Easter 2012

Easter traditions...

Saturday we colored the eggs.  And decided to try an experiment...  can brown eggs color the same as white ones??  We have all these wonderful brown fresh farm eggs and so we didn't want to go buy white eggs.  So, we tried it.  And it worked!!  Definitely a little different shade of color...  more of a "heathered" look and a little army-ish.  The boys were very pleased!

Josiah would rather hide the plastic eggs than hunt them or color the real eggs so he was busy hiding eggs outside while Shepard and Will colored eggs with me.  This is the first year he hasn't colored eggs...  another change.  But, we love watching him mature into a man!  And the two younger boys had a blast coloring the eggs!

It is really awesome to have children at different ages and levels!  Having an older one now is so helpful and the younger ones still enjoy doing the activites.  Fun.

The hung begins...



Another tradition...  we have been putting the face stickers on our colored eggs for years.

So, we kept tradition!

Here are the boys with the finished eggs.

Easter morning!

More tradition...  the Easter baskets filled with little goodies.

Cute matching Easter outfits were not on the agenda this year. :)  The boys actually all picked out their own clothes for the day.  I thought they all looked so handsome.

The absolute highlight of Easter for us this year was celebrating a traditional Passover meal together!!  (We've never done that before.)

We studied it all week during school and learned a lot about the symbolism of it.  Wow!  All of a sudden the Bible account of Jesus' last week came to life for us!  Things that we had just been accustomed to reading over now made a lot of sense. 

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!!!

This was truly a treasure moment!

(And it brought so much joy to me to see how much the children enjoyed doing it.)

 (There a lamb shank bone, parsely (bitter herbs), horseradish (bitter/ harsh), salt water (tears) and there is my homemade "haroset" (sweet joy) on the platter.  (We didn't have the traditional Jewish plates, etc, so we made do with what we had.)  Haroset...  my new favorite word since I learned the right way to say it!  I go around the house saying it over and over for fun.  The boys say I sound like a Russian! 



New pictures of Shepard

I still needed a picture of Shepard for the yearbook...  so I snapped a few this afternoon.  These are some of my favorites.

I keep changing my mind about which one to use in the yearbook...  any votes?



MSM is 700!

TRADITION!

It's been mine and John's theme lately.

After 16 (almost 17) years of marriage, we have quite a few traditions.

They make us smile.  They make us remember.  They make us reflect.

We laugh... a LOT.

What good is a tradition unless you keep doing them?!?

Another MSM milestone and the tradition continues...

a cookie cake!

The kids love this tradition.  They would eat a cookie cake every single day. :)

And we smiled.  We remembered the lean times, the beginning and the in-between times.  And we reflected on the Lord's goodness and remembered to give thanks and praise to Him.

John, I'm so proud of you!!!!

just playing with my camera and more

I just wanted to check the sunlight at a certain time of day for taking pictures...  the kids were outside playing.  The sunlight was gorgeous - a really beautiful spring day!  And my kids' laughter made my heart melt!

Then came the disagreement.  I kept snapping pictures anyway. 

Life isn't always sunshine and smiles.

We must work to know God in EVERY moment.

Living to learn His ways.

Seeking Him in EVERY moment!

All of life's joy and pain.

Because HE is EVERYTHING! 

Those precious boys...  they did work it out.  We had sunshine and smiles again... eventually.

It's the working through where we grow.

I pray that in those hard moments we remember to know and seek the One worthy of our quest.

Shepard's words still ring in my heart, "Mama, God is good."  ALL THE TIME, precious children!

The Lord is usually teaching me more...



Growing Kids Sale Spring 2012

We're at the final sprint now... only two more days to go.

Today was a day of rest... much needed!  I don't think anyone in my whole house got out of bed before NOON - thanks to losing an hour last night for daylight savings.

The rest of the day was spent with LOTS of happy togetherness hugs!  I couldn't get enough!  I was just so delighted for all five of us to be home together again.

I made my bed for the first time in a week.  Sometimes it's just the little things that bring so much joy!

I caught up on my email with a cup of hot orange spice tea...  which felt great on my increasingly sore throat.  (It's almost impossible to do the Growing Kids Sale without getting sick! :) This weekend several of our family crew were battling sick bugs.)

But, again we were SO blessed by the sale!  It was so wonderful to see so many friends and also, to catch the feeling that the sale is a blessing to so many folks.  I hope so!

My most favorite quotes from this sale:

"God is good!" from Shepard at a completely unexpected, but perfect time for a reminder.

"Love ya!" from Brandy at my favorite chuckle moment!

And then finding two of our workers in the break area praying together!  Wow!

Blessed indeed!

Here are some pictures of Josiah and Shepard working at the sale:

Josiah worked "carry-out" for the first time and he did great!  I was really encouraged to see him interact with the shoppers in such a respectful way.  I'm so proud of the young man he is becoming!

Shepard came out to see Josiah doing a carry-out.

Working the concession stand!

Love this man!  He always impresses me with the way he sets up all our technology stuff and oversees the check-out area.



Josiah finally got his rabbit!  It's black... just like he wanted!  Can you see it? :)

Wouldn't you know we found it in the middle of the Growing Kids Sale week...  but we managed to get it and Josiah is really enjoying the little fella!

Licking the Spoon

Making dinner for friends with a new baby... 

the kids' favorite part is licking the leftover chocolate batter!



Special Flower Delivery

Shepard was delighted to discover today that the daffodils are blooming...  they are beautiful... all over the yard!



He had so much fun picking flowers for me...  he came in the house like this for one of his deliveries!  Definitely made me smile!

Valentine's Day 2012

A fondue smorgsaboard!

This was fun!

(Next time I'm gonna use a real recipe for the chocolate fondue - instead of guessing - because it turned out terrible! :) But the cheese fondue was pretty good!)

I love my houseful of boys!

 

New Chore Charts

The chore system we used at our old house (Punch Cards) just hasn't been working for us since we moved.  So, we recently made new chore charts and they've been a HIT with the boys!  It's really just a different way of keeping track of what needs to be done and tallying all those check marks for what we call "The Reward Basket".  John keeps little goodies in there that the boys can shop for with their chore points.  It's been a great incentive!  At one point there was a question about whether we should reward chores, but we are seeing the boys' work ethic growing quite a bit, so we think it's working well!  Besides, positive reinforcements are much more pleasant for everyone than the negative kind. :)

I really love seeing them get excited to mark a chore completed!

Our first snow at Green Gabled Acres

An expanse of white...  the wonder of all those unique little ice flakes...  beautiful.

We had to start our day with some play time in the powder...  just in case it all melted away by afternoon.  Then we did school...  one of the downsides perks of homeschooling. :)  But we did sip on hot chocolate while we learned.  (Most of us anyway...  one our group doesn't "do" hot drinks.  What he misses!) :)

Sure love these cozy, fun days!

The biggest yard we've ever had and they make tiny snowmen. :) 

The remnants of the day.

After tracked up floors, wet coats and gloves strewn about, cold ears and hands (and yes, very delighted children) I remembered in the grip of my tidyness disorder (could I really be OCD??) that I'd take the mess over the absence of it.  So, I'm thankful.

Thankful for a joy filled, memorable day!