Gladness and our Good Friday Celebration

My heart is bursting with gladness. Gladness that Good Friday means I can spend an eternity in heaven because my Savior died on that old rugged cross. Gladness that spring weather is slowly but surely becoming the norm around here and we've almost said "good-bye" for good to a looooong winter. Gladness that my children enjoyed our day together celebrating the cross. Gladness that I can be their mother.

It's getting late around here but I'm letting the girls stay up so they can continue playing with the Easter goodies I made them. They've been happily running around our living room eating their yogurt covered raisins, "reading" their wordless books, and toting their bunnies around. They're on a sugar high still from eating the cake we made together. Baby's had his bath and been rubbed down with lotion and I write as he eats. There is nothing more pleasant than a freshly bathed baby with lots of rolls, chubby cheeks, wild hair, and a sweet smile at the end of a long day, but joy-filled day, with your favorite little people. Nothing in the world like it. As I listen to the faint sounds of dishwasher, my spirit is grieving to think about people who kill these innocent little ones, people that abuse or abandon children. I fear for those who will surely receive the wrath of God if they do not repent.

And repentance is one of the things we celebrate on Good Friday. Thank God that He has not only given me a chance to repent, but has forgiven me as well. If you are unsaved you may not understand this, but I am no better than the abortion doctors or people who choose to wrong their children. What?! You may exclaim in horror. But it's true. The Bible says, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Rom. 3:23 We all fall short - no matter the sin. This separates us from God and no good deed or thousands of deeds rectify that situation. In short, we need a Savior. The Savior. Jesus Christ.

And I have been redeemed. I accepted Christ as a sinful 5-yr.old and I know now I am on my way to heaven without a shadow of a doubt. Praise God! I saw my need for Jesus and He gladly took me.

Yes. I have much to celebrate this Easter season. I am filled with gladness for He has made me glad. =)

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I decided - at the last minute - to celebrate Easter and throw a party for me and the kiddos. Brooke was going to come over, but we picked up conjunctivitis somehow so we missed having her here. =( I've been getting up early and staying up late since Wednesday trying to get it all together and we had a blast of a day.

We began our morning (well the girls did) in their underwear and their aprons while we baked...

They're totally on board with baking because they've figured out what comes at the end...

Fights usually ensue over the bowl or spoon. And in case you haven't noticed, I have rather feisty girls, so someone usually ends up looking like this at the end...

Baths were (of course) up next. Did I mention I get a lot done during bath time? Sometimes I gather all my cleaning supplies while the bath water is being drawn and deep clean while they play in the tub. Sometimes I bring my basket of unmatched socks and match them all; sometimes I bring my seam ripper and the latest sewing failure and I rip out all my mistakes; sometimes I flip through a magazine; sometimes I play with Keller if he's awake; the possibilities are endless. I actually save some jobs for bath time if I notice they seem to be a good chore to get done while the girlies are in the tub. In short, bath time is a life saver for me.

So, on this particular bath occasion I finished sewing the faces on their bunnies I made for them. Emma was confused and amused as I showed her the face features throughout the different stages of the face-making process. Makes me smile just thinking about how I tried to explain it all to her.

And the last one is done!!!

We then got dressed for the festivities...I made them sit on the chairs so I could get their pictures. Emma happily obliges...Shiloh...would rather read the mail.

I think I bribed her with something. Oh yeah. I remember now. I gave her cotton balls and it worked like a charm...

Emma is looking so much older to me these days...makes my heart ache...

They wore pins I made them to match their skirts. I actually wanted to have them wear a clump of three pins, but time did not permit.

We then worked on our craft. We did something simple and they loved it!

And yes. That would be a pink blanket you see on my son in the background. =)

They are completely different in their approach to life. I'm sure age has something to do with it, but we notice definite personality differences.

They savored every bite of their cake we made too. I've never seen children as into food as my girls. Ha! It's kind of scary how they clap and cheer whenever I give them a snack or serve them their meal. Steven and I just look at eachother like, "What in the world? Whose children are they?!"

After Steven got home from work and the girls woke up from their naps, I gave them their bucket of goodies I had made each of them. Now, I must take a little rabbit trail here (pardon the pun) and tell you that this idea came straight from JonesDesignCompany. I really do try so hard not to copy someone else completely. I like to be different. But I am on a budget here and I had on hand the same exact buckets Emily used. So, instead of being anal about it, I just went with her idea. And by golly, you can't go wrong with using something from that girl. She has style!

I think I spent a total of 30 dollars on this little party and that includes everything. I used everything I already had on hand for the crafting (and I love when that happens) and only spent money on some ingredients for our baking, and some of the extras I added in their buckets.

...I wrote little notes to each of the kids.

~Emma's Easter bucket~

~Shiloh's Easter bucket~

~Brooke's Easter bucket~

We missed you Brooke!!!

~Keller's Easter bucket~

His contained baby shampoo and some rings to hold some toys on his car seat.

I love how they all turned out different. On the girl bunnies I added flowers...

...I made them into pin/clips so the girls could also wear them this summer. By the way, these are going into my summer shop if I can ever get my act together, so stay tuned!

A little bow tie for Keller's bunny.

I added yogurt covered raisins, glitter glue pens, a homemade wordless book, and dried apricots in the girls' buckets...

Wordless Book

Dried apricots in a homemade parchment paper bag.

I tried to keep the focus on the cross since it was Good Friday...

I "read" the wordless book separately to Emma and Shiloh and explained the gospel to them. When I asked Emma if she loved Jesus, she said, "No. I like Daddy!"

The girls loved their gifts and carried their bunnies around everywhere with them. They slept with them last night and that just touched my heart seeing them go to bed clutching something I had made for them. All in all, we had a wonderful day together. Even if it did end with Shiloh breaking about 10 eggs on the kitchen floor that I had just mopped. And no. I do not have a picture. I was so rankled I was afraid I would snap the camera in half.

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HAPPY EASTER!