Easter 2013

The secret to living the life of your dreams is to start living the life of your dreams today, in every little way you possibly can.  

Mike Dooley

I love Easter.

I love the smell of Easter.

I love the season of Easter.

I love the story of Easter.

I love the worship on Easter.

..and as I've gotten older, I've learned to fully appreciate all of the emotions of Easter -  of the death and resurrection.

It's true - the Easter Bunny and egg hunts are very important to my kids on Easter, but they do have a deeper understanding that there is more to Easter than candy, eggs, and bunnies.

This past week, Makayla has had her feet washed and attended the Last Supper - eating lamb and learning about Jesus' death and resurrection on her level.

Mason, who is two, knows that Jesus loves him and that Jesus is the Lamb of God. 

I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.  

JB Priestly

Did you know the Easter Bunny has magic?

The kiddos planted Jelly Beans in pots before they went to bed on the eve of Easter and left the pots on their table in the living room.

...and sure enough, with the Easter Bunny's magical dust, their jelly beans sprouted into suckers over night, leaving two pots of suckers and three Easter basket goodies for Makayla, Mason, and Mia.

 My girls in their Easter dresses while Mason is off running around.  It's nearly impossible to get pictures of Mason right now!...that's why my children's Easter picture is in the woods on a concrete deer!  Mason LOVED sitting on the deer and that was the only way we could get him to hold still long enough for a picture!

After church on Sunday, we had lunch and egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa Allen's house.  Sara and Jersey joined us and Makayla had a ball playing with Jersey!  It was a wonderful surprise! 

Mason is finally big enough to drive the four-wheeler by himself! Yeah!

We ended our Easter Sunday having dinner and another egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa Curry's.  

It was a wonderful day spent with family and friends and I was reminded once again of how lucky we are, especially my kids, to be here - surrounded by the most important people of my kids' lives - !

The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances.  

Robert Flatt 

Fishy In The Deep Blue Sea

The other night at swimming lessons, Makayla and I had a very tender moment...

Makayla and I were sitting on the bleachers waiting for her class to start.  Mia was asleep in her seat next to us and daddy and Mason were walking around the pool.  

After a couple of minutes of waiting and watching the kids in the earlier class, Makayla got up, stood in front of me, and put her hands on my knees.

She said "mommy, I don't want you to grow old like a grandma".  When I asked her why she said "because I love you".  Then she hugged me.

Really?

I wanted to cry.

Suddenly, the room became one big blurred mumbled bubble.  Does she relate growing old to end of life and doesn't want me to grow old?  That may be a silly thought, but that's all I could think of in that moment.  I wouldn't necessarily say it's a "fear" of mine, because it is a part of life, but having my kids watch us (me and Kevin) grow old and die is something I'm not looking forward to...not because of me, but because of what my kids will have to feel and experience.

I see it daily.

Parents and their grown children in the hospital.  

A couple of weeks ago at work, I went up to the floor to do an x-ray on an inpatient.  He was in his mid 90's and there was his son, I would say close to 80, sitting by his bedside.  Dad was sleeping and his son was sitting in a chair so close to him...just watching...and waiting, waiting for him to stir, or to cough, or to open his eyes... 

After 5 minutes of me moving him around and positioning him for his x-ray, he woke up.  

As soon as I took the x-ray, his son "rushed" back to his bed, grabbed his dad's hand, and with his other free hand, he rubbed the top of his head.  He said "I love you, daddy" and the dad replied "I love yooooooou" as he made an "O" with his lips and sang the word "you".

*sigh*
I gulped and did all I could to hold the tears back.

One day, we'll be there.  

I'll be a grandma, I'll grow old, and my kids will be sitting beside me...watching and waiting.

So, not knowing how deep to take it (because I had one thousand thoughts going through my mind in 10 seconds), I simply replied with "Well, honey, when I'm a grandma, that means you're a mommy.  And you being a mommy is going to be a wooooonderful thing".

Not counting our little conversation about Makayla not wanting me to grow old, swim lessons at the college were a lot of fun...for all of us!

Mommy and daddy had fun watching Makayla learn to tackle her fears.
Mason and Mia had fun being entertained by all of the little kids swimming, splashing, and diving in.

