Footprints

If any of you were on Facebook yesterday you saw my very LONG discussion with people on how to kill our latest skunk. Yes, skunk #4 made its appearance yesterday morning, sometime during the middle of the night. To say Pete was upset is an understatement. He's soooooo tired of these stupid things coming into our yard and making their home here. He said, "The Skunk Hilton is closed!!". We had put pavers all along the holes to block skunk #3, but skunk #4 is a strong one and actually MOVED a 5 lb paver out of the way to dig. Wow. So, after Pete went to work, I put the pavers back where they belonged and pushed them into the ground more to lodge them in. Then took the 2 pavers we had placed over the gaps in the grill to keep the birds from making nest #2 in there and put them on top of the pavers he moved. Yes, we have a bit of a wildlife problem - skunks, deer, rabbits, birds. The only thing I have yet to see in our yard is a rabid badger. I'm sure that will be coming in a couple weeks though, the way our luck's been going. Anyway, then I took the last remaining paver we had in the garage and put in on top of the pavers on the other side. First thing I did this morning was go and see if there was any more digging or if our barricade had worked. Just from the window, I didn't see any new holes, but what I saw instead was a clue! For the first time with any of our skunks there were footprints. Muddy footprints. See? There's something good coming out of all this rain. :-) You can see in the picture above that the skunk was apparently upset that he couldn't find a way to dig in. It was walking back and forth across our patio. I went outside and took a closer look and it looks like so far we've blocked him from coming back in. When I opened the patio door though, I could smell a faint wiff of either skunk or woodland creature. It wasn't the skunk smell, but the wild animal smell. If you've ever been close to a wild animal, they have a smells that are pee-like. That faintly what I smelled. So, it must have been there this morning before we woke up. The kids think it's so cool that he left footprints too. We're making it like a big mystery to solve. :-) How to prevent the skunk from coming back and see how many times it comes back and tries to get in. Anyway, thought I'd update you on our latest skunk episode. I'm praying this is our last. I really wanted to use those pavers to put around my mailbox and plant flowers, but guess it's going to have to be our skunk guard for a while.

You're My Best Friend

Noah has a best friend. A very best friend. The bestest friend in the whole wide world and his name is Keedan. When Noah first started school, he was a little shy and clung to Madie during recesses. But, I would say about 3 months ago I noticed that he was really becoming close to another little boy in his class. He had made lots of friends after just a few weeks, but no special attachments. But, after Christmas I started to see him getting closer to Keedan. And, in the past month or two, they have been inseparable!! They come out hugging and play together and just love each other to pieces. And, Keedan is the sweetest little boy you'd ever meet. Very soft spoken and kind. You just want to eat him up!! I finally got a chance to talk to his grandma who works at the school and told her how much my Noah loves her grandson. She said he talks about Noah all the time and that his mom wants to set up playdates for this summer, which I can't wait to set up! Madie didn't have a best friend until 1st grade, so for him to have one in kindergarten is just so fun. :-) Nothing quite like seeing your kids find their best friends for the first time. To see someone else appreciate your child and love them back just warms my heart. I remember seeing that with Madie last year with Katie and now this year with Noah. He and Keedan have a special bond. I know this will grow and change as he grows and changes, but he couldn't have picked a sweeter, more wonderful 1st best friend ever! They take care of each other and play together and almost knock each other over with their hugs. It's absolutely adorable!!!

Noah said: He's the best friend ever. I love him. And, he's my only best friend. :-)

Hair

Yesterday as I was looking at some blogs, I found a link to another gal's blog. Someone I don't know, but what I found was fantastic!! When I was pregnant with Madie, I would tell everyone that I hoped I was having a boy, because I had no idea how to do little girls' hair. Now, here I am, 8 yrs later STILL not knowing how to do little girls' hair. Well, that has all be remedied!! The blog I found is called "She Does Hair" and it's by a woman with 3 little girls and she does step-by-step walkthroughs on different hair styles she does on her girls - taking pictures of each step and explaining it all for us. I love it!!!! I sat my girls down yesterday and tried a style and they ended up looking pretty good for a first-timers like myself. Sadly, she has stopped the blog to spend more time with her family. Things have come up that she needs to devote her time to and can't continue the blog. I'm sooooo sad! But, she has lots of super-cute designs on there for us hairdo-challenged moms that are on there, even if she doesn't have any new ones coming in to post about. Here's what I tried today....




