Easter

We had a nice  Easter wknd this year, just our family of 4. We certainly look forward to spending the holidays with all our family, from here on out.  But, given the long winter, and how we have all drawn closer to God this year,  thinking about resurrection and what Jesus did for us,  made for a memorable and special Easter.

Our "park debut" actually took place on Good  Friday, quite fitting really!

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 It got up to the high 50's that day, and for the first time since November, going to the park was possible, and better yet, enjoyable! 

I also had to note how this was the first time Benjamin could enjoy the park as a stable walker! 

Next day, we had an Easter Egg hunt at Bekah's school, and we went into it with high hopes, since our park excursion was such a success. But it was just too cold for my Texas girl! See her face? That's how she looked a great deal of the time : (. Sad since she had her pretty new yellow dress on, that matched Benjamin's yellow bow tie ( thanks McAdams'!)

Never to have been bothered by the cold before, Benjamin stayed true to himself, and began his hunt!

We invited our friends, The Feng's to meet us there, and Benjamin was all to happy to share his eggs with his fellow "passy enthusiast!" I think they have a special bond in their appreciation of it!

Daddy, having gone in to work that morning, showed up just in time to give Bekah some extra warm hugs and bring a smile to her face!

Enjoying a lollipop from the hunt.

This boy would do ANYTHING for a "pop!"

Bekah was happy to see some of her friends there, like sweet Cata.

And JC, one of her favorite "guy" friends was there, but she was so cold, every time he beckoned her to come play ( in this instance, tic tac toe), she would say, "no, i'm too cold!"

We need to get this girl back to Texas, so she can enjoy her some Easter egg hunts, and flaunt those Easter dresses of hers! : ) 

As soon as we got home, jackets were stripped and fun was to be had, 

she was a completely different person!

Easter bunny came that night, something that Bekah hardly ever talked about when Easter was mentioned, which I love the reality of, she doesn't associate the Easter bunny with Easter, she honestly thinks of Jesus first! : ) Yay! : ) But, that night, we told her he was coming and it actually scared her, she must have called us back up to her room half a dozen times, asking, "is he really big mama?" "is he nice?" "will he wake me up?" 

I ended up telling her, on a whim, that he was no bigger than her stuffed animal bunnies, and that he doesn't talk, and hops along on all 4's and carries the basket with his mouth??? To make him seem more animal like and less "spooky costumed character like" . . .  guess it worked, she finally fell asleep!

Easter bunny left a trail of chocolate from their rooms to their baskets, and by that time, Bekah was "good with the Easter bunny",  and of course, Benjamin didn't question it!

This is me, trying to get an Easter pic of them, before church, . . . .

 before we get all wrinkly and dirty, 

   inside the house, with bad lighting

  because it is cold  outside. . . .

Without a passy . . . with outfits that actually didn't match, it just wasn't meant to be . . .

Story on the outfits:

:I had ordered a yellow dress on clearance last fall, and when I was happily considering their matching Easter outfits this year, I decided to "be smart" about it and just order a yellow long all for Benjamin from THE SAME company I had purchased Bekah's from ( that she had not worn yet, out of season) that was the SAME color- "sun"! Well, allegedly, "sun" changes from season to season, grr! I was sooo annoyed! I had told Bekah earlier that I was ordering a "matching" outfit for Benjamin, and funny how the minute I held it up to her dress, she says the obvious, "but mama, it's not the same yellow!"

After I got over the fact that it was way too cold to put my sweet boy in a long all AND the solution of the knee socks proved to fail because they were a bit too tight : ),

we headed to church and then, brunch with the Fengs!

Bekah and Benjamin got to enjoy this sweet girl once again!

Trying to capture more brother/sister pics while they are stationary,

but failed once again to get a smile, not to mention, get their attention!

Best shot I could get, still very sweet : ).

We are thankful for the Feng Family, Matt has been a wonderful, "fellow" fellow of Zack's! : ) 

One of the best parts about this Easter was the way we got to spend the whole day with daddy!

After brunch, the weather warmed up, so much so, that the kids wanted to run up and down the sidewalk in front of  Le Peep.

Man, these kids are in need of  some fresh air!

Who knew that strip centers could be so much fun to run around???

And so, I have realized lately, I don't use my mom camera as much as I used to,

 IPhone it is these days!

So just today, I downloaded them all to the computer, and now they are blogger and print worthy!

Here is a cute one of Benjamin in his bow tie : ) that I had to send Mrs. Amy to thank her for the precious addition to his outfit:

After naps on Easter, we dyed eggs. Bekah always pulls up a chair to the island while I am cooking to help, and for the first time, Benjamin saw what she did, pulled a chair up for himself, and joined in! 

It's so special to me, to watch him, watch her, and then, "grow up" little by little.

I am going to talk more about this in Bekah's 4 year post, but, this girl of ours is THE BEST big sister, so motherly, so kind, so encouraging, so eager to share and play with him,  so PROUD of him, she truly needs him around her, and her, him! This year has been a long and hard one, but one thing is for sure, it has bonded my kids, truly setting the tone, for what I hope to be, the kind of lifelong relationship I pray that they have : ).

After daddy did some much needed studying, we took the dyed eggs, and some Easter cupcakes, and headed to the park, for some snacking and playing!

3 nice days outside, more daddy time than most wknds, healthy kids, and Jesus being the source of all our joys and blessings,  I am grateful for this much needed holiday where we get to take a moment to 

"praise him from whom all blessings flow!"