(late) Easter greetings to you!

The past 3 weeks have been a whirlwind. From sickness throughout our family, to Charlie's birthday, from a quick beach trip, to a field trip, from Easter egg hunts to Easter worship, we haven't known up from down! Obviously, my blogging has suffered from the craziness, and if you are still reading, I have more posts to come! But, I wanted to go on and post about Easter because its special meaning to our family!

Lots of our days are spent in the car--going to and from school, church, or out and about. And much of our days over the past month, was spent listening to A Very Veggie Easter CD in our car. I actually don't mind most of the Veggie Tales music. It's tolerable and cute and teaches great lessons--if you can understand them. This particular CD was a big favorite for the boys and even me! One of my all-time favorite hymns, Christ the Lord is Risen Today, is on the CD and my boys were thrilled that we sang it in church on Sunday! But, my favorite part of the whole CD was the song "Hear the Bells Ringing." It is an incredible praise song and you can't help but sing it at the top of your lungs! Here are the lyrics:

Hear the bells ringing

their singing that we can be born again

hear the bells ringing they're singing

Christ is risen from the dead

the angel up on the tombstone

said he is risen

just as he said

quickly now go tell his disciples

that Jesus Christ is no longer dead

joy to the world, he is risen, hallelujah

he's risen hallelujah

he's risen hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

I loved the conversations that came up with my boys when this song came on. All about Jesus dying for our sins and rising again to save US!!! I will admit that our worship experience on Easter Sunday morning at church was not as worshipful as I had hoped it would be. It seems that our oldest 2 treasures had sugar poured down their throats along with triple shot espressos, and they were wild! Pretty humbling when we so long for their hearts to be captured by the Lord and try in vain to teach them to obey us, so in time, they will obey the Lord. That's the thing though--all Chad and I can do is plant seeds. The Lord must do (and will do) the rest! One comforting comment came from a woman behind us (my parents age) who greeted me with, "You are doing a great job!" She, knowing full and well we had our hands full, was gracious and encouraging. All of that to say, while I was hoping to put more into worshipping and hoping our little ones might actually hear something our minister said, I can be assured that this seed-planting (listening to and talking about Jesus dying for our sins and so much nore) is what our Lord is asking us to do.

In our house, we dyed eggs (and attempted to wait patiently). . .

 hunted for them . . .

and received treats from the Easter bunny this Easter. . . 

but most importantly, we were thankful and humbled, that our Savior took His place on the cross because he loves us more than we will ever be able to comprehend. Joy to the world! He is risen!

Charlie turns 3!

This is a little late and there's more to come, but better late than never. . .

And just like that he turns 3! Happy 3rd Birthday sweet Charlie! You have truly grown up this year. Last year at this time, you weren't saying much. It was difficult for you to communicate. But wow! Look at what a year has done for you! You are so independent! We hear "No, I can do it by myself" all the time! You love to dress yourself, open things, put odds and ends together, help make breakfast, lunch and dinner. You are quite the little chef in the making! You are also often found in big brother's footsteps. Whatever he wants to do, you want to do! I'm struggling to let my little newly turned 3 year old like Spiderman---it seems too old for you. Luke didn't even know who Spiderman was at 3. Guess that's part of being a little brother. You have become quite the artist and really like Mommy and Charlie craft time. I do too! You still amaze us with your athletic ability and we can't wait to see what sport(s) grabs your interest soon.

You are incredibly thankful. It is precious to your Daddy and me how genuine your thank you's are. You thank us for getting yogurt from the grocery store, because it's one of the favorite parts of your meals. You thank us for little happies, for pushing you on the swing, for putting socks on you at bedtime, for so many things, and you are truly genuine! Charlie, you are known for your little shy grin and squint/wink you do, so cute, but you have become quite the social butterfly too--saying hello to everyone you meet and telling them your biggest or current passions! It is adorable to see.

The age of 2 was delightful! I loved it in so many ways. Your hugs and kisses and sweet high pitched "Good night! I wuv you!" melt me! I could go on and on Chuckles. We hope you know that your Daddy and I love you with all of our hearts. We think it is awesome to see how the Lord placed you as our 2nd boy, so special and unique. We can't wait to see how you grow this next year! We pray that as you start your 4th year of life, it is full of even more love and joy than the years before! Mommy and Daddy are beyond thankful for your precious life! We love you. Happy Birthday!!!

sweet birthday present

For my birthday this year, all I could think that I really wanted from my boys was for them to let me take them (with sunny attitudes) on a photo shoot! My birthday arrived and it was pouring down rain, so a week later, we went for it! However, because Miles still takes a morning nap, the time of day wasn't great for wide eyes--everyone was squinty for sure! So, I worked with it and we found another spot with some ambiance and think I have some great shots of my boys! Thank you, precious family! If you want to see more from the shoot (Mom), click over to my photoblog.