This is her oldest, who looks to be about the same age as Madie. She put her hair in two ponytails, braided them, then stuck them out the top and tied a ribbon around them. Adorable!

This is Madie's hair where I did the same thing. Granted, she's still in her pjs at the time, but she wore a red and white shirt and jeans, so it actually did match. But, Madie just loved it and just thought she was the cutest thing ever! And, of course, I thought she was too. :-)

This was the gal's middle daughter. She looks like she might be about Noah's age. I thought this one looked pretty simple to try with Olivia. Ponytails that go zig-zagged across her head with a flower at the end. Just wish I had more bows and flowers. I have never really bought a lot of them, because again, I have been so bad at doing their hair before. But, looks like I need to go do some shopping now!!!

So, here's Livie with her new do. :-) Since her hair's curly, I just wrapped the rest of her hair into a single ringlet. Her hair can get pretty wild with all the curls, so she's enjoying having it out of her face for once.

I just thought this blog was a life saver and I can't wait to try more styles. I've added the link to the side on the blog list I have going. I'll have to work my up to trying the harder things she has, but boy are they cute and once I get myself an arsonal of ties and bows and flowers, my girls will be cuter than ever!! :-)

Happy Birthday Pete - Part 2

For part 2 of "Pete's Super-Birthday Extravaganza Weekend" we made his cake. :-) While Pete and the kids were outside playing (before the rain came), I baked him a double layer confetti cake - his favorite! Then after it cooled, I frosted it with confetti icing - again, his favorite. Then it was the kids' turn.....



I gave each of them a container of icing. Noah had green, Livie had blue, and Madie had red. They each covered their 1/3 of the cake in their icing. Madie made stripes, Livie just managed to get some on without a particular design, and Noah created a giant green blob. The way they ice a cake is a lot like their personalities, I've found. It was funny!

Then I gave them cake pieces to put on that had balloons, squigglies, and "Happy Birthday". Mostly just so Pete could recognize the fact that it was INDEED a birthday cake and not just a solid round icing blob. Though, I don't think he would've complained if it had been that. ;-)

To top it off, I gave them each a handful of sprinkles and voila! A beautiful cake decorated by the 3 people who love him the most. I have mentioned that my children think that their daddy is practically a diety, right? It's like God/Jesus comes first, then Pete, and then somewhere down the ladder under crescent rolls somewhere is my name. At least I'm still ahead of broccoli, right?

They brought Pete out, with his eyes closed, and then surprised him with his fantastic cake. :-) Since Noah doesn't actually like cake, he passed, but the girls and Pete ate it up! It got his full stamp of approval. Well done kids! Well done.

Opening Day

This morning was T-ball Opening Day!! Well, it wasn't actually just for tballers. It was Opening Day for all Marseilles Youth Sports. And, by "Youth Sports" I mean bball, sball, and tball. There were soooo many people there and the kids were so excited to see all their friends from school. Right before we left the house, it was raining. But, by the time we got to the ball field, it had stopped. The ball field is only a couple minutes away, so it was nice that it didn't rain long, though it looked like it was going to downpour the entire time we were there.



Noah hadn't had any practices yet, so we wandered around until we found a gal carrying red shirts. We knew he was on the red team and I had talked to his coach before, so I knew her name. Once we found her, we got the schedule and he got his shirt and hat. He was soooo excited about it! This, however, didn't last very long.