...and Makayla had fun going under water, jumping in, going under water, kicking with a floatie, going under water, blowing bubbles, going under water, wall walking...  

She had a blast going under water!

The only thing that Makayla didn't do, because she was too scared, was jump off the diving board without any floaties.  I don't blame the girl - it's scary a thing! - especially when you don't have the security that you're always used to with arm floaties or a ring. We definitely didn't push her to jump because we were already so proud of her for accomplishing so many other things throughout the two weeks.  She did a great job!

Makayla LOVED her teacher, Casey, and brought her pictures that she colored for her.  It took Makayla a couple of days to develop trust in her, but once the trust was there and Makayla got a new pair of goggles, it was ON!  She was a fishy in the deep blue sea!  

She also loved the kids in her class...especially Gianna.  She kept calling her Shawana (Sha-Wah-Nuh) and is begging to have a play date with Shawana.  

...I'm thinking the goggles, that she refused to take off because they morphed her into a brave little swimmer, were too tight!

...until next time! I'm sure in a few more months we'll be doing more swim lessons - outside - in the heat - catching some rays - enjoying the summer weather! - I can't wait!

Food Journey

Mia's very first taste of cereal...

...and her expression after the spoon came out of her mouth.

(Really, mom?  What in the world was that?!)

Mia's second bite of cereal...

(The expression in her eyebrows crack me up!  She makes it look so painful.)

 

The second attempt at feeding her cereal went a little better!  

She was actually excited to get the spoon in her mouth... 

...and after a morning of nursing and a few spoonfuls of cereal, I think she was a pretty satisfied baby girl!

It's exciting, and somewhat mind blowing, that we are already starting the "food journey".  

It's been a lot of fun to watch all of Mia's expressions as she eats and I can't wait to introduce her to more exciting and flavorful food in the months to come.

bananas...avocados...sweet potatoes...

nummy!

St. Patrick's Day

A Shower And Bowling

Last fall (a couple of weeks before Mia's birthday), Makayla and Mason had the honor of being a flower girl and ring bearer in a wedding - our friend's Mike and Nicole.

...and this Spring, Makayla has the honor of being a flower girl, once again, in my cousin's wedding.  Makayla feels so very special and is excited to be a part of the wedding and wear a pretty dress!

To celebrate my cousin's upcoming wedding, we attended a wedding shower last weekend - a beautiful, intimate wedding shower!

My two gorgeous cousins, Beth and Kari!  The one on the right in white is the Bride-To-Be, Kari!

Besides being with family (Mia and her Great Grandma)

 and seeing Kari extremely happy, my two favorite parts of the shower were the 

Mimosa Bar

and Photo Booth

Oh, what a beautiful shower it was - tea, laughter, and celebration!

After spending time at the shower, us girls met up with the boys and went bowling -

Bowling under the ocean!

This is just one picture of the lanes - 

You can see sharks, the bottom of a boat, and the rays of light filtering through the top of the water.  

It's a very fun bowling alley and the kids had a blast. We had dinner on the lanes, the kids drank soda, Mason stripped his sweat shirt off, and a few strikes and spares were bowled by the kiddos.

Besides wedding showers and bowling, last week was also filled with -

choir, zumba, family night at Kids Club, Preschool family night, basketball games, a night at the movies, dentist appointments, doctor's appointments (Mia weighs 11 lbs, 1 ounce and is 25 inches tall), and swimming lessons -

Next week will wrap up a two week session of swimming lessons for Makayla and we can't wait to see all that she has accomplished at the end of next week!

4 Month Old Mia

Four months old and the prettiest little sugar bunny...!

I can't believe Mia is four months old already, when it just feels like yesterday that I was holding her in my arms for the first time.

time flies...

Every day, Mia is growing bigger and getting stronger...and it has been so fun to watch her personality blossom.

Four Month Facts:

She smiles all of the time and is beginning to laugh more and more.  I'm pretty sure that there are days that she never stops smiling. There are a few things that trigger her laughter, some of which include: Makayla asking her (in her sweet high pitched voice) if she likes it when her big sissy holds her, standing her up on her feet and bouncing her in the air...landing gently back down on her feet, and tickling her!

She loves to lay on the floor and play with her feet.

