Tiny Talk - Not a Baby & "egg" Hunt

"Tan you help me (r)wide my bike?" and then he's off;)

Growing up too fast:)

2 weeks and 3 days until he's 4! How is that possible?????

Nate and I were talking about the days and weeks left until his birthday and he said,"Oh, why can't it only be 2 days left?"

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And taking the crew to the grocery store is finally getting easier and easier;) The older ones mess with each other sometimes but have learned it to their benefit to help me so we get out of the store more quickly.

Nate though is still learning:/ While he wants to walk freely about, usually he ends up in the front basket where he is contained and can't wander. But that often is NOT what he wants and is protested loudly by cries of "I am NOT a baby!" LOL!!

So yes, even though it IS getting easier.... it's still not chaos-free!

And then he gets into the car after the grocery shop and does this:)

Totally OUT!

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We went to a friend's church for an egg hunt on Saturday! We really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and the kids all had friends to play with! Larry did a great job telling the story of the cross and presenting the Gospel. And then the kids began the hunt!

It was much different than we are used to;) They had scattered the candy all over the ground instead of putting it all in eggs. They joked about it "cutting out the middle man" but it was a huge blessing for us.

Most holidays and food allergies just don't mesh well:( Our kids are either put at risk getting into something or left out or awkwardly "separated out". We were always thankful for a safe Easter day at a neighbor's house that made us skip Easter events for many years. Of course every hard Easter has been well-meaning.....

 but food allergies DO make us different and DO at times separate us from others:/ It's just reality.

To be honest, I was just going to let my kids hunt eggs like everyone else and then help them separate the candy. I know, I was kind of leery but I hated for them to have another weird Easter function.... and last year we did it that way with no issues (but they had not used chocolate/peanut candy).

So seeing just candy scattered on the grass was awesome for us;)

 The girls got to hunt, too! No pictures of Chris because he stayed home to be with his daddy.


And Nate cracked me up:) He only picked up the kinds he liked. And then at first only one of each kind so others could have some too:)

Easter 2012 - Family Photos

{pretty}

Everyone dressed up in their Easter attire after church;)

{happy}

We are always thankful for the chances we get to see Gran-grandma!! We visited at her house this time!! The kids love playing in her backyard!

{funny}

After a morning at church and having lunch we set up a little Easter egg hunt. Grandma and each of the kids (who wanted to) hid eggs for the others. At first all the eggs were empty.

Nate had had a little egg hunt during his Awana class the week before with jelly beans in the eggs. So as Nate popped open the empty eggs he knew something was missing. He ran inside, grabbed a stool, got the box of jelly beans off the kitchen counter and brought them out to us;) During the second round of hunting, Nate was shaking the eggs to be sure there was something in them:)

{real}

Wondering how any of the kids are looking forward for the Easter pictures? We've got entertainment behind the photographer... this time Daddy was caught in a reflection in the door!

Real is also that I didn't plan anything exciting or memorable this Easter :( But our exact plans were really unknown until two days before we left for visiting with grandparents. In the past we have made Resurrection Rolls and did the Trail to the Tree (Holy Experience) .

Thankfully going to Grandma and Grandaddy's is a big treat for us. And Grandma had a delicious Easter meal and even the Easter eggs the kids could play with. Another treat was watching The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. The kids have been listening to The Chronicles of Narnia on CD since Christmas and we borrowed a copy from Brian's uncle. We thought since the kids had listened to it they would be ok watching it... it's always a little more intense watching something rather than just reading (listening) to it. But the kids did well and liked it. It was a treat to stay up late with them and watch it together;)


We have some big house news to share, too!! And I know I'm late, but I HAVE to do Nate's monthly post... he is just one shy of hitting 24 months, I can't not do 23 months:) LOL!!

In Christ Alone

This Easter is very different for us!

Our past traditions fade into sweet memories, we ponder new ideas for our family. And are enjoying spending time with family that we usually don't get to see at Easter!

As I have been fighting this feeling of being "displaced", one of my favorite worship songs have brought my heart back to the message of Easter...

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.


Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.                                                              Romans 5: 6-11

Praying that you would know the amazing love of Christ seen in His Sacrifice of himself and the amazing hope in power of Christ as He defeated death!

And looking forward to starting new traditions that bring our hearts closer to the Lord through the Easter season.

Easter 2011 & Gifts #141 - 160

Thankful for our beautiful Easter weekend.

And the ways we were able to celebrate together:)


141. colorful Easter treats
142. friends mindful of our food allergies and going out of their way for us
143. counting down to Easter with Bible stories and kids' pictures
144. Nate's 1st egg hunt
145. getting help from Daddy
146. an egg found
147. contentment
148. little chubby fingers that explore
149. finding an expected treat
150. early sunrise worship
151. an empty tomb
152. a Savior that greets us (Luke 24: 13 - 49)
153. worshiping together
154. stillness of the morning
155. blossoms of spring
156. simple nontraditional Easter meals... aka, leftovers so Momma wasn't stuck in the kitchen
157. afternoon in the yard playing, hunting eggs
158. an attempt at a family Easter pic :) (sorry Anna!)