Here he is sporting his new shirt and hat. He's being sponsored by the Marseilles Police Deparment. And, his number is #7 (my fav number!) As the rest of the kids started coming to the field, he would see his friends and wave at them, but when I took him to go say hi to his best friend Keedan, he started getting really shy. He kind of hung back and would go talk to anyone. He would say to me, "I'm too shy". Shy?! Noah doesn't usually have a shy bone in his body! But, he was getting so self-conscious and shy about seeing everyone that he kind of retreated into a corner and was so clingy. But, after I talked to him a bit and gave him some time on his own, he seemed to warm up and not be so shy. He told me later that some of his teammates asked his name and he said Noah and they seemed nice. So, I'm hoping he'll come out of his shell quickly one practices start.

Here is his team. No one from his class at school is on his team, but several others are on other teams, so he'll get to play them at least. :-)

All the many, many teams lined up against the back fence and the announcer called each player by name and let them run across the field and line up with their team. Before this part though, the local color guard came and a gal from the Ottawa High School came and sang the national anthem. It was a much bigger deal than I realized when I showed up that morning. Really neat!

Here are all the tballers lined up with their coaches on the 3rd base line. There are 6 teams in all. I should've taken a picture of the rest of the teams, because there were so many there. Since I grew up spending my summers on a ball field, I'm so excited to see Noah play. Just hope he has fun with it and learns to enjoy his teammates and the game as well. So Red!!

Happy Birthday Pete .. Part 1

Pete's birthday is Monday, but because the kids will be in school all day and Madie at dance class all night, we decided to celebrate his birthday on Sunday. BUT, the kids had a half day today and we took the opportunity to go birthday shopping and decided instead to give him his present today and make this "Pete's Super-Birthday Weekend Extravaganza"!!!! And, you must say that like a latino soccer announcer. ;-)

As you probably already know from previous entries, we got Madie and Noah new bikes for their birthdays. I already have a bike that I got at a garage sale a few years ago and we even have a bike cart for Livie to ride in. Yet, Pete had no bike. So family bike rides have been ellusive these past few years. That, however, has been remedied today!



Here is Pete's "Super-Birthday Extravaganza Bike"! I took the kids to the store and we were looking at all the bikes. I was looking a bit more at the prices than at the bikes at first, but once I discovered the ones that wouldn't put us in the poor house, I found several we could choose from. This bike is the one that the kids INSISTED that we get. They weren't just like, "Oh mommy, we like this one." They said, "Mommy, we HAVE to get this one". There was no budging on it. Now, I happen to like this bike. It's very retro and fit the "extravaganza" theme quite well, I thought. But, I also happen to know my husband, who's not a retro kind of guy. He's a very traditional, simple man. So, I crossed my fingers and hoped for a good reaction. :-) It's a tall bike, which is great for him. It has a really cushiony seat, which is nice for anyone. And, it awesome looking! When I was taking it out of the van, the teenage girl who lives next door (who, by the way, has never spoken to me ever) shouted across the yard "Hey, I really like that bike!". That clinched the deal for me. I mean if you get the approval of a 16 yr old girl, then I think it's a winner, right? Granted, if I tell Pete that, he'll never ride it again, but I digress...

As soon as Pete got home from golfing, we all hid behind the couch and got ready to surprise him. The bike was right in the middle of our living room for him to see, with his huge Star Wars music-playing card. Boy, are we awesome!! The kids jumped up and yelled "surprise!". I tried to take a picture of it, but my stupid camera wasn't working. I hate our camera. When I finally got it to work again, Pete was looking at me like "when are you taking the picture, lady?!!" haha That's why his expression is like that in the picture above. He had a big smile on his face only moments before, I promise you. I mean, it's his "Super Birthday Extravaganza". Of course he's happy. :-)

Here he is on his fantastic bike. Strangely he didn't keep the bow on it. Not sure why.

