Mother's Day - Analise style

On Saturday, Analise asked me if she could make toast for me on Mother's Day. I was so touched that she was planning ahead and wanted to make me breakfast. What a sweetie!  So Sunday morning when I came into the kitchen, I wasn't surprised to see Analise at the counter making my toast, along with daddy's help.

They had made me two pieces of toast. One with crunchy PB and one with creamy. The first thing I noticed was that there was a really thick layer of crunchy PB. As much as I love PB toast, I wasn't so sure I could handle a thick layer of it. Not to hurt Analise's feelings, I asked her if she had put the PB on my toast. Nope, daddy did. So now I didn't feel so bad....I asked for a knife so I could scrape some off. But she nor Brandon would let me do that. They just kept saying, "Eat another bite...." So I did, with some minor hesitation...

 And low and behold, that little stinker had hidden a pickle (eeewww!) under the PB. She thought it was SO funny!

I still feel loved....I think. 

Thank goodness for that toast with creamy PB on it. :)

Mother's Day from Maisie

Maisie came out of preschool last week with a beaming smile. She had my Mother's day gift in her hands. She had painted a clay pot and planted two flowers. So pretty! And since it was Maisie's work, I wasn't surprised to see some bling on it.

 The other gift she had made me smile to the core. She had colored a book and answered questions about me. It was priceless!

So on this page, she got a couple of things correct. My favorite hobby is reading books. (And I frequently remind Brandon that  it's a free hobby. :)) My favorite food....I don't know why she picked oranges. I never eat them!

And from this page, I guess she likes my shirts. :) And I will remember to play Hungry Hungry Hippos with her more often. 

Sweetness

I thought this was too cute...

 Talk about a carpool!

 Analise was so excited to get her half marathon shirt. (Side note...the other day after run club, she hops in the van and the first thing she says is, "Well...I ran into a pole." My response was laughter. Some mom I am. :)

 Enjoying some free ice cream cones after a night at the track walking and riding bikes.

 Out of all the toys in our house, they probably play with Little People the most. I love hearing them use their imagination.

 And then the living room looks like this. (And it's not even all the Little People things!)

Resurrection Eggs...

...our version.

The girls love doing the Resurrection Eggs. We try to go through them each night before bed. This year Analise looked up some passages in the Bible and read them to us.  Each daughter took a turn opening an egg and explaining what was in it. I wish I had the their entire version, but this is all I have.

According to Sadie, these are the three pennies (but it sounded like panties every time.)

 According to Maisie, this is the cup because Jesus gave them more food.

 Maisie called this a sling shot, and Sadie called it a hairband.

 Sadie always called these nails, "porcupines."

 And this spear was commonly called a paintbrush by Sadie.

The best part of it all was when we opened the last (empty) egg, Maisie would raise her hands in the air and  pronounce, "Jesus is Alive!"

Of all the eggs to get correct, this was it.

Easter Celebration

He is Risen; He is Risen, indeed!

We started off the morning with donuts and baskets.

Sadie got some new Play Doh. She loves Play Doh!

Analise found a new pair of shoes from the bunny. They are gold, her fave color. (That Easter bunny knows her well. :))

 Maisie also got a new pair of shoes; these are for running and playing outside. (Since she wore her new sparkly shoes outside and ruined them...)

(A total side not here...Saturday before Easter was crazy busy for me, egg hunts, coloring eggs, and baking lots in the kitchen. Finally after the girls were in bed (late) I finally got things collected to put in their baskets. As Brandon relaxed (and I was glad he was) I said to him, "Whoever said the Easter Bunny was a 'he' is mistaken; the mom does all the work."

The next morning, Analise saw a package of Peeps on Brandon's place mat, along with a note from me. She asked me what he got me for Easter. I told her 'nothing' but I was okay with that. Her reply, "But YOU do all the work!"  As Brandon said later, that comment was my gift. :)

I love how Maisie is standing...

And then there is Sadie...

Cute girls with their handsome cousins

After a great church service, we came home quick to finish our portion of the meal, and then we went over to Brandon's parents. We enjoyed all day together. The meal was delicious, the company was great, and the reason to celebrate was the focus of our time together.

Sadie looking for her basket in Grandma's yard

Maisie got a new boat hat. As she ate her goody, Uncle D. said, "Say chubby bunny!"

Family Photo

Easter Weekend

This year we got a really long weekend. There was no school Thursday-Monday. We tried to make the most of it. As you can tell in the background of this picture, it didn't look or feel much like spring. Here are the kids ready for the egg hunt on Sat. morning...wearing their winter coats and still freezing!

Analise painted with Sweetened Condensed Milk for a project at school and wanted to do it at home. This became a fun activity on another cool day. The funny part was when Analise called it "Convinced Milk." :)

 Friday morning we met up with friends for the egg hunt at the mall. We love this hunt because of the controlled temps. The girls had fun gathering eggs and candy. We then walked store to store for more fun goodies, aka, junk. Regardless, all 11 kids and 3 moms had lots of fun!

 While the girls hunted eggs Saturday morning, Brandon hunted turkeys and came home with this big tom.

 Saturday evening was the annual egg coloring. I love this time! Each girl enjoyed it and loved having S and D here for a short bit!

Grandmom sent a fun Easter activity for the girls. We made candy in molds and created bunny and ducky suckers. It was a lot of fun!

Friday night we went to the Good Friday service at our church. They were about eight churches that celebrated together, and there were almost a 1000 people there! It felt like a glimpse of Heaven, with believers there from several churches. We had communion, and Analise participated with us. Later in the week she told me she liked the Good Friday service because, "I got to take the drink and bread for the Conversation." :)

Awana Awards

Awana is officially over at our church (and has been for a couple of weeks.) We have  had a great time this year. Maisie enjoyed Cubbies once she was there, but some nights she would have rather stayed home, I think. She learned the verses, but she didn't savor every award like Analise always has.

Here she is with her Cubbie Pin for finishing her book.

 Analise finished her book, did the review and also worked on the Extra Credit book. She enjoyed this year as well, and we loved seeing her at game time.

And Brandon and I had fun, too. I love being with the kids each week and showering them with the love of Jesus. Sadie was our "helper" this year since we didn't want her in childcare. She loved being down with us and the "big kids." And there were times she really was helpful. 

It was a good year, and yet it was time to be finished.