Taking a Snack Break

Kailey sat like this for thirty minutes one day while I was working in the kitchen. It cracked me up to see her with her snack and Fisher Price catalog. Funny girl!

Style Show '08

Caitlin (she made her dress), Kailey, me, John V, Carissa & John's mom, Sandy (better known to my readers as Nonnie) Don't you just love a full-on shot when you're pregnant? It has a nice blimp effect!

When I get posting, there's just no stopping me! : ) Until I run out of new pictures, that is. As I've mentioned before, I took sewing from ages 5 to 17. My sisters have also taken from my teacher and she's had one of us in classes for 23 years this summer! That's a lot of relationship! She is my mentor, friend, and additional grandmother, and all of us love her dearly. Every year she has a style show at her church where the girls are able to model a dress they've made that year for their family and friends. It started out with us modeling for her Sunday school class and wearing both dresses we had made (with a super quick change between modeling, just like a real model!). Now there are always around 60-75 girls modeling, I'm not exactly sure of my numbers, so it takes a little while just to get everyone out there once! My mother-in-law always teaches the girls to model before the show and then gets them on and off the stage. John's sister was my teacher's first student all those years ago. Caitlin looked beautiful in her gorgeous dress and it was another fun style show night to add to the memories!

Easter - Part Two

Our second Easter celebration was at Marmee and Grandpa's with my mom's side of the family. Our gatherings get bigger and bigger! We love it! We had a wonderful time of celebration with my dad reminding us all of what we were rejoicing in and John V having the opportunity to say his verse to everyone. The prize eggs at my house have always been empty to remind us that the empty tomb is the biggest gift of all! This year all the eggs were empty and then the kids turned in their eggs for prizes. This worked great so that we didn't have candy everywhere and whiny, sugared-up kids! My sister hid almost four hundred eggs for four kids - they got their fill of hunting! It was too fun to watch them get so serious about filling their baskets!

We celebrated the March (and Feb. 28th) birthdays - Da, Cameron and Caitlin. It's hard to believe my baby sister is fourteen!

This girl was serious about gathering eggs!

"Here's another one. My basket is overflowing!"

"I found MORE!"

Sweet Easter girl

Some of those eggs were hidden!

Cousins playing in the bin of eggs after the hunt

Easter

Finally I am getting around to getting some Easter pictures posted. I just downloaded all the photos from our camera and had 187. I'm a little behind. I'll start with Easter at Nonnie and Poppie's. With several music ministers in the family, we do our celebrating a little early because Resurrection Sunday is a very full one for the people behind those beautiful church services!!! It's a good reminder to be grateful to all the people who make it possible for us to worship and enjoy those wonderful holiday celebrations at church. Easter was very special for us this year because of John V beginning to understand what it means. We spent very little time talking about egg hunts or Easter bunnies while trying to make sure we focused on the gift of everlasting life. I was teary many times as I heard myself telling the old, old story and realizing how fresh it is through a child's eyes. Both kids loved the resurrection eggs and John V learned one of his first verses that he would quote to anyone who asked him, "Jesus is not here. He is alive!" I don't think I will ever forget this first "understood" Easter with my oldest child.

Knocking on Nonnie's door - when she opened it, John greeted her with, "Jesus is alive!"

I see an orange egg!

Don't know what this face was about but it cracks me up!

Kailey was seriously into hunting eggs - I think it's that put stuff into other stuff stage

Checking out the sibling basket

"Yeah, sure we'll all sit down and take a picture with our Easter baskets!" (Right, Mom.)

The kids blew bubbles in the backyard with Nonnie and Kristen

The twins weren't big on participation this year. Next year will be crazy!

The cousins popping bubbles

John and Caden are best buddies

"If you wait for the men to do it, it will never get done!"

Playing piano with Uncle Jordan - I love this picture!