Kiss Cancer Goodbye!

Meet Barb. My amazing friend who has been battling breast cancer since October of this year. This Friday marked the last day of her Chemo treatments. 

We celebrated with a big party! And boy do the White's know how to throw a party! They have a beautiful back yard where it was nice to visit with friends. We ate amazing cupcakes from Pearls Cupcake Shoppe that were to die for! My favorites were the chocolate mint and the butterfingers ones! ahh so good! We also sent off Chinese lanterns into the sky with our wishes. 

Can you see by my huge smile that I'm living my "Tangled" fantasy? So cool! 

Watching Barb endure what she has over the last months has been such an inspiration to me. She has handled this horrific trial with grace, humility and a fierce strength. She is a fighter, she is strong, she is beautiful. She is a wonderful friend and an amazing mother. She has taught me to be grateful for what I have and to live life to the fullest. I truly feel blessed that our paths have crossed. I know she still has a rough road ahead of her with radiation and more surgery, but she made it through an extremely painful and exhausting stage of this nasty disease and that's worth celebrating! I felt so happy for her this whole day, seeing her just emulating joy made me so happy. She did it!  Like those paper lanterns she could just let go of chemo, say goodbye to cancer and watch it float away! Gone! I am so proud of her and proud to call her my friend. Love you Barb! 

Evening in Carytown

Erik randomly had a Thursday off. It was great! In the evening we headed downtown to Cary Street. They have so many cute shops and restaurants. We ate at Nacho Mamas which we liked and then walked around   Carytown. 

I spotted a dandelion and wished I had my good camera for a photo shoot! This photo will have to do. Lucy's first blowing wishes on a dandelion! 

We even got a cupcake at Baby Cakes. Our first cupcake experience in Richmond. It was yummy! Lucy wouldn't even take a break to smile. She wanted more! 

Hot Days of Spring

What do you do on those super hot days when the pool is still not open? Head to the Stony Point Fountains. 

Lucy was a little tentative but by the end she got a little braver and really had a good time. Much better than last year! 

It's nice she has some older buddies to help her play. They are so sweet with Lucy. 

Emi and Lucy 

Camdyn and Lucy

I love this picture! Brittany was taking a picture of her daughter Camdyn and Lucy jumped right in and said "cheese!" Look at those poses! ha! 

Outings

This week we had a few fun outings. We went to a petting zoo. As much as Lucy loves animals I thought she would love it. Don't let the picture below fool you. She loved the bunnies, ducks, and the guinea pig- all the tiny animals in cages. But she was terrified of the Sheep, Goats and Lama's. As I bent down to pet them she literally screamed and crawled up me. Lame! Glad we waited in line for that! And then of course once we left she keeps yelling "sheep!" and acts like she wants to go in again. Weirdo. 

Later that week we went to Kangaroo Jacs with her little friend Benson. It's pretty sweet because during the week it only costs $3 for Lucy. Last time she didn't do much- she is pretty cautious. I was really proud of her this time. She got pretty brave and even tried jumping. We also did some big slides together. She really had fun. I love watching her be brave and trying new things. She is getting so big! 

Happy Easter

Easter 2012 Highlights
- dying eggs- Lucy really got into it.
- Going over to the Olson's and playing with friends
- Lucy getting her first sliver.
- egg hunt with a golden egg and a baby doll prize
- a fabulously yummy dinner
- our annual egg roll where Erik and Dane made it to the finals. Dane took all.
- The kids LOVING the egg roll almost as much as the adults. ;)
- Erik would add watching Golf
- Doing easter baskets at 7:00 at night! ha! It was a busy day
- Lucy's love of Jelly Beans
- Erik hiding my basket int he dishwasher and nearly breaking it!
- Fun package from Nana and Poppa.
- Beautiful Easter dress from Grandma Fox

I will fight to the end claiming that Easter is my favorite Holiday. Erik denies it because he thinks I like Christmas and presents too much. But I really, really love the spring and celebrating Easter. I love the traditions of egg hunts, egg dying, egg rolling, and baskets. But I also love the idea of the earth coming alive again just as our Savior Jesus Christ rose again. I am so grateful for his loving sacrifice of enduring what he did to overcome death so we can all live again.

Easter Brunch

Every Easter our neighborhood friends all get together for an Easter Brunch and egg hunt. We have never been able to go because we are always with family. This year we were sticking around so we were excited to attend. It was yummy food and great company. 

Lucy still loves searching for eggs. She does really good with it. 

Maybe because she has learned what's inside them. Jelly beans are her favorite. She dug in immediately! 

There was a surprise visit from a mysterious Easter bunny..kinda weird. Lucy was totally creeped out! I don't blame her. 

Sick Days!

The day our company left Lucy got sick. She ended up with Strep throat and pink eye. It was a rough couple of days. She pretty much laid in this little corner all day watching Elmo. Poor girl! 

The Skanchy's Come to Town

Our good friends the Skanchy's came to stay with us for a few days last week. It was so fun to just take a break from life and get to hang with Lyndsay and little James all day. Lucy loved having a playmate around. We picked a few of the local sites to show them. 

1st Stop- Maymont Park 

surprising Lucy was rather scared of the animals. what? 

I love the Japanese gardens here, they are gorgeous. I think Lyndsay loved it too! 

It was quite the hike with strollers through the gardens. We got a good workout on this beautiful day! 

Aren't they just the cutest? And check out those gorgeous tulips! 

 In the evening we met up with the guys at Belle Isle. Another favorite of ours. 

Can you tell it was really sunny? It was a beautiful evening! We then headed to one of our favorites the Conch Republic. It is a creole restaurant, right on the James River. It was yummy food, great company and a beautiful night. I even tried gator tail! ha! 

I didn't get pictures of day 2 but Lyndsay, James, Lucy and I went to the Children museum which was a big hit as usual.  And later we dropped by playgroup with friends. Then we just hung out with Tony in the afternoon. That night we played games, talked and ate a bunch of treats. 

I am so glad they came down to see us. It was so fun to get to know Lyndsay even better and meet adorable James. I could get used to having a friend around all day- although I would never get anything done! Now back to real life. 

April Fools!

I don't think I have ever done an April Fools prank. This year however our mischievousness neighbors were out seeking revenge from the previous years prank. Our target- the Laytons.  

So Emily and I sat scheming, looking up methods online and this is what we came up with at 10:30 that night. We had two air poppers going and we popped every kernel in our house. We were trying to be very quiet and hold in our giggles while we were at there door putting it up.  It was so fun! 

Erik and I came back later to add a salt shaker taped to the celing and placed in the door knocker so when they opened the door not only did popcorn coming pouring in, salt sprinkled on top. I wish I could have seen there faces. They were so surprised and my face hurt from laughing so hard talking about it over and over! ha! 

There was also a dirty couch involved going from house to house that made this night even more funny. I will say that we are preparing for major revenge coming our way next year. I'm a little scared. 

What an awesome April Fools Day! 

Haircut

I did it! I took the plunge and chopped off my hair! 

Before

That's a lot of hair! 

After!! 

There it is! I love it! I am excited for my bangs to grow a little longer, but besides that I adore it! It's much easier than I expected. It feels fresh and light and wonderful. I may be converted to short hair! 

Thanks Jen for the stellar haircut!!