Easter

We had a wonderful Easter weekend.  We headed to my brother's house on Saturday.  The kids played their hearts out Saturday afternoon with cousins and then we hired sitters and all the adults in my family and baby Bailey went out for dinner.  It was nice to enjoy the evening together.  The kids thought it was fun to have a slumber party with cousins on Saturday night.

We went to church with my parents on Sunday morning.  Shane wasn't one bit shy during the Children's Sermon and decided to start dancing on stage.  He definitely caught every one's attention and made his mark at my parent's church!

Our 3 Little Blessings on Easter morning! 

It gets harder and harder to get a good picture of all the kids together.  They have so much fun together.  Poor Shane the only boy with 6 girls.    

I loved this picture of Tyra kissing Emma.  They are always hugging each other. The love to play dress up and babies together.

Sweet Baby Bailey's first Easter!

Grammy's always seems to get such fun things for the kids Easter baskets.  Alexa's highlights were her Amelia Bedelia Reading Books and her Webkin deer. 

Emma thought her new polka-dot pajamas were beautiful and she loved her new markers. 

Shane was all about his new play dough and shark pajamas.  

Easter Egg Hunt

Every Easter we do an Easter Egg hunt with the kids at my parents house.  We always love it when it can actually take place outside.  The kids are ready for the big hunt! 

The Easter Pig showed up at Papa and Grammy's on the 4 wheeler to hide Easter eggs! 

Shane was all excited to find the eggs.

Alexa skipping through the yard! 

"Found One"

Daddy and Shane on the 4 wheeler trying to find some Easter Eggs.

"Yummy!"

Emma seeing what sweets are inside her eggs.

The Easter Story

I never get tired of hearing the kids talk about Jesus.  Shane was talking about Jesus' death and resurrection at Cubbies at Wednesday night club.  He was so excited on the way home telling us "Jesus died on the cwoss." We asked him what happened next and he said, "they bwoke his wegs!"  We said then what happened and he informed us that Jesus went to the doctor. We decided we needed to work on the end of the story.  Alexa, his big sister, took it on herself to teach Shane the Resurrection Story using the Resurrection Eggs she made at school.

Alexa would have her brother and sister sit down numerous times a day and go through the Resurrection Eggs with them.  It is such a great visual way to teach kids the story of Jesus' death and resurrection. 

Alexa showing Emma how the sword pierced Jesus' side. 

Alexa quizzing Emma!

Easter Fun

The kids never get sick of baking especially baking Cut-Out Cookies.  Last year grammy gave us some fun Easter cutters and my blogging friend Kathy gave me a yummy Cut-Out Cookie recipe.  Thanks to both of these ladies we had some fun, yummy Easter cookies! 

My two little Easter Bakers! We baked them and then took the to Papa and Grammy's house to decorate them with cousins on Easter! 

Alexa's Easter Party

One of the many things I love about Alexa's Christian School is that we are able to celebrate the real meaning of the Holidays and not the secular version.  I love Easter and there are so many great ways to teach children about Jesus' death and resurrection and what that means for them.  I had the privilege of being the room parent this year for Alexa's class which meant I got to plan the parties.  I am a teacher by trade so it was fun to get back in the classroom a little bit without the commitment of a teacher contract.  

We had four centers for the morning.  One of the centers was frosting cross sugar cookies and decorating them.  This was also their morning snack.  

The second center was the Jelly Bean Poem.  The kids decorated a cross with the Jelly Bean Poem on it and then tied it to a bag of Jelly Beans.  I don't think too many bags made it out the door full of Jelly Beans.

Jelly Bean Poem

Red is for the blood He gave.

Green is for the grass he made.

Yellow is for the sun so bright.

Orange is for the edge of night.

Black is for the sins we made.

White is for the grace he gave.

Purple is for His hour of sorrow.

Pink is for our new tomorrow.

A bag full of jelly beans,

colorful and sweet.

It’s a prayer, a promise,

and a child’s treat.

One of Alexa's favorites was the Resurrection Eggs.  Her class had read Benjamin's Box and had gone through the Resurrection Eggs that week in school so it was fun for each of them to make their own set to take home and share the story with their family.  If you don't have these they are a great hands on way to tell kids the Easter story and for them to tell it back to you. Alexa gets her eggs out a couple times a day and shares the story with Emma or Shane.

