Easter for us is a time where we give the traditional basket of goodies and eat a chocolate bunny or two but we try to focus on the meaning of the season.  We got together with Stephens family for the holiday and opened up the Resurrection Eggs, I can’t remember exactly what order, but I think this is pretty much what there was in it.

donkey

goblet

coins

praying hands

cross

whip

crown of thorns

spear

nail

dice

gauze

empty

It made me so proud to hear Titus look at the eggs one at a time and tell what they stood for.

“Jesus road on a donkey” People waved Palm branches and praised Him.

“Jesus had something to drink” He knew Jesus ate with all his disciples.

He didn’t really know about Judas betraying Jesus.

“He prayed to God” Lord if its possible let this cup pass from me

“He died on a cross” He lived a perfect, sinless life, and yet he died for us so we could have forgiveness from our sins.

“He was hurt”. He was whipped, wore a crown of thorns, pierced for our transgression, died on a cross for our sins

“People wanted his clothes” lots were cast

“He had that stuff around him, the lady brought some stuff so he wouldn’t stink” His body was wrapped and placed in a tomb

“He rolled the stone away, the tomb was empty.”

“He’s not dead, He’s alive!”

And that is the meaning of Easter, or as we like to call it Resurrection Day.

We went to church, we celebrated Stephens dad’s B.Day, We ate alot, we hunted Easter eggs, but best of all we focused on the meaning for the season.

Well, I decided that I needed to take the boys out and take some pictures because Spring is here in all its glory!  I love this time of year when the grass is green and the flowers starting blooming all over the roads, dips, and valleys.  They lift their heads proudly dressed in their royal hues of God ordained colors and shout ‘Come sit with me awhile and enjoy the beauty of our Creator!’  So, we headed out to do just that, Titus was on a butterfly hunting mission the whole time, and Quinten was in a state because it was the 2nd day in a row he was awakened early from his nap.  So, Stephen became in charge of taking some sweet pics and having fun with Titus, and I was dragging around a screaming child who refused to be put down… sigh… Needless to say, we didn’t stay out to long.   We will venture out again soon, maybe in the morning, with full tummy’s and happy hearts.

Well, my baby officially turned 4 today.  What a big boy, I can’t believe how fast it has gone.  We went to the Houston Zoo this morning and had a great time.  Of course today is the first day of Spring Break and was PACKED! But we jostled shoulders with the best of them and tackled all the exhibits.  Good thing I had my mother-in law and husband with me because 4 and 1/2 hrs with two small over stimulated children is always work!  Titus liked the baby giraffes and the birds the best along with the carousel ride.  Quinten liked all the animals and freaked out on the carousel ride.  We got in the car and crashed (sleep wise).  Tonight we will open presents here in Houston, eat cake, play, and maybe watch a kids movie.  Tomorrow we will recoop so we can go to the Rodeo on Wednesday.

We have been in Texas for almost 5 years now.  It is hard to believe, its gone so fast!  This week marked an epic time for me, the first real ’snow’ that I have experienced here.  Now, it has snowed here before, like 2 times where you saw it for a fleeting few minutes or the better side of a half hour, but not the glorious, stick it out kind.  Tuesday afternoon while I was working, big beautiful fluffy snow came hurtling down  I had my nose pressed to the glass, my heart breaking that I had still another 7 hours left before I could make a run for it, to see my beloved snow!  The hours past minute by minute, the sun sinking fast my heart sinking that I wouldn’t make it to see this miracle.  5 to 7, 5 after 7, 15 after 7, 25 after 7… finally I was ready to run. I leapt into my coat, sprinted down the halls, and felt my heart beat just alittle faster.   I LOVE the snow.  Its like re-living a thousand moments of my childhood and coming home all in the same moment.  The doors opened wide and beautiful snow swirled around my head.   My tongue came out to test the delicate drops and my eyes shined with gratitude for this unexpected present.

So my baby turned 2 last month, sigh… Now I have no babies.  I remember talking to my niece when Titus was this age, thinking he was still a cross between a baby and a big boy, Elayne wanted to know how old he was and I replied, ‘he’s two’.  Then she proceeded to tell me that he wasn’t a baby, he was a toddler.  How true! I have been needing to get Quinn’s 2 yr pics and some of Titus, so since Stephen was doing other things, I took the boys and we had a morning filled with frustration and then fun. :)  Its so hard to do kids when you don’t have an extra hand, but finally I just gave up trying to get a grin and we went to feed the ducks and turtles and had a blast, thus the smiles at the end…  Enjoy the pics! (I have about 50 more that are awesome, but I don’t know how to do the slideshow and Stephen is out taking pictures for real and so I am winging it).

We got the chance to take a family vacation with some good friends of ours, The Landins, and stay in their family beach home on South Padre Island.  Now, I have been to Galveston and to Corpus Christi, so I must say I was alittle worried that this beach may not live up to its name proclaiming an island getaway.  Well, I was so happy to see the long stretches of clean sand, combined with a clear blue sea, and a warm sunny (well most of the time) sky that I may have cried out in joy.  The water was great, and the kids all went crazy.  Having our two boys, coupled with Sadie and Meagan on the beach was so precious.  We build sand castles that Quinten smashed as soon as they were up, spa baths with flowing channels in between, we collected sea shells and played in the surf, went to the sea life resource center, saw a pirate ship, ate sea food and lots of other really yummy food we made ourselves, and just really had a great time!  We are already looking at the calendar to see when we can go back.

