Celebrating Easter!

Unfortunately, I came down with the flu on Easter weekend...so some of the special things that I had wanted to do were tabled but we were still very capable of celebrating the grace and gifts of Jesus.  The Easter season is one of redemption and salvation, rebirth and renewal and we did our best to emphasize these important aspects to the kids.  It's all too easy to get caught up in the eggs and bunnies ~ and while we enjoy those things very much, we talked a lot about the true meanings of this season.

We colored a few eggs on Saturday night...

Kyle and I managed to get a few things together before the Easter bunny made an appearance!

oh, we had two very excited little ones rushing down in the morning.

I think Kennedy was up well before 6:00, anxious to see if the Easter bunny had made it!

Rapunzel pajamas

a little fun with Bertie Botts, Every Flavor Beans

Carter liked the grass flavor but drew a line at eating ear wax.  A nibble of the soap one had him gagging for a bit!

lots of fun little treasures

Carter, on his own, had decided to give up playing the Wii for Lent.  And he did such an awesome job.  Not that he plays every day, but it was never an issue and he could verbalize why his was making that sacrifice.  I was really proud of him.  So, on Easter morning, as I was getting breakfast ready, he played a quick game of bowling.

Happy Easter!

my loves

of course we had to take a ton of pictures before we left for church!  Thankfully the kids had enough sugar that they were willing participants.

The weather was gorgeous (nearly 80 and beautiful sunshine!), so we stopped along Dawson's Creek on our way out to Hillsboro.

The cherry blossom trees were in bloom and it was just too pretty and springy to pass up!

my little man is getting so big

the boys

Jake is getting so old and grey, he's such a good dog and we're lucky to have him

my sweet girl

Happy Easter!

He is Risen!!!

Easter Egg Hunt!

For the second year in a row, we had a beautiful, sun shiny day for our neighborhood's Easter egg hunt.  Unfortunately, I got the flu a day or two before, but I managed to pull myself out of bed and torture the kids with pictures! 

(Thankfully it was a short lived bug and I was feeling much better by Easter morning)

Spring!

It was a clear, crisp, sunny morning ~ perfect for hunting eggs!

I had to include this one, too, because it's such a testament to what we go through in our attempts to get one good picture.  One child is smiling and looks great while the other is being goofy.  No matter, this is a great "real life" shot, as the kids are always being silly!

Kennedy and her friends, Kaitlin and Gracie

serious conversations were had, I'm sure

Carter with Nate and Jacob

Kennedy searching for eggs

We are so fortunate to have neighbors who are good friends, too.

It makes activities like these so much fun!

a basket full of eggs!

This is Carter's last year with the younger kids.  He'll move up to the last area for 7-9 year olds next year.  I vividly remember our first egg hunt when he was just two years old ~ time flies!

Even though I was feeling awful, I love this picture of Carter and me...he was having so much fun out there and was so filled with joy.  I love times like these and hope that I don't forget them when days are challenging.

couldn't resist trying to get a cute picture with the spring flowers

A fun and festive tradition that we all really enjoyed!

Easter 2012

Happy Easter!

Easter morning started off bright and early in our house.  After staying up late to finish baskets and breakfast preparations, I was kind of dragging.  But after seeing the joy on the kids' faces, I perked right up.

Carter and Kennedy and all of their loot.

That Easter bunny is one generous fellow, lots of fun gifts and treats.

Once the baskets had been properly inspected and emptied, the egg hunt was on.

The Easter bunny hid a lot of eggs around the house and some were even a little tricky.  Instead of lots of candy, many were filled with coins instead.

Helping and comparing.

He is risen!

He is risen indeed!

 

I love Easter. I love the promise that was fulfilled on that first Easter morning and I am grateful for my life in a forgiving God.

Sometimes I wish that the day wasn't so secular and commercialized, but I understand that these traditions are done in fun and we tried very hard not to loose sight of the true gift of Easter - our eternal salvation in Jesus Christ, our risen Lord.

I also must shamefully admit that I did not do a good job projecting the love of Christ this particular morning.  Easter morning was a bit stressful...coupled with a lack of sleep and two children who wanted nothing to do with their cranky mother and it was a recipe for disaster.  We piled into the car (after desperately trying to snap a few decent pictures) and raced off to church.  As we drove, I silently prayed, asking for forgiveness and feeling humbled that it was granted.  I felt so undeserving.  Again, I was reminded of the grace of God.
 
Easter service was beautiful, as always.  The choir sang an incredible song to start off the hour and I loved proclaiming together "He is risen indeed!"  Always one of my very favorite Sundays of the year.  I felt so filled and uplifted, loved and forgiven.
 
We were able to restart our day after church and enjoyed the glorious sunshine and time with family. 
A truly beautiful day!

A few snapshots before church

Even when in need of a haircut, he's a cutie! 

He actually asked me to take this picture of him - silly boy!

Grandma and Kennedy

Our sweet nephew, Brady, dressed in his Easter best

I had to include this picture, because it's so Kennedy.  Equal parts sweet little girl in a pretty dress and rough and tough, bike riding, spirited girl.

Egg Hunt

Sometimes I wish we lived in a climate where we could wear cute Easter dresses and seersucker shorts for our egg hunts, instead of fleece and rain boots.  This year, however, was a beautiful, sunshiny day for our annual neighborhood egg hunt.  The morning started off cold, but the sun was shining, so it kind of felt like we had won the jackpot!

A few tortured pictures before we headed off down the street...I often wonder how the kids will describe me when they are older and I have to believe that they will mention the constant camera in my hands.

Ready to hunt for some eggs!

We picked up two more on our walk down the street!

Nate and Olivia joined the kids as we headed for the hunt.

Excited for the whistle to blow

Patiently waiting

I'm not sure if it was because Easter fell on a weekend of spring break, but there were very few kids this year so there was an abundance of eggs for everyone.  Both kids had over flowing baskets...

And Carter took to stuffing eggs in his jacket pockets and pants. 

I would have probably tried to deter this behavior had it not been for the small turnout.  I figured someone had to clean up all those eggs, so it might as well be the kids!

This is serious business, folks.

Carter was the big winner and collected 5 eggs with dollars inside.  I'd say it was a fairly successful egg hunt