The final center was a Salvation Key Chain for the backpack.  This is also a great hands on way to teach kids about Salvation.  We made the Salvation Key Chain out of leather tied onto a clip with colored beads and then knotted at the end.  

Salvation Key Chain

Black - Sin separated us from God. (Romans 3:23)
Red - Christ's blood was shed for us. (Romans 5:8-9)
White - We are now pure in Christ. (1 John 1:7)
Green - We "grow" in our faith everyday. (2 Peter 3:18)
Blue - Water symbolizes Baptism; Baptism symbolizes salvation. (1 Peter 3:21)
Gold - The streets of Heaven are paved with gold. (Revelation 21:21)

Back from Mexico .... Feeling Lost

We are back from our trip and also back to the routine and schedule of the real world.  We had a wonderful 8 days in paradise.  The weather was wonderful, the resort was amazing, the ocean was breathtaking and the time away with my husband was so refreshing.  The only glitch in the trip was my camera was broke when we got there ... ugggg!!! We have a nice Canon Rebel and so I'm used to getting a lot of nice pics.  I was really bummed at first but quickly got over it and realized it was kind of nice not to have to haul the camera everywhere and try to get pictures of everything but instead just enjoyed God's creation and soaked it all in.  The last day I did say I wanted a couple pictures so we ended up buying a $10 film camera from Wal-Mart and took a few shots.  This camera and these pictures don't do our trip justice but at least we came home with a couple pictures.  I also forgot how crazy it is to actually bring a film in and wait for pictures instead of seeing them instantly on my computer.  We are spoiled.  My camera is going to cost a lot to fix so I am researching new cameras that will go with my lenses I have.  In the meantime I am feeling very lost without my camera!! I am borrowing a friends to at least get a couple Easter shots this weekend! 

This was the view of our resort from our window.  It has been open less than a year so everything was still nice and new.  A couple of my favorite things in the room were the jacuzzi tub and the Westin Heavenly Bed.   There is nothing like a nice relaxing bath with out kids interrupting you and a wonderful night sleep in a comfy bed after a tough day at the beach. 

 

It is amazing that a person can jump right out of bed at 6 or 6:30 when the ocean, beach and a little Starbucks is waiting for you.  The mornings were beautiful as the sun was rising.  We of course went down to get the prime lawn chairs to spend our days in but also did usually take a long morning or afternoon walk on the beach. 

The weather was beautiful except for being a little windy.  If it wouldn't have been windy it would have been crazy hot though and we would have lived in this pool! 

This was our daily view of the pool and the ocean from our chairs.  I know, it was a tough 8 days but someone had to do it.  I got a lot of reading in which I will have to do a post on some of the books I devoured in the sun! 

This was our last evening in Mexico.  We had fun trying to figure out what restaurant to spend our evenings at.  A number of evenings we took the local bus into town and ate at some of the local places.  These were probably our favorite meals, real authentic Mexican food!   Oh I miss chips and yummy guacamole pool side! 

What Have We Been Up To

Our house was hit!! This is what our counter looked like.  Each of the 3 kids had fevers for 5 days and they were one after another which meant 15 days of being in the house with sick kids.  I think we went through 4 bottles of Motrin. Just when I thought we were in the clear.  I got hit and was flat in bed for 3 days with a fever.  I haven't had a fever like that for a long time and wow does it wipe your body out.  If only there were sick days in the moms job description.  It seems like the work is never done when you are health but after being sick for 3 days it felt like major catch up. 

 I felt the need to spring clean a little early and disinfect our whole house after 2 weeks of sick little ones and sick germs all over.  So the last week this is what has been on my counter.  

This week the focus has been packing and preparing for 8 days with my husband on the beach recooping, relaxing and enjoying some time for just us.  We have been busy getting suitcases packed for papa and grammy's house and lists made.  I can't wait to be in a warm sunny place, walking the beach with Eric watching a beautiful sunset, yummy dinners with my husband, chips and guacamole by the pool, sleeping in  and taking a little nap or reading a book on the pool side mattress below!! There is even a Starbucks across from our resort!  I think I get a little spoiled having some morning coffee on the beach! Maybe if I have some down time and post some pictures on our trip otherwise I'll fill you in when we get back! 

