2nd Annual Indoor Easter Egg Hunt

Well for the 2nd year in a row, we had an indoor Easter egg hunt. All the kids in the church were planning on coming to our house this past Sunday for a picnic and egg hunt. But, on Saturday we literally had a river running through our yard. I thought we might have to go find our snorkels and floats. Alas, the rain did stop, but our yard was still a soggy mess on Sunday, so we had it inside the church instead. All was not lost. The kids had a great time! It didn't seem to bother them at all!!

Here they are all gathered, waiting for the eggs to be hidden

It takes a very brave soul to stand between a group of kids and their eggs!

Ella, Maddie and Ethan showing off their treasures

They had to gather together and compare - many apologies to Bryce for cutting his head off!

Pictures at Last!

Well, I was glad to discover that using a camera is like riding a bicycle, it comes back to you pretty quickly. This past weekend, some of our guys went out, so the girls and kids congregated at our house for survival purposes. All joking aside, the kids really were great! They played well without any major squabbles. It was a treat to hang out with all of them. Here they were watching Meet the Robinsons, and despite the fact that we have plenty of seating in our living room, they all felt the need to be in the same chair. :)

Ella and her best bud Sara Kate were having a jam session on the piano. I only wish I had a video so that you could hear them. It was priceless! Watch out Earl and Lyn. Y'all might have some competition soon. :)

Hallelujah!

Good News - we are all well! And to top it off, I have reached the summit of my laundry pile! I almost feel like singing out the Hallelujah Chorus. After being cooped up for 2 weeks, we headed out to the Tennessee Aquarium on Monday. It was a gorgeous day - really put me in the mood for spring! I counted it as a field trip because we have been studying about penguins in school, in between all the sickness. Maddie once again reassured me that I am not completely failing as a homeschool mom. As soon as we stepped inside the room with the penguins, she said, "Look mom, those are Macaroni penguins." Being the scholarly one that I am, I had to go check out the signs that tell you about the exhibit. Well what do you know, she was right! Whew, she is learning after all. I am just choosing not to think that it is entirely because she reads everything she can get her hands on. Although, I will give her most of the credit. All I really do is facilitate. :) I still don't have any pics, maybe I will dust off my camera next week.

Same Song Second Verse

Well, this week it was Maddie and my turn for the virus. Let me just say, I pray that we didn't spread that around to anyone!! Whew, I haven't been that sick in a very long time. Thank the Lord! But, I think we are on the mend. Ethan seems to have cleared the hurdle, for the moment anyway. I said the same thing about Maddie and me last week, so I won't hold my breath just yet. So, again I have no pictures, and nothing to talk about. Unless you want to hear about my mounds of laundry that are calling my name as I type. How is it that you go a few days without doing any laundry and you could just swear some other family of 10 dropped their clothes off for you to do "while you were at it"??? Well, I must get busy, that other family is going to be needing their clothes back soon.

Not Quite the Winter Break I Had Planned

Well, here we are at the end of winter break. It hasn't been exactly the week I had in mind. Eric got a nasty virus on Monday and Ella followed on Tuesday. Praise the Lord, the rest of us haven't gotten it. Eric is finally feeling like himself today. Ella didn't have it nearly as bad, but she still doesn't feel great today, and she is not eating. Which is very much out of the ordinary for her. She is definitely our "eater". I finally went out last night to the grocery store - yes, I know - how exciting! But, it was nice to get out of the house for a bit. So, I don't have any cute pictures or cute stories this week, except that Maddie did lose another tooth. But, that is life sometimes. Things don't always go the way we plan them. Maybe next week will be more exciting. :)

Just a note: for those of you who know Brittany Moncrief, I've added her blog to my links. She had her baby and she is gorgeous!

Valentine's Day and a Missing Tooth

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day and got to spend it with the ones you love! And most of all I hope you were reminded of your valentine who will never stop being head over heels in love with you!

We started a new tradition last night. Our ladies ministry team at church coordinated a valentine's banquet. It was a huge undertaking, but soooo worth it. Greg and Nicole Sponberg were our entertainment. She was a member of the group Selah, and has a beautiful voice!! Our parish hall was transformed. I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. Ladies from our church were hostesses for the tables, which meant they were in charge of decorating their table. It was so cool to see how unique each table turned out, and yet they were all gorgeous. Here are just a few pictures. We had 23 tables in all so I couldn't include all of them. :)

This one was my table. It is kind of hard to tell by the picture, but my theme was "Every good and perfect gift is from above, James 1:17" Those are packages in the center.

I had to include this - A couple of weeks ago, Maddie lost her first tooth. I can't believe how much older it makes her look!

The tooth fairy was kind enough to let Maddie keep this one, since it was her first. :)

A New Look

Well as you can see, I have changed our look. Thanks to my good friend Shana, I have been introduced to http://www.pyzam.com/. There are literally hundreds of free templates to choose from - which works out great for me because I have some sort of disease. I constantly need some kind of change in my life. When Eric and I were first married, he laughed because he never knew what the house was going to look like when he got home. I don't know what is wrong with me - I just like to rearrange. I love my house and am incredibly thankful for it, but it "stiffles" my creativity. EVERY room has doors and windows situated in such a way that you simply cannot rearrange. There is only one way that the furniture will fit. So, now I have a new outlet. I can just rearrange my blog from time to time. :)

I will say if you are interested, and more computer savvy than I, be careful that you don't delete all your links. That is what I did. I've had to reenter them all and am short a few - Cindy, I need your blog address! I will try to avoid that next time, and there WILL be a next time. :)