Easter Sunday!

Happy Easter!  We had a wonderful Sunrise Worship Service at 7am this morning, a fabulous breakfast at 8am, praise-filled Worship at 10am, and super fun PoC Kidz egg hunts!

The weather was so nice today!  Perfect for Easter!

Ready to grab some eggs...

We weren't organized enough to get a family photo today--leaving the house at 6:15am.  But, we did get these cutie sisters in their pretty dresses when we came home...

And, photographer Caeden snapped a picture of the 3 girls...

We changed into our comfy clothes and had a big lunch of ham, carrots au gratin, smashed red potatoes, broccoli slaw, and strawberry cheesecake.  Then Annah decided to hide 50 plastic eggs inside the house for the rest of us to find.  Daddy was the grand prize winner.

We enjoyed the evening just relaxing at home together.  

We are so thankful and grateful for Easter--not the eggs and candy, but the real reason we celebrate--the resurrection of Jesus!!  He is our everything!

Organizer Girl

Today, Sylvia took all our plastic containers and lids out of the cupboard (which is like an avalanche when the door is opened!) and matched them all up.  The ones that didn't have matching pieces she recycled.  Then she sorted and put them all back in the cupboard so we can find matching containers and lids easily!  We don't have to duck when we open the door anymore!  I'm so glad she enjoys organizing!  She actually asked if she could do this project, and I appreciate it so much!!

Visiting Daddy at Work

Jeremy has worked at his current job for over a year now, we've lived here for almost 13 years, and today was the first time the kids and I had ever been in the corporate office building.  We went to visit Daddy at work!  It's a pretty cool building, and it's always neat to see him at work.

We enjoyed meeting some of his coworkers--all of them women, Jeremy the only man in the area.

The kids noticed this award that Jeremy's boss had tacked up in his cubicle.

Apparently, over time the duck a former boss gave Jeremy has been decorated with various items.  And, his coworkers like to turn his nameplate upside down when they walk by.  Always fun with Jeremy around!

We ate lunch at the Chik-Fil-A in the cafeteria with Daddy and our friend Nancy, who treated the kids to sweets after lunch.

Annah and Caeden checked out the cool history display in the lobby when we left.

That catchy song was written by Barry Manilow!

We stopped at ALDI for some groceries, and then went home for a bit.

The weather was gorgeous today--nearly 60 degrees and calm.  The kids asked me to open the moonroof in the car, and we sang to the radio on the way home.  Now, this feels like Spring!

We went to a super fun TGIF Good Friday party at church tonight.  There was an awesome taco bar, fun games for the grownups and egg coloring for the kids.  Our church family is so fun!

Home Again, Jigety-Jig

This morning we said goodbye and had to head back home.  We didn't get to see everyone we wanted to this visit, but will be back soon.  We did have a wonderful time.

We stopped in Watseka at the new Steak 'n Shake for lunch!

We were home long enough to unpack before heading into town for guitar and violin lessons.  

Whew, we're tired!

Family and Friend Time

We spent the first part of the day at Grandma L's house and colored Easter eggs!

She had only two wire egg dippers, so the kids decided to try making them out of pipe cleaners.

We had fun trying different colors of food coloring combinations for the dye and making designs using scotch tape on the eggs.

We always enjoy spending time with Great Grandma D.

She was looking through photos and found this one of our family at her 90th birthday party in 2006!

The kids made all kinds of creative things out of the pipe cleaners--like Annah's tiara.  And, Grandma had the kids try making baskets out of Play-Doh.

Sylvia made this cool spiral bracelet.

Caeden tried some glitter glue painting.

Grandma made us pancakes with strawberries and LOTS of Redi-Whip!

Caeden found this baseball/pinball game of his Daddy's.

Before we left, we went through the Resurrection Eggs with Grandma.

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We had dinner and a super fun evening with the Skinners!  It had been almost 2 years since we'd had time together!  

Brant and Caeden had been waiting months to play Super Mario Galaxy 2 together!!

We played a fun game of Qwirkle too.

We stayed way past the kids' bedtime on a school night, but were all having such fun together it was hard to leave.  We tried to get a picture of all the kids together, but it was past everyone's bedtime and it was a hilarious challenge!

What a day full of blessed moments!!

Memories, Old and New

This morning we visited Great Grandma C in her new home!  She has a nice room, and is loving life there.  It was so wonderful to see her!

Caeden and Sylvia helped put the foot pedals on her wheelchair 

so she could go to lunch.

Caeden pushed her to the dining hall.

My beautiful momma and her sweet momma, two wonderful blessings.  

I love them so much.

The kids thought it was so fun to visit Great Grandma, and really enjoyed meeting her dining room friends!  One of the ladies, Helen, told Caeden she wanted to keep him because he had beautiful blue eyes.  And, when she asked him if he had a girlfriend, she was surprised and laughed when he said, "No; I'm not old enough yet."

This afternoon, Mom, the girls, and I went to Fort Wayne and visited a couple resale shops.  I am too cheap to spend $24 for a pair of used jeans from Plato's Closet.  But, I did find the pair of Crocs sandals I've been wanting for summer for $14--never worn and a darling Vera Bradley purse for $15! Score!  

At Kids Trade, we had such fun finding cute summer clothes for the girls!  Annah and Sylvia tried on clothes for probably an hour.  Gram bought them each an Easter dress.  And, we purchased their entire summer wardrobes, a shirt and 5 pairs of shorts for Caeden for $108!  Fantastic prices, a big sale, and some very excited girls!

This evening, I ordered from Papa's Place in Churubusco.  As this great article tells, Papa's was a favorite local business when we were growing up in 'Busco, and our generation is so excited to see it re-open!  Dad and I went in to pick up our order, and it was emotionally overwhelming to see the photos and familiar faces and foods.

I have many memories of sharing breadsticks with cheese sauce and Diet Pepsi with friends at Papa's Place for $2.  They taste exactly the same...nostalgia in a bite.

Of course, we had to have some Papa Rolls too.  A-ma-zing!  And, the minute I took a bite of the deluxe pizza, I was sitting at Papa's on a Thursday night {buffet night} with my parents and brother.  So cool that Papa's is back in town, and we thank them and wish them much success!

Great Aunt Wanda came down to visit the kids this evening, and asked for some performances.  She heard Caeden asking Uncle Travis if he ever collected baseball cards, and sent Uncle Earl with an envelope for Caeden--including a pack of 1992 baseball cards she found in a desk.  Boy was overjoyed. She is the most thoughtful person.

We sure enjoy these moments.