Easter

Here's a few pictures from our Easter activities. We always try to do all the silly egg stuff before Sunday, so Sunday can be all about celebrating our Risen Savior. Lincoln was a lot of fun this year because he got so excited to participate in everything- which made somethings more challenging- like using the Resurrection Eggs to go through the Easter story with the kids. But his enthusiasm over the empty egg at the end symbolizing the empty tomb was worth the difficulty! He especially got excited for the egg hunt on Saturday, and kept asking "mom, egg hunt now?" (Yes, we are so excited about the progress he is making in his speech!!) We had a full house on Sunday with both my sister Bre and Kevin's sister Nikki plus their families, and our 'nearly' family members Zach & Megan. We had a total of 9 kids 7 and under, and 3 helpful teenagers. We were very traditional- and enjoyed an Easter fiesta with fajitas :) We are so thankful for the precious gift of family & friends, & even more so that the Lord has so graciously given us all saving faith so that we can celebrate His amazing sacrifice and resurrection together!!

Getting ready to hunt some eggs with our good friends- the Schneiders

Taking a quick break for a sample

So I have to admit that with all the busyness of hosting on Sunday, I failed to get any pictures of the kids before they changed into play clothes, so the other day I had the girls put on their Easter clothes so I could snap a picture, but I didn't feel the need to change Linc.

Seasons

Rylin had her 1st soccer game of the spring season today, and something struck me as we were pulling out of the parking lot. I watched as a mom set up her stroller, packed in the diaper bag and put the baby into the stroller- and suddenly I had flashbacks of Kacia's 1st (and only) soccer season. Lincoln was 3 months old, Rylin was the age Lincoln is now, close to 3, and Kacia was 5. This morning I got myself and all 3 kids to the soccer park by 8:15 (Kevin was able to go to Oakland for opening day) and as I watched this lady struggle to gather all of her stuff, I was so thankful for the season of life I am in for this season of soccer. No diaper bag, no strollers. Kacia held Lincoln's hand as we walked, Rylin carried her own gear, and I just had to manage a chair & snacks. Wow! What a difference a few seasons make! I loved Kacia's soccer season and wouldn't change anything about the hectic craziness of making sure the baby was neither too hot or too cold and was fed before we left, and the 2 1/2 year old had enough snacks to stay entertained and somewhat contained, but there was something very peaceful and easy about our morning today. And I got to actually watch my little Pixie and her teammates play a super fun game! I didn't remember to bring the camera today, but here's ones from the Fall 2008 season...

Let's Get Ready to Reffle!!!!

Lincoln has a new love, which is a new thing in our home, but quite common in many- Lincoln loves to wrestle, or "reffle" as he says it. I love watching how animated he gets, as he tries to convince Kevin or I to drop everything and wrestle. (He has been told not to wrestle his 'fragile' sisters). He even got Allie to wrestle once when she was babysitting, after she was able to decipher what REFFLE!!! meant :)

This is his "blue baseball shirt" that he practically lives in. I'm quite certain 90% of the pictures I have of him at this age are in this silly shirt. He has a ton of baseball shirts, so I'm not sure what it is about this one that he loves so much, but he pretty much wears it every other day. I insist that we wash it on the off days, but as soon as the dryer goes off, he excitedly comes running up to me "blue baseball shirt done!" I haven't decided yet whether or not I am allowing him to "win" and wear it so much because I just don't want to fight over it everyday or if it's because in all honesty, it's just a shirt and we stay home most days- so what's the big deal. That is a thought I'm still mulling over... but for now, and today the blue baseball shirt rules