159. a new quiet place for study found
160. everyone sleeping through the night:)

WW: Our Easter Day Pics

Sunrise service with the community

We all attended church and then headed to a neighbor's house. They are sweet church members who bring us in like family.... it's been such a special "tradition" to celebrate Easter with them and their family. And the kids really look forward to hunting Easter eggs;)


And since we were blessed with a BEAUTIFUL day, we stayed outside for a while and played;) And enjoyed a bit of candy:)
(she looks sooo tired!!)


At home we all CRASHED (aka... napped) for an hour or so. We all woke and then Chris fell back asleep moments later on Brian's lap!! Now that is TIRED.... for my little boy!
We had a great celebratory Resurrection Sunday!! I really enjoyed taking the kids to the Sunrise service. As Brian was waking the girls and helping them dress, I heard them ask why it was still dark and what we were doing....

And then I heard Brian sharing the GOOD NEWS that Christ rose from the dead!!! So sweet and natural and powerful at 6:30am Easter Sunday morning!! I was just soo thankful for the opportunity to share the WHOLE story with them!!

You can find some other picture posts at Wordless Wednesday, 5 Minutes for Mom and Go Graham Go!!!

***Think and pray for us today as we head off for the ultrasound and my 36 Week appt!! We have a sweet neighbor keeping the kids for us.... she even planned what to feed them for lunch, so maybe Brian and I didn't have to rush back. Ahhh, so nice;)

Our Easter 2010 - Family Pic:)

Amazing Love

We pray that you have a great Resurrection Sunday...

not because of all the trimmings (but bless the hands that prepare it!)
not because of the egg hunts
not EVEN because we are with family (or even adopted family, like us!)

BUT BECAUSE of Christ's Amazing Love for us!
And His even more Amazing Resurrection that demonstrates WHO HE IS!!!

I've enjoyed this song this week as my heart prepares for Sunday!I hope you enjoy this montage of the song!



Here's a link if the slideshow doesn't work:)

Throwback Thursday - more Easter & reflections

Easter 2006

This Easter:)

One of the blessings of being a part of an "older" church is that many members have reminded me of how quickly children grow up. In the midst of hectic, sleep-deprived newborn days or exhausted from disciplining/correcting toddler stage I tended to forget that time is passing "quickly".

But then I hear my sweet friends in Christ remind me and see old photos of my kids when they were babies and I think where and when did those sweet chubby baby cheeks leave...

I've got an almost 5 yr old (she reminds me daily) who uses crazy words like "responsible, forgiveness and awesome", she laughs at books she reads and zooms around the yard on TWO wheels... did I mention she's been fixing herself and Lydia breakfast in the morning (toast or cereal)??

I've got a 3yr old who wants to READ. He's soo inquistive and FULL of life! And he looks too grown in his tux, even with his hair messy because the spikes got mashed down:) He's been under-the-weather this week so I've gotten soo much snuggle time with him, and he even confessed to enjoying snuggles!

And I've got a 2 yr old whose chubby cheeks remain for the moment, but who buckles herself into her 5-point harness and tell me "I do it myself, Mommy. I a big girl now". And she was BY FAR the easiest to potty train... we still have an occassional accident, but everything else is in the potty... and she did it herself. "Mommy I do it." and so I let her:)

They do GROW UP soo QUICKLY!! Am I taking time during the day to enjoy THIS stage with them?

Marrying

Anna says, "Come on, Chris, lets' get married!"

You can see his response by the look on his face....LOL

It's always soo funny when they talk about marrying each other. I'm glad they like each other company enough to think about "marrying" them... even though they really don't know much about marrying except Mommy and Daddy are married.

I'll have some more Easter pics to show soon!!!

Just wrestling with Picasa again... it's a love/hate relationship most days with Picasa:)

Resurrection Sunday

The 1st Resurrection Sunday:

But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes.

The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.” (NLT, Luke 24:1-5)

The exchange between Thomas and Jesus has always touched me. I am moved to realize that His hands and feet were scarred for ME. But "doubting" Thomas was told to touch him, know him and believe!

One of the twelve disciples, Thomas, was not with the others when Jesus came.They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”

“My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.

Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” (NLT, John 20:24-29)

Here is the song that has been running through my head this week in my "heart preparation" for Easter. It's called Forever My LOve/Nails in Your Hands!! It was such a powerful song in my life in college and still touchs me!!



May we be thankful for his sacrifice!! In awe in his power over death!! Ready to live out our faith in Him!!

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

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Above photo was found at http://www.scripturepics.org/index.php?option=com_ponygallery&Itemid=56&func=detail&id=77#ponyimg

The YOu Tube video of Forever of My LOve can be accessed here, too!