Soft & Sweet

The challenge over at iheartfaces the week is exactly what this photo is.

Soft & sweet.



Easter Fun

Easter kind of sneaked up on us. Again.

*Yes, sneaked - snuck, though it sounds correct, is not really a word. Just had to put that out there.*

The kids had Good Friday off, and we spent the day making and decorating cupcakes.

*By the way, if you want some delicious gourmet cupcakes for any occasion, you need to check out Heavenly Cupcakes. Angie's cupcakes are the best around!*

Fast forward to Sunday, and it was a relaxed Easter morning. I didn't have to iron anything (I typically iron only about 3 or 4 times a year - Easter being one of those times. We're a casual, "no need to impress" sort of family), Sierra and Caitlin did Abby's and Elise's hair, and shoes were at the ready, not buried under the mountain of shoes in our entry hall.

Easter service at our church was awesome, and the younger kids sang a few songs (Sierra only recorded one song, not realizing she had stopped recording).

After church, we went to my aunt's house for lunch. It was this little guy's first Easter...



We also took a family Easter picture. It was the first Easter Robert didn't have to work in years.


After lunch, we came home and rested for a bit. It just kept getting later and later, so we decided we needed to get cracking on decorating the eggs. Especially since we needed them for dinner!





The kids helped stuff the plastic eggs, but not their baskets. Grandma & Grandpa Bunny are always so good about filling their baskets with surprises, even from 2,000 miles away.


We had 95 eggs to hide!



Elise decided she was the Easter princess...


This sight made me a bit nervous, but rest assured, the kids did not injest all the candy taken from those eggs. Nope, I found half of it in their bedding...


And, in case you weren't totally sure that spring has finally arrived, my blooming tulips are saying that yes, spring has indeed sprung.

I ♥ Pets

Actually, I've come to the conclusion that I'm not really an animal person. It's not the animal, but the responsibility. And poop. And hair. I was much more of an animal person before having kids.

But, I will admit, Sniper has been a good addition to the family. He's the perfect cat. He doesn't get on counters or tables, deals so well with the kids, has never had an accident, and is always there to greet us when we come home.

This is my favorite photo of Sniper. It was taken within a couple weeks of coming home with us last summer. It pretty much sums up his life here in our household.

If you like animals, you'll enjoy seeing other pets over at iheartfaces

Why I Celebrate

The kids made these Easter crosses in Children's Worship last Sunday. Each item is from the account of Jesus' death and resurrection, and serve as reminders... though I don't remember all that they are to remind us of, and can't remember where I put the card that they brought home with their crosses.
Oh, the irony.

But, I do remember why I celebrate this Easter.

Jesus endured torture beyond belief for me. He had done nothing wrong, but he was sentenced to a horrific death. A death that paid for my sin.
He was betrayed by one of his disciples, Judas, for 30 pieces of silver.
He was tried, but kept quiet. He didn't plead His innocence, or fight back.
The people who were praising Him just a week earlier, were now the people calling out for His death.
His beard was ripped from His face, he was whipped and beaten; to the point of being unrecognizable.
He was mocked, and the soldiers placed a crown of thorns on his head, and a purple robe on his bleeding body.
He carried His cross to Golgatha, where He was nailed to it through His wrists and feet. He lived that agony for 3 hours.
After crucifying Jesus, the soldiers cast lots (dice) for His clothes.
He was only offered a sponge dipped in vinegar to wet His parched mouth.
Even in the midst of the undeserved pain, Jesus asked His Father to forgive them, because they didn't know what they were doing.
After He had taken his final breath, the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water poured out.
He was wrapped and buried in a tomb; sealed with a big stone.
On the morning of the third day, Mary and Mary Magdalene went to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body.
What they found is the reason I celebrate. The tomb was empty. Jesus had risen. It's the reason I have hope, peace, and am able to love others. It's the answer to the question, "What's different about you?"
The difference is Jesus.
I have a sticker on my fridge that reads, "It's not a religion, it's a relationship." My love for Jesus isn't reserved for Sunday mornings and holidays. That's religion. My love for Jesus isn't shown through memorized or repeated prayers. That's religion. My love for Jesus isn't lived out through traditions. That's religion. My love for Jesus isn't a cookie cutter lifestyle of other Christians. That's religion.
My love for Jesus is lived out in my love for others because He loved me first. He doesn't want to just see me in church on Sunday mornings, He wants me to walk with Him and talk to Him though the week, and not with the 'thees' and 'thous.'
I shared a personal revelation in Bible study last week that, for me, hits the nail on the head.
I've long struggled with the fact that God called David a man after His own heart. Sure, David killed Goliath, but he also had a man put in the front line of battle so he would die, allowing him to marry the man's wife. How is that OK? Well, it's not. God even sent someone to tell David it wasn't.
But as I read through the book Psalms, penned by David, it hit me. He was a man after God's heart because he had a relationship with God. David praised God throughout everything, and trusted Him, yes, but he also cried out and questioned Him. He was brutally honest with God, holding nothing back. He went to God in the good times and the bad. David was completely human, with human struggles, and he didn't go to God just when he needed Him, only ignore him during the good times. He didn't turn away from God when he was at his lowest of lows - he ran to Him.
God wants a relationship with us. He wants all of us. The good and the bad. Don't hold back. He promises that if we seek Him with all that we are, He will meet us.

Last week, Trevor was baptized! He's been wanting to for a while, and missed the last baptism Sunday, but the day finally came!










