Easter 2012

We had a great Easter beginning with our church egg hunt on Saturday and then having Easter celebrations all day on Sunday. This year I feel like Ivy understood more of the true meaning of Easter than ever before which is so exciting to me. We read through the Easter story in her Children's Bible several times and she had so much to say...
"So he's not still dead??"
"Does he still have nails in his hands?"
"Is he still friends with those boys? (the disciples)"
This is a lot more than she understood last year. I want my children to know that Easter is such a wonderful day that promises so much for us. And I hope that year after year, that becomes clearer to them. Jesus died for us, for you, and for the criminals hanging on the crosses next to him.
His love wins.... every day.... year after year!

Enjoy our Easter weekend in pictures:

Egg hunt with friends.... Ivy was shocked to find treats in the eggs!! She thought only the Easter bunny did that :)

Discovering Tula's Easter basket from the Bunny

Ivy was excited that even the Easter Bunny is ready for summer with HOT, PINK goggles!

All ready for church.... a little chilly outside!

Daddy and his girls

Fancy girls at church celebrating Jesus' gift to us!

Egg hunt at Nana and Pops'

Tula LOVES her chocolate.... and this is her face demanding chocolate after a disappointing sweet tart!

Finding more eggs with Daddy's guidance:)

Nana and Pops surprised the girls with new outside toys!
Ivy loved testing out her new scooter~

And Tula's car has been a hit..... we enjoyed several walks with it this week!

I hope you all had a great Easter celebrating that He is ALIVE, too!

The Sisters

This week has been absolutely refreshing....at home....no distractions....just us.... the sisters and the mama. It has been wonderful! In fact, so wonderful that I know I am going to have the Sunday blues BAD after our week at home. But I will try not to think of that and enjoy the next 3 days for what they are- Easter weekend! The biggest celebration day for us Jesus Followers. The time of year that we remember the ultimate gift that Jesus has given us- His death for Our grace and Our eternal life. What a prize!

This week I have seen the sisters change. Their relationship has evolved between Monday and Friday at home with each other. The week started with Ivy diving on top of toys and hoarding her "favorites" to keep them out of Tula's reach. Tula started with a temper, out to destroy everything Ivy had set up to perfection. Now it is different.

Playing together. Snuggling together. Laughing together. Singing together.
They have united and I sometimes feel outside of their secret world. They dive on top of me with kisses- like it was a planned attack. They share the same books before a nap time. They both stand beside the freezer with a grin waiting on ice cream! And they help each other- Tula delivering Ivy her blanket when she is sad, Ivy giving Tula her milk cup when she drops it off her high chair for the hundredth time, making each other giggle when it is much needed.

The change is good. I welcome this team, even if at times I know they will unite against me. I am excited for their relationship to grow and for them to become playmates, friends, and forever they will be the sisters.

I am a lucky lady to be their mama- I took this week to really enjoy my sweet girls and I just don't want it to be over. Summer....are you here yet?

Away-cation

We have continued to enjoy our little spring break staycation.... but we did get away one day, naming that our "away-cation." But before I get on to that, two things to take note of:

1. I am an idiot and TOTALLY aware that our spring break is not tucked between Good Friday and Easter! That would be a ONE day break and I am not okay with that. So thankfully our perfect little break begins 1 week PRIOR to Good Friday and lasts through Easter.

2. I have pretty much abandoned my real camera. Not that I had a fancy shmancy one, but I did have one that takes better pictures than my phone. However, with 2 children my camera seems to be forgotten at home and when I do remember it I am too slow to pull it out and capture a moment.... so the iphone it is. So sorry for the poor quality!

Now onto the Away-cation.....

We hopped on a bus (aka a silver mini-van) and headed to Cincinnati because two wonderful things are tucked away in the big city! The first wonderful stop, was to the Cincinnati Children's Museum. It was my first time but we did have little tour guide on our hands. Maybe you remember Ivy's first time with her Unc and Esie!

The girls had a great time exploring. Tula ran quickly through each section, stopping a little longer to rock and baby and crawl into the fish tank with the turtles and fish! Ivy loved the ball area and spent lots of time with just Daddy in the water fun. Tula would have loved the water too but let's be honest, that would have been a mess.

Once we had all the fun in the world, we hopped into this little boat and headed to the wonderful stop number 2, Unc and Esie's house!
(The boat didn't get us too far so back to the silver van it was.... but after a day at the museum our imaginations were running wild!)

Unc was in a great mood because his team was playing that night and he was certain they would win- and yes, they did! We ate a HUGE pizza and had fun hanging out. Esie had a baby bump and I was so excited that it had really grown in just a week's time!! I am already anticipating the next time we see them.... she will really be showing and we might even know if I have a niece or nephew on the way. Tula warmed up to them quite a bit this time. I suppose seeing them twice in less than 2 weeks was a big help. Ivy is silly, silly around her Unc and the only way to get her calm down is to let her play "Hair Dresser" with Esie. I am so thankful that Esie complies with this request time and time again. We love our Unc and Esie and were thankful that we could get away to see them one day!

