Oh Happy Day!

Easter baskets, an Easter egg hunt at church (where Ev spotted an egg "hidden" in a tree), a weekend of meals shared with cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles, bunny onesies and pretty Easter dresses....what a fun Easter weekend!  Reminds me of something C.S. Lewis once wrote, which begins:

"There is a stage in a child’s life at which it cannot separate the religious from the merely festal character of Christmas or Easter. I have been told of a very small and very devout boy who was heard murmuring to himself on Easter morning a poem of his own composition which began ‘Chocolate eggs and Jesus risen’. This seems to me, for his age, both admirable poetry and admirable piety...."

Chocolate eggs and Jesus risen--it doesn't get better than that:)

Markell!

Today, in honor of her 30th birthday, we feature Markell!  Merk is a dear, dear friend who lives on the other side of the country, so we don't see her too often.  However, she was in town last weekend for a wedding, so we got to hang out.  Merk hadn't yet met sweet Evelyn, so that was an added bonus:) 

We made the most of our time together...

Little Bit took Markell (and her parents) on a walk in the park...

 ...gazed adoringly at her father...

...paused for a brief photo-shoot amidst the wildflowers...

...and then returned home to show Markell how she likes to eat supper...

...and pose for the camera after supper...

...and even "fly" with Daddy.

These two were clearly best buds by the time all was said and done...how fun is that?  :)

The Bunnies Are Here!

Or so say the signs on the windows at Phillips Toy Mart, that venerable old Nashville institution where 40 years' worth of children have gone to find Madame Alexander dolls, puzzles, Playmobil accessories, and other such delights.  Every spring, the nice folks at Phillips set up a big cage full of cedar shavings and plop a dozen or so fluffy bunnies in, who reside there for the entirety of the Easter season.  When you see the signs on the windows announcing "The Bunnies Are Here!", you know that Easter is officially on the way.

Evelyn has a number of bunny-themed outfits, but she has never seen a real rabbit up close and in the flesh.  Her clothes seem to indicate that most bunnies are pink and purple and sometimes have blue whiskers, so a visit to the bunnies at Phillips was clearly in order; we needed to go see if bunnies indeed look like the ones on Ev's onesies and bubbles.   So we set off in the station wagon with Honey....

 Notice how Ev is dressed for the occasion.  She is wearing a green-gingham-bubble with smocked bunnies:)

 This is an aside, but one of Ev's new favorite activities is putting her feet in her mouth.

 So here we are with the bunnies!  No pink or purple ones in sight.

 I think Ev might have been more excited about the chicken-wire cage than about the cute furry animals inside.

 Evelyn took an occasional break from the bunnies to gaze at all of the other magical things that fill the shelves and aisles at Phillips from floor to ceiling.  I know where to take this girl if she ever needs a change of scenery....

Lunch with Daddy

Evelyn has been busy, busy, busy since we last checked in!  Over the last two weeks, she turned 5 months old (!), broke out a bouncer-jumper-thingy handed down from her cousins (and seems to really dig it), spent a weekend in Sewanee with her Grammie and Grandaddy (pictures to come), and discovered the taste of cinnamon (which I added to her applesauce and which seemed to rock her universe). 

And yesterday, friends, Evelyn went to Ensworth High School to eat lunch with her daddy.  This actually isn't the first time our little lady has eaten lunch at EHS, but the last time we went, she was a mere 3 months old and spent the whole time doing this:

Yesterday, however, she was wide awake, thoroughly enjoying all the attention of her adoring fans.  Note that when I say we "went to eat lunch with Daddy," I really mean we were swarmed by legions of 17-year-old girls, a couple teenage guys (remember that most teenage boys don't swarm; they like to play it cool from a distance), a crew of lunch ladies, and a group of teachers for an hour or so.  Taking a baby into the middle of a high school cafeteria is an amazing thing; watching all those teenagers light up when they saw Ev was such a delight.  I love it! 

I couldn't actually document the entire experience, but suffice it to say that between chewing on Ensworth ID lanyards, touching the dreadlocks belonging to two very nice young men, and going back into the kitchen to watch the dirty dishes get washed (and to have those lunch ladies promise a cookie anytime she wants one), Evelyn lived it up.

See this guy?  He's one of Dave's sweet students.  And his last name is Crabtree.  Get it?  Crabtree and Evelyn.  Hilarious, I know.

I mean, how can you not have a good day if you get to snuggle this girl at lunch?  :)

Ev's First Shower

And by "shower," I mean the party kind, not the bathing kind.  Ev actually has taken a shower before, but that's another story for another time. 

Anyways, Ev's Aunt Mary Cooper is marrying Eddie, her long-time beau, on Memorial Day weekend, and we are all so excited!  MC's sweet friend Lauren hosted a lovely shower to celebrate last Saturday, and Evelyn got to come.  There was wonderful shower food (chicken salad rolls, pimiento cheese, petit fours, and frozen grapes soaked in wine and rolled in sugar, which were AWESOME), sparkling wine and fruit tea, and lots of fun gifts.  And speaking of gifts, if you are in search of a good shower gift, check out www.thecakepanlady.com--MC received an engraved pan ordered from her and it is so cute!

This is the cute banner that adorned Lauren's fireplace showing off MC's soon-to-be married name!

Ev spent the first half of the party like this...

 

...and then after she woke up and ate a snack, she socialized and then posed for a picture with some of the shower attendees.  Note how she is gazing adoringly at the beautiful bride:)

In other news, all three of us had a good sleep last night--hallelujah!  Hopefully, it will happen again soon:)  Happy weekend!