Happy Easter!!!

So after I finished up my last post I decided it was finally time to add some child locks to a couple of the drawers in our kitchen-our junk drawers that Miles and Bennett love to pull stuff out of.  Andrew had actually stuck our two fly swatters down through the drawer pulls to keep them out but fly swatters aren't too appealing in a kitchen, so child locks it was.  They have caused several changes around the house.  All of the chairs of the breakfast table go up against the wall during the day along with the bar stools.  And they have also decided to try out the other toy basket upstairs.

Then I wasted a couple of hours trying to put together a bike for Jackson's birthday.  I got it mostly together and then had trouble with the handle bars and the brakes.  So I put aside because we had errands to run-go by K-Life house to pick up Ellie's lunch box she had left there, drop her off at dance, and then pick up Jackson from swim team.  Then I had to run by the office to drop off a package that needed to be mailed.  I had ordered a swim suit for lap swimming and it was a grab bag, meaning I didn't know what the design was going to be.  Well it ended up having skulls and crossbones all over it-not quite my style.  So it had to go back.  I also had ordered some competition trunks for Jackson that ended up being way too small.  Andrew brought Ellie home from dance that night and she was excited to have one of her outfits for her dance recital.  She looks so cute in it and the fun thing is that it looks similar to one I had back in the day.  I used it for a group dance to "Wild, Wild West" and then we did a family dance with my sisters to "We Are Family".  Fun times. 

That night Andrew and I tried to work on the bike again with no luck.  I had ordered it online from Wal-Mart, so I called the local store to see if we could return it there.  They told me I had to bring the bike and the box to the store and they would see what they could do.  So then I decided to blow off some steam by riding Andrew's bike that he has set up on a trainer and watching Dancing With the Stars.  And the next morning I loaded up the box and bike in the car before the kids got up.  That morning at breakfast, I enjoyed watching Miles and Bennett talk and laugh with each other.  After lunch, I took them and Lincoln to my parents so my mom could babysit them while I went to an appointment.  After the appoinment, I went by Wal-Mart to return the bike.  They told me they would try to see if they could fix it and after a bit they called me back and decided to just give me one they already had put together.  That was perfectly fine with me.  So I got it home and hidden then picked up Jackson and Ellie from school and drop off Jackson at swim practice.  He likes Tuesday swim practice because he is the only one there a lot of times.  I would love to sit in on a practice again and see how he is improving.  Later that night, I got to watch a bit of Dancing With the Stars again while I worked on a birthday banner for Jackson and Ellie joined me.  She just cuddled up against me and kept telling me she loved me while giving me kisses.  I love that girl.  She has also been very excited about the baby chicks they had hatching in their classroom.  She would tell me each day how many had hatched and she was very sad when a couple didn't make it. 

I decided Thursday would be the day to dye eggs.  We usually do blown out eggs instead of hard boiled so that the small doesn't get too bad.  So I had to get all of that taken care of.  I learned a couple years ago the trick of using a nasal aspirator and it makes it pretty easy.  I also worked on getting everything separated into bags for all of the kids' baskets so it would be quick putting them all together Saturday night.  Lincoln had a little Easter party at school that day and was excited to get home and show me the eggs and goodies he found during their hunt.  That afternoon I sat down on the couch with him and we talked about Easter a bit.  Earlier we had opened the egg with the crown of thorns in it and so I was asking him what happened after that and he said, "Did he go to the doctor because he was hurt?" 

Andrew ended up not being able to get Jackson and Ellie from school so it kind of messed with my plans of hoping the twins would sleep while we were dying eggs.  On the way home we had an interesting conversation about fertilized and unfertilized eggs.  After Ellie's experience with the baby chicks in her classroom, she was afraid the eggs we use have baby chicks in them.  I told her they were unfertilized eggs, so they didn't.  Then she said, "Oh yeah.  The daddy chicken has to do its thing with the mommy chicken so that there is a baby chicken in the egg."  And then Jackson said, "Unfertilized eggs don't have poop on them." (fertilzer :-)).  Oh my.  So I got the dye all ready while Jackson worked on his homework and put the twins in their high chairs with some snacks so they could watch us while they ate. 

 

Soon after I took the first picture, Lincoln managed to spill the whole cup of blue dye.  We got it quickly cleaned up and finished up the eggs.  While I was cleaning up everything, Ellie had a dance party with Miles and Bennett and then we headed to my parents for dinner.

And after I gave Miles and Bennet baths later that night, I noticed I could see their one-year molars popping through.  Hopefully that will be over soon. 

