easter entertainment

Easter proved to be full of entertainment this year.The festivities started early with 3 anxious little ones...
who patiently waited at the top of stairs while their mom and dad forced them to smile for pictures.
It was pure torture. 
We're all about holiday torture around here.

We had a visit from the bunny who hid a few eggs around our living room...there were some really sneaky hiding spots...since our living room is 10x10.
It was entertaining to watch them scramble around the tiny room, hunting for their 4 eggs.

7 seconds later, the hunt was over and the vultures children moved on to their baskets.
They were thrilled with them.

I, on the other hand, completely despise them.
I painted them last year and don't know what I was thinking. 
Seriously.
Embarrassing.
They are TOTALLY not my style.
They look like an '80s troll doll threw up all over them.
They make my eyes burn. 
And Harper's looks like it is Hawaiian theme. 
Gag. 

Anyway...the contents were a BIG hit.

We had fruit smoothie (our only healthy part of the entire day) and I attempted to make an egg shaped cinnamon sugar roll. 
It was not picture worthy. 
It looked like a huge blob.
It was awesome.
Luckily my kids are easily impressed.

it was super bright in the dining room.

After breakfast we forced the kids to pose for pictures in their new outfits.
They were thrilled.

dawson looks like a teeny tiny dylan.
or chandler bing.
beckham looks like he's in pain...sheer pain.

We spent the afternoon with friends enjoying the Masters and an egg hunt.
Eating so much food that we were all comatose by the end of the day.

The most entertaining part of the day for me was watching all the kids scramble around the yard in search of the eggs. 
So cute.

b figured it out pretty quick...

his first find...

inspecting the goods...

he is his mother's son.

d still sportin' the shades.

focused.

ryan and dawson.

harper and beckham.

harper and ben.

And while the men were being entertained by golf, the women were entertaining each other (and all the kids...ahem) outside.

Isabel and Laura.

Jenny and Luke.

 
And the kids were playing unattended upstairs. 
And finding their own forms of entertainment.
Like cutting their own hair.

8 inches, right off the front.

Awesome.

xo,
tracy

wicked

Several weeks ago (because I'm totally on top of blogging) I attended the musical Wicked with a bunch of hotties:

i love this picture. 
and brianne, you look topless.
you're welcome for posting this.

It was just that.
Wicked.
Am I allowed to say things like that?
No?
I didn't think so.

We carpooled downtown and took pictures of ourselves.
Because you can NEVER have too many self-portraits:

This is the only picture I managed to snap before my camera died:

Awesome.
I'm so mature.

I LOVED the show. 
The costumes were amazing. 
The singing was perfect. 
And I teared up at the end when G-lenda and Elphaba said their goodbyes. 
I might be a touch emotional.
It seemed like an ironic foreshadowing for my upcoming separation from these lovelies:

i seriously look like i smashed into a wall on the way to the show.
why was i cursed with a heart shaped face???

You know what else was wicked?
The vintage dress that I scored for $1.60 at Thrift City.
I was hoping for an excuse to wear it.
And this was a perfect one.

A huge thanks to Debbie for fixing the top of the dress so my breasticles didn't pop out.
I (along with all the other show-goers) really appreciate it.
Apparently women were more busty 70 years ago.

Oh, and I have never had a chance to wear those heels.
I got them over a year ago at the bins.  I had them resoled and the insides replaced at a local shoe doctor.  All that work for a pair of bin shoes?
Yeah...they're Dolce and Gabbana. 
And according to the shoe doctor, they're authentic.
And he's a doctor, so I'm pretty sure it's true.

I'm going to miss these ladies when we all go our separate ways.
And I'm going to miss all the thrifting here.
And I'm going to miss excuses to use the word wicked.


xo,
tracy

girls girls girls

Lately I have been counting down the days until this semester ends and we are officially in our last year of optometry school. And not just because Dylan will be available, engaged, and hopefully relaxed.
But because I am dreading the day when I have to leave all our friends here behind as we set out on our first rotation.

In real life (and not in this weird limbo that is graduate school life), I have no friends.
No seriously...I'm not one of those people who has a gaggle of girlfriends by my side at all times. 
Post high school, I can count my close friends on one hand.

Who am I kidding?
Post high school, I can count my close friends on 2 fingers.

That is, until coming here...where girlfriends become a necessity.
And quickly become a confidant, spouse, family, entertainer, sounding board, and therapist.

I could not have survived the last 3 years without them.

brianne and mikelle
2012 masters party.

me, lyndsie and brianne
i look scared.

mikelle and lisa

laura, debbie, brianne, mikelle, me
don't worry, we don't usually dress like this.
it was a halloween party.

[back to front, left to right]
lyndsie, brianne, karen, debbie
mikelle, anna, me, laura
kristina, lisa, jenny
ps: we're in briannes bathtub.  yep, it's that big.  it rocks.
and so do we.

debbie and mikelle

[back to front, left to right]
lisa, debbie, muah, karen
corinne, heather
ashley, heidi, mikelle, lyndsie

lisa and me
we look shiny because we had just gotten facials, not because we were sweaty.
lest you think we're sweaty grease balls.

[left to right, top to bottom]
lisa, kristina, brianne
jenny, me
we're hot.  that's all.

corinne, karen, anna, heidi, me, lisa, mikelle, laura, debbie, heather, lyndsie, nanette
for all you preggos: you're welcome.

karen, lisa, me
this is the picture where i was accused of being a red head.

me, heidi, lisa, karen & risa, lyndsie & miriam, heather
thanksgiving dinner.

anna, me, lisa, jenny, debbie
worst picture ever...best night ever.
hunger games at 12:01am.
holla.

[top to bottom, left to right]
lisa, lyndsie, kristina, jenny, karen, laura, anna, debbie, sierra
me, brianne, mikelle

jenny, brianne (aka: sylvester stalone), lisa, me, kristina
we're so mature when we get together.
gotta love scotch tape.

me, lisa, lyndsie, anna
cheese tasting.

[left to right]
lisa, jenny, kaylea, heidi, mikelle, heather, debbie, laura, me
happy hour at applebees.
we're classy like that.

And although it may seem a bit premature to be posting this (after all, we do still have a month before we part ways), I want to remember how much fun we're having right now.
Before all the tears and goodbyes start.
Before we all forget the fun and focus on the sadness of being away (and for myself, friendless....again).
And definitely before all the ugly cry-faces start.

xo,
tracy

ps: I stole the majority of these pictures without permission.  Awesome.

this week

I've totally been slacking in the picture taking department lately.
I feel like the lighting is never right and the kids are always naked, fighting, running around like crazy people busy doing other things. 

This week, I made a resolution to document what we spent our time doing.

It was riveting.
Prepare to be entertained.

Those last 2 statements were dripping in sarcasm.

we see how many people we can cram into our miniature kitchen.

we practice being superheroes.

we make kites out of streamers/paper...

...and fly them.
i'm pretty sure our neighbors think we've lost it.

they're right.

yep.

we abuse the privilege of using markers.

we go hiking in the nude.

we talk to each other relentlessly...
i'm so glad they have each other.

we play with bubbles...

and get them on our upturned noses.

we decide we're offended when someone calls us a red head on facebook.
then we try to dye our own hair darker... to avoid being mistaken for a ginger again.
we've never dyed our hair before.
we make a gigantic mess.

we take pictures of our wife's new hair color without giving her warning.

...and again.

we take TONS of self portraits.

we play 'guess who' over and over and over and over.

Jealous??
Yeah, you should be.

xo,
tracy