Catching Up On April

We have had such a busy {but fun!} month around here and I have lots of pictures but just not much energy to create several different blogs about them. So this is my April Catch Up blog! The weather around here has been simply gorgeous for the last week so we've thoroughly enjoyed the outdoors.

Here are a bunch of pictures - enjoy!

The girls and Bob found this FREE power wheels ride on - they were so excited they threw it in the van and brought it right home and it works great! It even had the charger and instruction manual with it! Joy has wanted one of these for most of her life but we've never bought one because of the cost - to find it for free was amazing and the girls just love it!


My friend Julie and her 3 daughters came to visit for a few days during Spring Break. We had a lot of fun together, the Moms got to scrapbook and the girls enjoyed playing together. Her youngest daughter just LOVED our dog and would follow her around and squeal with delight!
We took all the girls to the Zoo - it was a beautiful day! Here is my favorite animal - so majestic!
Julie and her youngest ...
This Ant eater was one of the coolest animals I have ever seen!
Taking a break for a snack ...
This Wallaby was adorable!
All 5 girls!
Julie's youngest - such a sweetheart and a very good baby!
Bob and I went to see Kenny Chesney in concert - it was so much fun! We enjoyed our overnight date without our kids and were very thankful to our friends who kept the girls overnight.
This weekend the temps soared into the 80's so the girls decided to break out the slip-n-slide!

We spent Sunday at a lovely park enjoying the day together ...

Little Miss Joy just learned how to ride a two-wheeler and is doing fantastic! She rides so fast trying to keep up with Hope now! She's had a couple of spills but gets back up and keeps going.
Hope in the flowers on Sunday.
It was so nice to enjoy the sunshine in just a t-shirt {no coats, sweaters or sweatshirts - yay!}
Joy in the flowers ...
We stopped for a yummy treat after the park.
On Monday we went on a field trip to our local Aquarium. They have this beautiful Sea Turtle right now ...
Hope is getting braver! She's holding a Spider Crab ...
Speaking of brave ... now that our deck is finished we decided to open the pool. These brave girls wanted to try it out on the second day it was open! BRRRRR, it still has a water temp of 62 degrees!
Yeah, no wonder you're chilly, silly girl!!

All about the 8's

I'm so sorry for my lack of posts lately ... honestly I've just been busy and had a real lack of creativity when it comes to what to blog about lately!

So today I share with you my list of 8's ...

8 Things I am looking forward to:
1. Our cruise
2. Summer
3. Finishing our school year
4. Morning quiet times on the deck
5. Swimming in the pool
6. Going to the beach
7. Planting and working in the garden
8. Seeing the girls reaction to the cruise ship

8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Went to a MOMS meeting at church
2. Ate lunch
3. Did laundry
4. Hand washed lots of dishes {until new dishwasher arrives!}
5. Planted seeds with the girls
6. Spent time on the computer
7. Shopped for swimsuits for the girls {looked at but didn't buy}
8. Went to a friend's Partylite Candle party

8 Things I wish I could do:
1. Have more discipline in my quiet times
2. Have more discipline to exercise
3. Have more discipline to eat healthy
4. Lose weight faster {are you sensing a pattern here???}
5. Spend more time scrapbooking and sewing
6. Be a better example to my girls
7. Finish all the projects I've started
8. Spend less time on the computer

8 Shows I watch:
1. Survivor
2. Dancing with the Stars
3. American Idol
4. Extreme Makeover Home Edition
5. America's Funniest Home Videos
6. ER {it's over now, but I've loved it for years!}
7. 18 and Counting
8. The Amazing Race

8 Books I love:
1. The Bible
2. Mom and Loving It
3. The Power of a Positive Mom
4. The Yada Yada books
5. Anything by Lisa Welchel
6. Anything by Karen Kingsbury
7. Anything by Lori Wick
8. Anything by Beverly Lewis

8 foods I could eat over and over again:
1. Lasagna
2. Pizza
3. Mac and cheese
4. Grilled cheese sandwiches
5. Brownies
6. Ice Cream
7. Cheesecake
8. Chocolate covered strawberries

8 things I plan to get done today:
1. Laundry
2. shower
3. exercise
4. eat well
5. have Mom over for dinner
6. go to the girl's show tonight
7. get outside to enjoy the beautiful weather
8. run some errands

So, with that list in mind .... guess I'd better run! Have a great weekend everyone!!

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter this year. For some reason in years past the thought never occurred to me that there is so much the girls can learn about Easter and so many great traditions that can be made and celebrated.

So this year we started several new traditions, in addition the the few we already had. It made for an awesome celebration of Christ's death and resurrection.

