Easter

Easter Sunday is finally here! This is one of my favorite days of the year, not only do we get chocolate and new clothes but we celebrate one of the greatest miracles ever, the resurrection!

The kids and I got up early and got dressed so we could go to the early service at the BX. For those of you who don't attend BBC, this is the contemporary service at our church, the preaching is a live simulcast with the more traditional sanctuary service. I am so glad we went. The music was awesome and they sang one of my favorites, In Christ Alone/The Solid Rock and one of the kids' favorites, Mighty To Save. Pastor Robby preached a wonderful message on the sacrifice which was not something I had heard preached before. It was a very powerful service. After the service, we headed to Sunday School. The kids always enjoy going to their classes and learn so much. They just finished up a six week session on the covenant relationship between Jonathan and David. Once Sunday School was over we headed to the sanctuary to listen to the orchestra play the prelude. It was a powerful version of "Were You There" with a video reminiscent of the old black and white silent movies. It was a great way to start the service. Unfortunately we couldn't stay because I had nursery duty. The kids always enjoy helping me out with that! After church we headed home to change clothes before going over to Roy's parents' house for lunch and an egg hunt. Roy's sister, Allison, and her two boys, Peyton age 13 and Logan age 10, were there also. It was nice to get to relax and just enjoy the meal since Roy and Amy prepared/bought the food! When lunch was over, Roy, Allison and I headed outside to hide the eggs. The kids had a lot of fun hunting them and eating the candy. We ended up with 2 gallon-size bags of candy, which is way more than we need! Since we didn't have an evening service we headed home so the kids could get their Easter baskets. Sunday mornings never work for us to do that because Roy goes to church so much earlier than the rest of us. The kids loved their treats and we had to call MeMa and PePa and thank them.

I think it was a perfect way to celebrate Easter, wonderful worship and family time. It doesn't get much better than that!

Spring Break in Athens, GA

The last few days of Spring Break we headed to Athens, GA - our old stomping ground - to visit with friends. Our plan was to have a low-key time and let the kids relax and have fun ... and it worked. We got to Athens on Thursday at lunchtime and met Auntie Shannon and her two kids, Mason age 4 and Raigan age 2, at Memorial Park. We had a picnic lunch and the kids played on the playground. We also walked over to the Bear Creek Zoo and had fun visiting the animals there. Mason had a soccer practice that night so the kids played on the playground next to the field until he was through. Then we went back to Steve and Gwen's - Auntie Shannon's parents - and spent the night with them. The kids were exhausted but excited to be having a slumber party together. The next morning we got up and played around and relaxed at the house. At one point Auntie Shannon offered to paint Lydia and Raigan's toenails for them. They LOVED this! That night we headed over to Steven's grandparents house for a birthday cookout for Shannon's big 3-0. A lot of her friends from church and family members came. The kids had plenty to play with outside while the grown-ups enjoyed visiting. There was plenty of good food, cake and gifts to make the party even more successful. The bad weather even held off long enough for us to enjoy playing outside until dark. After everyone was thoroughly exhausted we headed back to Steve and Gwen's for bed. Saturday morning came much earlier than the adults hoped it would! We had a big family breakfast around 8:30 and then got dressed for Mason's soccer game. The kids played on yet another playground while we watched the game. After the game we headed over to UGA to see the campus. Since it was G-Day the kids got to see the band, cheerleaders and football players. They had a blast! We headed back to Steve and Gwen's for a quick bite to eat and then headed back home. It was a great way to end Spring Break!

Kindergarten Children's Choir Spring Performance

The children have been working every Wednesday on learning their songs for the Spring performance. Every year I look forward to the Sundays when the children sing because I love hearing kids sing praises to God! Even before my children were old enough to be in the choir I loved to hear kids singing in church. It just makes my heart happy!
Caleb enjoys going to choir each week and learning the songs. He isn't much of a performer but he loves to sing at home with us. He did a great job singing and remembering the hand motions to the songs. Ok, I know several of you are wondering if I am going to avoid the huge elephant in the room, and the answer is, no I am not. Sebastian's turn as the kindergarten nose-picker was hilarious! I'm sure it is funnier because it isn't my child but every year there is one child who stands on stage picking his nose the whole time. This year it was Sebastian. Roy posted the video on facebook for everyone's enjoyment! Sebastian always entertains us. The Christmas concert was just as funny but less gross since there wasn't any nose picking involved. In his defense, he didn't want to be up there at all that night and after he picked it once and got the laughter from the crowd it just egged him on. He is such a sweet boy and we love him so! He definitely stole the show this year.

Easter Egg Hunt

This past Sunday we had our annual Easter Egg Hunt at church. It is always such a treat for the kids especially. It ended up being a cool and windy day for an Easter Egg Hunt but we braved the weather in search of some candy. After the morning worship service, we headed over the the BX for lunch. We stuffed ourselves on ham, mac and cheese, green beans, mashed potatoes, rolls, and brownies and then we had to roll out the door to chase Easter Eggs!
The kid all lined up around the field and when the whistle blew they were off!The kids started out with a limit of 12 eggs per person to make sure everyone got some. After that, all the kids were able to run back onto the field and keep collecting eggs until they were all gone.

Once all the eggs had been collected the children were gathered in the middle of the field for a group picture.

We came home with enough candy to fill a gallon-size ziploc bag and enough Easter Eggs to use for our own Easter Egg Hunt next weekend. It was a wonderful way to kick off the Easter week and celebrate Palm Sunday.