Preparing Our Minds and Hearts for Easter

I took the boys this morning to get Easter photos taken to send out in our Easter greetings that we send to family and friends. The boys were both very well behaved and we got several great shots, but this one turned out to be my favorite from the bunch to send in the cards:



This afternoon we came home to have a lovely afternoon of outdoor activity. Ian loves to play outside, but boy does he find a way to get filthy and fast! He played with his bubble bucket, bounced in his bounce house, played with his Tonka truck and any number of other things. Here is my boy with a dirty face only a mother could love, playing with his bubbles:


This evening Ian and I watched Pinocchio together. It was the first time that he has sat through an entire movie with me. I can tell that he is getting a longer attention span. That is part of the reason why I decided to get the Resurrection Eggs for this year. I got them out and went through the first 3 so that we can get done by Easter. Ian listened intently and could repeat back why the little surprise inside the eggs was special. I have always hated how commercial Easter is and have tried to make sure that we read stories about Jesus during this time instead of things about bunnies. I do think bunnies are fine and the Easter bunny does come to our house, but I really want Ian to understand the real reason behind Easter. These eggs seem to be the perfect combination of the "fun egg" and the real meaning behind Easter. I did have to go through and ask questions about the stories on a preschool level, but Ian seemed to understand the lessons. Here he is holding his carton of Resurrection Eggs and showing off the silver coins from the story of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas.

Routines!

I just love routines. They keep me sane. Last week when we were on vacation we had NO routine. And while we were having fun, the tiredness crept in and the sickies came to hide and then we came home. And we brought with us crankiness and sickness and our routine was still gone. Well today, I feel like we are getting back to our routine finally! The kids were actually in bed on time, we ate meals at normal hours and we went to the library like we do every week on Thursday.

I think I just need to make a routine for my chores. Maybe then they would all get done! Nah! Routines like that are boring! LOL

No Joke! There IS at Least 1 Thing That I LIKE about Texas

BLUE BONNETS! In all honesty, the wild flowers here are gorgeous and the blue bonnets are especially so. I have always envied those ladies that I have known through the years that have had photos of their kids, themselves, whomever, etc taken in the Texas Blue Bonnets. Well I finally got my chance! I've met some new friends here in Texas and they were able to steer me to the correct spot and one of them even helped me out and took a few photos, too! (Thank you Stephanie Moody!)

A Vacation from Vacation Please!!

I need a recovery from vacation. My kids have been sick with colds and I haven't been getting enough rest. I had to call out from work today to take Aaron to the doctor to get his ears checked. It's nothing. (Thank you, God!) And he seems much better this evening after being up last night with a temp of 101 all night. He actually ate a little bit of dinner, but has been nursing like crazy since we got home. I worked yesterday, but came home to his fever and felt like I had to stay home with him or I'd be a bad mom.

Vacation was good. We visited lots of family as well as Mickey Mouse. It was a whirlwind and I'm feeling exhausted. Our pics are posted on the kids' website. I don't have the energy to upload any for here.