And, here's a closer shot of him with his bike and his Star Wars card. Did I mention it plays the Star Wars Theme Song when you open it? Yeah, Livie has played it nearly non-stop for that first hour after opening it. It may have to secretly get deactivated tonight while she's asleep. Either that or lost. After supper we brought up all our bikes and got the bike cart hooked up to his bike and all went for our first official family bike ride. The kids had a ball! Though, they haven't quite figured out that they have to watch where they're going. We had a few near collisions, but all managed to make it home without damage. Oh, and I must say that even though it wasn't really his style, knowing that the kids picked it out for him overrode any question marks he had. They were so excited about it, that he was excited too. So, Day 1 - successful gift giving. Day 2.....coming up next. :-)

The Aftermath

Since my newspaper debut, the calls have been rolling in. I am now so famous that I had to hire an agent to field all the offers! I can't begin to tell you how many times I've had to turn down Rob Pattinson already. I keep telling him I'm married, but he's persistent. One look at my photo and he's in love. Can't say as I blame him though. I was awfully sexy. :-)

Our pastor called Pete on Friday night and said, "I was calling for the husband of the woman with bad hair. Wondering if you need any encouragement tonight Pete. ...maybe some counseling." I thought we were going to die of laughter! Then, on FB, our friend Kevin posted that there were only 3 reasons I would have hair that big:

1. to personally destroy the ozone layer with Aqua Net
2. to make the height requirement to ride the roller coasters at Six Flags
3. I didn't want the three rows behind me in the movie theater to see the movie

And, of course, I've received several emails, stopped in the street, in the dentist office, etc.. to be told how awesome my picture was. My infamy is growing. Steven Spielburg has contacted me for the movie rights, though I've decided to shop around a bit. Didn't want to settle for his $40 million offer. I've heard Ron Howard was interested as well. I think a bidding war might be headed my way!! So, as you see, this front-page blurb has become a worldwide sensation! Everyone has fallen in love with my hair. Maybe I'll even begin to license a whole line of hair care products soon. Can't you see billboards across this country carrying that picture that say "Take your hair to new heights". Wow. How awesome would that be?!

A Fun Weekend With The Schutz Family

This weekend we went up to Pete's sister house - Jill and Adam. It was the first time we had seen them since Christmas and they only live an hour and a half away. But, finding a free weekend between our families is a chore!! But, we found one and had a terrific time! I had an elder retreat on Sat, but was able to cut out a little early, so we got up there in time for Pete and Adam to play golf. Thankfully they could, because it ended up raining all day on Sunday.



Here are all the kids together. You recognize my 3 sillyheads. But, that's their oldest Trevor in the back and Ty in the front by Livie. Trevor, believe it or not, is actually 6 months YOUNGER than Madie. You'd never guess it to look at him though. He's so tall!! I can't get over how tall he is every time we see him. He's in 1st grade and is up to my chin. Isn't that wild?!! Both boys are absolute sweeties and I just have the best time with them. We played a lot of Wii when we were there. Pete played Mariokart and unlocked new people and carts for them, while I played with Ty and opened up some new levels on Lego Star Wars. :-)

Trevor's been taking piano lessons and is doing SUCH a good job! I can't believe that he's already playing with two hands. He played several melodies and even threw in a little Darth Vadar theme song for us. ;-) It was really neat!

When it came time for bed, we put Livie in her sleeping bag in Ty's room, since they are just best buddies. Livie says Tyson is her "best friend". :-) Ty didn't want to be all the way in his bed, so he snuggled in her sleeping bag with her and read her some stories. It was adorable! Eventually we had to move them into different rooms, because they were a little restless, but that only lasted while they slept. When they were awake, they were together. You'd hear Livie calling from the other room "Tyyyyyssssoonnnn!" She wanted his full and undivided attention. ;-)

Madie and Noah slept in their sleeping bags in Trevor's room. They read some books, then we shut out the lights. We were downstairs chatting and we could hear the giggling from upstairs. Noah being the main culprit. :-) Pete went up and did a little "go to sleep!" threatening, but it didn't work much. Jill finally laid down with them and they eventually fell asleep around like 9:30. Not too bad.