She is still exclusively breast fed, but we are looking forward to introducing some cereal and other foods within the next couple of weeks!

We couldn't be luckier that she is such a laid back, 'go with the flow' baby (just like her brother and sister)...definitely makes life easier!

She is getting louder and louder every day - talking, babbling, gasping, blowing bubbles, squealing...

 Her favorite things include -

sharing her smiles, 

being kissed on, 

and blowing bubbles.

Bath time could possibly be her favorite part of the day!

I love it when Mia is snuggled in close to my chest, all comfy and enjoying life.  If I sneeze or say something after a bit of silence, she rears her body back, looks me straight in the eyes, and furrows her eyebrows...as in "what in the heck are you doing?  i'm trying to relax right now".  I'll always apologize for interrupting her and she gives me a sweet smile.  It's awfully cute!

Oh, Mia Grace!

She brings so much joy to our lives and I just can't get enough of her!

Happy Four Months, baby girl!

Busy Kids

Today, Makayla was sitting on the floor around the table eating a snack.  I asked her why she was sitting on the floor and she responded "I'm not sitting on the floor.  I'm sitting on God's lap."  Wow.

And then there's Mason - 

Last night, we were eating dinner at a mexican restaurant.  The lady waitress was talking to the kids...half english, half spanish.  She was throwing in words like bonita, amiga, hola, adios, gracias...

In the middle of the waitress talking, Mason looked over to Kevin and asked where Boots was.

*Boots is a character (monkey) on Dora the Explorer - a cartoon that teaches Spanish.  I'm thinking since Mason was hearing spanish words, he thought the lady waitress was Dora and wanted to know where her friend Boots was.*

Aaaah, Mason!  Such a sweet, smart boy.  There's just something about him...

and whatever that "something" is, I hope it stays with him for a lifetime.

Mason loves to watch things bake in the oven and as he was standing watching the pizza bake for lunch today, I noticed his cute little fingernails...

He's such a good brother to let his sister paint his nails!

...and let's not forget about Mia - 

our beautiful little princess who is almost 4 months old!! - who loves smiling and looks forward to bath time every night.

While mommy and daddy have been keeping a very busy schedule, the kiddos have been busy these last couple of weeks, too -

playing in the snow,

going to Kids Club,

going to Choir,

having slumber parties,

attending baby showers,

working (Mason got a new job as Dr Curry at the bowling alley),

playing,

spending quality time with Fawn and Holly Rocks,

going to Zumba,

and sharing a chocolate cake a few days early for Grandpa Allen's double nickle Birthday, 

...our days have been full and even though it doesn't seem possible, the next couple of weeks are going to be busier than ever.

 Busy and Fun.

...and I wouldn't want it any other way. 

Kevin Turns 31

This year, Kevin turned 31!  (wow!)

...and while it wasn't the birthday he had last year with a surprise trip to Florida, this year was still fun with stories to tell!

*Last year, I pulled off an amazing surprise for Kevin's 30th birthday.  I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to beat it, but to read about it and possibly get any ideas for yourself, click here --> Kevin Turns 30!

A few days ago, I took the kids shopping to get daddy a birthday present.  They both wanted to get him bird food, so I suggested a bird feeder.  They got to pick out which bird feeder they wanted along with some different types of bird food.  They were very excited and I threatened them that if they told daddy what they got him, I would bring it back to the store.  I explained that we were going to surprise him with these presents.

After they picked out the bird feeder, we went walking down the card aisle.  I was going to let Makayla and Mason each pick out their own card for daddy.  Suddenly, they both started yelling out "Bella!  Bella!  Bella!"  They had spotted a card with a dog on the front whose tongue was sticking out that reminded them of their cousin's dog Bella.  Of course, Mason wanted to get this card for daddy sooooo bad because "daddy loves Bella".  

The front of the card reads:

and the inside of the card reads:

It's blurry because this dog is physically (and very loudly) vibrating - up and down, up and down, up and down on this leg.  I asked Mason a few more times if he wanted this card for sure and tried to persuade him to get a different one - a card that plays music, a card with Elmo on it, a card with a monkey on it...any other card but this one.  I didn't want to send daddy the wrong message (this mommy is super tired)!

Mason ended up going with this one and I was sure to reiterate that this card was only from Mason and not mommy!

