Easter

I always love Easter. Well, what Christian doesn't? 

It's always humbling to reflect on what Christ did for ME. 

It always helps to put life back into perspective and put my focus back where it should be.

To know him and to make him known.

To serve him.

To teach my children about him.

To love him with all my being.

It's such a beautiful time in the life of a Christian!

We did a mixture of traditions spanning from fun to reminders of the cross. In these next pics we are dying Easter eggs with the Hay fam. Mimi invited us over to dye eggs with Owen. 

Aunt Caroline and Owen working their magic.

Doesn't she look GREAT! She had a baby like 8 wks ago!

Aunt C had the great idea to use a whisk to hold the egg while dyeing it!

Jeff enjoying some color time.

 Don't let his embarrassed face make you think he was forced into this! ;o)

The group working away.

And, if you were wondering where Kevin and sweet Simon were, 

well here they are!

Kev was having some tickle time 

with our newest little family member.

Sweet Simon

Of course, I couldn't get a shot of him grinning for his daddy!

Noah thought Uncle Kev was pretty funny too!

Mimi was taping the event on her phone. 

We had a picture/filming war.

The finished product!

The finished product with the big kids.

Owen has been elevated to big kid status! :o)

Another little tradition I have, is that each year I like to buy these little sticker books from Mardel that take the kids through the Easter story. It's such a practical way to teach the kids about the details of the story.

Also, last year we began making these biscuits. 

The girls love to make them. We put a marshmallow 

(Jesus) in the middle of dough and throw them in the oven. Then the girls guard the oven door like the Roman soldiers. Since the marshmallow expands into the biscuit, when we cut it open and it has disappeared, we are able to cry ... 

THE TOMB IS EMPTY!

HE HAS RISEN!

Finally, we always do little Easter baskets for the kids and an Easter egg hunt on Easter morning.

Emma received her first real Bible. It has all of the chapters of the Bible. I decided to make a little quiet time basket for her. Soon we will be implementing some quiet time each morning!

This is where I would usually have the pictures of the kids dressed in their Easter finest. That didn't happen this year. The bug that had Noah down in Branson latched onto Micah. Poor guy was miserable! So, Jeff stayed home with the boys while I took the girls to church. Then we switched and Jeff took Noah and the girls to lunch at Barn and Ron's. I'll have to throw those pics in here later when I steal them from Caroline.

Finally, at the end of the day, I took the girls and Noah to Ray and Holly's house for Easter dinner and another egg hunt. Ray's mom and dad were there to help celebrate. Of course I didn't bring my camera so I stole a few from my sis. 

Noah was enjoying the hunt.

Evidently mom was too! 

Me and my baby. It's fun to be in a pic! Ha!

Mom helping Ray hunt for eggs.

He's kinda cute!

Mrs. Cecil brought some goodies for the kids. She and Mr. Cecil are always so thoughtful and include my kiddos in the fun! 

Mrs. Cecil found this fun sucker for Ray and my boys. It's hilarious! 

I still need to get a pic of my boys with their suckers.

That's Easter in a nutshell around here.

 Maybe next year we can get some of those cutesy pics! 

Hopefully though I can continue to keep my focus where it should be!

Oh, here is one final pic that I forgot to include. Emma decorated this egg for us. It is Jesus with our Jeremiah crawling on the ground next to him. I just love how she remembers him and that she now pictures J with Jesus. It brings tears to my eyes every single time. Easter has become even more special because I love to picture Jeremiah worshipping what Jesus did IN Jesus' presence. Amazing!

I guess this should be enough to keep my focus in the right place!