During the week leading up to Easter the girls and I read the whole story of the Cross and did some coloring pages that went with it. I got the information from Sarah's blog, here is the link if you'd like to bookmark it for next year. There are lots of ideas for activities, songs and stuff to go with the story each day. Another great way to reinforce this is the Resurrection Eggs - of course I could not find mine this year - so I might have to make some new ones for next year!

We also dyed and decorated lots and lots of hard boiled eggs - the girls had a blast doing that.

We made yummy Resurrection Rolls and made an extra batch to share with our sweet neighbors.

We participated in a Bake Sale on Good Friday where all proceeds went to feed the hungry in our area.

We set up a scavenger hunt for the girls to find their Easter baskets. We don't use the Easter bunny idea - the girls know they come from us - but they had SUCH a blast running all around the house trying to find their baskets by following the clues. This was something new this year and it was SO simple to do. Literally took me 10 min to put together and the girls loved it so much that I know we'll do it every year.

We enjoyed a beautiful time of worship and teaching at our church on Sunday morning.

Then we hosted 18 of our family members for a yummy Easter dinner. There were 7 kids here who had a great time playing outside for hours {even though it was still a bit chilly!}. We had an Easter egg hunt with about 130 eggs.

Another thing we tried this year that was new ... we set up an "Easter store" with all sorts of small toys, dollar store items, etc ... Inside the eggs there was some candy, some money and some tickets. The kids brought their tickets up to the Easter store and were able to 'buy' items from the choices. It was great! You know how those little plastic eggs are too small to fit anything?? Well this idea meant we could still give the kids items that were too big to fit in the eggs.

All in all, it was a lovely week and weekend. We're thankful for family, for friends and most of all for the Cross of Christ!
I love my friends at church!
Getting ready to hunt for those eggs!
My adorable nephew! I taped white paper to the kids table instead of a tablecloth so the kids could color on it after they ate ... Andrew thought that was the greatest thing ever!
*** I have a serious problem with overusing the word 'wonderful' lately ... just had to edit this when I realized I'd used it 8 times!! Where is my thesaurus when I need it!!?? ***

Florida

I had the wonderful opportunity to go to Florida a couple weeks ago to visit my friends who live down there. It was an all girls weekend - no kids, no hubbies, no responsibilities ... just all fun, girly stuff!

We started off by going out to lunch, then to get Starbucks and pedicures .... then back to Sarah's house where we spent the rest of the weekend scrapbooking, talking, laughing, eating, encouraging, sharing, etc ...

It was a wonderful break and I came home feeling so encouraged. We talked for a long time about our spiritual lives, homeschooling, parenting and all other topics under the sun. I love to spend time with other Moms who inspire and encourage me in every aspect of my life - and I'm truly blessed to have many, many friends in my life who do that.

Here are some fun pictures from our weekend ...
Friday night we had Mexican food and Margaritas!
Our large scrapbook area ...
I got to meet Sarah's sweet little Marissa for the first time! What a little doll baby!
We ate at the Melting Pot and this was the dessert tray ... looks good, right? Well you also dip all those wonderful things into chocolate fondue!
Myself and Sarah ...
Sarah and her friend that lives nearby, Alicia ...
Sarah's sister, Rachel and Angela ...
Our little group at the restaurant ...
Sarah lives right across the street from the beach ...
Angela and I took a walk on the beach and took some pics together ...

It was so nice to have a break from the cold weather!
Beautiful Hibiscus!
My trip ended with me getting the stomach bug. It was awful and the trip home {on an airplane, while feeling sick} was terrible. But the weekend was so wonderful up until that point, so it was all worth it! Wonderful friends, wonderful memories!

Worry or Worship??

Just had to share this link this morning - it's called from Worry to Worship in Six Steps. If you have a few minutes click on it and read for yourself.

Heart of the Matter online - Worry to Worship article

It was something I definitely needed to hear this morning. I find that the older I get, the more anxious and worried I become about the littlest things. I plan to print out this six step 'plan' and use it as a tool the next time I find that I'm overcome with needless worries.

My Redeemer Lives!!

On this week of Easter, as we anticipate the day that Jesus paid the awesome sacrifice for you and for me ... I'd like to share this song by Nicole C. Mullen. It may be a little long, but take a few minutes to sit back and listen and just think about all He has done for us. {{If anyone can help explain to me how to get the actual video in my blog post I would appreciate it, otherwise for now you have to follow the link ...}}

My Redeemer Lives

Those of you that know me well know that my blog started out being called "Because He Lives". The short version of that story is that it was one of my Dad's favorite songs, and as a way to honor his memory I chose to name my blog by this song, because it's only because I know HE {Jesus Christ} lives, I can face tomorrow.

