Friday, April 26, 2013

March Self Portrait

Yup, I know that it is nearing the end of April, but there is a reason I have been putting off this post.  I didn't want to jinx anything.  Mike and I have made the (major!) decision to move back to PA!  And I didn't want to post anything about that until he had a job offer in hand, but that doesn't seem to be happening as quickly as we had hoped.  It's so frustrating, because now that we've made the decision, I just want it to happen.  I want an offer letter in hand so that we can start the ball rolling.  List our house, get approved for a mortgage, find a new house, and MOVE!

This month has been spent scouring the Internet for the best places to live, the best school districts, the best hospitals.  We have lived on the Internet.  Every night we are both on Zillow finding new houses that we love in PA.  I have spent countless hours researching school districts and preschools and jobs.  I have looked at more maps in the past month than I ever have in my life.

So here is what March looked like for me...


On the Internet, researching our new life. 

I'm so excited to see where we'll be a year from now.  What will our life look like?  Where will we be living, working, playing?  The decision to move back to PA has been a tough one.  There is no doubt about that.  But I am pumped!  Get ready PA, the Hetricks are coming home!

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Easter Eggstravaganza!

It was Easter Egg Hunt Mania for our family this year!  Last year Addy had a little egg hunt made for her by her grandparents, which was lots of fun, but she was too young to really get it.  This year, she didn't get it at first either.  There were eggs as far as the eye could see but she just walked past them all.... until I mentioned that there might just be some candy in those plastic eggs.  Well, you know how our girl loves her sweets (Hmmmm, wonder where she got that from???), so as soon as the word candy escaped my mouth, she was a woman on a mission.  She filled her basket so fast and dug right in there looking for her loot!

Our first egg hunt was the neighborhood affair.  It was a lot of fun!

Ready to go!


First things first.  Addy had to straighten the pinwheel.....


...and the sign.  Wonder where she got that tendency from.... Daddy????


Then it was time to get down to business...
On your marks.  Get set.  GO!!!


She took her job seriously.



Took one quick break to attempt to pilfer the large foam noodle used as a boundary.


Emmy cheered Addy on from the sidelines.


Fake smile.  Real pride.


She ended the day with some games with the other kids.  Addy is all the way on the left.  Look how little she is compared to the others!  But she got right in there and tried her hardest to play too!


Later that week Addy had an egg hunt at school, but I wasn't there, so no photos of that one.  Only Addy's excitement as her basket full of goodies kept growing and growing!


Then on Good Friday, the family of one of Addy's classmates hosted an egg hunt at their house.  And let me tell you, it was the coolest, most well planned out egg hunt I have ever attended!  They live on a wooded lot and there were eggs in every nook and cranny.  They seriously must have had at least 500!  And each child had their own golden egg, and when they found it they got a prize!  So awesome!  Plus they had coffee and treats for the adults too, so we were all loving it!
It's hard to see here, but there were eggs everywhere!!!!


Our little Easter Bunny was ready to hunt!


They had food and prizes under a tent up on their deck with this cute little sign :)


Egg hunt time!


The cheering squad was there again :)


I'm telling you, the fake smile is all I can get these days.



Down to Addy's real purpose in being there.... the sweets!  How cute were these cupcakes?  Little carrots in grass made out of icing!  I loved all of the attention to detail that went into this hunt!


Addy and Marshall (her supposed "boyfriend") stuffing their faces and sporting their prize headbands :)


How cool is their backyard for little kids?!  Addy had no fear scaling this ladder.


Happy lady with her full belly, prize headband, and jewels given to her by yet another admirer.  (According to Brandon's mom, Brandon is always saying how "Addy's cute!".  So he thought he'd get her attention by showering her with jewelry.  At the age of 2, that boy knows what he's doing!)

Such a fun, fun morning!  Makes me (almost) want to host that kind of egg hunt someday!


And, last but not least, Mommy threw Addy a little egg hunt for Easter morning :)
Love that face!


Found her basket!



My little Easter Bunnies!


Trip to the mall to see the Easter Bunny :)







My Dad and step mom came down to visit us for Easter, which was awesome!  We loved having them here to celebrate with us!

They gave Addy a little plastic harmonica in her Easter basket, which she loved, but it didn't really work.  So they trekked out to a guitar store and bought her a real one.  Let me tell you, that girl loves music!  She is borderline obsessed with her harmonica and she even watched a You Tube instructional video with "Pop".  Like really watched it.  And took mental notes.  And tried to do what they were doing.  It was pretty amazing to watch!


Us girls in our Easter dresses.  This is unfortunately the only picture I have.  I wish I would've taken pictures of just them in their matching dresses (sans me with my awkward leg placement), but in the hustle and bustle of the day, I didn't even think of it.

We had a fantastic Easter season, and I know it's only going to get more and more fun as the girls grow up!

Happy (belated) Easter!