Easter Traditions

Traditions.  We have a few in our family.  One is taking a picture with the Easter Bunny!  We have done it since Tyler was a month old, and I just can't STOP!  Tyler now has to be bribed, but I get the picture.

This year they also had live bunnies at the mall, and I could not resist getting their picture made with them!  Actually, the girls were begging and Tyler was rolling his eyes!

Tyler drove Lauren to a birthday party in Prattville right after we finished taking pictures.  Have I mentioned how much I am enjoying having an extra driver in the family!  He is very helpful when he needs gas!

Later Saturday evening, we cleared the table and decorated eggs for our hunt on Sunday.  Another tradition that Tyler indulged me for a few minutes!  He gathered all the coloring pots and dipped all his eggs as fast as he could and left!

 The girls lingered for much longer and enjoyed the artsy activity!

 On Sunday morning, the kids woke up to baskets filled with goodies.  They looked through the loot before we headed to church.

 On the way to church, we stopped by Alabama Shakespeare Festival and took a few dozen pictures of our beautiful kids!

 Tyler 16, Corynne 14, Lauren 11, Lyndsey 7, Colleen 4

State-by-State: Illinois

Now here we have a special man,

waiting in our book.

Do you wonder who it is?  Come and take a look!

L is for Lincoln,

Illinois is his land.

he was president long ago

and known to be fair and grand.

from L is for Lincoln:  An Illinois Alphabet

The girls completed their scrapbook and lap book this week on the state of Illinois.  

Lauren visited Chicago with Dad last year.  We looked through all her adventures with dad, and we discovered just what we would "cook" for Illinois.  Dad LOVES Gino's East Pizza.  We ordered a couple of their famous deep dish pizzas for dinner at the end of the week!  They ship them frozen in dry ice!  We received them on Thursday, and we kept them hidden in the freezer until Saturday night. Boy, was Dad surprised!!!!

State-by-State: Wisconsin

And D is for Dairy cow

grazing afar.

"America's Dairyland"

is what we are.

Moo! Moo!  I like milk, do you?"

from B is for Badger:  A Wisconsin Alphabet

"Wisconsin has long been referred to as "American's Dairyland" because it produces more milk than any other sate.  in addition is is the leading producer of cheese in the nation."  from B is for Badger:  A Wisconsin Alphabet   Therefore, we chose to have cheese sticks to go with our deep dish pizza from Illinois.  

The girls completed their state projects for the week on Wisconsin.  Lauren has become quite good at looking up cool state images on the internet and printing them for her scrapbook pages!  

TPS Sectional Tennis Champion

Today Tyler played in the AHSAA Sectional Tournament at O'Connor.  His section basically comes down to Trinity vs. Montgomery Academy in the finals.  Tyler played against Hunter for the second time this year.  Last week they played and Tyler lost in a 3rd set tie-breaker.  Today Tyler played an awesome first set and won 6-4.  Tyler went up 1-0 in the second set when Hunter withdrew for a minor rib injury.  Tyler walked away with the title of #1 Sectional Winner!  We were so proud of how tyler handled himself on and off the court today.  He is a champion!

 Trinity Wildcats took 2nd place in the Sectional Tournament!

Swim at Alabama

The Barracudas year around swim team has transitioned to long course for the spring.  This was our first long course meet, and Grammy arrived in Alabama just in time to go to Tuscaloosa with us!  Lauren and Lyndsey both competed at the meet, but it was definitely Lauren's day to shine.  Lyndsey really was not interested in swimming the long distances!!!

 Lauren competed well, and she improved her times on a few races.  Watching these 100 and 200 races was exhausting!!!  That is a lot of swimming, but Lauren loves swimming!

They both enjoyed Grammy being their to watch!

State-by-State: Hawaii

Aloha is our letter A.

It means so many things:

hello, good-bye, and love to you.

Fair wishes this word brings.

from A is for Aloha: A Hawaii Alphabet

This week we read about the state of Hawaii!  The girls completed their scrapbook and lap book projects.  Then on Friday, we went to World Adventure club where the topic of the week was HAWAII!!  Ms. Tina taught us what the names of each of the islands means and how each island was originally used.  One was originally a leper colony!  Then we made edible volcanos!  YUM!!

For our state cooking project, we made a pineapple upside down cake.  Lyndsey loved the assembly process!  She was very excited that She could not fit in every pineapple slice and cherry!  She ate the extras!!!!

State-by-State: Missouri & Arkansas

Show me an A

and I'll show you the Arch--

the Gateway to the West,

where pioneers crossed a river so wide

to settle where they liked best.

Show me an S and I'll show you the Show Me State,

not with words, but so you can see

 all the treasures, held dear,

for i'm from Missouri.

I'll show you what it has shown me.

from S is for Show Me:  A Missouri Alphabet

M is for the Mockingbird,

a symbol of our state.

It sings the songs of many birds

as it tries to communicate.

Of course, N is for "The Natural State"

where unspoiled beauties abound.

We have timber, water, fertile soil,

and diamonds in the ground!

from N is for Natural State:  An Arkansas Alphabet

We combined the states of Arkansas and Missouri for our cooking.  Missouri is the biggest producer of black walnuts int he United States.  Arkansas is also a major producer of black walnuts.  We found the recipe for "Arkansas Black Walnut Pound Cake"  in Eat Your Way Through the USA.  It was delicious, but it stuck to the bundt pan.  We did not take a picture of the "heap" of cake!