Easter Day

(I'm not sure why there is this big space at the top of all of these.. i think it's because I'm posting from my phone… Sorry!)

Easter morning was so fun! Caden was apparently up before the sun and had already done a lap around the house because when I woke up he came running up telling me the Easter Bunny had hidden eggs INSIDE the house this time! The night before he vowed with all of his might that he would wake up in the middle of the night to catch the Easter Bunny… he must've just missed him! 

This one did not have good luck finding the 'winer' (winner) egg on Saturday, but Sunday was a SUCCESS!!

We have a thing for dresses and headbands. 

Booper made CINNAMON ROLLS for breakfast!!!!

The Sunday service was wonderful at my parents church, as always. Mom sang in the choir and they sang the Hallelujah chorus. It was magnificent! I kept thinking how I can't wait to get to heaven and listen to the host of angels sing this before my Savior. Chill bumps. It was beautiful!

We made it to the car first so we hard an impromptu photo shoot! Dancing girl...

Eyes closed for Lu but I look 10% decent so I figured I'd throw this on here! 

Playing 'Freeze' in the pavilion.

Somehow this picture ended up looking like it had a fish eye lens so the angle wasn't great for any of us but oh well!

We had time to spare before lunch so I took the kids on a 4 wheeler ride so the house could be calm. We were driving slowly down our old driveway and Lu said, 'there's a fox.' (Like that was an everyday sighting!) I stopped to look and sure enough it was a baby fox! Two actually! The first one kept ducking down in their fox hole but this little curious dude just hung out with us for a few minutes! He was so cute! The kids were thrilled over him! 

Mom texted Sunday night that she had fished all the hard boiled eggs out of the trash and put them out along the driveway so the momma fox could take them to her kids! London was so happy for that! Sweet Booper!

This ray of sunshine joined us for lunch on Sunday so I made her come take pretty pictures for us!

I had Katie send me this picture because I could not get over it! Din Din holding baby Coco who is the sweetest, most beautiful baby girl ever! She has me wrapped around her little finger! I love love love seeing this child!!

Easter Day 2

Day 2 in pictures. I kept saying I was going to look up how the story of a bunny who lays eggs originated but I never did. 

Wait a tick. I just did. Interesting. See below. Essentially, it's just a smash up of cultural traditions. 

From Mental Floss: 

If you go way back, though, the Easter Bunny starts to make a little sense. Spring is the season of rebirth and renewal. Plants return to life after winter dormancy and many animals mate and procreate. Many pagan cultures held spring festivals to celebrate this renewal of life and promote fertility. One of these festivals was in honor of Eostre or Eastre, the goddess of dawn, spring and fertility near and dear to the hearts of the pagans in Northern Europe. Eostre was closely linked to the hare and the egg, both symbols of fertility…

The pagans hung on to the rabbit and eventually it became a part of Christian celebration. We don't know exactly when, but it's first mentioned in German writings from the 1600s. The Germans converted the pagan rabbit image into Oschter Haws, a rabbit that was believed to lay a nest of colored eggs as gifts for good children. 

Oschter Haws came to America with Pennsylvania Dutch settlers in the 1700s, and evolved into the Easter Bunny as it became entrenched in American culture. Over time the bunny started bringing chocolate and toys in addition to eggs (the chocolate rabbit began with the Germans, too, when they started making Oschter Haws pastries in the 1800s).

Sorry so many pictures but these kids are just all so darling! 

(goodness. so cute.)

Mid day break at the party shop. Meet Dora and Dora. Then imagine a high pitched giggle fest. :)

The eggs were dry and ready for hunting when we got home! 

Tiny boy. Big Tree. Great shadows. 

These two were hunting the last egg. You can barely see it but there's a yellow egg right above Caden's hand. They COULD NOT find this egg. They completely missed it even though it was about to jump out and bite them!

Still hunting it! Silly goof balls!

Caden got a marker and wrote 'winer' (winner) on one egg. This egg became seriously important. This was THE EGG to find… even better than the golden egg. And yes, he made a 'loser' egg too that was REALLY BAD if you found it! 

Good Friday 2014

Easter. Glorious Easter. I always say Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, but I forget about Easter. How the dead has come back to life in every way. After the long, dreadful winter that we've all experienced, I was overcome to drive into my parents driveway and see this. Mammoth flower bushes fighting for more room to pop out in bloom. Like all the flowers we're jumping at the chance to finally show off. The dead is over. Life has come again. 

Ahh. Then there's Jesus. Three days in darkness. Waging war on the power of hell. But Sunday was coming. With ground quaking, the Father scooped up his son, ALIVE in Glorious Light. 

The dead is over. Life has come again. 

A victory cry for all who call him King. 

Easter. Glorious Easter. 

(And just in case you missed my earlier post, click HERE to listen to something truly amazing.)

The Friday arrival kickstarted a full weekend of hiding and hunting eggs. 

It also reminded me of how fantastically fabulous it is to be a kid. 

A favorite 'perfect timing' shot. He was admiring his basket full and caught sight of ONE MORE he had missed! :) 

The prized golden egg!

AND GO!!!

The start of a great weekend of tall tales, funny stories, lots of laughing, and tons of play! More to come!

Guys Trip

Barry took a boys trip to Springville, TN last week for a turkey hunt with some of this friends. I thought he got some great pictures and wanted to share! He's on another hunting trip now, so maybe the photog skills will be just as good!

Her.

I've found the things that make you marvel are often incalculable in the mind.... This one, for example.  She's all girl. 100% pink and tutu's and braids and lipgloss. But when the opportunity is there, she's 100% tomboy. Outdoors, dirty hands, lizard collecting, squealing laughing as this 'darling' lizard nibbles on her fingers. 

She's kind hearted and cuddly and sweet and snugly. But she's eyes wide open and fearless and never looking back. 

She's the grandest adventure I've ever known.