too.

Everyone had their baskets ready and were lined up and ready to go!

We had each child who participated bring 12 pre-stuffed eggs, and laid them out all over the lawn at the end of our cul-de-sac.  We had separate areas for different age groups, and used landscaper's spray paint on the grass to show who went where.  That way the 2 year olds wouldn't get trampled and the 5 year olds had a fighting chance!

There was even a special guest invited!  This was Jack, Molly and Ben's first time EVER seeing the "Easter Bunny".  Jack and Molly figured out pretty quickly that it was just our neighbor's daughter in a bunny costume, but Ben was enthralled! 

We've been deep in discussion as to what we think the REAL Easter Bunny looks like - no consensus yet. 

 This is Molly's group, the 4-6 year olds, just after they crossed the starting line.

It wasn't all that hard, being out in the open and all.  More like a snatch and grab job.

 Ben was with the 3 and under group.  I lobbied for 3 year olds to be with the little kids, and it worked out great.

On your mark, get set, GO!!!

Jack's buddy Brandon with his loot.

Someone really liked his eggs! 

This is our next door neighbor Samir.  He's four.  Going on seventeen.  And cute as a button.

This is our across-the-street neighbor Connor. 

Maybe the nicest kid I've ever met.

Molly asked me why she couldn't hug him in school.  Or kiss him either.

OY VEY!

(she was reminded quite forcefully that she can't hug, kiss or date anyone until she's thirty.  no worries)

The Golden Egg!!! 

Well, really just Toy Story, but to him it was gold!

Somebunny got a pretty bow in the mail!

Nothing like a 6 foot tall bunny to make you feel warm and fuzzy!

(and maybe just a titch wierded out and spooked!)

The fam.  Minus the one who was wierded out and spooked.

Ben got the jellybean motherload, because it was the only candy we could be sure was nut-free.

He didn't protest though...he tried, but his teeth were stuck together.

The Social Committee
Clockwise from the bunny are me, Jackie, Nancy, Kris, Carol, Marybeth and Nicole. 

As an aside, Nicole's daughter Olivia has an uncanny resemblance to Molly.  They have their first play date tomorrow at Nicole's house and I'm kinda hoping it's a love-fest. 
This place is overrun with boys and Molly needs a girfriend!

Counting her chickens before they hatch.

 The assistant to the counting.

Jack and his buds.  See what I mean about the boys?  They are everywhere!

Good for Jack and Ben...not so great for my little blondie. 

There are a bunch of houses in the 'hood up for sale this spring though, so I'm hoping for an influx of girls!

The hunt is over

The hunt is done

Next year, we'll have another one!

From near to far

From far to near

Easter eggs are everywhere!

Hoppy Easter Part One

So many Easter photos, so little time.  I'm going to have to do this in phases, so let's start with the CUTEST, shall we?  I'll start with Team Mallett bedecked in our Easter finery.

Seriously cute! 

I totally bribed them to take this picture - the boys were so not down with sitting on the big pink bed, but hey - the colors coordinated, so it had to be done!

Being our first Easter in Illinois, I went to Von Maur (the fancy schmancy expensive store) to find Molly the perfect Easter dress.  It wasn't there!  So much more my style, I ended up finding her a pink version of her Christmas dress on the 60% off rack at J.C. Penney.  Wahoo! 

If you're going out shopping three days before a holiday, you don't get much of a selection, but you do get the sale...it's the Eileen Simpson shopping Philosophy, and it works for me!

(Eileen is Marc's aunt, and no relation to Bart, that I know of)

But what on EARTH could I stick on the boys to work with this pink confection?? 

I remembered I'd snagged a classic looking striped button-down for Jack back at a sale months ago.  And that I'd found a near match in Ben's size on a $1 rack at Toys 'R' Us last month.  You heard that right, One Dollah!! 

Paired with the snazzy pink bow tie courtesy of Amazon.com two day shipping and we've got
CO-OR-DIN-ATION
(is anybody with me on the Boomerang reference?)
 
Of course there was a pink tie for Jack too.  He declined.  I couldn't blame him
But Ben?  In that tie, with his spikey hairdo?  SWOON!!

Don't his eyes look like Molly's there a wee bit?

My how I do love a well-coordinated family ensemble!