So recently I have been sewing more.  I have made several dresses that are adorable, but given them away without photographing my work…  I will have to get some later when their girls get big enough to actually wear them…

But, here is one I made for Autumn’s second birthday party.

It was a horse themed party and oh so fun for our kiddos!  I loved getting to try out a new pattern and having such a cute model and event to sew for!  Someday maybe I’ll get a girl and get to make things with ribbons and bows, but for now, I am getting a sweet feeling sewing for my girlfriends daughters.  So, here is the dress, I’ll probably put the pattern on here later if anyone wants it and some sweet pics from Autums big day!

There are many more pics from the event, so comment if you’d like to see them and I will get the pics to you!

So, I have wanted to post some of these for awhile now, but I needed a day when i could actually put my pictures in and have just now gotten around to it.  So, sorry there are a bunch of posts from today!!!

Another thing I have been wanting to do forever is a family portrait.

Now, we moved into this huge, rambling, 1904 home and as much as I love the history and character of it, I want to add our touches to the mix.  So, I got this idea to meld a contemporary design with a classic.  This was the result and I am sooooo pleased!  My sweet hubby helped me print these out on canvas and then stretched them on frames and used the nail gun (which by the way is super harder to use then I thought it would be) to anchor them to the stretcher frame.  I then went to Hobby lobby where I found 1/2 off frames and got these.  I just am in LOVE with the way it turned out and it really was a simple at home project that you could do yourself.  You may not have access to a canvas printer, but you can certainly use a regular glossy print and put it under glass for a fun look too.  Just make sure to take your picture somewhere like in front of a window with a light fabric, so that you are back-lit, and that will create a natural silhouette effect.

I have been feeling the creative, crafty itch again… I started sewing more, making hair accessories, but Wednesday I felt like making something extra sweet.  What better then cookie mix in a jar?  I had a birthday lunch to go to and I thought this would be a great gift!  I was suprised by how easy it was, how festive it looked, and of course how scrumptous it was…  So, I am passing it on to you, I will probably repeat this at the Holidays and try things like Spiced Ciders, Extravagant Hot cocoas and Brownie mixes too.

Here are the 3 recipes I tried, have fun and enjoy.  Feel free to vary it up and rename them…

Cowboy Cookie Mix in a Jar (thanks to allrecipes.com )

Ingredients

1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking pwdr, 1 1/3 cup flour, 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, 1/2 cup chopped pecans, 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 1 1/3 cups rolled oats.

Layer indgredients in order given, press firmly in jar.  Include a card with the following directions (make it look pretty and feel free to change the wordage), then make sure to add a pretty fabric and some ribbon:

Preheat oven to 350*, grease coolie sheet, mix together 1/2 cup butter or margarine, 1 egg, and 1 tsp of vanilla, stir in entire contents of the jar and mix it good, shape into heaping spoonfuls, place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet, and bake for 11-13 minutes, cool slightly and enjoy tremendously!

Kiss Me Cranberry (thanks to allrecipes.com )

Ingredients

5/8 cup flour, 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/3 cup packed brown sugar, 1/3 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup dried cranberries, 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, 1/2 cup chopped pecans.

Layer indgredients in order given, press firmly in jar.  Include a card with the following directions (make it look pretty and feel free to change the wordage), then make sure to add a pretty fabric and some ribbon:

Use the same baking guidelines above but bake for 8-10 minutes instead!

Butterscotch Delight (thanks to allrecipes.com )

Ingredients

1 1/8 cups flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp baking pwdr, 1/2 cup backed brown sugar, 1/2 cup white sugar, 1 cup flaked coconut, 1 cup high protein crisp rice and wheat cereal, 3/4 cup butterscotch chips, 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Layer ingredients in order given, press firmly in jar.  Include a card with the following directions (make it look pretty and feel free to change the wordage), then make sure to add a pretty fabric and some ribbon:

Bake like above for 8-10 minutes.

Can you say Moo?

Well, we can!  Today our family celebrated the 5th annual Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A.  Warm nuggets, cool milkshakes, savory sauces, waffle fries, and fresh squeezed lemonade… ahhh…. what more can a family of cow dressed wanna bees ask for?

Seriously, we got on our computer and went to www.cowappreciationday.com and found the tools we needed to transform into cows.  We printed out ears, a nose, black spots, a Chick-Fil-A sign and completed our outfit with a wicked tail!  We taped and bobby pinned our new found appendages on and loaded up the car.  On the way I was a little nervous that I looked a little like a sad cardboard cow, but then we pulled up next to a bunch of high school girls who were decked out as well and I could have cared less.

Now, what do you get if you dress up in full regala you wonder?

nuggets with dipping sauce… waffle fries… milk… soda…

how about a wrap? fruit… Club Chicken…

The honor of being a true cow is that you get any combo meal on the menu.  So hurry up, its only today… Lots of fun and free food and foolishness…  Yeah for Chick-fil-A!  I am already looking forward to next year!