At the end of a long day, we hopped back into the plain old mini van and headed home!
I was absolutely excited that my SPONTANEOUS spring break still had so many more days ahead. And believe me, the fun has just kept on coming!

spontaneous

Our SPRING BREAK this year has begun and we are having a nice little stay-cation! I am excited about what it holds for our little family of 4. The one word theme of this awesome little, God-given break, tucked perfectly in between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is SPONTANEOUS!

Here is what it has been so far!

An evening rendezvous at the park....

Flowers from my little girls...

Yum! Orange Leaf.... paid for by Nana and Pops.... even if they are enjoying themselves on a beautiful beach!

A backyard picnic... shoes off.... even if it was a little chilly!

So far....so good....so spontaneous!

a top 10 memory

my family loves and they love hard.

everytime we get together we laugh, we eat, we talk, and we laugh some more. it is always a good time and i am so thankful for them. for my parents- who are excellent role models, for my awesome brother, and for the most amazing woman that anthony chose to be his wife and before long..... like in the middle of september they will welcome a sweet baby.

so if you have calculated correctly you know-

THAT I WILL BE AN AUNT!!!!!

but this weekend was awesome and just one little snapshot of our 2 days together highlights one of my top 10 family memories.

So I present to you.... family kickball.....HILARIOUS!

this game sent our little red ball flying faster than it ever has through the air of our backyard.

this game caused some videoing to be used (for black mailing) if need be :)

this game caused my sweet, innocent brother to launch a line drive across the yard to get my mom out- where ouch, it nearly knocked her head off!

this game gave us some hope that ivy might have more athleticism and coordination than we have given her credit for.

this game was family bonding, family fun, and family memories on overload!

memories are a great thing.

you have to be intentional about creating some memories, like a first birthday, a trip to disney, a camping trip, or going canoeing together.

but other memories just happen and at times, those are the ones you go to bed thinking of and hope for more of when you wake up the next day.

i am thankful for a family where those kind of memories just happen... all the time.

Germie Days... the unexpected answered prayers

When it rains, it pours and this week it rained little germies all over my sweet girls!
It may seem unlucky after lucky Saint Patrick's Day however, I have prayed for it in a way. I prayed for energy to do it all, for balance in the busy-ness of these next few months, for moments to enjoy the little things and little people in my life and in a weird unexpected way God answered that prayer this week. I have missed two and half days of school to be with my little girls and as much as that can be stressful it also gives me time at home, time to care for my sick little ones and time that demands a break from the busy-ness of the season. So answered prayer it is.

Tula began her journey on Saturday evening with a low grade fever turned high by Sunday afternoon. And after a visit to the doctor on Monday we learned that the croup is upon us again. Thankfully, we didn't have the scary, can't catch your breath, croup cough this time. Just high fever and an 18 month old with no voice (SAD!).

Sick kids can sleep anywhere.... including a ball pit.... with two balls that Tula specifically chose, a blankie, a paci, and a baby doll. Tula thought the pit looked like loads of fun, until she got inside and realized it was the perfect spot for a snooze.

Ivy accompanied her baby sister to the doctor because our appointment was after school. I love how sweet she was to Tula in this situation. She got "checked out" too just to show Tula she didn't have to be scared. And the smile on Tula's face shows how comforting it is to be in the arms of her big sister! With a dose of meds, Tula was feeling better by Wednesday morning and back to the grind it was. Unfortunately, big sister caught a bug at the doctor's office (probably)....

So Wednesday, I picked Ivy up with tears in her eyes complaining her head and mouth were hurting. Blisters on the throat and fever led us back to the Doc but just another germie virus. But a germie virus that kept Ivy home on Thursday with Daddy and then again today with Mommy. Silly girl said sunglasses made her head feel better, and then I caught her wearing them like Nana's glasses to help you read better!!

This morning Ivy woke up ready to tell me her great idea- HOME SCHOOL! She said, "Home school is when you have a mommy for a teacher and a little kid for a student and you do school at home instead of school." She thinks this is solely her idea, and I am not going to let her know otherwise. If this little lady knew this was an option, the begging would begin! :) So I obliged and out came the letters, whiteboards, books, etc.

So thanks to unexpected prayers, I get to stay home another day but Ivy is keeping me from becoming a rusty teacher! Fingers crossed, I will be back on the job on Monday with two healthy little girls ready for enjoy the sunshine and their friends again.

Sunshine, Sand, & Smiles

I love it when God changes the seasons on a whim.

It reminds me that He is in control and that feels good.


I especially love when the change of seasons involves sunshine, sand, and smiles.


Those things are a good pick me up....
a head clearing dose of happiness!


These are the days when we all are warding off bed time but are exhausted when it does finally come.


We play hard, love hard, and memory-make hard.


God is the giver of the sunshine, sand, and smiles.

And for those things, I am thankful.