James takes his test today... hopefully this is it. Praying and praying he can relax and concentrate and get it out of the way so we can focus of his health issues. Remember him today ...

"Hat"

Amelia was having trouble getting up onto the couch with her jean shirt on ... so she improvised and made herself a new hat.

Easter

We, of course, had a wonderful Easter weekend (minus the nasty weather). Saturday, we got together with some of my family and after church, we went to Humphreys for more festivities.

It was good to see siblings back from school and we probably have had enough ham to last us to next Easter.

We also, obviously, finished our Easter advent with Amelia. It was alot of fun to be able to go through the death and resurrection of Christ with someone who was hearing it ... all together, for the first time. I think she enjoyed it too. Friday and Saturday, because of where we were in the story, Amelia kept walking around saying, "Jesus in the tomb." Good thing Sunday came ... :)

It's been great to hear the story sink in a little and throughout the week she has been bringing up Peter, and the Cross, and of course, Jesus in the tomb. And now, everytime she gets her hands on an egg she says, "Easter egg ... Jesus"

She is such a blessing and we are so very thankful for the people around her, (family, friends, church) to speak the Word into her life and we pray she will one day begin to grasp what this weekend really means.

"Savior, worthy of honor and glory, Worthy of all our praise... for You overcame.

Jesus, awesome in power forever, Awesome and great is your name ... for You overcame.

SO thankful for my Redeemer ...

Here's some pictures from the weekend:

Flying with Uncle Luke.

the only picture we got of all three of us this weekend. Why would Amelia look? I bet you can't guess how many people were standing behind the camera, calling, smiling, beckoning her to look ... stubborn.

ahh, my coconut cake that was delicious ... oh my.

Easter Eggs.

Going forward this week ...

Easter Eggs

We have made it a family tradition to dye eggs and this year, Amelia got to join in the fun for the first time. She loved it and much to my surprise was very careful with it all. I think mommy and daddy made one each and Amelia got to dye the rest of the dozen. Here are a few pictures of our Saturday afternoon party...

So excited about the eggs.

Daddy

the delicate work

Like most things with Amelia these days, our egg dying party turning into a sing-a-long. I finally caught her singing efforts on camera. Listen closely ... some of the words are just so hard to get.

The B-I-B-L-E

Gnudi

This was dinner last night ...

Gnudi- basically it is stuffed pasta, without the pasta.

It was extremely easy, light, and easy on the carbs making way for a load of garlic bread :)

I would recommend trying these soft dumplings sometime; a change up from the normal pasta dish. And room for improvising ...

This is the recipe I used, if you are interested...

In an effort to celebrate this Easter season and continue to teach Amelia why we celebrate, I decided to do this: an Easter Advent. 12 eggs with a small object that corresponds with the story and verses to read going through the last supper through the resurrection. Love this idea! And hopefully something Amelia will enjoy and begin to understand what Christ has done for her.

Third egg with coins and verses about the betrayal.

In other spring/easter things, I just finished my easter wreath.

Bug's craft of the week was painting her library bag.

ABCs

Amelia LOVES to sing and it has been so fun listening to her start to sing songs all by herself.

This is the best I could do ... she usually sings much better and louder. She also gets more of the letters normally. But here's a sampling of our singer... you know how it is once the camera comes out.

"Spring Break"

We are calling last week our "spring break." I use the quotes for two reasons ... (1) It was not springy. It was cold and cloudy, blah. (2) I watched my niece, Ellie all week because she was off of school for her break. We tried to have some fun things throughout the week that we could do. I think Ellie had a good time and I KNOW Amelia did.

Monday, we got the grocery shopping done and took a trip to the library. We did some crafts and brought out the Playdough. Amelia's first time ... with minimal attempts to eat it.

Tuesday, we took advantage of free Chick Fil-A breakfast and played there. Wednesday we visited their Great-grandparents for lunch. Thursday, the day with a little sun, we took a trip to the Zoo. Friday, we watched a movie and made cookies.

To end the week, James, Amelia and I met my sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew at the Children's Museum. Amelia sufficiently wore both me and James out running back and forth.

Da and Bug checking out Dinosaurs.

Amelia's favorite place. The rainforest in the Dora exhibit.

Amelia loved having Ellie around everyday, but she always asked if Lincoln was coming too. Much to her delight, she was loving that she finally got to see her favorite, Linc.

holding hands through the museum.

It was a good week to kind of take it easy and have some fun. Hopefully Amelia isn't too disappointed when 8:00 rolls around and Ellie doesn't show up.