There's a verse that says when we are baptized, we join with Christ in His death. Being immersed is dying to our self, and coming up is the new life in Him. Our sins washed away, and we are made whole. None of which would be possible without God loving us first, and sending His only Son to pay the price that we could never pay.

Happy Easter

Wind

Sometimes, the wind adds that little something extra to a picture.

"See" the wind in other photos over at iheartfaces.

Shadows

Looking for the shadows this week over at iheartfaces.

Thoughts at Random: 2

I think I started this post a week ago. Maybe longer. The days all kind of blur...

~~~

After having fun writing my first "Thoughts at Random" post a few days ago, I started thinking I should do it more often. Then today, I received a message from a relative, saying she really enjoyed it and felt like she got to know me better through it. That was so cool to hear (well, ok, READ), and it confirmed what I was thinking.

So here we go, with part 2 of my (cue the deep, echoing, male voice) "Thoughts at Random."

I asked the kids what they wanted for dinner tonight. At their request, we had a smorgasbord of peaches, oranges, celery with peanut butter, and hard boiled eggs. Oh, and apples for an appetizer. I'm surprised how well it seemed to fill them.

I like cold, crisp Fuji apples with peanut butter.

Robert sounds totally ridiculous when he tries to talk with an English accent. Too choppy.

I had to sweep the kitchen 3 times today.

I love my Bissell stick-vac, but I really like the old broom and dustpan, too.

It's so cute how Trevor refers to Sniper as his brother.

Robert is baking a Cornish hen for himself. Did I say that right? I would never buy them because we would need like 5 of them to feed our family. Plus, I don't think I would eat it anyway. I only eat chicken. ;)

My phone is completely dead, so Dad, I apologize if you've tried to text me at all since around 6pm CDT.

I think I will save this post to drafts and finish up tomorrow.

~~~

It's tomorrow - today.
It's funny to watch Sniper open doors.

~~~

So, here goes another shot at finishing this post!

I added an email subscription to my blah'g. I believe all you have to do is enter your email address, and whenever there is a new posting, it automatically sends an email. Let me know if/how it works.

Robert bought me some chicken tortilla soup over a week ago. It got pushed to the back of the fridge and forgotten. I pulled it out this morning, thinking it would make a yummy brunch (I typically don't eat an official breakfast and lunch, but an in between meal (brunch) and a munchie in the afternoon like popcorn, bagel, chips & salsa...). Where was I? Oh - the soup. So, anyway, I saw the soup, thinking it looked yummy. I looked at the ingredients, and saw it contained anchovies. Um, eww. Then, I looked at the best if used by date. March 18th.  I was relieved to have a really good reason for throwing the soup away, other than anchovies. But I would have tossed it just because of the anchovies.

I really like soups. When we go to Subway during the fall/winter months, that's all I order. At Olive Garden, that's what I order. Some of my favorite meals from childhood are soups. Homemade chicken & rice soup (I always added cheese while piping hot so it would melt in it, and eat it with crackers. Still do.), Souper rice (cream of chicken with chicken & rice), and a negative calorie soup that I don't know if it even has a name besides 'negative calorie soup' - it has spicy V8, cabbage, carrots... who knows what else, but it was good!
Parent/teacher conferences are tonight. I actually look forward to them. I have no reason not to - we have some great kids. I'm really excited for Elise's in particular. I'm amazed by all the things she has learned this year. That girl is a sponge, and loves learning!

I have to disagree with Mary Poppins. When you can't find the words to say, "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" is not the thing to say. "Poop" is the word to say. It's also the word to say if you're taking pictures of kids that don't want to smile anymore.

On the other hand, she's got something with the whole snap and the room cleans itself deal. Unfortunately, all I get when I snap is... nothing.

I clicked on spell checker to see what it would suggest for supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, and apparently, I spelled it right because it didn't highlight yellow. I found that amusing. spuercalfragistisexpiadocious<----- now that highlighted as being spelled incorrectly, but it gave me no suggestions. Weird.

When I was hanging laundry this morning, I didn't have enough hangers. I thought that strange since I just bought a new pack of hangers not even a week ago. When I went to put some clothes away in the girls' room, I looked in their closet and found all their play dress-up dresses hanging on the hangers.

What could be better than balloons and cotton candy when you're a kid?



~~~

What we did all morning:


Then Elise joined in:


I joined in the fun, too. There is a video of it, but it includes my pants dropping a bit too low. And we all know, crack kills. ;)

These bubbles don't work. Unless you're goal is to make a mess, then they work swell!


Trevor had more success with dish soap. He added a little of the green bubbles to try and give it color, though it didn't really work.


The grass is starting to change color. It may be cloudy today, but it's over 60°. Tomorrow, it will be closer to 70. I think we can officially say the snow is behind us for good. Although, this is Iowa...

I really have the urge to pack up our family and just go. I don't know where, but anywhere fun. I can't wait until the day comes when we can be a bit spontaneous like that.

But first, I want to go somewhere with Robert. Just the two of  us. Out of state (though, out of country would be preferable!). The last true getaway we had without kids was 7½ years ago. I surprised him with a two night camping trip. I'm talking noshowersortoiletsorcivilationformilesandmiles camping. We saw bears, and they weren't in cages. We heard twigs snap at night, which was scary. So we slept in the car. Which was still scary. It was so dark, you couldn't even see your nose, let alone see past it!

Anyway, I want to get away, just us, for at least a week. And to a place that has showers and toilets.

Moving on.

How is it possible that it's already April?

There's a spider on your head.

Belated April Fool's Day!

Yup, I'm a dork.