Ethan's a Player

Of our 3 kids, Ethan is by far the best independent player. He pretends and plays so well by himself. He is about to outgrow his nap so he has started to have rest time or quiet time in his room. He doesn't resent this at all. Ethan has a bunch of dinosaurs and zoo animals and jungle animals of all different sizes. He can play with them for over an hour without making a peep to me. So, yesterday he came in from outside and said he wanted to play in the house. The TV time was over (they're watching less and less now that the weather is better and better) so I suggested that he bring his dinosaurs into the kitchen to play while I prepared supper. I decided to take a few pictures and one little video. You may not think it is as sweet as I do, but I love his little way of playing.




Notice the way he's got everyone lined up. He does this every time.

He's such a cutie!
Have a great week everyone

D

Easter 2009

We had a wonderful Easter this past weekend. Eric's parents came down on Friday afternoon. the weather was really nice Friday and Saturday and so we spent most of it outside.


The kids played in the backyard while Eric cooked burgers and we ate on the patio Friday night.


Saturday we played. Eric, Isaac and Grandpa played catch in the backyard for a while then we all went to a nearby park. This park is real neat because it is right on the reservoir. Even though there isn't much wind in Jackson, usually, there is almost always a breeze there coming off the water. The kids ran and played in all the open space and we ate KFC.

The weather was going to be turning bad on Easter Sunday so we did the egg hunt in the backyard after nap time on Sat. They had lots of fun and found all 74 eggs that had been hidden. Sunday I woke with such a feeling of excitement and expectation. I can only attribute this to Christ's resurrection because this is certainly NOT my usual frame of mind first thing in the morning. But I was really excited to be going to celebrate His rising with our church family. The kids opened their Easter presents and had on their pretty clothes. Worship was wonderful. Eric and Jerry had put together a great service and I was really uplifted. I know, in our tribe (the church of Christ) we have shied away from celebrating Easter with all our Christian brothers and sisters in other tribes. The reasoning (growing up) had always been,"We celebrate Easter every Sunday." As an adult, I now think that is really silly. It is wonderful to celebrate every Sunday in the form of the Lord's Supper, (and truly, every church celebrates every week, even if the Lord's supper isn't observed. Afterall, why would anyone be in a Christian church if Christ had not indeed, risen from the dead) but knowing that is is the day that Jesus' disciples found the tomb empty is really exciting to me.


After we got home we had pictures in the backyard followed by a super yummy lunch. No ham this year. Eric and I planned the menu and have decided that this will become our traditional Easter lunch. Here's what we had: Fresh fruit salsa with cinnamon tortilla chips, yogurt and berry parfaits (thanks Liz), breakfast tacos, and monkey bread.
Naptime was right after lunch and then the storms started. We got quite a bit of rain. It was refreshing. Eric's parents headed home this morning. It was a wonderful weekend. I hope you and your family had a memorable time celebrating the redeeming love of our great God.

Blessings
DDon't mind me. Just look at the rest of my lovely family. I don't know why I'm squinting so bad in this picture!

Things I'm Ready For

1: All my kids to be completely independent in the bathroom
2: No one to need their food cut up at meal time
3: All my kids to be able to buckle their own seatbelt
4: No more pullups
5: Easy bed time routines (no crying, begging, fit throwing, etc)

I do realize that getting these things means that my kids are growing up. The question is, I guess, am I so ready to have them independent in the above mentioned things that I'm ready to have them independent in other things? Things like: not asking me to play games, watch them on their bikes, take walks...you know all the stuff they beg me to do all the time. I guess it boils down to this: am I ready for them to not want me to be their best friend? The answer is no. So I'll keep cutting up food and tying laces and buckling seatbelts and soothing at bedtime...and I'll try to keep a smile on my face. I know this time of life will be over too soon.

Grace to you
D

Pictures are worth more than words

So these pictures might not be worth 1000 words, but I thought I'd give you something to look at instead of read. You will probably recognize most of these pictures from the descriptions from earlier posts. I didn't blog about all of them. Some are just for your visual enjoyment. I think my kids are beautiful. Enjoy the week
D