A Rainy Day

When we woke up this morning it was gray and raining. The kind of day that is best spent indoors, snuggling under a blanket and not going out into the downpour. But, it was a school day for both kids and I had a doctor's appointment. So we went out into it, with plans to be warm and cozy this afternoon.

After we were back home and finished with homework I heard it start to rain again. It was pouring! So I went to the front door and saw that it was hailing. I called the kids to come see and they wanted to go outside and play in it. I'm working on seeing the joy in our daily lives and so I decided to be a spontaneous and fun mom and said OK. They got their rainboots, raincoats and umbrellas and headed out into the thunderstorm.

They had so much fun stomping in the puddles and just being outside in the rain. There may have been a few times that I had to interfere in the joy when they tried to eat hail off the ground (ew), but otherwise, pure, unadulterated fun! After a particularly loud thunderclap, Ava decided she has enough of being outside in the rain, and came back inside. We warmed up with warm baths and hot chocolate. I love my kids so much and love seeing life through their eyes.

P.S. My appointment today was for a thyroid biopsy. I have a small nodule on my thyroid that has grown in the past six months so the doctor wanted to check it out. I should have results in 3-5 days. She doesn't seem too concerned about it. The biopsy went well, I just have a slightly sore neck and little bruise.

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter celebration today. The Easter bunny visited us, we had a yummy breakfast, we went to church and then we ate too much food with some good friends.

But first, we had to prepare. On Friday night we decorated Easter eggs. Ava was especially excited to decorate eggs and made some beautiful ones. Dan showed Drew how to make a multicolored egg and he did a great job making a green and blue one with his name on it. I like to make sure that the kids know the real reasons we celebrate, not just focus on candy and gifts. So, after the eggs were all dyed, we all snuggled on the couch and watched an animated movie about Easter. It told the story of the Passion in a kid appropriate way. On Saturday we made sugar cookies in the shape of a cross and homemade carrot cake, also in the shape of a cross.

Easter Sunday finally arrived and as soon as he opened his eyes Drew said "It's Easter!" The kids came out and saw their baskets full of goodies and then got right to looking for Easter eggs the bunny had hidden around the house. I made special Easter breakfast for us including creme brulee baked french toast (YUM), fruit and sausage with mimosas for the adults. Then we all got ready for church. I love having church at 10:30. It makes holidays (and Sundays in general) so much less stressful.

After having a great sermon from Pastor Rick at church, we had an Easter egg hunt despite the cold and windy weather. What happened to our 70 degree days from last week? The kids didn't seem to be bothered by it and ran around the grass collecting more eggs with their friends.











Since it was just going to be us and Uncle Scott for dinner, our good friends the Quayles invited us over to their house. We already had all the fixings for our dinner, so we brought it over there and had one giant Easter dinner. We brought ham, scalloped potatoes, asparagus and carrot cake. They had pork tenderloin, cheesey potatoes, cauliflower and broccoli casserole, raspberry lemonade jello and three kinds of dessert. Needless to say, we ate too much!

We had such a wonderful Easter celebrating Jesus, our risen Lord, and we hope you did too!