Eggsellent Times

We hope everyone had a great Easter. This year I think my kids finally got it. They may each have got it on a different level, but this was the first year that I felt like they all shared some joy and understanding in this holiday. We celebrated the ressurection of our savior in several ways this year.

First in our celebration was getting crafty. We had lots of fun getting our hands busy making decorations for our home. We pulled out feathers,glue, sequins, pom-poms, pipe cleaners and construction paper to make our simple and adorable spring creations. We had chicks popping out of eggs, fuzzy bunny's, stained glass window eggs made from melted crayons, and decorative crosses. Each day was a new project and the kids really got into it.

Of course a few days before Easter there was the traditional, and more commercialized Easter egg hunt with hundreds of plastic eggs filled with gobs of candy, stickers, bubbles, and other fun prizes. We had many of our friends over to share the fun with us and there were plenty of eggs for everyone to find, more than enough sugar to give them all a buzz, and tons of great photos ops. For anyone who didn't get in on it with us this year, we are sorry and didn't mean to exclude you, it was really a last minute idea, but we hope to have another fun gathering next year.

Then of course there was the actual dying of easter eggs. Knowing how much all of my kids enjoy making a mess, this is something I look forward to and dread at the same time. I have decided to take it all in a stride and see the inevitable mess as a great photo opportunity and just picture the cute scrapbook pages that will follow (some year when I get them actually made) and enjoy the moments of creativity just as much as my children do. This year we dyed just 3 dozen eggs. Not too overwhelming a number so it went by very quickly with 5 kids dying eggs (my niece Tori joined us for this activity). We had two basic dye kits, some crayons, five unusually patient, generous and kind spirited kids and loads of creativity that led to some beautiful easter art.

For the past few Easter's we have added another activity into our Easter eggs, they are called ressurection eggs. It is a kit we bought at our local Christian book store. They are a dozen plastic eggs each a different color and conatining a different momento of the Easter story to help bring the story to life. My kids love each of the miniture figures and replicas, and it helps hold their attention and brings details to light while we go through the story of the ultimate display of love.

We also spent lots of time reading Easter books and talking about the meaning of Easter. Remembering what a wise children's minister had shared with me about letting God use the gore for the purpose of getting their attention, I shared the story more vividly then I had in the past. To this day I can't mention the name of Jesus without one of my boys going into some kind of detail about how He was beaten, forced to wear a crown of thorns, then nailed to wood to die on the cross. But it wasn't until I asked Philip why Jesus did that, that I could see how the message sunk in. And in the words of my blunt four year old were wise words far deeper then I expected "So we can go to heaven mom, just so we can go to heaven, it doesn't make sense." And surely it doesn't, who are we to be worthy of such gift of grace?

Furry Friends

Puppy meets Bunny

Princess and Stormy met today for the first time. They got along fabulously. At first i brought bunbun in the house to meet princess and see how they would get along. I thought Princess would bark or chase her, but she just sniffed her and then kept laying next to her. She was really fascinated by the bunny, but the bunny was less than excited but very tolerant, until we went to play in the yard. Outside Princess got a little too excited and kept wanting to chase Stormy and play. Stoemy hopped across the yard, then Princess hopped across the yard copying her. Princess can hop just like the bunny, it was pretty cute. We do have a few places where they can both fit under the fence though, so our play time had to have careful observation and was kept pretty short. I must say they look pretty cute together though.

Balto and Princess

Princess was infatuated with Balto from first sight, can't quite say the same for Balto but he was more than tolerant with her exuberantness. She loved to jump all over him and then would prance up his back and slide down his stomache like he was her personal playground. He kept giving me the look that said "oh brother how long do I have to put up with this" but soon she settled down and they just lay in a cuddle position for a nap.

Sock Hop

The whole family went to the Sunnyland Sock Hop that I helped organize. The atlantics played so the kids all enjoyed the live music. and the decorations set a fun festive mood. Us girls wore poodle skirts that I made myself, and the boys wore jeans rolled up with white t-shirts. It was touching to watch Jose dance with Sadie. Carter was really into the music and loved dancing, but Philip took some convincing, he just wanted to go get ice cream. Addie loved her cool glasses and swishy skirt. She and Carter danced quite a bit together. 5t was one of the most fun dances I have ever been to, can't wait until next years dance.

Sibling Rivalry

My bff Samantha got Princess' brother a few days after we got Princess. All it took was snuggling the fluffy little Princess and Sam knew she wanted one of her own, the trick was convincing her husband. So I brought Princess by her house to meet Erik. After seeing how sweet and cute princess was he couldn't resist. I rode out to no man's land again with Sam to pick up her puppy. That was quite the adventure that you can read about in my other daily doo dads blog.

Anyway Sam got the very last puppy left from the same litter. His name is Gizmo and he is adorable also. She brought him over to play one day and they had a lot of fun attacking each other and being quite rough. But there was a little love shown after they wore themselves out. Gizmo is a little fluffier and has the shih tzu face Princess has more petite features and longer legs.Aren't they sweet?

An Expanding Family

Princess- Our New Puppy

We added a member to the family today. She is an adorable tiny little fluff ball. She is a Pomeranian/ Shih tzu mix also called a Shiranian. She has a very sweet temperament. Princess loves to give puppy kisses and nibble on ear lobes. She is very soft and cuddly and I just love that puppy breath. It was almost an hour drive to the place we had to pick her up from, out in the middle of nowhere. Quite an interesting place a home filled to the brim with birdcages, two litters of puppies and even a pet skunk. We took all the kids with us, but let Sadie pick which puppy we got. They were all so cute, I could have taken them all. But Sadie really wanted a girl puppy and the one she picked is adorable with more of the Pom face and petite features than shih tzu. It actually seemed more like the puppy picked Sadie, she kept running to Sadie and trying to lick and kiss her. When the mommy dog jumped into the little plastic pool all the puppies were kept in they all raced to nurse, except this one that was too gascinated by Sadie. Jose had been waiting outside the house witht he other kids while I had taken Sadie in to look at the puppies, then I went out and told Jose he could go pick which puppy we got. He went in and helped Sadie decide on puppy, with an unanimous vote to hers. So after she got her shots we were on our way with the sweet little baby girl. On the long drive home we talked about names, the boys didn't have any ideas, so we let Addie name her. Addie picked the name Princess... of course that is what she names just about everything these days, but the name is fitting of this little sweetpea. We had to stop at the pet store to buy the necessities, food, treats, a chew toy, a pink collar and leash, a fasionable pink doggie bag and matching cozy blanket were also a must. I resisted the little sweater for now, but I'm sure the cute outfits are in her future. Everyone in the family is just in love with her. I hope it will be a smooth transition, but I know puppies mean a lot of work, especially for mom.

for always

He gives me a big hug for no particular reason, and then says, "Mom we sure do look cute don't we? Maybe you should take our picture so we can remember this for always" So I did. How could I resist? He cracks me up with the funny things he is always saying. I love this boy.

It's All About the Princess

She might truly be royalty. At least she has us convinced. She is happy only when getting exactly what she wants when she wants it. She looks sweet and innocent standing here in her beautiful gown, but don't be fooled by the smile.
Actually she danced for nearly an hour in her sister's old princess dress, it had been sitting in her dress box for years but Addie just noticed it today and realized it was a "real"`princess dress.

"This is mine," she said.

I said "It can be now, it used to be Sadie's but it probably doesn't fit her anymore so you can have it."

"That's because Sadie isn't the Princess, Addie is. It's my pretty dress," said Addie.

Yep.... that's my Addie.