Year 2, Day 104: Easter Eve

I'm so glad I put the books away on Thursday, and just focused on Easter (yes, bunnies and colored plastic eggs), Resurrection Sunday and getting two children off on vacation.  We did take a spring break, but after being in bed for a couple of days, having too much time to rethink homeschooling styles and visions, etc., my brain hurt!  So, playing the part of "just mom" instead of "homeschooler" has cleared my brain a bit.

Church was great, as always!  There is an excellent "show piece" in the beginning that you don't want to miss!  I know one big complaint about megachurches and their worship leaders/teams and services is that it feels more like a concert than a more intimate church service.  Our church does a great job of not making it feel like a performance.  But, I was stoked when they decided to "spice it up" tonight.  I like concerts and videos and skits that add elements to the normal routine of services.  They had some great song choices, but I was disappointed that they didn't sing the new version of "Because He Lives" that everyone seems to be singing and is on the radio, etc.  We do sing it at our church, but we didn't this week.  Oh well, the other songs were just as powerful.  We also had 2 baptisms in our service, and Gary said there are baptisms in all the other 5 services at Franklin Rd. campus this weekend.  Yeah, Gary and Benaiah were at church from 12pm to 7pm today and will be there from 8am to 2pm tomorrow!  Benaiah is the big guy that helped to carry the cords that are connected to Gary's new "wipeboard toy" when it was moved on and off the stage.  He also said his other job was keeping people entertained backstage so they would stay awake!  Ok, buddy, that's fine.  As long as you are helping somehow, lol.

I hope Gary's voice holds out!  It sounded pretty strong still tonight after already preaching twice.  There's also 2 services at the Shelby St. campus tomorrow morning.  I believe they record the sermon from one of the services on Saturday evening and then play that recording at Shelby St. the next morning.  They have a separate worship band there, and I don't know if they have the same or different song set, etc.  Things start getting really complicated when you talk about having more than one campus.  Eek!  Again, I am working the nursery tomorrow and Jared is working in the 3rd grade room (where Keturah is!) at the 11 and in the 4th grade room at the 12:30.  He hasn't worked in the kids' areas since we've been married.  But, he's child safe and so am I again, so away we go helping out in the kids' areas.  That means Abishai gets even more time with his friends and is going to be exhausted!  I think once we get the grandparents and middles off to the airport tomorrow, we are all going to collapse!

It's a good thing Benaiah doesn't have school on Monday!  But on Monday, I'll be teaching my first hour class at co op, hanging out for a bit, and then coming home to jump into packing.  I told the middles to expect a bunch of things missing from their rooms when they return!  Speaking of moving, we have found a better opportunity, and decided to follow that lead instead of the one we were going for in New Palestine.  It's closer to church and a bit more in our price range, although with less square footage.  Moving date will probably be in early June if all goes well.  I'll let you know more as the pieces fall into place.  We don't anticipate any issues with this one, save getting approved for a mortgage maybe, so keep praying for all those steps one must take in buying a house.  It's a roller coaster for sure.

I got an email last night about an Easter Extravaganza about 20 minutes away put on by a group of American Heritage Girls.  One of the families from one of the mom's group I've met with has a daughter or two in the club.  It's a Christian version of Girl Scouts, sort of.  I'm sure there's more differences, too.  There is also a boys' version, too.  If we weren't interested in other things, it would be something I would pursue.  It's nationwide.  Anyway, since it was a little further out, I figured it wouldn't be as well attended as some of the massive Easter egg hunts in our neighborhood.  We're talking Easter egg hunts with 5,000-10,000 eggs.  Yes, Indiana knows how to party!  (But not always in the right ways).  It was a great free event and perfect size for us!  Here, Keturah is pinning the tail on the bunny for some tickets to get some little treats.

They also had a game where you sucked through a straw to pick up a jelly bean and transfer it to another bowl.  You just raised the clock and yourself and got x amount of tickets for how well you did.

It was tough going, but Keturah did get a few of them transferred!

Then there was this plastic egg tower building game and Justin had his thinking cap on and built two towers first and then added one to the other at the last moment.  Then he adjusted the tower until time was almost up and finally let go.  He had at least a tower of a foot high!  Smart kid!

Counting the eggs in his tower!

Abishai was confused with all the chaos, but Daddy helped him get a little painting done on his arm of a football.

Abishai, Mr. Clean, was confused as to why there was paint on his arm.

There was a mom doing a few different balloon animals and objects, and she had this cool idea of adding sprinkles to a clear balloon.  Then, you shook it, it was like a rattle!  It was pretty noisy, and I fear that it's going to make a mess when it pops, but it was neat!

What kind of smirk was that, Justin?  He's never too old for balloon objects and Minion t-shirts!

The Heritage Girls performed a skit about how Jesus and his resurrection is the center of the Easter story and not bunnies and Easter eggs.  It was very good!  Then they divided the kids up into age groups for the Easter egg hunt.

The age groups were 2-4, 5-7, and 8-12.  Well, the 2-4 year olds wanted to play more than they wanted to pick up Easter eggs!  I thought it was going to be a mad dash with parents encouraging their kids to hurry up and get as many as you can, but it was much calmer than that.  The older kids however, went a lot faster.

Abishai did pick up a few eggs before he lost interest.  One important thing to note is NOT to put chocolate candy in Easter eggs when you know the temperature is going to be above 70 degrees!  Melted chocolate everywhere!  Oh, and this hunt had 3,000 eggs!

See, none of the 2-4 year olds were rushing to pick up the eggs!

A very well placed egg!

I'd rather run around, Mom, then play "pick up my toys" type of game!

Older kids!

I asked him if he wanted help, and he said, "Abishai."  Meaning, "Abishai do it himself!"  He still was a bit scared though, so I had to give him a little tug.  When he went down again, he went on his belly, very safely.

Aw, nothing says I love you like using your brother as a chair while you eat your rice krispy treat!

Abishai tried wiping the football off by himself, so we just went ahead and removed it so it wouldn't bother him.  Poor confused baby.

I love Baba's rattle!

Totally random, but on the way home, I noticed a Starbucks on one of our normal routes home and said something like, "Oh, I didn't know there was one there!"  So, instead of heading to Burger King next door to eat out again because it was lunchtime, Jared parked at Starbucks.  He hadn't had caffeine yet for the day, so he got himself a big cup of iced tea and got me a cafe' mocha with coconut milk and no whipping cream.  I had mentioned it's the only place I can go that has alternative milks.  He didn't ask me what I wanted, he just knew.  What a blessing that we are that close that we know what each other needs and likes and wants like that!  And he didn't get anything for the kids!  Which says he was thinking of me first.  Awww....

I know it was last minute, but I'm glad I reached out or said something about needing clothes for Keturah for this trip.  And for having something new and a little fancier for Easter.  Yes, it has an ice cream pattern all over it.  But oh my goodness, look at how grown up she is!

New sparkle shoes matching Mom's "new to me" shoes!  Every girl needs a little sparkle!

And Keturah specifically requested shoes with heels.  She doesn't wear dresses much and doesn't think a lot about her wardrobe, but I'm glad she does care a little bit and makes an effort to see if things go together.  I think she has a very good balance of how she views herself physically, as well as mentally.

Handsome boy with his hand me down sandals.

Mommy's turn!  I'm NOT pregnant, but boy I look like it some days.  I need to go shopping for myself this summer because this will be the 4th summer in these maternity pants and I think it's a maternity top, too.  I tried wearing the tie part in the front to make it look different, but I'm not sure.  Point is, when the kids look back at pictures of me, especially when I'm gone, they won't focus on how fat I was, but just the fact that "this is my mom and this is how I remember her!"  I also wore my hair down, which I'm trying to do once in awhile and play around with the Lilla Rose stuff some more.  And yes, we went out without coats on today because it was 80 degrees!  But I did bring a sweater for church and I was still cold because the a/c was blasting already!  In mid April!  Crazy!

Cheezy face!  He's got new sandals for the summer, and I dug out a 24 month summer outfit for him to wear.  I think I'll do a quick switch over of his clothes as well before we move.  I don't think I have 3T's here at the condo but I don't think I'll need them yet either.  Anyway, what a cutie!

Oh those killer eyes and blonde hair!  And I think he was a little bit excited to have "friends" on his shirt, the bears, doggies and froggies.  The green and blue combo makes his eyes pop!

I NEED to work on my photography skills, but here's a picture with more light on the left side of his face 

A-DOR-A-BLE.

We came home and he wanted to get out the whole bucket of cars, again!  Ah!  Packing with him around is going to be hard when all he wants to do is unpack!  Oh well, it's cute!  We saw a big rig car hauler at the gas station tonight, so we pulled into the station and slowly drove past the hauler so Abishai could study the cars.  We circled the station's lot, and when we came back around, Abishai got upset that we weren't stopping to stare at the cars.  I have never seen a child this interested in cars and know that they make different sounds and can recognize a school bus AND a commuter bus from far away.  Crazy!

New power stance as he eats his snack/dinner.

Cutie sat down on the ledge of the railing.  He now wants us to pick him up so he can see above the railing.

Dinner on the porch!  And windows wide open!  And allergens everywhere!  Can't wait for more yard space to run around in though.  We can't get all the toys we want to this summer, but I'm anxious to get one or two of the things we had when we lived in Beech Grove that the older 3 played with a lot like a blow up swimming pool with a plastic toddler slide going into it.  A sandbox made out of a tractor tire.  And maybe Daddy will build them another playset/clubhouse combo!  Maybe I'll get a 3 person adult swing with canopy like I had in Beech Grove.  Also on the list is a trampoline, a basketball hoop, and maybe a grill.  The list is long, but we'll have to be patient because we only buy with cash.  And we'll have to hit up some garage sales, too, for some furniture once we get squared away and see what we need.  It'll be fun setting up rooms, each with it's own purpose, and maybe decorating it around a theme or something.  I want to be more of a homemaker that put some real thought into decorating instead of just hodge podging it.  That means purging some things for sure.  Money isn't endless either.  But I do need rooms that serve specific purposes.  Kind of like in the big homes of colonial days or old European castles.  I can be such a dreamer sometimes!  And last night, because someone gave me a large diet Coke at Chick Fil A last night (husband) and I was dumb enough to drink it all by 8pm, I was up until 3:30 daydreaming about rooms and furniture and new routines.  Whoops!  But the perk of moving is having a blank slate again.  What hasn't worked in previous homes? What has worked?  What new chore routines will we start?  Anyway, fun times ahead!