The next day was a nice, leisurely morning, but after lunch we headed to Woodfield Mall. It's like the biggest mall in IL and it's literally down the street. It was PACKED there though! Couldn't believe that many people decided to drive through the rain to get there, but guess they all had the same idea we did. We stopped first at the Rain Forest Cafe. Adam's nephew Brendan had sent this little paper guy named Stanley for them to take on adventures and photograph for his class, then they send it back a week later. So, they took pictures of Stanley by this alligator in the picture above and all over the mall. Wish I had taken some pictures too, because it was so funny! The kids LOVED seeing the alligator too. It opened it's mouth and growled. It was cool!

They also had these tall aquarium things that had really cool and BIG fish in them. All the kids were fascinated with it.

The main reason we headed to the mall yesterday was for the kids to use their Build-a-Bear gift card that they got from Jill and Adam for their birthdays. We had never been to a build-a-bear store, so they were super-excited! First they picked out their animals. Livie picked a frog that she aptly named "Dinosaur Frog". :-)

Noah picked out a black bear, since black is his favorite color. He said the bear has no name. Just "Bear". Makes sense.

Madie picked out a puppy. She's still deciding what to name her.

Then they had to get them stuffed. The question was "do you want it soft, medium, or hard?". Noah isn't one to make decisions lightly, so he had to really mull over this .... as the line behind him was growing!! So, we kind of helped push him along to decide and he decided that medium was too his liking. Then yet another question, after he picked the heart to put inside the bear, she asked him to make a wish. Oh man! A wish?!! I could hear the Jeopardy song playing in the backround while he decided. Again, much thinking went into this request. FINALLY he made his wish, got it stuffed, and was able to take his wonderful bear with him.

Livie was next. I thought we'd have a repeat of the question dilemma, but she knew exactly what she wanted - a soft frog and a wish for dinosaurs. :-) Here she's putting the heart inside.

Madie also knew what she wanted, so she got through very quickly as well.

Then we were off to the showers. Noah brushed his bear and showered him with the air fountains. "Bear" was ready to go! He was off to find an outfit. He opted to NOT get an outfit though. He found a reall cool army tent and he knew immediantely that's what he wanted.

Here Livie is washing her frog with Ty's help. He helped her push the air button thing on the floor, since she didn't seem to want to stand on it for more than a second at a time. She then went and bought a glittery frog shirt with matching glittery pink flip-flops. Both Jill and I agree that they should make the same clothes/outfits for the kids to wear too. It would be so fun to have them match - yes, MATCH Michelle. ;-)

Later a giant Bunny came and met the kids. I tried getting all their pictures with the bunny, but keeping track of the 5 kids wasn't easy while trying to pick out outfits and take pictures and all that. So, here's Livie, looking a little sneaky. Don't know why when you say "Smile!" they choose to look at some invisible thing on the side of the room and not actually AT the camera. But, that's what my kids do every single time!

Here they are with their pets, inside their box homes. Madie ended up picking out a really cute dress with a matching bow for her dog. They were all so thrilled and thankful to Aunt Jill and Uncle Adam for such a great gift!! The experience alone was super! Trevor and Ty opted not to get anything for their bears and went next door to the Build-a-Car shop and get stickers and jet engines for their cars instead. Pretty cool!

While Jill was buying the boys' car parts, she sent us all down a few stores to the Lego store. I told Adam this mall is like an amusement park for my kids. All they get is Walmart in Ottawa, so the Lego Store and Build-a-Bear store is just awesome for them. :-) Here Trevor and Madie are looking at the different projects that have been built and are on display.

Here Trevor, Madie, Livie, and Ty are looking at the Star Wars Legos. Noah's there too, he's just behind Madie. We got them each a little something at the Lego store as well, then headed down for ice cream. After that they were tired and ready to go home to play with their treasures. Jill and I helped them get out to the van, then we left and did a little shopping of our own. Got to go to Costco for the first time and boy was it awesome! So much fun! It was just a short overnight visit, but we packed in a lot of fun and can't wait to get up there again to hang out and enjoy each other. Especially our fantastic nephews that are just about the best boys around! We love you guys and thank you for letting us come up and play with you. :-)

I'm In Print!!!

