Happy Easter!!!

Last Wednesday was a busy day for us. I started the morning with a swim. I had my best time yet for my 400 which was unexpected since I hadn’t been feeling well the night before and didn’t sleep well. Andrew and the kids were ready to head to school when I got home. I got the twins ready for the day and started working on cleaning up the house. I got distracted though and ended up cleaning up the garage too which kind of put me behind schedule. Then when Andrew came home for lunch I headed out on my brick training outside. I wasn’t really looking forward to because while the sun was shining and it was warm outside, it was crazy windy. The bike was brutal. I changed my route to incorporate more hills and the wind definitely made them count that day.  Also, since I changed the route I ended up doing a little over 15 miles instead of the 14 that I am supposed to do for the race. I was not looking forward to the 3 mile run and it was not fun. Oh well, I just chalked it up to some good training. That night at small group several of us got to commiserate how tough it was to run/bike that day. Matt said he even yelled out because he was so frustrated by the wind.

After my run, it was back to getting stuff ready for small group. Lincoln got to go over to Josh’s house to play and I put the twins down for a nap a little early since we had a neighborhood Easter egg hunt in the afternoon that Leah had organized. It was getting close to the time we were supposed to meet up and hide the eggs so I took a quick shower and grabbed some lunch. We put the eggs for the little kids in one yard and the older kids had eggs in a few other yards that all connected. I had the golden egg to hide and ended up putting it in a pile of leaves in the corner of the LaBeths.  The hunt didn’t start until four so we tried to keep the kids inside until then. Miles and Bennett weren’t too excited about waking up from their nap but were all in once they realized what we were doing. We had a good sized group of kids and they had a lot of fun with it. After a while of searching, they still had not found the golden egg so we told them it was in the LaBeth’s back yard. About five minutes later, Ellie was victorious. I think the egg hunts at my parent’s was good experience for her. We had $20 in it and the younger kids thought that was great but the older ones blew it off like it wasn’t that much. I guess they were told that it was going to be $100. No way! After the hunt, the kids started going through their eggs and the chocolate had all melted. It took some convincing, but I was able to get all the candy from Miles and Bennett and put it in the freezer. 

We didn’t have much time to sit around after the hunt since small group would be starting up. The sitters were fine with taking the kids outside during group even if it did get a little crazy. It was maybe a bit distracting for our discussion but not too bad.  And the plus side is that they were able to run off a lot of energy.

Thursday morning was rainy but things cleared off by the afternoon and it was another beautiful day outside. The twins had fun playing with their Easter baskets and empty eggs in the morning. They would each “hide” their eggs and then go find them. Hiding them was just dumping them in a pile somewhere. But they thought it was great. Then we started naming the color of the eggs and Bennett put his blue cup with a blue egg and Miles did the same with his green cup and a green egg. Then when we got out the orange eggs, Bennett went to the fridge and brought back an orange to put with the orange egg. They were pretty cute.

Lincoln had an Easter party at school but we didn’t go. I guess I was just being lazy about getting the twins out in the rain. But Annie did take some pictures that she sent to me.

That afternoon we did something that I rarely ever do-went grocery shopping during the afternoon with the twins and Lincoln. I am definitely a morning or night shopper. I don’t like the crowds of midday because I just want to get things done quickly. Lincoln really wanted to be my helper and after a bit of a rough start, we found some things that he could do. But they were all kind of rowdy and loud. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone so close to nap time. But as soon as we got home, the twins went down for a nap. Andrew was home too because he decided to try to get a bike ride in before he went to PT.  He has been getting in quite a few miles lately which is great.

Since Andrew had PT (his last one!), I was going to pick up Jackson and Ellie from K-Life but Leah offered to pick them up while I kept Alex.  Lincoln and Alex were having a blast playing outside with their friends.

Then I decided last minute to go to a Wine & Paint Night at Jackson’s Stables with a few girls. They had asked several weeks ago and I totally forgot about it. Andrew was fine with me going and I was pretty tempted to just stay home and relax with the family, but decided to go ahead and go. I ended up taking Tiffany and Leah and we met Leslie and a couple other girls she had got together out at the stables. Since I wasn’t drinking, my fee seemed a little hefty for me to just paint a canvas J. Overall it was a fun night though. There was a guy playing live music who was great but the guy doing the painting instruction was a little creepy. My painting was very beginner but Ellie loved it. She thought I was an awesome artist. I told her she could put it up in her room.

