Happy Easter!

hunting for eggs

"Ooh, mom can I eat the whole thing?"

Look what the East Bunny brought!

Pics with EB at the community egg hunt

"You're my bestest bud, EB!"

on the hunt...

"1,2,3, Go A's!"

Our lil' slugger is ready for the first game

Jacob loves the playset at the sports complex

 

We are nearing the end of the semester, and I'm so glad! It's like a test to see if we can keep all of the balls in the air at this time of year, and I have a feeling I'm dropping a few, (and maybe losing a few marbles as well.) We had a fun Easter with the boys. There was a community-wide egg hunt on Saturday afternoon. The Easter Bunny was in attendance :-) On Sunday, the boys found their baskets hidden in the house  and opened gifts from the grandparents. We went to church and talked about why we celebrate this holiday. (It's hard to find an accessible way to talk about Jesus' death and resurrection, two concepts that many children don't know a lot about. So we read the story, make tombs out of graham crackers, talk about Jesus rising up on the clouds, and pray that at least some of it will sink in, in a way they can understand.)  Then we came home, ordered Easter dinner from a local restaurant and took a relaxing walk around the neighborhood. After the crazy few weeks we've had, that was just right. We Skyped and talked with family, which was the perfect evening to our day. Saturday was also Micah's first t-ball game. He loved wearing his #6 uniform, batting and playing in the outfield. Even though they didn't win, the team played hard and it seemed like they were getting the hang of things by the end. The coach and the parents were very positive and encouraging, for which I am grateful. I took him out for ice cream and chicken nuggets afterwards :-) Jacob wasn't with me for the game, but he usually comes with us to practices and plays on the playset, as long as there aren't too many "big kids" climbing on it. Last week, he decided to find some playmates. He introduced himself to all of the others playing there announcing, "Hi, I'm Jacob," to each person. It worked! A little 4-yr-old girl immediately went over and began playing with him. After which he pronounced, "Mama, this is my friend! This is my best friend!" The two played for the rest of the night. He amazes me with his openness.

Weekend Warriors

Big men on campus

 

I finally downloaded the Blogger app on my phone so now I can post photos of the kids I take with my phone camera! The first one's a shot from last weekend's walk on the campus where I work. Jacob felt that this little structure was the perfect place to "break it down" so he got up there and danced to his heart's content :-) Wish I'd gotten a video, but as soon as I said something about it, he stopped. The second one is my attempt at a selfie of all of us (FYI-a "selfie" is a self-taken photo, shot with a smart phone and posted on social media). This being my first attempt, it was not successful! But I did get most of all of our faces in there. We were riding bikes, and John Deere play tractors to be exact, on the driveway. I haven't posted much these last few weeks because it's been crazy busy. Between Dan's breakneck schedule with musical rehearsals (thank God the show goes up this weekend!) and the work-related projects I've got, it's been a whirlwind. But somehow we make it work. Having so much to do and not enough time means we get a lot of practice prioritizing, and that's not always a bad thing. Micah, our philosopher, asked me the other day was "mindfulness" is. I don't know where he heard the term, but I answered as best I could, that it was making sure you remembered something important or being a state that focuses not on the past or future but the "right now". Being in the moment. Many times over, I have learned this lesson from my kids. It's easy for me to ruminate over conversations I've had, mistakes I've made or worries about things to come. But when I'm with the kids, especially when I am alone with them, it's hard to focus on anything else but them and what they are doing, saying, feeling, being. And this is a healthy thing for me. I still think it's important to take time to reflect, but I don't need help in that department. I've already got that one wrapped up with a bow on top. I need to remember something vital: what is happening right now is important, too. And if I'm not paying attention, it'll become something I've missed instead of a memory to cherish. And I love those. This morning Jacob came into our room before 6 (after being up twice in the night because of thunder) and jumped up in the bed with us, rooting his hand around to find the crook of my neck for comfort, like he always does, and in the process pulling out pieces of my hair, inadvertently scratching my face with his nails, and generally waking up a cranky and tired mom. "Wake up, mama! Morning time, c'mon, mama. Get up!" I'm not going to say I was a glorious paragon of saintly motherhood in that moment. But before we got up and brewed the coffee and got on with the day, I did have a fleeting thought: someday, he'll be grown up and we won't have these kinds of times with him.  We'll be remembering when. So I'm holding on, while I learn to let go.