Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, everyone!

Luke 24:6, "He is not here, but He has risen." -This morning, Joel and I were talking to the kids about the importance of this day. He asked them what today was all about. Emma yelled, "About Jesus! He rose up the grave!" I hope we don't ever trade the excitment of an empty tomb for the excitement of a candy basket. Our prayer is that we can wisely instill this in our children, so we don't pass on an apathetic generation that forgets what the true meaning of today is!





I was hoping to capture that precious Easter picture of sweetness, but well... let's just say I missed that shot.




Thankfully, we did find some sweetness a little later, though. :o)

A 5k, A trip to the Pet Store and A lollipop.

On Saturday, Joel ran a 5K. We woke up to snow. It didn't look good for the little ones with colds. Joel was thinking that he would just drive down by himself, run it and come home. Well, the kids absolutely wanted to be there to cheer for him. So, we loaded into the car, and off we went, praying on our way down that it would stop snowing. The snow turned to rain, which wasn't looking great either. When the race was about to begin, God opened up the sky for just enough sunlight to shine down. We were so thankful.



Daddy's fans: "Please, kids! Calm down! You guys are just plain ole embarrassing yourselves with all the noise you're making!"


Joel finished in 24min. 50 sec.


After the race, we stayed behind for all the fun. They had face painting and make your own sundaes for the kids. None of our gang wanted their face painted until Joel did it. He got a soccer ball. (which looked more like a freaky growth on his face.) Once Emma went, we couldn't keep the girl away! She loved the butterfly on her face and was asking me every two seconds to take her to the bathroom so she could look at it. Every time I turned around, Emma was running back to the face painting table for more sparkles on her cheek, another flower, and then more sparkles on the flower.- Remind me to never let this kid near a tatoo parlor!

Hey and guess what, Joel won a random drawing. He got a $20 gift certificate for the running store.


Annie was proud of her Daddy and didn't leave his side when he crossed the finish line.

After the race, we stopped at Michael's for the kid's craft day....

The girls made wands and Mikey made....what else...a sword.

Our next stop was the pet store. We enjoyed looking at the fish.

Mary and I thought this fish looked very similiar to Annie for some reason.

We fell in love with this bird. As he was eating, he would stop and look up at us. Then we would walk over, and stick his beak in between the cage and give you some type of "treat" from his bowl. Here, he is giving Emma a peanut, for which she will be eternally grateful. She was in love! When it came time to leave, she was blowing him kisses at the door. Let me guess, he's going to be added to her "best friend lists."


The day ended with lollipops on the way home.


And apparently for one of us, it had been a while since we had a lollipop...



And man! were we enjoying EVERY LAST LICK!




Ahhhhhhh, complete bliss.

My Date!

I've been asked out on a date. Mikey has been asking me for a while now when he could take me on a date. I said, "Well you're going to have to talk to Daddy about that." So the other night at dinner, he said, "Daddy, I want to take Mommy out on a date. I need the car and cash." :o) We made arrangments for our date to take place tonight. Mikey woke up this morning and was on cloud 9! Joel and he were talking in the kitchen and Joel said, "So, you're going to be taking out my woman, huh?" Mikey said, "Yup." Joel said, "Where are you taking her?" Mikey said, "To the restaurant, to the dollar store and to the flower store." Joel said, "Well, treat her right and don't keep her out too late." Mikey agreed and Joel gave him a "mess your hair up" pat on the head as only dads can do. When it came time to leave, my sweet Mikey came running downstairs with change "jingaling" in his pocket. He patted his jeans and said, "Ok Mommy, I'm ready to go." So, off we went....


We decided on alternate transportation and I drove. Our first stop, the dollar store and how convenient! there were flowers there. He stood deciding while I pretended not to look....a little difficult while taking a picture. :o)




He decided on these:





Then it was off to Friendlys. We were having fun, just coloring and chatting. Then, in the lull of a moment he said, "So Mommy, how you liking the date?" I said, "Oh honey! I love it! It's one of the best dates I've ever been on." He said, "Even with Daddy?!" This was one of those, "Is it ok to lie to your kids" moments. So, I dodged the question altogether and said, "Mikey, you make me so happy. All I can think about is you right now."

This little sugar is going to make some lady very happy one day. :o)

She said, "YES!"

On March 18th, 1995, my boyfriend proposed to me. I'm happy to announce to you that I said, "yes!" Joel took me out to a little restaurant called, "Davenports." It's a maple sugar farm. After breakfast, we took a walk. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and it was on a little back country road that my dear husband got down on one knee, and asked me to be his wife. We had not been back to that spot since the day he proposed, almost 13 years ago...until today! Since March is the official maple sugar month, we thought we'd take a field trip to Davenports. It's interesting to note that a few things have changed. First of all, it was definitely not a sunny, beautiful day as it was the day he proposed. Secondly, the pancakes were definitely not as large as we remembered...or maybe it wasn't the pancakes that have changed in size. :o/ And lastly, we sure didn't have a surburban full of five kids watching us when we last stood at this spot!





The kids heard our engagment story all the way there and quite frankly didn't care. They were hungry and wanted pancakes. After we snapped some pictures at our engagment spot, we decided to take a little drive on this lovely, rainy day.

We stopped to take a look at the falls.




Much more exciting was when we found this cute, little candy store. It was like being on "Willy Wonka" in the candy man's store. Mikey, my little sweet-tooth, could hardly contain himself!








"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaase, Mom?"

(No, I did not let them buy the gummy rats. I'm dry heaving a little bit just looking at that picture.)

We also stopped at some wacky "Indian trading post" store. The boys were in "Indian arrow head" heaven. As I was checking out the stylin moccasins, I heard someone sneak up behind me and go, "Rarr!" I turned around to see this:



Not wanting to be outdone by Mikey, I went and found my own hat:


-Interestingly enough, we smelled a skunk on the way home, and the kids blamed me for trying on that hat.

It was a fun day, but we had to get home. Annie was getting tired....

Growing into manhood

Joel always goes upstairs to check on the kids right before we head to bed. The boys were sound asleep. He saw something on the floor and came back down, laughing and he said to me, "You have to come here." Mikey had laid out his outfit for the next day. Now, if this isn't a well thought out outfit, I don't know what is...right down to the socks on each foot and the undies perfectly positioned in place.



Mikey just got a shaving kit, and he is shaving like a mad man! You'd think he was "Cousin It" from the Adams family with how much hair removal is going on here. I think it makes him feel manly. He was heading to bed the other night and in all seriousness he said, "Well I better shave before I go to bed." The next morning, Joel was getting ready for work. Mikey looked up at Joel with his sparkly eyes and said, "Wanna shave with me tonight, Daddy?" Joel just smiled, "Sure, buddy. I'll shave with ya." :o)

Here are a few shaving moments:



I'm loving the swipe across the chin action we got in this one.