Friday was another rainy morning that ended up being a pretty day. I spent the day getting clothes and other things ready for the Easter weekend. I also made some cookies and peanut butter bars to take to my parents. I was hoping to dye Easter eggs with kids after school, but Jackson ended up having baseball practice so we had to put it off. I was also finally able to get a temporary door knob on our front door until the replacement comes in. After the twins got up from their nap we headed over to my parents. All of my family except Sara and Caroline were coming back and they all showed up throughout the evening. Ellie and Lincoln were begging to have a sleep over. They hate to think about missing out on fun with their cousins. But Andrew was already planning on taking the kids out to the ranch the next morning, which he did. They were all up early and went out to check on the cows.  And poor Bennett got car sick twice. So I got the car seat and the boys cleaned up while Andrew got changed and headed out for a bike ride. Then I had to run Ellie to a birthday party at the movie theater. When Andrew got home from his bike ride, the twins went down for a nap while I took Jackson and Lincoln over to my parents.  On the way there Lincoln was telling me about how one of his dad’s sick cows was feeling better and how that was a good thing because the cows were dad’s friends.  Then he said, “So Mom, does Dad have any human friends?” J

They had fun hitting off the pitching machine my dad got out and just running around outside. I picked up Ellie a little later from the party and Andrew brought the twins over when they got up. Next up was dinner with the family and then some time on their Kindles. After that it was time to head home for bath times and bed so that the Easter Bunny could come by. 

Ellie said she was going to get up at 6 the next morning but they didn’t roll out of bed until about 7. I was showering so Andrew had them wait until I was ready to look for their baskets. At our house, the Easter bunny hides the baskets. The twins got up a little later but found their baskets easily with a little help. It took the older three quite a while to find theirs but they were happy when they did. After they found their baskets then it was time to open up a little gift from Andrew and I. Jackson and Lincoln got kites, Ellie got a skip-it toy and the twins got beach toys. Then the rush was on to get ready for church since we went to the early service. But we were able to get a quick picture and made it just in time.

The first part of our worship service was really neat and I’m glad we made it in time to see it.  But it is hard to describe. It was really dark when we got in the sanctuary so we had to wait until the first song was over before we could see enough to find a seat.  After church we stopped by home so I could change and pick up clothes for the kids. Then it was off to my parents for brunch and the Easter egg hunt.  There is always some smack talking beforehand about who is going to find the golden egg. My parents hid the eggs while we all waited inside with the curtains drawn. Then the race was on. I eventually found the silver egg under the lawnmower and Baylor decided it was supposed to be his. He followed me around for a while asking for the silver egg. So I eventually got the money out of it, gave it to him and he was happy. And Jackson was victorious in finding the golden egg. He found it in the box with the pool toys which several of us had already looked in. I think it was stuffed in a puddle jumper. Jackson has never found the golden egg so he was very pleased.

Easter day was beautiful so we spent some time outside as everyone started heading back home. Amanda and her kids are sticking around for the week though. Andrew took the twins home a nap and then came back later for dinner.  He said he had a busy week coming up so he headed to the office for the evening.  When the kids and I got home, it was after dark so they were anxious to try out their new bike lights that were in their Easter baskets. They thought they were so cool. Then I ended up letting them stay up late while I tried to clean up and organize the stuff from Easter. The twins loved playing with their new miniature Thomas trains that came in a book with a fold out track mat. They also liked their little chick toys that would hop around. Jackson helped Lincoln put together his small Lego set while Ellie worked on cutting up some old socks and sewing them together to put around her ankles for her skip-it since her ankles were getting a little sore. I asked why she just didn’t wear the socks and she said she was planning on wearing flip-flops. I had the Cardinals Opening Day game on while I cleaned up and it was fun to see their first win of the year. The kids took late baths and then went to bed. Jackson made sure to take his new stuffed Beymax that he got from my parents that he is really fond of J. Then Andrew got home a little after 10. It was just a nice, relaxing day and it was nice to know that we didn’t have to get up early the next day since the kids didn’t have school.  

"He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; "by his wounds you have been healed."  1 Peter 2:24