Happy Easter!

I've had a bit of writers block. Not that I am by any means a "writer". I ramble far to much to be considered anything that...um...sophisticated? Sure we will go with that. But I just don't know what to write most the time...

But, today is Easter, and it was such a wonderful day celebrating the Good News that Jesus is RISEN!!! AMEN! So I wanted to write and share my love of all things Easter with you. I even have a few pictures. However, I'll warn you in advance they are all from my phone so not exactly the best you've ever seen.

The kiddos ready for Easter Sunday service!

I love Easter. I love the Hope it brings. I love the pews at church - packed with people coming to praise the Lord. I love the butterfly release at our church. I love John 3:16. I love that even though I repeatedly mess up - I.am.forgiven. That thought alone leaves me in awe, speechless, and oh so grateful.

And of course there are all the other things that come with Easter - Time with family and friends, egg hunts and baskets filled with goodies from the Easter bunny. Ham and sweet potatoes, loads of jelly beans and all the hardboiled eggs you can eat. Cute little "Easter outfits" and bunnies made of chocolate.

The boys showing off their eggs after the egg hunt at church on Saturday morning.

And a new tradition in our house - the "Lamb cake". The school that the boys attend have an Easter party and there is always a lamb cake for every class. This year I volunteered. This is what I came up with. The stand up cake was for my middle man's class and the circle was for the oldest.

It was just the kids and I this year, so it was a quiet Easter, but wonderful all the same. We woke early to see what the bunny brought, looked for eggs, ate cinnamon rolls (and a bit too much candy), went to church, ate more candy, spent lots of time playing outside enjoying the beautiful day, and had a great (although somewhat random) Easter dinner. I let the kids pick the menu because I figured if I was going to cook a meal for Easter, I wanted to make something they would eat! After the baby went to bed, the boys and I ended the night watching the Muppet Movie together. I am very blessed.

Hope you all had a fabulous Easter!

playing catch up

I'm writing this on Friday, but I'm not scheduling it to post until tomorrow because, well I just posted one for the baby's 9 month report, and I just don't know if you all could handle two posts from me in one day. It might be a shock to the system.

I have been absent, well more than absent really...completely GONE from the blog world...actually more than just that. Once December hit, things got busy getting ready for the holidays, and I sort of signed out when it came to all things internet (minus my pintrest addiction - but that's another story). After a week or so of NOT being on the computer I realized what a time sucker it has been. So I took some time off to get my days in order and manage my time better. I'm getting there...slowly. My goal is to divide my "free time" between not only getting things done around the house but taking some "me" time as well to do things like...blog!

I hope you all had wonderful holidays. Our Christmas was wonderful. We spent time with my parents, sister and her fiance. The husband was home (mostly) which was nice, and although it was busy, it was such a blessing to have everyone here. Not living near family can be tough, especially during the holiday season, so I consider myself very blessed that our family comes to us to celebrate. By New Years the family had gone back home, so we had a quiet NYE at home with the kids. We let the boys stay up to watch the ball drop (their first time) and had a big night of movies, board games, popcorn and party soda. It probably ranks in my favorite NYE ever. Funny how things change.

Our oldest has started playing basketball this year, and really seems to enjoy it. He's never played before, so we weren't sure what to expect, but he seems to have a knack for it. He is also still enjoying cub scouts. This weekend is his first pinewood derby. We finished up the car last night, and I have to say I think he did a great job. Of course I may be biased but I'm proud of my little man.

The middle one is also up to big things. He is starting to read, which is always such an exciting time. School has really been great for him and he is learning so much. He has an amazing imagination - he loves to draw pictures and make up stories to go along with them. It's fun to watch him get so excited about his "work".

Hubby and I are doing well. This year is going to be a challenge for the whole family as far as what we have coming up with Matt's job. But I'm trying not to focus on that too much and enjoy the time we have left before he deploys. That word: deploy. I haven't really wrapped my head around it yet, but with every passing day it becomes more "real". I just pray that God will give me the strength to handle being both Mommy and Daddy and remain somewhat sane in the process.

