Easter Morning

My kids love Easter almost as much as they love Christmas.

This one started bright and early.

6am

The boys were happy.  They got what they wanted, new DS games.

But the most fun was Alexandria.

She jumped out of bed and ran to go see when AJ told her what he saw in her basket.

Then with tears of complete joy in her eyes she ran in to tell me what she saw.

It was the American Girl doll that you can't buy anymore because they stopped making her, Elizabeth.

Whatever the Easter Bunny did to find that doll, I'm sure, was completely worth it when she saw those tears. 

To top it off, Isabel got Elizabeth's best friend, Felicity.

They don't make her anymore either.

In Alexandria's words, "The Easter Bunny does miracles!"

I don't know about miracles, but maybe just a lot of searching and a little luck.

And, of course there was candy, lots of candy.

I think the most exciting moment for me though, besides the tears of joy, was finding this when I went out to water the garden.

This must be Papi's Easter present from the Easter Bunny.

He planted an avocado seed in January.

This wasn't just any avocado seed.

It's an avocado seed from an avocado from the Dominican Republic.

These avocados are as big as a baby's head.

It's been almost four months since he placed the seed in the pot.

I had given up on it growing.

But the seed chose Easter morning to begin it's life.

Oh the symbolism.

Thanks to this great gift, Papi will be so excited about the avocado tree beginning to grow that maybe he won't totally realize or ask exactly how the Easter Bunny pulled off Alexandria's "miracle" this year.

Easter Eve Cookies

Sorry, I'm a little late with this.  And although the kids didn't think they were the best cookies ever, they were fun to make.  So, I wanted to post this to remember it for next year.

Easter Story Cookies

(To be made the night before Easter)

·         1 cup whole Pecans

·         1 tsp. vinegar

·         3 egg whites

·         pinch salt

·         1 cup sugar

·         zipper baggie

·         wooden spoon

·         tape

·         Bible

Pre heat over to 300 degrees (this is important, don’t wait till you’re half done with the recipe!)

Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces.

Explain that after Jesus was arrested, He was Beaten by the Roman soldiers. (Read John 19:1-3)

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1-tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl.

Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink. (Read John 19:28-30)

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life.

Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. (Read John 10:10-11).

Sprinkle a little salt into each child’s hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl.

Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus’ followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. (Read Luke 23:27)

Add 1-cup sugar.

Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to Love and belong to him. (Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16)

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed.

Explain that the color white represents the purity in God’s eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. (Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3)

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet.

Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid. (Read Matthew 27:57-60)

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door.

Explain that Jesus’ tomb was sealed. (Read Matthew 27:65-66)

GO TO BED!

Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus’ followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. (Read John 16:20 and 22).

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie.

Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookie is hollow! On the first Easter Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. (Read Matthew 28:1-9)

CPK

Remember back in the day when there were no worries and you could pass the time playing with your Pound Puppies, Popples and Cabbage Patch Kids?  Most of of these good things are just memories now, like these guys.  

Meet Rae Caron and Lorenzo Barney.  Twins!

I got them for Christmas when I was nine.

My mom was inspired.

These two little kids got a lot of my attention.  They even had a rocking horse just their size that was just for them.  After a few good years I eventually got too old to play with dolls and these two along with many other stuffed toys got put into storage.  Didn't Disney just do a whole movie about that?

Unfortunately some of my old stuffed friends died in my parent's fire.

But these two guys escaped the devastation and they're back!  Time to let my own girls love them as much as I did.

They came to visit us with their vintage suitcase full of clothes.

And my girls loved it.  

They played for hours. 

Dear Cabbage Patch Kids you still have your charm!

Treats

Sometimes it's the fun, everyday things you want to remember.

Like eating ice cream for treats after a lovely Family Home Evening.

Alexandria is starting to do our lessons too.

I'm loving it!

When?

Someone please tell me WHEN this little girl grew up?

Conference Clubhouse

Where did you watch conference?  We had the best seat in the house, well clubhouse.  It was a beautiful Sunday morning, being outside in the nice spring air, letting the kids color their conference pages, all while listening to the wonderful talks.  I think we'll do this every year.

The April Fools Joke That Wasn't

There are so many kids, not just mine but other welcome little visitors as well, that run through this house after school that we spend most of the afternoon with our doors wide open.  So when Isabel told me, "Mommy, there's a bird in the house,"  I didn't believe her especially because it was April 1st.

I faked a laugh and replied, "April Fools!"  She looked confused and ran away to keep playing with her friends.  Turns out there really was a lost birdie in our home.

It was a confused tiny thing, running into the glass over and over again thinking that it could get outside.

 DJ started to cry.  

He has a soft heart for animals.

He was afraid it was going to die from hitting the glass that hard.

 Finally it flew out of the blinds so we could close them and direct it towards the light of the doors.

 At last, the little guy had left the building.  Thinking back, I kind of wonder if that colorful creature wasn't playing an April Fools joke on us.

Missing Take 2

This time I was here.  

Thank you AJ for losing your first tooth while you were with me.

This kid takes pride in the way he looks.

So, I was a little worried that he would have issues when he started to lose his teeth and I was trying to figure out explanations to help him through this awkward stage of life.  But he was excited to be growing up.  And I'm happy for him . . .

for both of them.

A Little More Than an Imagination Vacation

Our Spring Break was magical thanks to my brother and his awesome wife.

With a little imagination we visited more places in two days than we could have ever done in a whole week.

Where to start?  

I guess with the first day.

Hollywood!  Amazing because our first adventure took us back about 20 years.  We saw Indiana Jones at his prime.

We then continued our brief time in history and landed in Chicago to meet the one and only.

 It was then on to Italy where the children got to watch the gondolas and hear the beautiful vocals of the gondoliers as they steered their way through the canals of Venice.

We even made it to Hawaii where we saw a spectacular volcanic display.  The heat from this natural occurrence was enough to keep us warm on the cool breezy night.

It was then back to Italy.  Only this time we took over our own palace.  You may have heard of it . . . Cesar's Palace?  Definitely, one of the kids' favorite spots since it is ours.

Here the kids begged and pleaded but I just couldn't give them what they wanted.  A wish from this desire granting genie would mean that they would be big tomorrow.  And they're growing up too fast as it is.  So we continued onward without looking back.

Our next stop brought us to Atlantis.  This is not just some made up underwater city.  We saw it and the kids will tell you it is real.

The highlight of our imagination vacation was traveling to the jungles of Africa, Asia and Australia.  It truly was a magical jungle where all the animals loved to sit on your shoulders and swing from your head.

Momma kangaroos didn't even mind a bit if you held their little joey.  Isn't he cute?

There was a scary moment when we found out that R.O.U.S.s really exist.  But not to worry, we only encountered the baby ones.

And I swear to you this guy's beak is fake.  Apparently he puts it on every morning to scare away any predators but really his smaller less intimidating beak is somewhere underneath.

 Even the two toed sloth hung out with us for a while.

See, I wasn't kidding when I said the animals liked to swing from your head.

It's a bear cat.  But I'm sure you already knew that.

Armadillo anyone?

As you can see, I think we had the most well traveled Spring Break ever.  Crazy that it all happened only six hours from our home.

This post would not be complete without AJ's version of our trip.  Following is the low down he told Papi on the phone this morning as we were filling up at the gas station to come back home.

"We went to the gym.  Came home.  

Got cleaned up and packed. 

 Then we went to Las Vegas.  

We lived happily ever after.  

And now, we're going back home."