Faith Like a Child

The week before Easter we opened one egg a day. In each egg was an object to help tell the story of Jesus' death and resurrection. I was surprised by how much the girls really understood. In church on Sunday, our pastor was reading the story and Taylor said, "Hey, WE have that story!" I was surprised that she was actually listening! After that, she only focused on her sucker.

When we opened the egg that explained how they arrested Jesus, Taylor said, "But he didn't do anything wrong!" That's exactly what makes the story so powerful. HE didn't do anything wrong - WE did. He died for us. That's the only reason. We are all sinners, but because of Jesus, we can be forgiven. What a wonderful and perfect gift.

Last note: We were listening to the radio and "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson came on. Taylor asked what he was singing about. I explained that he wanted to make the world a better place and he was going to start by doing things himself. Taylor said, "Jesus made the world a better place."

I pray that Taylor and Emma would grow in their love for Christ and continue to have faith like a child.

Easter

Easter has been a favorite holiday of mine since I was a small child. We got new dresses, went to church, and had our Annual Manuel Egg Hunt. (I'll post about that next week.)

When Will and I got married, we declared that Easter would be "our" holiday. We traveled for all others, but wanted to be home for Easter. Anyone who wants to come is invited. Our home is tiny, but it never feels too small in my opinion. Yesterday we had 10 adults and 6 kids!

The Saturday before Easter our church helps sponsor the Easter Sun Run, a race to benefit Youth Horizons. It is a huge event that we love to help out with.

My good friends, Rashelle and Karie ran their first 2 mile race and they did a great job! Look at the determination on Rashelle's face!

Easter morning my parents and sisters come to church with us and this year they all stayed for lunch. We also had other friends stay as well. We consider them family on Easter because they've come so many years. We ate lunch and then had an egg hunt in the back yard.

We had a lot of great after-egg activities going on. (I don't know why that is underlined - I can't get it to stop!)

This is David. He's a 7 year Easter alum. (Sorry again!)


I'm not sure there's anything better than getting dirty in fancy dresses.

Above are pictures of my wonderful family. My youngest sister, Patricia, is on the far left, and my other sister, Sarah, is in the middle. The top picture includes their cousins Cooper and Peyton. My brother-in-law, Stephen, was also there, but his eyes were closed in all my pictures.

I love Easter because its a time to remember and celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. All these other activities are great, but that is by far the most important. Thanks everyone, for celebrating with us!

Creative Mermaids

Today is already Thursday, so I wanted to write about the rest of our Kansas City trip while it was still fresh in my mind.

Saturday morning we went to Kaleidoscope. Hallmark donates all their leftover materials to this fun place of creativity. Everything about it is free. The girls loved it. They painted picture frames, made puzzles, and created random treasures that could be used as jewelry.

I drew both mermaids, but they did the hair, faces, and belly buttons. And I don't want you to miss the poor mermaid with the cast on her arm.

After that we went to a free exhibit in Crown Center titled, "Under the Sea". This was nothing but a giant room to play in. It had tunnels to crawl through, sunken ships to explore, underwater creatures to climb, and most importantly, a mermaid's bedroom. The kids could have played there all day.





We finished the day by swimming at our hotel.

Our own little mermaids.

Sunday we had lunch with one of Will's college friends and then traveled to Topeka to meet the baby of one of my high school friends. We enjoyed spending time with everyone!

I am concluding with some random pictures that didn't make it into the stories, just because I like them. Hope you do to!

Fun on the Farmstead

This past weekend we went on a mini-vacation with some very good friends of ours. I have always wanted to do that, and I am so glad we did! We had four adults, and five children under the age of 6! We filled the whole conference room at breakfast!

We spent the first day at The Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead in Overland Park. This place was great. We saw every farm animal imaginable, and even some that you wouldn't!

There was fishing.

There were pony rides.

There were baby goats.

Emma LOVED the baby goats.

We had a great time. It was super cheap and even though the kids were tired, they enjoyed themselves too. I would definitely be there all the time if we lived closer.
I'll write about day number two some other time. I have to go catch up on all laundry we dirtied while we were away.

Musical Moments

*As I write this, the girls are having a jam session in the basement with an alligator xylophone and tambourine.

*While doing dishes in the kitchen I overheard the girls playing in the living room with a country radio station on. Every time a new song came on, Emma said, "Mommy LOVES this song."

*Emma was talking about Polly Pocket and instead called her Polly Parton.

*While driving in the car, Taylor asks what every singer is singing about. It makes me think twice about what we listen to.

Planting Dandelions

Spring is a season that brings fresh air, budding trees, green grass, and dandelions. Emma and Taylor love beautiful things, so why then, would they not love dandelions.

Their fascination began last week when they found a small clump of beautiful yellow flowers growing in a friend's yard. These beautiful flowers were a new experience because their daddy has worked extra hard to make sure they do not grow in our yard.

They picked the dandelions to take home to Daddy. I knew he would love them. We arrived home and they presented him with the beautiful bouquet. His response what just as I expected. He smiled and said, "Thank you! These are beautiful!" Then, through a forced smile asked, "Where did these come from?" I knew he really meant, "Do WE have dandelions growing in our yard!?!" I assured him that our yard was still weed free.

A few days later, the girls and I went shopping for flowers. Walking down an aisle, they spied some bright yellow flowers and exclaimed, "DANDELIONS!" Several adults around us chuckled and I explained the difference between the types of flowers.

Later that day, Taylor took an extra long nap so I got to have some time alone with Emma. This was a treat that rarely happens. She helped me plant the new flowers. Lately, she has been super sweet and cuddly - I like this stage. She stayed by my side for a long time and even told me that I was a very good digger. I truly took it as a compliment.

She finally asked if she could plant some dandelions. Her determination was not thwarted even though I told her no. Emma went searching in the neighbors' yards for dandelions and then she planted them on her own.

Taylor finally joined us outside and, or course, had to plant her own dandelion garden.