Our Easter

Easter is one of my favorite days.  Our church always has two services.  One on Saturday night and one on Sunday morning.  Even though I go to the Saturday night service, I just can't imagine not going to a worship service on Easter Sunday.  Isn't that the whole reason we worship?  So with that being said, we attended a student led Bible Study taught by one of our awesome youth and then worked the service.  We left right after the service started and came home to dye our Easter eggs.

We have so many kids we have to dye at least 2 dozen and this year I let the kids do whatever they wanted.  We mixed the colors.

 

 I love the rainbow of colors that Easter egg dye makes.  

 

     Everyone got along so well.  There was no arguing which is unbelievable especially with the two oldest.

   They all took turns with the colors they wanted.

                    They are all smiles except for Gabe who makes it a point to make a crazy face everytime I take a picture.

Jack worked really hard to draw pictures and write his name on some of his eggs with the wax crayon.  They really like to dye eggs no matter how old they get.  

Sunday morning, the kids woke up to Easter baskets filled with goodies from the Easter bunny and then we were off and running to get ready for church. 

Zeke wore his first tie and his dad had quite the time getting it on him. 

After an awesome worship service, we met my parents and brother at Outback.  

 Then we went to the nursing home to visit my grandma.

 It is always fun to hunt Easter eggs outside the nursing homes. 

 Doesn't jack look thrilled?

 The older kids went outside and hid the eggs and the little kids hunted.

 There was a lot of help given.

 And the older boys were acting goofy and making MaMa laugh.

 Then we posed for a couple of group pictures.

 Zeke dumped his Nerds on the ground and when I asked him what he was eating, my grandma told me he was eating gravel.  HAHAHA  I think this look at her says it all. 

I hope your Easter was a great as ours.  I am so blessed and especially thankful that we still get to spend time with my grandma. 

Happy Birthday to My Sweet Baby Girl!

She is quickly becoming a child instead of my baby.  So fast.  Can't believe how much she has grown.  
From this sweet little thing...

To this sweet young lady...

 

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love her.  She has been an awesome addition to our family of males.  Happy 6th Birthday, Maci Clare.  We are so glad that you are a part of our family. 

I Did Promise Pics

 Earlier I said I would post pics of what I was doing today.  Well, we ended the day outside.  Even though it was chilly, it was the first day of Spring.  We couldn't resist.  We needed the fresh air and sunshine.  After 10 days of YUCK, we needed to be outside.  So...

Jack caught tadpoles out of the pool.  Maci Clare wasn't happy because I wouldn't let her go in the pool fence.  So no pics of her.

Gabe played basketball.  I think Zane must have been in the woods.  No pics of him either.

Zeke was hauling dirt in the big red car. 

What's a day outside without giving the girls a little treat?

A little opening where the chicken wire is pulling away makes for easy feeding

Zeke likes to tease them a little by holding the treat just out of their reach.  Usually they will peck it right out of his hand.

Gotta check for eggs.  (He had already brought me several.)

Couldn't resist this pic of  one of my black chickens.  Not sure if you can see but she has green in her feathers.  So pretty!

  

Great day to play in the playhouse too. 

I had to make them come in to eat and then they were right back out.  The strange thing was that Lucy the dog stayed inside all afternoon.  I guess she didn't want the kids infringing on her territory.  No pics of her though.  She is very camera shy.
The rest of my week will be spent planning a last minute Snow White birthday party.  We are not having a huge party.  Just a couple of school friends and that is it.  We are keeping it simple.  

Organizing and Getting Back to Normal

After the sickness of last week (actually the last 10 days) I decided to stay home today and try to get cleaned and keep disinfecting.  What started out a laundry day has turned in to a cleaning and organizing day.   For some reason, my family can't seem to keep surfaces uncluttered.  There are always small toys, paper, mail (unopened and opened) and just clutter all over my kitchen and eating area.   So today I looked at it and decided I am tired of all of it.  So I started with the desk and ended up cleaning out, throwing away, and getting a bit more organized and it feels good.  Maybe I will posts some pictures of what I accomplished later tonight or tomorrow.  If I can find my camera...

Oh My!

Has it really been that long since I actually wrote a blog post?  I think at one time this blog was my sanity saver.  Since I haven't posted in almost a year, what does that say about my sanity?  Well I am hoping that when I say I am back, this time it will be true.  After last week's battle with the flu and the dreadful Norovirus (actually 10 days of this stuff) and missing a much needed mommy and daddy get away weekend, I NEED a sanity saver. So here we go again...