Many of you have seen the picture above. I posted something about it months ago. Well, apparently the Ottawa newpaper has been doing this thing called "Bad Hair Day". Since we don't get the paper, I didn't know anything about it, until my pastor's wife Debbie told me about it. "You have to submit your picture!" she said. :-) I laughed and thought it would be funny, but kind of forgot about it until Tuesday. I was walking with Olivia through downtown Ottawa and passed the newspaper office and saw their newspaper sitting in those display things outside. As I walked by, something on the front caught my eye. It was the "Bad Hair Day" blurb and it had a guy from 1980 with a bad perm that his mom had submitted. It was like I immediantly had this need to challenge this guy's hair. I knew my hair went WAY past just a bad '80 perm. I mean, I had a bad perm PLUS the ratting, plus the extreme Aqua Net sprayage, plus the giant '80s glasses. I mean, let's face it, I have the whole stinkin' package right there! So, I got home, looked up their website and found where I could email them my picture. I told them a little about the picture and sent it off, hoping that the person on the receiving end of that email was prepared for what she saw when she opened my attachment. I mean, as proud as I am of my bad hair, I would hate to know it caused someone to fall off their chair or regurgitate their lunch. Anyway, within the hour I received an email back from them requesting my hometown. I took this as a good sign. I emailed Debbie and told her I submitted it, to which she responsed "Your picture is WAY better than any I've seen!". Translation - your hair sucked more than any other person in the Northern IL area. ;-) Then, hours later at my discipleship meeting, John our pastor came up to me and said, "Have you heard about this Bad Hair Day thing they're doing. Debbie and I think you should submit your picture." Wow. I'm famous! Even my pastor is commenting on my awesome hair! I told him I had emailed his wife just a while before telling her I submitted it and he was just laughing. Everyone, it seems, was excited to see me in print. To see my hair immortilized for all eternity in the Ottawa Times paper. Well, everyone except Pete. He's just mortified. But, awesomeness like that shouldn't be hidden from the world. It should be celebrated and glorified, I say! Anyway, today when Livie and I were at Walmart, getting ready to check out, I noticed they had a stack of newspapers hanging on the end of the conveyor belt thing. And, what should I see? Why, it was my sophmore year school picture - staring at me in all it's beauty! I nearly doubled over in laughter. I knew that I would probably make it into the paper - into the households of 20,000 people - but to know that every Tom, Dick, and Harry that came in Walmart would see it, well, I wasn't quite expecting that. But, I would not be ashamed. No. I am proud of my ridiculous picture and the fact that I am in print. I can't remember a time when I made it into the newspaper. So, I immediantly bought a copy and have come here to show you all my debut. Who knew that 19 years ago (ugh, has it been that long?!!!) I would make the front page for my "Bad Hair". How cool am I?! ;-)

By the way, I'd like to thank all the little people who got me to where I am today. My best friend Michelle, who showed me that by using a barrett right behind my bangs I would have better support for them as well as give my sides a better even-ness. To my mom who kept me in constant supply of the most vital things of all - Aqua Net hair spray - and didn't complain too much when her feet stuck to the floor of the bathroom because of all the spray. To Debbie for encouraging me to submit the picture in the first place and noticing true art when she saw my picture to begin with. Thanks for reminding me that my picture should be shared with the masses. And, to my husband for not divorcing me on sight when he first got a glimpse of that photo. I'm sure the judge would've sided in your favor honey, but I appreciate you sticking it out anyway. I'm sure there are many others that helped me along the way. I won't forget you on my way to the top. Well ..... I may forget some of you, but not ALL. Just like 6-7.

Nothing Exciting to Report

I realized that today is Wednesday and there's been absolutely NOTHING to blog about! It was rainy and yucky on Monday, so we just stayed inside. Yesterday, the funeral was held for that young mom who passed away from cancer, but since I didn't know her well, I just dropped off food for the funeral dinner and that's all. Though, her death has had my mind wrapped up for a few days. Especially today after reading some of her blog. Heartbreaking to say the least. Did a little volunteering at the school and had a meeting last night, but again, nothing really much to say about any of those things. And, now, here we are at Wednesday with yet even MORE nothingness going on. Guess though, I shouldn't complain about nothing happening. Sometimes the best days are "Nothing" days. Because that means nothing bad has happened. Only relaxing, good stuff. So, I've tried to come up with ideas of something to blog about. I could do another entry on the vileness of broccoli. I mean, that's always fun. I could start up on how nasty beets are too. Start a whole new series about things that disgust me. But, even though there's nothing really to share or talk about, I still have things going on and don't really feel like sitting here and using my brain to do either of those things. So, I took the easy way out and decided to take some silly pictures of my kids while they were doing their homework. Boring? Probably. Silly? Most definitely. But, once in a while, that's all I can come up with. :-)

Happy Easter!

Christ the Lord has risen!! He has risen indeed. Happy Easter everyone! We have had a really wonderful Easter so far today.



First, we started with an early morning visit from the Easter Bunny. As you can see, we are set up with candy until probably Halloween now. They each got a movie and a couple small toys as well. Madie got "Horton Hears a Who", Noah got "Ben 10", and Livie got a "Land Before Time" movie. They were all very excited and didn't want to have to stop playing and admiring their baskets to take shower, but they finally all made it in and got dressed in their new outfits for church this morning.

Here they are, looking as cute as ever!! I love seeing the kids on Easter morning and not just my own, but everyone. Now that church attire has become so relaxed, I know that Easter Sunday will have the kids dressed in their finest and boy were they! The kids today at church were absolutely adorable!!! Little hats, gloves, ties, etc... Too cute!

Madie and Noah were in the Easter bell choir this morning. They did a fantastic job, but they had more children than bells, so Noah didn't get to play during the second song. But, he stood up there contently as the other kids played and he did a great job during the 1st song. :-)

Here's a closer shot of them standing next to Gracie (in the blue). And, Ella, in the white. I used to babysit Gracie when she was around 18m old. Can't believe that's been 4 years ago. Wow! She just turned 6.

After the church service we had sunday school and today we had our first annual easter egg hunt! The kids were soooo thrilled! They couldn't wait to get out there and hunt.

Livie found as many BLUE eggs as possible, since that was her favorite. But, I think she snuck a purple one in there as well.

The playground was divided into 2 sections and Madie was in the older section. She had to look a little harder for her eggs than the younger kids did.

Noah wasn't slowing down for anything. Once they said "Go!", he was off!!

After all the eggs were collected, we headed back and I told them the easter story with a thing called "Resurrection Eggs", which is such a fantastic way for kids to learn the story of Christ's death and resurrection. We followed it with the message of salvation. After we left church, we dropped off some of the Easter Lillies, that our church had, to a shut-in at a local nursing home. Madie, Noah, and I went and chatted with her for about 20 minutes, then we all headed out for lunch at the Cracker Barrell. The weather has been beautiful and the service today was wonderful. Just a really special Easter day. :-)

I will say that our day was saddened when we found out that a woman we had praying for had passed away. She was diagnosed with cancer several months ago and though she doesn't go to our church, she goes to a church that we've worked with yearly in VBS and I've known her through that. She was only 39 yrs old and has 4 children and a loving husband and, though we knew she was in the final stages, it was still so hard to hear when it finally happened. On this beautiful Easter day, where we are reminded of Jesus' sacrifice for us, I just want to think of her and have our prayers go up for her family as they mourn her loss. Someone so young, with so much ahead of her. So very sad. But, she is celebrating this Easter at the Lord's side at peace and without pain and for that I am so thankful.

I hope everyone else has had a beautiful Easter today and that you too are rejoicing in the Risen Savior. :-)