Friday morning Lincoln and I worked on some cookies for Easter.  He was in charge of sprinkles on some of the cookies.  And then we worked on ironing all the clothes for Easter morning.  I know, lots of fun.

The weather was nicer on Friday, so the kids played outside for a bit after school and Ellie ended up with mud all over her face.  After we got cleaned up, we headed over to my parents for dinner .  Some of my siblings and their families showed up through the evening.  Lincoln ended up falling asleep on the couch.  He has not been taking naps so I just figured it was because of that.  Andrew ended up taking him home and soon after I get a picture of throw up on the bedroom carpet.  Lovely.  Andrew worked on cleaning that up and I gave the twins baths at my parents so they could just go to bed when we got home.  Which they did.  And I gave Lincoln some medicine and covered his pillow and path to the bathroom with towels.  Jackson slept out in the family room with Andrew and they watched Black Stallion, while Ellie slept with me and we watched the beginning of a recording of Project Runway.  She again just cuddled up to me and gave me hugs and kisses.  I guess Lincoln threw up again a little sometime early the next morning.  He didn't come down and get any of us though.  Andrew went up there in the morning before he left and took out the towel that he got sick on and his bed spread.  Then he and Jackson headed out to the ranch to work a bit and do some shooting practice for the upcoming turkey season.  When Lincoln eventually woke up he was sad that he missed out on a trip out to the ranch.  He loves it out there.  He spent most of the day sleeping but thankfully didn't get sick again.  He definitely didn't want to miss out on Baylor's train birthday party that evening.  Ellie slept in a bit too and woke up while I was riding the bike and watching some more of Project Runway.  She was interested in it and didn't want me to turn it off while I went to take a shower.  So she lounged around in my bed for a while until I finally told her she had to get up and get ready.  Then after lunch we made Resurrection Rolls together.  It is when you take marsmallows, dip them in butter and cinnamon sugar, wrap them up in a crescent roll and bake them.  The marshmallow is supposed to be like Jesus, and the butter is the water they used to wash his body. The cinnamon sugar is like the spices they put on his body before burial and the rolls where like his burial cloths.  Then you put them in the oven which was like the tomb.  When you took them out, the marshmallow was gone.  Ellie was excited about it and thought they were tasty.  I guess Andrew did too as he finished off the rest of them when he got home.  After we finished making the rolls Miles and Bennett went down for their nap and I went to work cleaning out the garage a bit.  There was quite a bit of mud from Andrew's truck and I got a lot of it out, but not all of it.  When it gets a little nicer we will definitely have to power wash it.  Especially as the kids are getting their toys out and tracking the mud and dirt everywhere.  It was a rainy afternoon and Ellie decided to play outside in it a bit while she waited for my dad and Andy to show up to take her to our church's Easter egg hunt.  Ellie was very grateful they took her since Andrew wasn't home and I couldn't take her with Lincoln being sick.  Then after the twins got up, I took them and Jackson over to my parents while Lincoln stayed at home with Andrew.  They came to the party for a bit but you could tell Lincoln still wasn't feeling that great. 

Autumn and Andy had a cute train party for Baylor with adorable decorations.  I think they were very excited about the drum set we gave Baylor :-).  At least Baylor and the other kids liked it.  And Miles and Bennett loved the chocolate cake.  Andy gave them some big pieces as partial payback for the drum set.  Miles even rubbed the plate on his head.  They went immediately to the bath tub when they were done.

Jackson had decided that he would try to film the Easter Bunny with his video car and then at the last minute decided that he was actually scared to see the Easter Bunny and didn't do it.  When I went upstairs a little after they went to bed, it looked like he was already asleep.  But when I came back by, he was awake.  He said that he thought I was the Easter Bunny, so he acted like he was asleep just in case.  Then he told me he was going to read for a while.  So I had to keep myself busy doing other things around the house before I could fill all the baskets.  So I started around 11 and it was pretty quick business.  We just keep all the baskets by our Easter tree so then they are easy for me to get.  Then I just hide them around the house for the kids to find so I don't have to try to sneak them into their rooms like my parents used to do.  Jackson's was in the upstairs bathtub behind the shower curtain, Ellie's was in the dryer, and Lincoln's was under our dining room table.  Then I had a big bag of sand toys for all of them with the Easter tree and movie gift certificates hanging on the tree. 

I don't think they got up until around 7, so it was kind of quick morning of finding the baskets, enjoying them for a bit, eating breakfast, getting ready for church and trying to take a quick family picture.  Miles and Bennett were up last and just got to look at their baskets for a quick minute.

