Happy Easter

Yesterday Chris helped the kids color their Easter eggs.
Both kids really enjoyed this and amazingly no one was covered in dye at the end.

This morning I made Resurrection Rolls with the kids. They loved eating the marshmallows while I talked to them about the death and resurrection of Jesus. I dipped marshmallows in butter, rolled them in cinnamon sugar, and wrapped them up in crescent rolls. The kids were very interested in the process but they weren't thrilled with the product. The marshmallows melt, of course and the end result is an empty tomb that tastes like a cinnamon roll. Wesley said, "I don't want this" after he took the first bite. "I want one of the Easter eggs." So, the kids ate boiled eggs and Chris and I ate the yummy bread.

As we were rushing out the door I asked Chris if he could take pictures of the kids after church (I had to stay for nursery duty at 11:00). He said he tried to take photos of them but Lydia wasn't very cooperative. It looks like it started out okay.

Then it went down hill and there were several photos of Lydia trying to get off the sofa as Wesley tried to prevent her from doing so. Then there were a couple of photos like this one.

We had lunch with the Wrights today. I made baked mashed potatoes and Michelle made some delicious beef, asparagus, and salad. While the food was perfect, the children were not. They had a great time playing together but they struggled with the sitting down and eating with good manners part.

At one point before lunch, Wesley and Hunter both were sitting on the sit-n-spin. When Chris started to take a picture of them, Wesley stood up and tried standing on it. Like I said, they were a little crazy today but we all had a great time. (It looks like Wesley needs longer pants.)

Fashion Advice

..from a three year old.

As Chris was tying his tie this morning Wesley told him, "Boys and Daddies shouldn't wear purple."

Gymnastics Fun - Wordless Wednesday

These are from our last gymnastic session for a little while. Lydia loved the parachute.

The little girl behind Lydia on the beam is six months older than Lydia and already climbing everything including the refrigerator. Her gross motor skills are amazing.




Wesley can stick the landing on the rings some times.

Blossoms, Runners, and Dogs

We really wanted to see the Cherry Blossoms with my parents. So we left the house early (7:30) Sunday morning to "beat the crowd." Fortunately I heard on the radio while getting ready that there were road closures due to the 10 miler race. That meant we had to take the Metro because the parking lots where we hoped to park were closed. The kids were thrilled to take the Metro.

We saw the police escort come through in front of the first women. They finished in less than 54 minutes! The top three men finished in less than 46 minutes!

To our delight, the cherry blossoms were still beautiful despite the rain and wind on Saturday.
If you have never seen them in person, it is hard to imagine just how breathtaking they are.

An up-close shot.

There was a small group of men with the largest dogs I have ever seen. They were Irish Wolfhounds, the largest breed of dogs. This dog weighs 165 pounds!

My parents enjoyed seeing the cherry blossoms for the first time.

Wesley and Lydia liked running around and being silly. We had to be very careful that Lydia didn't fall or jump into the Tidal Basin.

The biggest thrill for Wesley was finding a live earthworm.

We made it to church by 11:00. The kids were exhausted. We went out to eat after church and Lydia fell asleep on the two-mile ride home.

If you want to see gorgeous photos of us and the Cherry Blossoms last year go here and see the ones Sally took last year.

A Rainy Morning at the Nature Center

On Friday we had a MOPS event at Hidden Pond Nature Center. We were expecting about 20 some moms and 30 some kids but it rained that morning so we had a much smaller crowd. I think all of the kids had a great time. We went inside the nature center and downstairs to the classroom. The staff brought out turtles, frogs,and snakes for the kids to look at and touch. They also told us interesting facts about the animals.

After all the kids got to touch this little tree frog, he showed off how he can climb the walls.
Look at Lydia's face. She was so excited to see and touch all the animals.
This is a black rat snake.

When the staff from the nature center visited Wesley's school, he loved the corn snake so he asked about it on Friday. Ryan asked the girl to go get the snake so Wesley could see it again. Maybe that is why Wesley thought Ryan was the greatest. He told Chris about Ryan that night.

It stopped raining long enough for us to walk around the beautiful pond. We saw turtles and geese.

It did start raining again before we left. We had such a good time. I am looking forward to going back when the sun in shining and the kids can play on the playground. But, I don't know if they get the animals out for show and tell if you have not reserved a group time.

Celebrating Easter

On Wednesday I realized that Wesley’s Easter party at school was the next day so after naptime we headed out to buy some stuff for the teacher to put in the kids’ baskets. Wesley was so excited to see all the Easter stuff at the store and he wanted it all. Thankfully, he didn’t protest when I said no.

I asked him, “What are we celebrating at Easter time?” He confidently replied, “Eggs!” Oh no! And to think that we are trying to raise him in a Christ-centered home.

I started telling him that Easter is when we celebrate Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins and His resurrection. Wesley was like, “Oh yeah, Jesus died for you and me.”

So, I went to the Christian bookstore and bought the Resurrection Eggs. The kids love them. I also read them an Easter book we have at home.

Thanks to Vitafamiliae, last year we watched the videos by Cullen’s ABCs for each egg. Wednesday night I found the video where she tells the Easter story in a little over seven minutes using the Resurrection Eggs. After watching this video that night, the next morning Wesley could tell me certain parts of the story – they nailed him on the cross, they wrapped him up in a clothe, put a big rock in front of the tomb, the rock rolled away and Jesus was alive.

My plan is to do our set of Resurrection Eggs each night. For instance, today we will review eggs one and two and open the third egg. Then I want to let the kids watch the video where Cullen opens all the eggs to tell the story. I think she does an excellent job telling the Easter story.

One of the cool things about TIVO is that you can watch YouTube on the tv using TIVO. However, last night we couldn't find the right video on the TIVO version of YouTube so the kids just watched it on my laptop.

Here are some photos from Wesley’s party at school yesterday. His teacher made them the cute bunny ears.

Wesley shared his cookie with Lydia until she got a cookie of her own.

The differences between two year olds and three and a half years olds are huge. The older kids were mostly clean after eating their cookies and jello eggs but Lydia was covered in icing.

Getting Dressed

Wesley likes to take his sweet time getting dressed. This is what happened last night when I told Wesley (too many times) to put on his underwear. Lydia obeyed my request.Now please go over and give Kendra your best tips for getting the kids out of the house on time.