You will notice in the song she says, "Because He lives I know I can face tomorrow." and one of my favorite lines ... "He lives! He lives! I spoke with Him this morning!" With God's grace I'm trying to live my life with these two things in mind - first, that life is worth living because of all Christ has done for me - and second, that I need to talk to Him daily, make Him a part of every area of my life and choose His ways over my own selfish desires.

Take a few minutes this week to ponder the cross, and all that was sacrificed for each of us. Not because we deserved it, or because there was any good in us. But because "...while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." {Rom. 5:8}

May each of you have a blessed Easter and know that you are chosen and loved by the King of Kings.

He is risen!
He is risen indeed!!

Living Lovely with Family - Yearly Traditions

Once again, I'm here to share with you a part of a weekly meme from Heidi at Mt. Hope Chronicles. This week the theme is Yearly Traditions and I gotta tell ya, I'm a girl that's big on traditions! I love celebrating the same things year after year and creating memories for my family that will last a lifetime.

Since we have so many traditions I have decided to group them by season. We're very big on birthdays and holidays in this house, so many of our traditions center around those.

Winter:

• Taking winter ski weekends together (some of us ski, some of us sled, but we all have fun together.)
  
• Celebrating Valentines day together as a family (wearing red, decorating the house, having a special meal, writing each other Valentines, exchanging small gifts ...)
  
• St. Patrick's Day - it's all about the green - green food, green decor, fun activities, etc... and we usually go to a local St. Pat's parade too.
  

Spring:

• Easter (new dresses, decorating eggs, having an egg hunt, celebrating Jesus resurrection, big dinner at our house with family visiting from out of state.)
  

• Going to sporting events together like local baseball games and basketball games

• Going to Florida to visit my two amazing friends that I have known for more than half my life. I usually only get to go see them about once a year, but it's always like we were never apart {THIS is my weekend I get to go see them and I CAN'T WAIT!!!}
  

Summer:

• Strawberry picking in June ... following by making lots of Strawberry Jam.
  

• A big family BBQ to celebrate the 4th of July. Everyone comes to our house for food, fun and games. We also go to a local 4th of July parade.

• Entertaining on the deck. Something we love to do all summer long. Whether we have friends over or family over, or both, we love to have people over to hang out and have fun. Now that we have a pool it's even better!
  

• Weekends at the beach. Or any other weekdays that we feel like going too! Basically we try to spend as much time as we can at the beach during the summer!

• Fishing together. Well, most of us ... the kids and hubby enjoy it far more than I do ... but I like to watch and take pictures!

Fall:

• Apple & pumpkin picking
• Camping
• Going to local fairs and festivals
  
• Visiting a corn maze
• Halloween night with our friends - we go to their house for dinner, then all the kids and adults head out to the neighborhood, then back to our friends' house to scope out all the loot ... this past year the girls all chose matching costumes ...
  

• Going up north to the mountains for our yearly fall trip with Bob's family - we go every year, the same week, and we always have a wonderful time hiking, spending time with family, eating out, etc...
  

• Thanksgiving day - we make a big dinner and invite everyone to come to our house. We always like to have a pre-dinner walk and take pictures of the whole group together. many people were missing from the photo this past year - but you get the idea.

• Then we move full steam ahead into our long list of Christmas traditions. I'm going to list them quickly because there are so many and also because I've also detailed them a lot back at Christmas time.

• Baking cookies, sending Christmas cards, going to a Christmas Light Parade, opening one book per night from under the tree ...
  

• Listening to Christmas carols while we sing and dance to them, watching Christmas movies together, putting up the tree together and decorating the whole house ...

• Having Christmas Eve at my in laws house, the girls telling the story of Jesus birth, going to Christmas eve service at our church, having food and games back at our house that evening, many family members sleeping over on Christmas eve ...
  

• Christmas morning spent at our house, opening stockings first, then having a big family breakfast before we open the gifts, having a big dinner together ...

And here are a few more for good measure ... we make a big deal about birthdays in our house, we even celebrate half birthdays {for the kids!}, we also love to decorate the house and 'create' holidays for no reason at all except to just simply celebrate our lives together.
{This is my Mom on her birthday last year with a flower cake I made for her.}

We love to travel and vacation together. We might not have a big house or a lot of fancy things, but we do love to spend our money on creating memories and fun times for our family. We rarely go on long trips {like a week or more}, but instead we go away for lots of long weekends throughout the year.

Honestly, I can't help but read back over this post and think how truly blessed we are! We have so much to be thankful for! And the traditions we keep year after year will leave lasting memories for our kids.

"Those are the memories that make me a wealthy soul ..." ~Bob Seger