A New Smile

My teeth story ... when I was in High School I was playing softball for my high school team.  At practice one evening I lost a pop fly in the sun and it came down square in my mouth.  It knocked my front tooth out root and all.  I was in total shock so my friend found my tooth in the grass and my coach took the tooth and put it in his mouth to keep it alive.  What a coach!! My parents were out of town so my coach drove me 15 minutes to my dentist and was the dental assistant as they tried to work some magic.  I ended up killing my 3 front teeth and they needed root canals, to be cemented together in hopes they would re-take.  It has been quite a few years and the dead teeth have stayed put.  I started having this fear that I would wake up one day without some front teeth.  Every couple years I would take the plugs out and they would bleach the insides but they couldn't handle another bleaching session.  They started feeling brittle, were getting yellow and were shifting.  So I decided it was time to begin the dreaded dental work.  So here is my smile the day before I went into to get my front 3 teeth sawed off and prepped for my new crowns.  I should have had a little color on my lips. 

After numerous dentist appointments, 10 hours in the dental chair, a lot of shots and happy gas here is my new smile!! I am getting used to my new teeth.  I am very happy with how natural they made them look.  Emma was so cute she said, "Mom your teeth are so beautiful I think I'm going to cry!"  Alexa has had a cavity so decided that she would like teeth like mine so she doesn't get any more cavities! 

I Can't Believe She Is Going To Kindergarten

Last week Emma had Kindergarten Round-Up!! She was so excited to go to the big school.  She had to take her bear, Lovey, along with her.  They took their bears on a tour of the school, painted a bear, had a bear treat and got to play in the gym.  She was grinning ear to ear when I picked her up.  She said she was very excited for Kindergarten just not right now but after summer she would be ready to go!! I can't believe she is going to be in Kindergarten next year.  Where have the last 5 years gone!! It has been so much fun to see Emma bloom and blossom this year in preschool.  She is my little social bug who loves life and whose little brain is like a sponge.  She has a memory like her daddy.  She hears something once and she knows it.  I often look at Eric and say where in the world did she learn that.  Her big sister often looks at her like "how did you know that" but then often takes the credit for teaching Emma everything she knows!! I know they will have so much fun being at school together next year.  They are already talking about how much fun they are going to have playing with each other at recess!! 

College Roomies

Carrie, Nicky, Vicki, Tish, myself and Wendy

My college roommates have become life long friends. Most of us met our freshman year because we were on the same floor.  Tish transferred her sophomore year and fit right in.  Our Senior Year we lived together in a house and had way too much fun and built friendships that have lasted through the years.  We get together every July for a weekend but decided to meet for a short weekend this winter.  It is always so much fun when we get together reminiscing about the college days, catching up on jobs, families and kids. We actually have 16 kids between the 6 of us.  We often talk about getting our kids together but then quickly revert back to loving our quiet weekend away with no kids.  There is always plenty of laughing and serious moments too.  Every time we sat to eat a meal, or have coffee and a snack it turned into 2-3 hours of eating, sitting and talking.  We can always just pick up just as if we never left college! Thanks guys for a fun weekend and for your friendship! 

Introducing My New Niece

My sweet new little niece, Bailey Marie, was born on Wednesday, February 25.  I had sick kids last week and on Thursday and Friday it snowed so this weekend was the first time I got to get my hands on this little doll.  I wanted to take her home with me.  

It was crazy to see my LITTLE brother holding his little girl and calling him a dad.  I thought little brothers stayed little forever.  I know he is going to make an amazing dad and Ang is going to be a wonderful mom.  I am excited for them as they start this adventure.

Here is Bailey with her eyes wide open and a new outfit on.  Can you guess what happened?  It was actually so funny.  I was holding her and went to changer her diaper.  As I was wiping her she just started pooping everywhere.  Now this happened numerous time and she peed all over the place. With 3 little ones I have witnessed messes like this many times but it was Bailey's first really big, messy diaper.  Justin was helping me and was just giggling at what a huge mess his sweet little girl was making.  When all was said and done we had a huge mess but some great brother and sister bonding time.  I'm sure there will be more memories to come in the years to come.  

Bailey is such a precious gift!! We are so happy for you Justin and Ang.  

Two Princesses At A Tea Party