We went to the early church service at 9 and Andrew had to work one of the booths before and after.  We got there at 8:45 which is pretty good for us :-).  This is the best of the family pictures we got.  And a horrible attempt of getting a picture of the kids outside.  The sun was in their eyes so it was not working at all.

We had a wonderful church service.  There was a good crowd there for the first service and the second is usually quite a bit busier.  The message was great and touching.  Then it was time to go home, change, and head to my parents for brunch.  And after a yummy brunch, it was time for the big Easter egg hunt.  Andy and Autumn had a later church service, so we late the kids play outside for a bit while we waited.  They had to play out front though because all the eggs were in the back.  I tried to get some pictures of Miles and Bennett.  They were looking so cute in their button-downs and sweater vests.

Owen giving Miles a kiss

So Andy and Autumn got there and Andy was intent on getting a piece of strawberry pie before the hunt.  Then we all went out back and got ready and we noticed that Baylor wasn't out there yet.  Come to find out, he was still waiting for Andy to get him out of the car :-). 

 

I tried to get a couple pictures of the kids before the hunt-not the best.  And then that was it because it was time to find the golden egg.  The kids did get a bit of a head start but not as much as they were supposed to.

Jared was the big winner.  The golden egg was hidden in one of the big grasses and we were all digging through it getting cuts.  He got the most cuts but came away a little richer though.  Lincoln actually did pretty well for only getting a few eggs and complaining about being cold most of the time.  It is always a fun time though. 

 

After the hunt, Andrew headed to the office to do some work and I put Miles and Bennett down for a nap at my parents.  Then Lissy and I headed to Wal-Mart.  I was hoping to get some Easter candy on sale to use for Jackon's pinata but they didn't have any of their Easter stuff on sale yet-nothing.  But I was able to get some groceries.  When we got back, Miles and Bennett were already up.  Caroline had to go in the room to get her stuff to leave and they woke up.  They were pretty cranky the yet of the day since they didn't have their morning nap or much of an afternoon nap.  I think they walked around yelling at my dad a lot.  He has finally quit letting them have his iPhone and they aren't very happy about it.  Ellie had a good afternoon though flying her kite outside.  Jackson joined in for a bit too while Lincoln fell asleep in the family room for a little nap.  Andrew took all the kids home in the evening and let me stay at my parents for a bit for a little break.  He is pretty considerate about doing this sometimes and I really appreciate it.  He gave Miles and Bennett hair cuts and baths while the older kids played outside for a bit.  Lissy took me home after we watched The Bible and I felt a little guilty for not watching it with my kids.  It has been great watching all of it with them and it would have been good to finish it out with them too.  We have it recorded though so we could go back and watch it together. 

 

This morning was back to school and I spent all morning get the house back in order-putting away Easter decorations, cleaning out their baskets and putting toys/candy away, cleaning windows, and picking up general messes around the house.  Now I need to make sure I have everything in order for Jackson's friend birthday party this Friday along with Ellie's Father Daughter dance the same night.  And hopefully the weather will start warming up and we can bring out our patio furniture again and start enjoying some warm days outside.  Keeping control of the twins outside does make a little nervous and little exhausted just thinking about it.  I imagine this will be a summer that I wish we had a fence.

 

And I can't write a post about Easter without talking about the real reason for celebrating Easter.  It is not about the Easter bunny or egg hunts.  It is not about getting dressed up in pretty clothes and eating with family and friends.  Those are all good things and fun things to do, but the real reason that Easter is celebrated is because the Son of God came to this earth and endured a horrible, painful death to pay for all our sins.  The best part is that He rose again and left us with a promise of eternal life.  It doesn't matter who you are or what your sins are or have been, He did it for all of us.  So He has done his part and is still doing it, but we have to do our part too.  We have to step away from our former lives and accept him as our Lord and our Savior.  We have to give our lives to him, live for him, trust in him, depend on him.  We need that change of heart that we want truly want to please him and therefore need to acknowledge our sins and strive to do better.  And it may not be easy and mistakes will be made again and again (read the bible to see that many awesome men and women of God kept making mistakes) but his grace is sufficient and covers all.  And during not just the good times, but also the hard times when things just don't make sense, he is still in control.  It may be hard to see that he is in control but we ultimately have his great promise of eternal life with him and that promise is greater than any hardship or joy we will experience on this earth.  And that promise can be yours when you answer his call.  And that promise is ours because of what we celebrate every Easter and should be celebrated every day.