Easter

We spent the night before Easter at an Easter Vigil Service with some friends. For the record, if you ever walk into a church service (especially one that is held late in the evening) and are handed a 47 page bulletin, you should grab a large cup of coffee and stake out a seat close to the bathrooms. The service is nice as the climax of the service is celebrating the arrival of Easter and the rising of our Savior by ringing bells.

We got home rather late from the Easter Vigil and Hannah insisted on leaving carrots for the Easter Bunny. Since we leave cookies for Santa and carrots for his reindeer, it is only fair.

These are the kids Easter baskets. I have friends who have the tradition of sitting out an empty basket for the Easter Bunny to fill. I wish I would have thought of that when the kids were really little! In our house, the Easter Bunny brings the whole shabang. When the kids were really little, I would just use the same baskets every year. As they got older, I started trying to get creative with their baskets. One year I buckets that they could later take to the beach. Another year I used lunch boxes. This year it was beach bags for the pool with everyone receiving their own pool noodle. They each got a new beach towel. Aaron had been wanting a snorkel so got that and the girls got a chair float that their noodle fits through. Of course, there was candy. Just not tons. I don't really care that they eat candy, but I am weak and don't want all that chocolate in the house.

Hannah was really hoping the Easter Bunny would leave a basket for Holly. Aaron and Rachel no longer "believe" and I know Hannah's time is limited, so the Easter Bunny added to the magic.

The empty plate and a note from the Easter Bunny.

Hannah reading the note which thanks her for the carrots and lets the kids know how many eggs are hidden in the front yard.

The hunt is on. Notice the pre-teen is actually hunting for the eggs. The Easter Bunny fills plastic eggs with change at our house and she wasn't going to miss out on that.

I'm not sure what Aaron saw, but I love the expression on his face.

Rachel was finished hunting and was trying to act like she really didn't want to be awake. I thought it was funny because I remember the year I decided I would really rather sleep in and see what I got later.

Sporting the new Easter outfits.

The boys. It was an extra special Easter because PK asked off at the last minute and miracle of miracles, his bossed agreed. We have spent several Easters and Christamases with him missing, so we were very happy to have him celebrate the entire day with us.

Rachel was confirmed in church this morning. What a great day to join the church and for her to reaffirm her decision to follow Christ.

Miss Goody Two Shoes

That is Rachel's new nickname now that she can wear two shoes. After three months in either a cast or aircast, she is delighted to be able to wear two shoes.

Here she is on her first day back to school wearing two shoes.

She had to wear this aircast for the entire month of March. It was a welcome change after having been in the "plaster" cast for two months. She had to wear the aircast all the time except when she was showering. Showering with the previous cast required garbage bags and duct tape. The aircast also allowed her to once again wear jeans. She managed to make sweatpants stylish.

Realizing her life on crutches was going to last a while, she decided to make the most out of it. She added some fun ribbon and a little bling. She received tons of comments on her crutches. I am very proud of her. She made the best out of a bad situation the entire time! (Well...most of the time. She is a pre-teen and I am finding with that comes a certain amount of complaining that is mostly aimed at the Momma!)

This picture is from one of the trips to the orthopedic surgeon. I think it is the second trip. She had already had the thigh high cast for a while and I had been under the impression she would be getting it off on this particular visit. Fortunately, at the previous visit Rachel understood the doctor to say he would x-ray it and we would go from there.

When she had the thigh high cast, she was doomed to a life of sponge baths. We tried washing her hair over the sink. That was not an easy task. I splurged a couple times and took her to a salon to have her hair washed. One of the stylists did a fantastic job blow drying it straight. Rachel has wanted her hair straight for about as long as I can remember. The grass is always greener. She loves having it straightened and was thankful for the treat.

Now she still walks a bit slow and has to build up the muscle in that leg, but she knows that she is capable of enduring which is a great lesson for us all to learn.

An Open Letter to My Dear Friend

Dear Candace (a.k.a. One of My Blog Stalkers),

Thanks for reminding me that I needed to update my blog. It has been on my "to do" list. If you scroll back past this post, you will find a few new pictures.

Love,

Jody (a.k.a Blog Slacker)

Pesky Little Leprchauns

The kids made their traditional Leprechaun traps.

Hannah's

Aaron's

Rachel's...She was trying to attract the "bad" teen Leprechauns.

The kids' traps failed yet again this year. The Leprechauns rearranged the furniture in the living room and dining room, changed the milk and toilet water in all three bathrooms green and hung green ribbon around Aaron's and Hannah's rooms and the hallway.

Things of Spring

Spring weather has finally arrived in our neck of the woods. We have been in the new house for less than a year, so it is fun to see what blooms.

These trees line our driveway. The house in the photo is actually our neighbor's, but the trees are ours. They have started to green out now, but when they were full of little pinkish white blooms they made me smile every time I saw them. Last Wednesday night when we came home from church I stopped at the top of the driveway and made the entire family enjoy the trees. They probably weren't as thrilled as I was.

Just as I started to feel sad that the pretty little flowers were falling off and making way for green leaves, a tree in my front yard bloomed...a Dogwood. It is so pretty. It isn't as full as my neighbor's Dogwood, but it is still pretty.

There is a Tulip Poplar in the backyard that is just about to bloom. I can't wait for it to fill in.

Now if I can just get the grass in the front to grow!

My Valentines

This was the first year since kindergarten that Rachel didn't give Valentines to all her classmates. That didn't stop Aaron and Hannah from getting in on the fun. Here they are filling out a Valentine for everyone.

I pulled out our traditional heart shaped plates for the day. Each of the kids got a little stuffed leopard with Hershey's Kisses and an animal shaped box with cookies. Hannah and I celebrated in her class with an afternoon party. The kids decorated cookies and opened their Valentines.

The plates made a return for our spaghetti dinner.

Pinewood Derby