Easter Sunday

"I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. WHOEVER BELIEVES IN ME, THOUGH HE DIE, YET SHALL HE LIVE. AND EVERYONE WHO LIVES AND BELIEVES IN ME SHALL NEVER DIE. DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?"

--JOHN 11:25-26

We had a powerful message from John 11:17-27 (focusing on the above verses) on Easter morning. Our recent sermon series called Making Us New has been so good. I love Easter and the celebration of HOPE and NEW LIFE in Christ!

***

We had a great day. Three excited kids were downstairs before 7:00 to look for their Easter baskets.

It's always a challenge to get everyone to cooperate. Rhett usually makes silly faces, Crosby tries to dance/make others laugh (see below) and Alexee--although she's by FAR the most cooperative--often has a hard time not talking for even a few seconds for the pictures! :)

Cheeeeeese!

Photo attempts at church--funny to me that R decided to try to hold C this way!

Church crafts

It was just us for lunch.

We had:

honeybaked ham

Grandmother's dressing

green bean bundles

fingerling potatoes

cranberry fluff

rolls (for the kids, but R ate dressing too)

dessert: strawberry delight, one of my favorites

After a big lunch, they were ready to start the hunt!

Lane helped Crosby along.

We had to gently remind Rhett and Alexee to slow down a few times so that Crosby would have a chance to pick up some eggs.

Crosby was proud of all the eggs that he found.

I HOPE YOU ALL HAD A HAPPY EASTER!

HE IS RISEN!

More Parties: Bears & Lollipops

Alexee loves a good party, and on Saturday she was invited to two fun events! First up, Lindy's 4th birthday party at Build-A-Bear. Happy Birthday, Lindy!

She had never been to a Build-A-Bear party before, so she was excited about choosing the pieces for her very own bear. She chose a white bear with a giggle sound and a pink ballerina outfit. She named it Fluffy.

Adding the fluff to Fluffy and giving her a bath

We came home for lunch, and A & C took naps. Then it was time for party #2--celebrating Maylee's 5th birthday! Her candy-themed party was in her backyard, and it was such a beautiful day for it. The kids played on the new play fort, blew bubbles and ate yummy petits fours.

Ali had everything decorated SO fun with the colorful lanterns, balloons, candy centerpieces and giant lollipops in all the potted plants.

I told Ali she should sell these arrangements!

Cute kids

For party favors, Maylee gave each friend one of the giant lollipops from the centerpieces. Alexee had such a difficult time deciding which one she wanted--she liked pink, purple and rainbow. Decisions, decisions. She finally went with rainbow.

Group picture :)

I think Alexee had a really fun day, and we hope that the birthday girls did, too! We love our friends!

Good Friday

Thank you to Grammy & Bobba for the Easter cards!

We went to the Good Friday service at church. It's always very special, but I'm so thankful that the story doesn't end on Friday! I love Easter weekend!

Crosby went to the nursery as usual, but Rhett and Alexee went into the service with us. This was Rhett's first time to take Communion, which was so sweet.

1. On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
   The emblem of suff’ring and shame;
   And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
   For a world of lost sinners was slain.
   • So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
     Till my trophies at last I lay down;
     I will cling to the old rugged cross,
     And exchange it some day for a crown.
2. Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
   Has a wondrous attraction for me;
   For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above
   To bear it to dark Calvary.
3. In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
   A wondrous beauty I see,
   For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
   To pardon and sanctify me.
4. To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;
   Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
   Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away,
   Where His glory forever I’ll share.

Backyard Visitor Returns

Last May, the kids found this tortoise(?) in our backyard. They painted its shell with pink nail polish.

Yesterday they were playing outside and Crosby started yelling, "a turtle, a turtle!" It had the same orange markings and a few patches of chipped, metallic paint on its shell--maybe it's the same one?

Alexee ran inside for a fresh coat of nail polish. She asked me to write the name Aurora on the shell in pink. Hopefully "it" is a girl.

They gave her a nice sparkly, spring look.

Then they decided to gather some leaves and grass for her. I thought she probably wanted to get away as quickly as her little legs would carry her...
...but to our surprise, she wasn't shy at all.
C wanted to give her a ride in the green dump truck, but (lucky for her) they got busy trying to feed her and he forgot about the ride.
Alexee wanted to see if she'd eat a Ritz chip. I didn't think she would, but I was wrong--she loved it! The kids thought this was so funny. She got crumbs on her mouth, so Alexee went inside to get her a napkin. :)

Eating lunch outside--it was such a pretty day.

After school fun with friends

Lane was able to take R & A to their swim lessons. Alexee went to one lesson as a "Manta 1" and the instructor said she needed to move up to a "Manta 2". Rhett is doing a great job, too. He's just working on specific strokes now. While they were gone, Crosby watched a few episodes of his new favorite show, Fireman Sam, and I made the kids a homemade pizza for dinner.

Easter Parties & Dentist Appointments

This is a big week at R's school. They are having their annual standardized testing (Tu-Th). Here he is this morning--ready to go. I'm sure the kids (and teachers) will be so happy to be finished with the testing. The good thing is NO regular homework and NO spelling test this week!

Crosby and Alexee did not have the stress of testing today. Instead, they had their Easter parties at MDO! They were very excited to help fill the plastic eggs with candy last night and take them to their classes today. (No Easter baskets allowed :( For convenience, A's class was asked to bring a dozen eggs in an egg carton, and C's class was asked to use a Zip-loc bag.)

On the way to class

I took A's picture by the "All About Arkansas" wall that they've been working on recently. They've learned about the state flag, state flower, state tree, etc.

apple blossom

I noticed these for sale in front of the grocery store today--one of my (many) favorite flowers.

Bogart went to get a much-needed haircut today.

There happens to be a bakery next door to the groomer, so I stopped by for a few treats when I went to get B.

The kids had fun at their parties. They ate all of their candy between school and the dentist's office. I had to apologize to the dentist for bringing them in with chocolate-covered teeth. (Surprisingly, no cavities!)

Crosby showing me the eggs that he found at the egg hunt

Alexee made sure to find only pink and purple eggs during her hunt

I always love getting the kids' artwork

At the door to the dentist's office

Alexee's turn--she and Rhett both did great. R got x-rays and everything looked good.

I wasn't sure how cooperative Crosby would be. He didn't want to sit in the chair alone, but he did okay sitting in my lap. It wasn't really a complete cleaning, but he did let them count his teeth, clean the front ones and take a general look at his mouth. When Dr. C peeked in he could tell that Crosby sucks his thumb. He said it's nothing to worry about yet, but said just to talk about it with him and encourage him not to do it.

the treasure box!