Easter Experience

This evening we had the opportunity to go to a family Easter Experience at our church. It was a good opportunity for the kids to take part in events that took place around Easter like the Last Supper, carrying the cross, watching a reenactment of Mary and the disciples after the resurrection, etc. 

                       

 

One of my favorite activities was when the little kids got to see the prints of the sin in their hearts washed clean.  They started with a piece of cloth with a heart on it, then they used red marker to make thumb prints in the middle of their hearts that represented sin.  At the end of the tour, when they talked about what Jesus’ death and resurrection means for us, the little ones got to take their cloth to a bin of water and rinse them out, and see that their hearts were completely clean again.  The older kids had walked around with rocks in their socks for part of the tour.  The rocks were there to remind them of the uncomfortable feeling that sin can have in our lives.  But at the end of the tour, they got to take the rocks out of their socks and place them in a bowl with all the other kids’ rocks, and then feel what it was like to walk around without those rocks which symbolized the feeling of freedom we have from sin. 

The Easter Experience took the girls over an hour past their bedtime, so there were two tired little girls on the way home, but I think it was a great way for them to grasp more meaning out of this Easter week. 

A Weekend to Remember

This weekend was an awesome weekend for Mark and I.  When we celebrated our 10th anniversary, we decided we wanted to take the opportunity at some point in this 10th year to attend a marriage conference.  In our early years of marriage, we attended a community group at our church for young married couples, and we were often reminded that we need to actively pursue a meaningful marriage.  It just doesn’t happen by chance.  One thing my parents did for us when we were engaged was to send us to the Weekend to Remember marriage conference, and we really enjoyed it as an engaged couple, but we thought we’d get a lot of new and different things out of going again ten years later, and we were definitely right!  My parents watched the kids for us, and we got to spend the weekend focusing on each other, our marriage, and our family. 

The conference was awesome, and we had such a fun time.  We learned a lot, were reminded of some amazing truths, laughed so hard we cried, had tons of time to talk and connect, had date nights, and did it all without the interruption of our lovely daughters!  We even had the opportunity to renew our marriage vows at the end of the conference which was so much more meaningful than I ever would have thought.  What a great way to springboard into the next decade of marriage! 

Mousey and Poppy survived the weekend with the girls well.  From what we heard, the girls had the fun of doing all the things grandparents do best – ice cream, pizza, McDonalds, playing, and getting lots of special attention.

The second picture may better illustrate how the grandparents felt after the weekend. When we asked them what they were going to do with the rest of their day today, my dad said, “Go home and take a nap.” 

Hello, Spring!

Even though we’ve had a mild winter, and it’s felt like spring has been here awhile, I’m still glad to say “See Ya!” to winter and hello to spring! 

The trees in our back yard are in full bloom already!

After eating dinner outside on the deck, two neighbor girls came over, and we sat outside and watched the girls run, play chase, and gather flower petals that have fallen from the trees. 

Then we walked up the street to the common area where all the kids play, and the adults got to talk and hang out while watching the kids run and have fun.  We let them stay up later than normal, and they all had to go in and get baths afterwards, but it’s evenings like this that are the reason I love spring!

Surprise!

Sunday was Mark’s birthday, and I had decided to try to surprise him with a birthday party.  He thinks his last birthday party was when he turned 21, so I figured it was about time he had another one.  It was a little hard to make all the plans and get everything ready while keeping it all a secret, but it was fun to do, and Mark ended up being really surprised.  I had my family and some local friends come over for dinner and hanging out, so it was fun to celebrate Mark and enjoy the evening with good company.  March is a busy birthday month for us, but now we’re taking a break from birthdays until May!

 

 

 

  

 

When Leprechauns Visit…

The visit of the leprechauns is a big thing in kindergarten.  All the kids are invited to make a leprechaun trap at home, bring it in to school, and the traps get set up in the classroom before St. Patrick’s Day in hopes of catching the elusive leprechaun.  Mark and Nina made hers with a trip line attached to the stick that holds up the top.  When the leprechaun trips the wire, the stick falls causing the trap to close, but somehow he managed to escape.  The kindergarten teachers encouraged the parents to continue the fun last night when the kids set up their traps again at home.  So, when the girls got up this morning, they saw the evidence that the leprechaun had indeed visited but escaped again!

He used the bathroom, got in the treat box, turned over couch cushions, and put the pots in the family room.  That naughty leprechaun!  Nina has figured out that Santa isn’t real and doesn’t believe in fairies, etc. but she believes the leprechaun visited. 

 

Lyla’s Party

Yesterday was Lyla’s first “invite friends” birthday party, and of course, it was a Cars theme.  She was very excited for the party, and we had sent her friends pit passes to invite them to the party.

Mark’s car was turned into Lightning McQueen (for as much as a Honda can resemble a race car).

 

The house was decorated with some of her favorite car characters for playing games, getting tattoos, and coloring road maps.  Lyla was ready and excited by the time her friends arrived.

 

 

The kids had lunch, then played tractor tipping bowling, fishing for car parts, playing “Mater Says” and coloring and putting together a car floor puzzle, but the favorite activity of the party was just plain old fashioned running and shouting.  I had the kids freeze racing to a few of the best songs from Cars, and they had a blast.  Who needs games and activities when running through the house and shouting is an option?

 

  

 

 

We finished the party with cake.  Lyla had requested a Mack truck cake, so that’s what she got.  We had a really nice time celebrating Lyla’s birthday with her friends!