The Real Easter...

Once again we were blessed to have my parents with us to celebrate the "Superbowl of Church," as my pastor refers to Easter. Friday night was highlighted by communion at the Good Friday Service. Despite the return of the rain, it was wonderful to celebrate the "Real Easter" at church, commemorating His resurrection!

Love My Boys!

Goof photos seem to be a family tradition.

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 The rain stopped long enough for a little hunting time, but was misting again during the last round.

Easter Scrooge...

On Saturday before Easter, we attended the annual community Easter Egg Hunt. It turned out to be the most beautiful day we've had all year, which meant a large crowd. The hunt takes place on the grounds of one of our local fire stations, and typically begins with the honk of a fire engine horn. Someone didn't get the memo to not honk the horn for everyone's attention. And this poor guy evidently was a rookie, and didn't understand that there is no way you can call back a herd of 5-8 year olds to restart an Easter egg hunt. Thus, the Easter Scrooge....

Notice that eventually Kaia came back, but Jaelyn was focused and never heard the hollering. That is why she managed to come back with two special tickets! The first she gave to a young boy who was crying because he did not get any eggs. We later learned he had autism. She had no idea what it meant to get a ticket, because in the several years we have been attending, we had only won one prize, but she does not remember that. The ticket she kept, but did not know at the time, was for this adorable snuggly bunny. I love Jaelyn's compassion!

Share Bears...

For weeks we heard these songs sang repeatedly at the dinner table, and watched performances on our fireplace hearth. Finally, the day came when the first graders performed the "Share Bear" concert. The girls were so excited! I won't make you watch the entire concert, but for the grandma's viewing my blog, here's the girls singing their favorite song from the evening, and a couple of pictures of my cute bears:) Jaelyn's in the top row, while Kaia is in the front. Hopefully this song doesn't get stuck in your brain like it does mine!

Finally, she's 7...

Kaia has been dying to be seven since Jaelyn hit that number in January! First it was "How many months before...," then it was "How many weeks...," followed by "How many days until..."   That last week seemed to pass in slow motion but she finally made it to her special day.

Thanks Uncle Pat & Aunt Tonyia. She's been whining asking for one since Jaelyn got one for her bday.

What's she thanking big brother for?

Oh no, they've got the Bieber fever! Just look at those smiles...

Kaia chose a roller skating party, which can be hit or miss with that age. Thankfully it was a hit, and a good time was had by all.  It was fun to see how much the kids improved in just the two hours of skating, and invigorating to find that I still had it (okay, I fell once, but Kaia tripped me!).

And of course, some outtakes. They speak for themselves...

Soccer Surprise....

Saturday officially began the girls soccer season, and Josh's school season has been going for about a month now. The girls are purple again, but this time they are the Purple Panthers! Actually it is more like they are purple and brown, because with all of the rain we've had, they come home awfully muddy! The team actually looked great on Saturday, as they were passing well and spreading out the goals scored amongst team mates. Kaia scored the first of the season, and ended up with two (I think), and Jaelyn scored one too.  The only problem I had was with the official, as I think he may have been a little biased....

Three of my kiddos in the same shot!

Yep, that's Josh refereeing the girls game. Looks great in yellow, huh? It is funny that his first ever game officiating, and he is assigned his sisters' game! He did a great job though, and went on to ref two more games that day. I think it will be a great way for him to earn some of his camp money for this very busy upcoming summer (football, wrestling, and church camp), and I think he will enjoy it more than his previous raspberry picking job!

Spring Break Shuffle...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Kellen moved out, which started the spring break shuffle. For some unknown reason Josh decided he wanted to move into Kellen's old room (which is really an office with no closet).  Once Mike finally harassed convinced Kellen to pack everything up, Josh took over the room. Good thing it was his spring break, because he spent a lot of time reminiscing as he went through items that haven't been touched since second grade! The girls also completed a spring cleaning, and Mike put together the much needed dresser I purchased at Ikea (if you've ever purchased anything there, you know what an endeavor that is). Since they have three closet doors he decided to remove one and place the dresser in there, allowing more space in their room.

As Mike and the kids' spring break wound down, mine was just getting started. I painted walls in the girls' room, hallway, and tackled Josh's old room. Finally, I'm going to have a guest room again! Haven't had one of those for probably 16 years. We bought a new mattress and bed spring, and new bedding has been ordered. Reservations for this summer are now being accepted:)

Here are a couple much anticipated photos from Kellen's new place.  Notice I didn't dare shoot any of his bedroom! Some things never change...

Kellen's new place. Notice my card table being used for their kitchen table:)

Kitchen view....apples in bowl and plant starter are a nice touch, but definitely not Kellen's doing.

Always the competitor

The following video is of Mike and a fellow coach. They previously coached wrestling together, and currently are both track coaches. They were challenged as to who was quicker, so of course, they had to compete to find the answer. The winner would get a mocha, and their pride intact. Mike spotted his friend Brian 10 meters, one for every year he was older. The entire track practice was stopped to watch the "Old Man Slam," and you can see for yourself how it went (check out Mike's speedsuit....).