Easter Morning

Here are some pictures of the kids this morning...they were having a good time together before church, and then enjoyed the beautiful flower arrangement in the sanctuary after worship.  We were able to bring some of the lovely flowers home.

Taking pictures of monkeys children is tricky...

We live just a few houses from our church, so we walk (or run...).

I pray that they always want to hurry to the Lord's house like that. Picking out flowers...

Hope. Love. Forgiveness. Life. Joy. Happy Easter!  Jesus is risen; He is risen, indeed!

All Glory, Laud, and Honor

The children's choirs sang in worship this morning.  They processed in waving palm branches along with the adult choir, singing praises to God; the trumpet played, a mighty and powerful sound reminding me of the trumpets of heaven.  The arrival of the King is something to be celebrated.

All glory, laud, and honor

To thee, Redeemer, King!

To whom the lips of children

Made sweet hosannas ring.

Thou art the King of Israel,

Thou David's royal Son,

Who in the Lord's name comest,

The King and blessed One.

The people of the Hebrews

With palms before Thee went;

Our praise and prayers and anthems

Before Thee we present.

To Thee, before Thy passion,

They sang their hymns of praise;

To Thee, now high exalted,

Our melody we raise.

Thou didst accept their praises;

Accept the prayers we bring,

Who in all good delightest,

Thou good and gracious king!

Hypothetically

Have you ever played Chinese Checkers?  I loved this game growing up and remember playing with my best friend for hours. I just introduced the big kids to the game a couple of days ago, and they enjoy playing too. Instead of regular Chinese Checkers, though, it has a twist...it's hypothetical Chinese Checkers. Is anyone else familiar with this version of the game?  Talk about playing for hours...you see, the possibilities are endless.  My kids like to play like this:  one makes a move; the other says,"What if you did this? (He or she moves the ball/marble to another possible hole)  Then I could do this."  (Then this child moves another ball several different ways, and then we have to try to remember where all the balls were at the end of the last person's go, before all of the possible variations were played out.)  Then the next person goes.  One of the kids says,"What if you did this?  (They then proceed to move the ball just played into a new spot which could have been a possibility, except the ball had already been moved)  Then I could have done this..." (and then they move their own ball all around, skipping and jumping across the board in several different ways, and then we have to figure out where all the balls were at the end of the last person's go, before all of those variations were played out.) This is a mentally exhausting game, not to mention a test of one's patience and endurance.  It is always amazing how well they remember where all the balls were originally, though.  I have to give them credit-they can come up with some interesting stuff (however crazy it might drive me at times).  One good thing about this game is there may not be a winner, because the whole thing is hypothetical.

Digging Deep

There are plans around here to improve our backyard.  Mike and the kids are going to plant some new grass, some pretty wildflowers, and maybe other flowers as well as vegetables.  Right now, however, it's pretty much dirt, with a few blades of grass here and there.  Our three moles children have been digging in this dirt for days now, and loving every minute of it. Eliana discovered early on that although her shoes have holes in them, those holes are not made for dirt...

More than once I had to rescue her toes from her self-inflicted dirt-attacks. Christian, true to form, enjoyed jumping on the shovel.  He liked to see how much dirt he could get on it at one time. He also liked to dig a little here, and then move over and make a hole there.

He's a little guy, but he's strong. He had a lot of fun with that shovel and took great pride in his digging.

Michaela had a plan for her hole. She would dig, and then fill and pat.

Three, so different, yet so much the same...

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

This move has been a family affair; we've all been involved in the packing and the relocating, the cleaning and the unpacking, and even though it's taking a long time I think we can all see the light at the end of the tunnel. Christian has been so excited to help.  I love getting these glimpses into his heart.  Meaningful tasks are so rewarding for him.

I was having an identity crisis...I had no place to put my clean laundry.

We are slowly filling up our new house with our belongings.

Michaela has taken a great deal of pride in arranging her own room (even though the first two nights we've slept here she was in Christian's bedroom).

We had big plans to make lasagna and a nice salad for our first dinner here.  Papa John's helped us out instead (we did manage the salad).

There is still an unbelievable amount to do, in both houses.  But it is coming together.  And I have a lot of hope for an organized home. On another note, the time for my parents to leave is approaching and I am sad about that.  I will miss them very much.  I am grateful for the time that they are able to spend here throughout the year...