Anyway...on the way home from the store, I kept reminding the kids not to tell daddy what we got him for his birthday and as soon as we walked in the house, Makayla said "Daddy!  We got you a DS (as in a Nintendo DS)!"  then she whispered to me "I'm not lying!  I'm just pretending".

(we're trying to learn the difference between lying, pretending, and kidding.  it's a tough lesson to teach)

*fast forward to the next day - Kevin's birthday*

The kids couldn't wait for Kevin to open his presents.  We sat on the floor and put the gifts in front of Kevin.    Before Kevin could open them, Makayla asked him "Do you think it looks like a bird feeder?" and Mason nodded with confidence and said "Yep, bird house"...

Oooh, kids!  Other than spoiling surprises for daddy and picking out suggestive cards, we had a fun dinner at the bowling alley to celebrate daddy's birthday with friends, family, sweet treats, and a "Happy Birthday" song!

Oh, Makayla

February 16 -

Tonight, I was taking bottled breast milk from the refrigerator and transferring it into bags to be placed in the freezer. In doing so, as I would empty each bottle, I'd hand it to Makayla to toss in the sink. Leave it to my daughter, though, to chug the last few drops of breast milk out of each bottle before tossing it into the sink...

February 17 - 

Makayla only had good intentions when she dumped an 8oz bottle of "hanitizer" aka hand sanitizer and used an entire roll of toilet paper to clean her bedroom carpet.... 

V-day and B-day

"There is nothing so sweet - not flowers, not chocolate, not a  thoughtful card - as the love of a small child that can be held in the heart on Valentine's Day and on every day thereafter."

-Crystal Dawn Perry

This Valentine's Day was a lot more exciting than a romantic date with my husband at a fancy restaurant (don't get me wrong, though!  I would totally enjoy a romantic date with my husband at a fancy restaurant!)...

This year we had a "red" themed smorgasbord for dinner at home with the kids!

...raviolis, scrambled eggs (pink), raspberries, pomegranate seeds, red peppers, strawberry applesauce, and a V8 smoothie to drink!

Mason loooved the pink scrambled eggs and being silly, asked what he was eating before each bite.

This kids did some valentine crafts with each of their grandma's this week, I had fun helping Makayla fill out her valentines for her classmates, and Mason feels special when Makayla shares her candy hearts with him.

Oooh, the joy kids bring on Valentine's Day!...and other special days, like BIRTHDAYS!

We've had many birthdays to celebrate these past few weeks!

Aunt Nina turned 25!!

We went bowling and had a slumber party at Aunt Nina's house.
*While visiting Aunt Nina, we went to a popcorn shop that had close to 70 different flavors of popcorn.  Makayla picked a bag of kettle corn and Mason picked a bag of macaroni and cheese.  Macaroni and Cheese popcorn?  Gag! Grandma and Grandpa picked some popcorn up for us, too - cheese and caramel, strawberry and banana, blueberry and orange...

Brennan turned 3!!

The day after Aunt Nina's birthday celebration, we headed to Brennan's house for his 3rd birthday party!  Mason loved Brennan's Caillou birthday cake and Makayla loved playing with Tyler!  I love the fact that the kids hardly see each other, but when they do, it's as if they're best of friends that see each other every day.  They love seeing each other and playing with each other!
*I think it's really cute that Mason calls Tyler "tylerbrennan" and he calls Brennan "tylerbrennan".  When ever he sees one or the other, in person or pictures, he always says "tylerbrennan!!".

Grandma McWilliams turned 80!!

We had a surprise party for Grandma Mac to celebrate her 80th birthday...and she was surprised and so very happy to have most of her friends and most of her family come together to wish her a happy birthday!

Here is a picture of Great Grandma with most of her kids, grand kids, and great grand kids.  We're missing a few due to illness or living in New York.

Grandma Mac has a lot to be proud of!

Jersey turned 6!! 

Normally, for Jersey's birthday, we go roller skating...but this year, we went bowling! (Mason's heaven!)
Mason loved bowling and Makayla loved hanging out with the "older" girls!  The cake was delicious and the goody bags were a *big* hit with the kids!

 Valentine's Day and 4 Birthday Parties - all within a month!
We've been busy bees...having fun and celebrating!