But with that, we also have a lot of fun planned for the year ahead. My sister is getting married in March, we have trips planned for the summer, baby girls first birthday, and I might even get to go overseas at some point. It will be a busy 2012 for us no doubt, but a good one as well. Of this I am sure. With that I'm going to wrap this up. Back soon with some pintrest fun...oh how I do love me some pintrest!

can't.keep.up

Ever feel like life is flying by and you're just trying to hang on for dear life?? That's been the story of my life for the past few months. Confession time. I don't have it all together. Just in case I ever gave off the impression that I did (which is unlikely) I want to be honest. I'm SO not there.

I'm working on it. I finally got my "command center" for the house put together. It's a spot on a wall in our kitchen, that has everything from our family calendar, to meal plans, to artwork displays on it. It turned out really cute by the way - and it's really helped me keep everything organized. I'll try to grab a pic later. Right now I'm just glad to be sittin' down, and catchin' up with you folks.

So what is making these days fly by? Nothing too crazy, just life in general. We are so blessed to have all these wonderful things going on, but wow. I have so many wonderful posts to get up here, so I'm going to start at the beginning as they say and go from there. Don't worry - I'll break it up into different posts. I think if I did it all in one you all would run away crying and never come back!

So, let's get started. Two weeks ago we all participated in our areas local Race for the Cure. I try to do this event every year. Not only is it always fun, but it's a great way to raise some money for a wonderful cause. Thanks to all of you who donated to our goal this year. I'm happy to announce that we met our goal, which is AWESOME!!

The boys and I both raced this year. I did the 5K and the boys did the warrior dashes. Here is the little one all ready to head out to the race! As you can see she's ready to cheer on Mama and Brothers!

Next year they said they want to do the 1 mile, so it looks like I'll be doing the 5K and then a 1 miler with the boys. I think it's great they want to be involved in such a great activity.

Such a good time. AND just as a little note: I beat my best 5K time by 7 seconds!! Whoo Hoo I'll take it! My goal is to one day get my time down under 27 min - I'm so close, but it's going to take some work. Work that right now I'm not very motivated to do. I adore running, but these days it's all about quiet runs with the jogger and my baby girl enjoying the beautiful fall weather...not so much about "speed".

So, I'm going to wrap this one up for now. I know there really wasn't much to this post, but there will be another one in a day or so. I'm going to go write it now, but I'll just keep you in suspense as to when it will be posted. Oh yes, I'm sneaky like that. Hope you have a fabulous weekend, and if you're doing the trick-or-treatin' thing have fun and be safe!!!

A most useless place...

Last night the hubs and I took the boys to the bike shop to get the big kid his brand new bike. He had been riding around on a pretty piece-tacular bike that was falling apart and was too small, but we figured it would be perfect for him to learn on. We had told him once he decided to do it without the training wheels, he could go get a nice new one. Anyway, while we were driving to the shop, I realized something...I'm in the Waiting Place. I'm sure you've all read the Dr Seuss book "Oh the Places You'll Go". It's one of my favorite ones to read my little ones. And it dawned on me today - we are very much in that place - a most useless place...

The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.

In our case we are waiting for all sorts of things. Phone calls from detailers and landlords, doctor appointments, moving day, etc. I just feel like we are in a holding pattern this week. It's still too soon to do a lot of the packing prep (that hasn't already been done) and my "to do" list for when we do arrive in the northeast keeps growing, but I can't do anything on that until I'm there. I'm trying to remind myself to just take it easy this week and enjoy my last "quiet" week before next week comes and I'm running around like a crazy lady. But the anxiety is really getting to me. And I can't even bake because I don't want to go buy stuff that I won't use up before next week! :)

{deep breath}

Okay, I feel better. I'm just going to focus on the fun stuff that is going on this week. We have baseball for the big kid, a trip to the children's museum with friends, more baseball this weekend, and maybe a day trip one day to KC for one last visit to my favorite place on earth. I have so much to be thankful for!! So while I am indeed in the "waiting place" I know it's only temporary and I can move on because...

No! That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!

Well...that kind of a girl rather...and yes, I am that girl indeed...ready for anything under the sky!