Our Easter week felt jammed pack with regular life and all the extra fun activities on our calendar!  That's the thing about holidays.  They fly by because we are so busy celebrating and having fun.

Russ was off the week of Easter, so we started the week by picking up and letting Russ build our first swing set.  I wish I could share the video of Millie Janalee's reaction.  It was priceless!  She was so excited, and she told her daddy "It is perfect.  Thank you to buildin it!"  We have played on it every sunny day since.

Next up was Millie Janalee's class Easter egg hunt. Russ rarely gets to come to daytime school functions, so we were thrilled he could join us!  Plus he was invaluable as he helped watch this wild man...

The moms who put together the party did a wonderful job.  We had the hunt at a local park, and we had it all to ourselves. We had picnic lunches on quilts, read a story about the true meaning of Easter, and the kids played til we drug them out one by one.

We have been so blessed by Millie Janalee's preschool.  The teachers, staff, and parents have been so welcoming and absolutely love our children.  They are thrilled to see Millie Janalee coming (or at least they act like it), and Millie Janalee is ecstatic each morning they open our car door to get her out.  She is learning so much, and more importantly she has grown and learned and shared with us so much about Jesus and His love for us.  You can't put a price tag on that education!

I am so blessed to be able to share these special days with my sweet, sassy, and strong firstborn!

Our family also enjoyed another fun Easter treat when our neighbors invited us to the Easter carnival at our local country club.  Russ has been wanting to join since he's been going to play tennis some up there.  It was such a wonderful event!  We saw the Easter bunny, of course, and it was CLASSIC!  Just like Santa.

The kids had a blast and the adults did too.  At the end, there was an Easter egg hunt for all the children.  It only took Millie Janalee two seconds after arriving to find friends she knew all over the place.  It is always fun to watch three year olds interact and live life as they  know it.  Such sweet friends.

I didn't even bring Smith's Easter basket.  That's what happens with #2.  I'm wondering if #3…we just forget one of them at home altogether!  Hahaha!  He enjoyed looking for eggs and putting them in big sister's basket just as well.

It was great visiting with friends and meeting new people throughout the day. Our little family had such a great time!  This time of year is just so nice!  Mother of year also failed to apply sunscreen to any of my little monkeys…all is well now.  Thankful my babies have better skin tone than their parents!

We went home to rest for an hour before heading off to the annual Johnson family Easter egg hunt.  It's actually just hosted by Russ's brother and his family.  There are lots of friends there along with family.  We always have a great time, and this year was no different.  Afterward, some family and close friends hung around for a birthday supper celebrating Clay's 17th birthday!

By the time Easter Sunday rolled around, this crew was exhausted.  Or at least these parents were.  But SO much FUN and even more fun ahead!

Easter 2016

I hope your family had a blessed Easter!  This time of year is one of my favorites, simply because it feels like new beginnings. Easter in particular is special to me, because it is symbolic of the new beginning God gave us by sending His one and only Son to die on the cross for our sins.  So that we may spend eternity in Heaven with Him.  He bled, He died, but HE ROSE AGAIN!  And we will soon be caught up with Him in the sky and live forever with Him.  Those of us who believe and ask Jesus to take control of our lives.  Those who have gone before us….we will see them again! And live as heirs to the throne of our Creator.  Because we are His sons and daughters!  He chose us!  He adopted us.  He loves us more than we can fathom.

I love these babies more than words can say and more than they will ever know.  So you can see how it baffles me to know that God loves them even more!

God sent His son, they called Him Jesus;

He came to love , heal and forgive.

He lived and died to buy my pardon,

An empty grave is there to prove my savior lives!

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,

Because He lives, all fear is gone,

Because I know He holds the future,

And life is worth the living

Just because He lives!

Since moving closer to home, Russ and I haven't been to a Sunday church service back at our home church - that I can remember anyway.  It was so nice to worship with family and my extended church family that has loved me for as long as I can remember.  The pews were full, the music was amazing, and it was obvious that God was there…moving.  It was a wonderful Easter celebration!

Cousins

Of course, we celebrate Jesus's birth and resurrection continually throughout the year.  But it is so refreshing to have one day where the whole world stops and focuses on Easter - and what it truly means.  Whether they believe or not.  There are even believers who differ on setting aside one day to celebrate His resurrection on Easter.  What an amazing opportunity to place Christ right in the front of everyone's face!  I will take that opportunity any day!

He is risen!  He is risen indeed!

One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike.  Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord.  Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.  For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies to ourselves alone.  If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die of the Lord.  So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.  For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister?  Or why do you treat them with contempt?  For we will all stand before God's judgement seat.  It is written:

"'As surely as I live,' says the Lord,   'every knee will bow before me;  every tongue will acknowledge God.'"

So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

-Romans 14:5-12

From our family to yours…we hope you had a blessed Easter Sunday!

Update on Life with Littles

We are still here.  Still alive!  Just soaking in this time with two littles in our home.  And staying very busy!  I have Christmas posts started with all the pictures of our Christmas activities, and I may never get to them.  But here is your recent update.

Russ and I have two of the most precious blessings!  They love each other - well most of the time, it's kinda like a love/hate relationship.  But they are inseparable either way.  We love them, discipline them, and try to guide them in the right direction.  We are trying to teach them to obey, to pray, to love, and to trust God when they are scared at night.

It's the biggest job we could ever be given…parenting.  But, we are also trusting God to lead us in the right direction day by day.  Minute by minute most days!  And He is faithful.  We mess up and get frustrated and cry even at times.  But we are filled with JOY!

This is the day the Lord has made!  We will REJOICE and be glad in it!