Why the Eggs were filled with green on Easter

When thinking about what we wanted to put in the boys Easter baskets this year, we had a hard time deciding what to do - we couldn't think of anything they had really asked for and I didn't want to get them some "stuff" that they didn't really need/want especially when thinking about our upcoming move. Thinking some more about it we did realize that both boys are saving up their funds for something right now. Ian has been saving up his "store" money from his bank (his bank is divided into 3 sections: bank, store and church) for a while now and has a good little stash but he needs more to reach his goal - he wants to buy a Wii! I told him a while ago that if he got to $200, Brian and I would cover the rest of it. He's been very diligent and I wanted to "reward" that to some extent. Josh, on the other hand, is saving up his money for Prom. He needs money for the tickets, dinner, gas, tux and corsage. It just seemed to make more sense to help with those things rather than adding more stuff to all of their stuff! I put a $5 bill in a golden egg in each of their baskets and explained to each of them in a note that there was more green hidden in eggs, they just needed to find them! I filled 30 eggs with $1 bills and told them they could each find 15 eggs. They did each have a little bit of candy in their baskets and they each got a couple of Christian cd's for their listening pleasure. I know I didn't have to explain this for everyone but thought I would put it out there in case I forget for next year!

A Couple of Random Thoughts

Okay, although I've shared various facts about our life lately, I haven't really had a chance to sit down and "blog" and right now the house is quiet and I thought it a perfect time to do so. What's on my mind, you might ask? Nothing in particular yet a lot of things.

I wanted to make some more comments about our Easter. I don't know if you noticed from the pictures or not, but purple was our "color" this year. Last year our color was green. I had really wanted to do purple last year but then I realized I was going to have a baby girl and wouldn't it be better to do purple when I actually had a little girl to dress? So, last year I wore a polka dot green dress and a dear friend made the comment to me, "Joy, please don't take this wrong but you look like a beautiful Easter egg!!" I laughed. Anyway, this year I was determined that our color would be purple. We found the cutest little dress for Ellie and at the same time found a shirt/tie combo for Ian (funny story about that is when I put it on the stairs to be taken upstairs by the boys, Josh picked it up and said, 'Oh, thank you!' I told him well, I'm glad you like it but I think it's a little small for you!) Then, I was on the hunt for shirts for Brian and Josh. Josh wanted a bold purple and it turns out that's not easy to find right now. We finally found a dark purple herringbone shirt and then a shirt for Brian but couldn't find a tie I liked for Brian. I made a stop at Family Christian one day for Easter surprises and found a great tie that matched Brian's shirt plus had some green in it that was in Ellie's dress. YEAH!! Now, to find a dress for me! Finally, the day before Easter while my parents and Ian were at home sick Brian, Ellie and I went on a last ditch shopping trip to find a dress for me. I was heading to Kohl's but when we got to where that was I saw the Dress Barn and thought, Oh, that's a good place to start! SO, we went in found some dresses with purple in it (I had really thought with it being Easter a purple dress would be easy to come by but boy was I wrong!) and headed to the dressing room. I put one on that I thought was cute came out to show it to Brian and the lady who had been helping us was looking and finally says, "If you want my honest opinion I don't think that dress does you any favors!" WOW!! I thought that was pretty bold. So, she goes in search of some other dresses for me. In the meantime I'd found another dress that I liked (not for Easter but they were having a "Buy 2 dresses and save $10 deal" so I, of course, had to try another one on) and tried it on and as soon as Brian saw me in it he says "Well, we're buying that one, now we just have to find an Easter dress for you!" That made me feel so good. I really did like the dress and it turns out Brian's been looking for a dress for me for a while that was kind of that style. ANYWAY, the sales lady came back with a couple of dresses. One I flat out didn't like and the other that was a stretch for me pattern wise but did have the purple in it so I tried it on. Okay, I don't normally like to mention what size I'm wearing but I really couldn't believe we started with a size 8 dress but I ended up buying a size 4!! WOW! Now, before I get too big of a head here, let me tell you that the other dress I bought that Brian really liked was a size 8 so it's not like I've somehow shrunk that much in the last couple of months!! Anyway, you can see in the Easter pictures how it all came together - you might have to look closely at my dress to see the purple but it's in there and I really did like the dress and felt very much in style although I know that really shouldn't matter!! After being pregnant then not really being able to wear my own clothes for a while and now to have a new dress it just felt good - you know the feeling of wearing something that makes you feel confident. SO, there you have it - how our Easter outfits came together!!

Saturday when Brian went to get Ellie up from her nap, he called me and asked me to come there. He said, nothing's wrong, just come see this. I walked in and Ellie was sitting up with her back against the side of her bed! That's the first time she's sat up on her own. WOW! Won't be long and we'll walk in to find her standing up - she likes to pull herself up with my fingers so I figure it probably won't be too long!

One final thought or something to report. My baby has a date to the prom!! Okay, it's my 16 year old baby but he's going to Prom! He asked his friend from his last production (yes, the one he kissed) and she said yes. They are just friends and plan to remain that way but they are going to prom. She is homeschooled so this may be her only time to go (unless she is asked next year by someone). Would you like to know how he asked her? Well, her name is Jaynie (sp?) and her friends always like to joke with her about the song "Jaynie's got a gun." So, when we were in Gulf Shores, Josh bought a fake gun for her. I told him, wouldn't it be fun to ask her in a unique way (since he'd already decided to ask her) maybe by using the gun to do it. He didn't like my suggestion of "Gun-na go with me to the prom?" (You laughed, didn't you?!) He decided to ask the question on a little piece of paper and roll it up and put it in the "revolver part." So, last Saturday while at a picnic with friends from acting class, he gave it to her. She said she would have to ask her parents and they ended up telling her she needed to make the decision. Sunday she and Josh talked and cleared up the fact that they would still be "just friends" and she agreed to go with him. Prom is April 18th so now we are planning all the details and Josh is trying to figure out how to have enough money to do everything!!

Happy Easter!

Well, the family seems to all be better today (for the most part). My dad even ended up getting sick yesterday but my my mom and Ian seemed to be feeling better last night. We all went to church today and then went to brunch at the club. It was nice not having to worry about making something and everyone got to eat what they wanted. The kids all got their Easter baskets this morning and the boys got eggs stuffed with green - cash, that is - and enjoyed hunting for them. Ellie got a basket filled with toy bugs that are all magnetic and can stack up. It's a beautiful day and a wonderful day to celebrate our risen Savior!

Our Trip to the Beach

Josh was on Spring Break the week of March 10-14 but Brian and Ian were not. We were invited, by our friends/neighbors to join them at a condo they'd rented for the week. I decided that Josh, Ellie and I could do that so we made plans to go down on Wednesday the 12th and come back on Saturday the 14th. The condo was in Gulf Shores, AL, and we'd never been there so we were looking forward to it. It was a three bedroom condo and each bedroom had its own bathroom. We were on the 12th floor and looked out right over the beach. It was amazing! The only downside was Thursday night we had a bad storm come through with some good wind and it made horrendous noises so I barely slept that night and, much to Brian's delight, called and woke him up at 2am to talk to him! All-in-all Josh and I (and even Ellie) had a good time and were very thankful for our friend's generosity at inviting us to join them. Here is the slideshow of pictures from our trip! Enjoy!

Ellie turned 9 months last week!

Eliana turned 9 months old on March 12th - the day we were heading to the beach. Because I didn't have a lot of time to do my normal blocks in the picture, I just took a couple of her standing at her toy bucket in her room before we left for the beach.

She's still a small little thing and at the doctor's office on Thursday they weighed her at 13 pounds, 14 ounces. They didn't do her height, though, and I'm fairly certain she's grown taller. She loves to eat Oh's (like Cheerios but organic) and anything she can get her hands on, for the most part. She waves when asked (sometimes) and can kind of do a "High 5" very daintily. She will occasionally do the sign for "more" (sign language) and loves to babble. She loves to be outside and did a great job while we were at the beach. She's still not crawling yet but loves to stand while holding on to something and is working on being able to pull herself up to do it but hasn't quite gotten there yet. She really is a delight and loves her mama!

Can Easter Really Be Tomorrow?

I am sitting in my living room and all is quiet except for the dishwasher and my dad's occasional snore from the other couch as he naps. The rest of my family is napping at noon on a Saturday except for Josh who is out at a picnic with friends from his acting class. The past week has been somewhat of a blur and I'm still amazed that tomorrow is Easter. I don't feel ready - either commercially or spiritually and here's an overview of why: Josh, Ellie and I arrived home last Saturday afternoon from our trip to the beach and had a good afternoon with Brian and Ian. Sunday we went to church and then had a good afternoon but on Monday Ellie awoke from her nap a little early and when I went in to get her she was covered in throw-up! So, I took her to the bathroom to get her cleaned up and she began throwing up some more. Bless her heart she threw up quite a bit and I finally got her bathed and dressed only to have to change her outfit (and mine) again. She continued throwing up every now and again for the next couple of hours. Our biggest concern, of course, was making sure she stayed hydrated. Anyway, that evening Brian set his alarm for every couple of hours so we could go and give her sips of water so she could keep it down. While I was on my shift I heard someone upstairs in the restroom and went to check it out and found Josh throwing up in his bathroom! Great! By the next morning I wasn't feeling great and felt like if I could just throw up I would feel better. I never did end up throwing up but my stomach was uneasy and I ended up running a fever and feeling achy all day. Thankfully, Brian had that day off and was able to play nurse maid to all us sickies! Ellie would just lay on me that day which, to be honest, was kind of nice because she doesn't do that very much! Wednesday I woke up feeling a little better and not running a fever and Josh hadn't thrown up since earlier the day before so I took him to school and told him if he didn't feel good, just to call me and I'd come get him. Ellie hadn't thrown up any on Tuesday so we were kind of treating her like "normal" when she ended up throwing up on me on Wednesday! She threw up one more time that day but hasn't since although until today she still hadn't acted like she felt great. My parents arrived Thursday afternoon and we've had a relaxing visit with them until last night when Ian began complaining his stomach didn't feel well and didn't want to eat dinner. As he was getting ready for bed he ended up throwing up. Then, this morning, my mom started gagging and feeling sick and has been in bed since (and has thrown up, too). We really don't think my mom has whatever we've had but she and Ian were talking while in the bathroom (comparing notes) and they realized they both had Chic-fil-a nuggets yesterday. Not sure if it's related or not but interesting to note. So, anyway, with now all but Brian and my dad being sick in the past week that's why I feel unprepared for Easter!
Spiritually I find it hard when my babies (this time Ellie) are sick. I stress and think, are they going to get better or is something worse going to happen. I trust in the Lord to take care of my family but, to be honest, we don't always know what that might entail! I am so thankful that Ellie is feeling better and is acting more like herself today and I'm thankful I have a husband who took care of us during the worst of it all. I'm thankful I have a Savior who died on the cross, was buried and rose again to pay for my sin so that I might have a relationship with the Almighty. This Easter I will focus on the fact that the cross is empty and so is the tomb and because of those two things we have hope.

Date Night Surprise

Brian and I finally had a date night over the weekend!! I realized that night that our last date was for his Christmas formal back on December 9th or something like that! Way too long if you ask me! We had talked about it and decided since Josh's schedule had slowed down somewhat it would be a perfect opportunity. What Brian didn't know is that I arranged to have two couples join us on our date - the two guys Brian meets with once a week for an accountability group and their wives. So, from setting it up with them it had been decided to meet at Bonefish for dinner around 7pm. One of the couples said they would get there a little earlier to try and get our name on the list. The other couple had to wait for their babysitter to get there around 6:40pm. I had told Brian that we should leave our house around 6:30pm and it was 6:30pm and I'm saying "We gotta go!" And he's dilly-dallying saying "Why, you have something planned?" I played it off by telling him I was hungry (which I was) but also trying to make sure he didn't figure anything out. Well, we finally got to the restaurant and I saw our friends at the bar so I started walking that way and they said "Hello fellow date night friends" and that's when Brian figured out he had been set up. He told me he had the thought in the back of his mind, if Dave knows we got together without him he might be upset, but didn't say anything. Then, it was mentioned that they might not seat us if 2/3 of our party was there and that's when Brian figured out that Dave was coming, too! So, they showed up and we finally got seated around 7:30pm. We had a wonderful dinner and really enjoyed being able to spend some time with those folks. Oh, by the way, I had done this as a late birthday surprise for Brian so he got to celebrate for almost a week! I'm including some pictures. We ended up in a booth and rather than having all the guys on one side and all the girls on the other, we mixed it up a little and just had the couples sitting across from one another but Kate enjoyed being in the middle of the guys! :) The pictures are a little blurry but you get the point. Brad and Kate brought a St Patty's headband thing for Brian and he wore it when they brought out his dessert. The couples are: me and Brian, Kate and Brad and Dave and Kelley.

Josh's Performance

Josh had his performance for the finale of his acting class on Sunday evening. They did three one acts and his was entitled "The Boar" by Anton Chekhov (sp?). I found out early on that it required he kiss a girl at the end and neither Brian nor I were really pleased about that (still not, really). But, he did a good job - please don't think I'm talking about the kiss with that statement! {smile} - and he and the girl were "professional" about it. What's nice is she is a Christian girl with the same values we have and she talked to their teacher about it and decided she would come at it with the right attitude. It was nice to see Josh in a "funny" role and not yelling like he was in the Crucible! So, his class is over now and his teacher is actually moving to California this weekend and so they were all sad at the end of the show having to tell her "goodbye." He has really enjoyed the classes and looks forward to being able to do more drama things if not here than in North Dakota.

Happy Birthday Brian!!

Yesterday was Brian's birthday. It's the first one in quite a while that we haven't spent the whole day together. Usually if it's during the week, he'll take the day off but it wasn't an option this year so he had his normal day. He got home in time to go with me to pick the boys up from school then we got home and let him open his cards and gift. After that we left for an early dinner because we had OCF last night, too. We planned to go to a BBQ place that we've heard lots about but when we got there we discovered it's not open for dinner Monday-Wednesday. So, we drove back into town and looked to see what there was and ended up at Outback Steakhouse. We had a nice dinner and finished up in time to be at OCF. We had a good meeting then enjoyed some cake I brought for Brian. We sang happy birthday to him then were cutting up the cake and Melanie brought out another cake too (an ice cream cake) and we were like, oh, you got a cake, too. And she said, well, it's my birthday, too!! She hadn't mentioned it and I felt badly that I didn't know. So, we sang happy birthday to her also. How crazy that in our small group she and Brian share a birthday! Here are a couple of pictures of his special day.

New Favorite Photo of Ellie

While Brian was at Josh's Cinderella show, Ian, Ellie and I spent some time outside. Ellie looked so cute I just had to get my camera and ended up getting this picture. I'm so pleased!!

Overview of our weekend

It's been another busy weekend in our household but it's been good. Friday night Ian's school had a "Winter Festival" that we went to for a little bit. He had a good time. Saturday morning Brian and Ian had their first baseball practice at 8am!!! Josh had his acting class from 9am-12pm and then arrived home with enough time to be able to go with Ian and I to his Cinderella show. After the show I dropped Josh off at his friend's house for a evening celebrating his friend's birthday. When I arrived home Brian told me we'd been invited to a last minute going away party for a family that is/was in our OCF (Officer's Christian Fellowship) group here. Amazingly enough he was spontaneous and said, let's go (he's the one that commented on his spontaneity, not me!)! So, we did and had a good time spending some time with the OCF group. Today we went to Sunday school and church, got home had lunch then Brian left with Josh for Josh's last Cinderella performance. Ellie napped and Ian and I ended up watching "Game Day" (cute movie). Brian and Josh got home later then about 45 minutes later we left for Josh's cast party for Cinderella. As you can tell, we had a jammed packed weekend.

Ian and I enjoyed another "date" going to see Cinderella. There were lots of little girls and moms there but Ian didn't seem to notice that there weren't a lot of boys and he says he really liked it. One funny thing that happened during the ballet, there was a short intermission and the family sitting next to us (who we knew) pulled out a snack for their little girl and Ian comments on how he's hungry. (The little girl was sweet and shared some goldfish with him.) The show started back and after it started Ian whispers to me "I wish this was like baseball. (After he says this I was thinking oh, no, he thinks this is too girly...) They pass out snacks at baseball!" You know how the hawkers go around selling peanuts and stuff - that's what he wished for, that they would sell snacks. I laughed out loud because here I was worried that my boy didn't like the ballet and all he was worried about was having some snacks!

It's been so long since I've been to a ballet and I really enjoyed it. I know I'm probably biased but my favorite part was the ballroom scene that Josh was in. I surprised myself by tearing up when I was watching him dance. He looked so good: natural and regal. I'm including a picture I took of him after the show. I'm sure you'll notice the eye makeup but you really couldn't tell when he was on stage. As we were leaving the cast party I got a picture of Josh and the girl who played Cinderella.