Easter Pictures

Here are our Easter pictures from Portrait Innovations. The girls did fabulous! They listened to the photographer and smiled on cue. I was so proud of them.

In Christ Alone

As I think about Easter approaching this Sunday, I've been drawn to this video/song. May we always remember where our Hope is found.



Till He returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I'll stand...

The Easter Basket

I have really enjoyed having a visual reminder in our breakfast nook of what we are learning each month since afterall, we eat 3 meals a day there. We had to take the Love tree down but our easter basket is now in its place. The basket hold special eggs often to referred to as resurrection eggs that I printed off of one of my frequently visited websites, Lapbook Lessons.



Each egg has a picture on it of something that symbolizes a piece of the easter story. For example, last week we read about Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and put a picture of a palm frond into the basket. We then colored a picture of Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem and glued palm fronds along the path.

I love the time I get with Anna at night to read her bible with her. Her memory from one night to the next amazes me and her questions stretch me. I pray our conversations will stay on her heart for years to come.

A Helmet of her Own

We have been enjoying the warmer weather here in NC and spending many afternoons outside. The girls enjoy taking turns on the tricycle and scooter but didn't overly like sharing a helmet. But now, Maddie has a helmet of her own. While Anna and I laid in bed sick on Saturday, Erik and Maddie went to Dick's Sporting Goods to find Maddie a helmet.



And here she is going for a test ride (I just noticed how loose the strap looks, I think it has been tightened up since then!)

Maddie's First Haircut

I took Anna last week to get her haircut and while we were there I decided to get Maddie's cut as well. This happened to be the day I dropped my cell in the toilet, so I don't actually have any pictures while it was being cut, but Maddie looked so cute. She sat in a red fire truck, licked a lollipop and watched her favorite show, Caillou. With all these props, she sat perfectly still and Ms. Maria was able to trim up the back.



Anna's haircut looked great as well! I had been cutting Anna's hair over the past year and it was starting to get a little thick so Ms. Maria gave her a good shape-up.

Getting Ready for St. Patrick's Day

I have to admit, I've never given much thought to Saint Patrick's Day other than to wear green to escape someone's pinch (does that still apply now that I'm a grown-up?) This year I decided to find out a little more and do a few St. Patty crafts with the girls. We have been reading The Story of Saint Patrick's Day by Patricia Pingry and learning how Saint Patrick was a priest who is told to have used the shamrock to teach people about the Holy Trinity.

This week we are going to be using printables from Christian Preschool Printables to talk about the Trinity as well.

Soccer

On Saturday Anna and I headed over to The MVP Sports Factory in Wake Forest for try #2 at soccer. The previous week Anna had tried a class where the parents left the field which was a little too much for her so I switched her to a class that Erik or I could participate in as well. Anna had a blast kicking the soccer balls into the goals and playing all the games.

We ended the morning with a stop at Dunkin Donuts.



I look forward to taking her again this Saturday.

What is Easter?

We found this book tucked away on the shelves at our neighborhood used book store, sadly it looked like it had never been read. The book starts off by asking

Is Easter about hunting eggs?
I do that every year.
Does it mean eating chocolate stuff?
I ate my bunny's ear.

After going through several other things that children often do at Easter it goes on to say

Easter means much more than that.
It's all about God's son.
See, God sent Jesus down to earth
To die for everyone.

I like how this book acknowledges that egg hunts, eating chocolate bunnies and jelly beans and dressing up in your "sunday best" are all fun but declares Easter's not about that stuff...It's all about God's son.

As I write every year, my family's long-standing (i.e. before I was born) tradition for Easter is to all meet in Jacksonville, Florida at the Ponte Vedra Inn. This year we'll have 25 people as we celebrate the tradition and spend our last year there. There you wake up to an easter basket at your door, across the street they have an easter egg hunt with colorful eggs, a parade of all the children in their bonnets and white patent leather shoes and Sunday easter buffets complete with ice sculptures of bunnies. While all of this is fun (and I'm so thankful to my dad and grandfather for keeping such a tradition) it is easy to miss in all of the hustle and bustle what easter is really about. I pray this year the girls would start to have an understanding that it really is all about God's son.

Together

This morning Maddie woke up before Anna and after I brought her downstairs she started looking around and calling out for Anna. Awhile later when Anna woke up and came downstairs Maddie quickly jumped down from my lap, set her milk cup on the floor and stood awaiting a hug from her big sister. The girls hugged as they do so often during the day and it made me smile. For the past 2 weeks the girls have played together soooooo well. Anna has really stepped up as a big sister and helps Maddie whenever she can. Yesterday Maddie was screaming in the car and Anna put her hand on Maddie's arm and said "it's ok Maddie".

Here are a few recent pics of the girls playing together: