Easter or "Eatr"

It feels like this past month has been a whirlwind.  We had a great Easter.  A great Easter service at church, and just generally, a really good day.  James was really funny about Easter.  I would say, "James, what is Easter about?"  And then he would say, "Eatr Bunny."  And then I would say, "I know, but what else?"  And then he would say, "Jesus (which sounds like Eeus) rose, owie."  I taught him to say Jesus rose, but the only "rose" he knows is how he walked through the rosebushes one day outside in the flower bed and got an owie.  I thought how funny and fitting it actually was for him to say owie about Jesus dying and rising from the dead.  Interesting.  Out of the mouths of babes, huh?

We had a really fun Easter egg hunt at church the Saturday before Palm Sun.  We had a great turnout and lots of fun!  And, lots of candy - which is what mattered to my friend, James.  

Here I am trying to get James to hunt eggs instead of playing on the playground.  He did not understand why he should want the eggs.  Finally, I busted one open and showed him the candy.  It was still a toss up between hunting and playing.

Landon hung out with the preschoolers for a lot of the time and they played with this parachute.  See James watching them?  He thought it was really, really fun until they all went under the parachute - then he started freaking out screaming.  ha.  I think it scared him when they all disappeared, and he thought they were hurt.

Um, what, do you think you are like 5 years old or something, Buddy?  I am trying for broken bones to stay away as long as possible for us...

RIGHT.  These eggs have candy.  See, James, I would never steer you wrong!!!

Sweet Nanda and James!

More parachute fun (guess I should have organized these pictures better)

Fun with pizza in the fellowship center before watching a Veggie Tales movie.

The Sat. night before Easter, Eric and Kelli and Caroline came over - some of our favorite people in the WHOLE world.  We ate dinner together and colored eggs.  James just kept cracking his eggs - because he's watched me do our boiled eggs in the mornings - or he kept throwing them because we bought special coverings for the eggs that were like balls.  Basketball, football, etc., so he wanted to throw them hard.   Every time he put one down in the colored water, he heaved it in there as hard as he could.  Good thing it was just vinegar and coloring.

Our family.

James and Landon Easter morning.  Ah, how things have changed since I took this exact picture last year :)

James' Easter basket.  He was pretty excited.  A bubble gun (That he thanks God for every night when I ask him what he wants to pray for).  The Little Engine that Could DVD, a watercolor paint book,

a chocolate bunny that we got because it was like a basketball, and it took numerous times of James playing with it until finally part of the foil came off, and he gasped, "CHOCO KETTY!"  He had no clue :)  Some bath fizzies to color the water.  Veggie Tales books,

Some Barney books, and a great tool kit.  I got most of these things for his basket at the Methodist Church consignment sale a few weeks before - awesome!  The drill is the best because it makes noise and everything and lights up!!!!

Some pictures of James in his Easter outfit before church...

The eggs James colored:

Easter egg hunt at Nanda's house:

A GREAT Day!!!

It's the Simple Things

Sometimes I feel ungrateful.  I know we all feel that way at times.  Sometimes I wonder why life is hard.  I was just telling Landon a few minutes ago while we were eating dinner that God has been reminding me of all the great blessings He's given me this week.  I've been mad for a couple of weeks about something - I just hate dishonesty, any kind of shifty-ness in people, shady-ness, you get the drift...and that's been going on with someone we know.  I've been frustrated about it - and honestly, it's been sort of consuming me.  I've prayed about it and prayed about it and prayed about it.  And a couple of days ago, I started to actually feel better - you know why?  Because I think God started reminding me how grateful I am for the life I have and the blessings in my life...and that this one situation is minuscule compared to the overflow of blessings around me.  He doesn't desire for it to consume me.  He desires for me to let Him handle it, and for me to move on - to live in His power, and for His purposes, and not get bogged down by someone who just doesn't seem to get it.  I know He'll handle it - just like He helps me along every day.  I even started thinking of dumb things...and some not so dumb things that I was thankful for today.  I'm in a better place than I've been the last couple of weeks emotionally, and I just want to make a list of things I've thought of that I'm grateful for and even simple things I just like.

1.  I like that when I walk around the corner in the mornings we have windows along the back of the house and I can see the trees and the sun coming up.  It was so beautiful last winter when it snowed so much.
2.  I like drinking coffee with peppermint mocha creamer.
3.  I like James yelling " Momma HOE-EEEE" a million times a day...even if it does begin to drive me a little batty.
4.  I like my family needing me and me have a specific role in their lives.
5.  I love my Monday night Journey ladies and what God is doing in them.
6.  I love that God walked with me through a scary month last month when I found a nodule on my thyroid, had to go to an endocrinologist, have a biopsy, and it ended up being benign.  I know He has good plans for my life, even when I don't understand why stuff is happening.
7.  I love this church journey we are on.  Boy, it's a challenge.  It's a roller coaster - victories, defeats, learning to surrender every single situation to God even if I just know for sure I could handle it better myself :)
8.  Friends in our lives - the family of God that surrounds me at every turn for support.  I need them desperately.  And I am most thankful when I can just be myself and don't have to wear a mask.
9.  Watching our family or friends pull into the driveway when they visit from FL!
10.  Clean sheets.
11.  The sound of the dishwasher running at night.
12.  The door God opened for me to continue to work for my company - the best company ever - in an even better role than I was previously in (I did not think this was even possible!!!!).  And, the co-workers I am having the opportunity to get to know.  Amazing.
13.  Sitting with Landon on the couch at night knowing James is sleeping and watching our shows together.
14.  Dates with Landon - especially when they involve eating :)
15.  Chili cheese fries at Longhorn.
16.  The smell of Wise Equipment.
17.  Surprising my mom at school when we get home.
18.  Special cards people send in the mail at just the right time when I need encouragement, and God laying people on my heart to send cards to.
19.  Watching my husband preach God's Word to people each Sunday.  I am a very lucky wife. Period.
20.  God's grace - that He saved me - that He's kept me through a whole lot of crap - hurricanes and marriage stuff - and that He doesn't want to get rid of me.  I don't have to be perfect.  He just wants ME.  That's it.  Nothing else.  No performance necessary.

I have one good life.

(and note to self:  I should reference this blog MANY times in the future when I am needing some things to be thankful for :)...which probably will happen tomorrow knowing me!)

I See Daddy!!!! in....the Spooky Schoolhouse

Things have been busy around here...busy, busy, busy.  I have some other things I want to talk about in another post, but this is just for fun, something I want to remember.  James is really loving books right now.  Usually books that don't have a ton of words, and his main favorite books are about trains - Little Red Caboose, the Little Engine that Could, etc.  This book, The Spooky Schoolhouse was one of my books as a kid, and I brought it home with us a while back.  It's really for kids that are a little older, but for some reason, James LOVES it.  It's about these two kids who move to a new town and their school is really old and they think there might be ghosts there, but obviously, there aren't and it ends up being that the heating system in the basement is really old.  Sorry if I ruined the book for you.  The plot is not the point of the my blog today.  The point is that on every page, James calls different people "Daddy".  He doesn't do this with any other book, and he clearly knows who his daddy is.  That's why is CRAZY FUNNY.  

So, here's the cover of the book with brother and sister, Samantha and Brian.

Here they are leaving for school - the first time James calls this person Daddy...which is accurate.  The man waving bye is Samantha and Brian's daddy.

Ah, but here's where the fun begins.  This is the kids' teacher, Ms. Witchner.  She is on two separate pages and James insistently over and over says Daddy, Daddy about this older lady - hahahahaha.  

Then after those two pages with Ms. Witchner, we go to this page.  James then insists that this little African American boy with the paper airplane is his daddy.  I try to tell him it's another student in the class with the brother and sister, but to no avail.  

In conclusion, who knew that James' daddy is an African American little boy, an older woman teacher with white hair, and his real daddy, a Caucasian 32 year old man :)  James has really enlightened me on this one.