quote of the day

I took the boys to the local park this afternoon-- 70 degrees and sunny -- it was GORGEOUS. i couldn't believe how FEW people were there for a day like this. we stayed for a couple of hours, playing, exploring, riding bikes, taking an adventure walk to see some construction vehicles down the street...

it was so fun to watch them play together, ride together, and generally enjoy one another's company. it helps when they're busy. someone even asked me (for the first time ever) if they were twins. i guess little guy is finally looking bigger!

the other day C came home from school and told me about precipitation. only he was saying "PERcipitation." i tried to enlighten him, but he was positive that he was right. (i don't know where he gets that from) :)

so the above video proves that i WAS the right one.... only he makes it look like it was all his own conclusion, and that he was informing ME of the correct pronunciation.

apparently, he told me later, his teacher set him straight (hence the example of PREschool). i especially like how my reaction was one of pride rather than encouragement. (sigh)

i guess we are 2 peas in a pod.

countdown to 4

someone is very excited about turning four in a few weeks:

I'd say "i can't believe it!", but in so many ways, he is starting to act older...
look older...

and talk older...

...only that's nothing new.

yet he is still my baby-- such a fun loving, creative and handsome ball of energy....

today we decided to interview him (ya know, for posterity..... and sheer hilarity). the camera ran out of battery before we finished (he's a little long-winded sometimes), so we will post it when it's done... but it was really fun to hear his point of view on things. he is maturing day by day, and it is so fun to watch him comprehend and grasp more and more.

he knows what he wants, and what he doesn't. and he is very good at making those things known...

and we love, love, love him to pieces!

as he says in the interview, "even when i'm bad to you!"

Easter Day.

It was quite possibly the most perfect weather ever yesterday. These pictures actually do a pretty good job of capturing the brightness of it. The boys had a phenomenal time searching for eggs, etc... and so did we. Gramsy outdid herself with goodies and surprises. And the Poppy-Bunny even hid a basket way up high, so a certain someone would get to go up in the aerial lift to retrieve it. All this combined with not one but TWO egg hunts the day before, made for 2 very spoiled little boys. they would've been happy with a couple of jelly beans...

You'd think getting them to hold still and smile for a few pictures would be a piece of cake, with how happy they were all day. But these were the best we could do. Apparently too much sugar makes it difficult to listen, let alone sit still.

The best part of it all though, was helping Christian to understand the Easter Story for the first time. Death is a topic I've always fretted about explaining to him. I always feared that it would be a discussion that ripped away his innocence and opened his eyes to the harsh reality of life. But I figured if he was going to start hearing about Jesus dying on the cross, we better start discussing it a few weeks before Easter. And I am SO glad we did. He's been reporting what he's heard at school and at church, and it seems like our conversations have helped prepare him for those topics. He's done a pretty good job comprehending a lot of it, through the filter of an almost 4 year old. . .

That death is when you're not alive anymore.

That Heaven is a real place where there is no more sad, bad, or mad.

That we can live there someday together with God and Jesus, and

that Jesus came to make that possible. . . all because He loves us SO much.

Today he's been making up "Jesus rose from the grave" songs, and handing out instruments for us to all play while we sing along. It's pretty adorable.

And with his little childlike understanding, it's a great relief to my mama's heart to see that his innocence is still pretty much intact. And now that the conversation has commenced, we can continue it at any given time, building on what we already know.

I guess each stage will be like this. Becoming more complex as the months and years go by. I am realizing how much help we are going to need to be good parents. I need wisdom for how to help my children learn and grow in this often scary world. . . for how to respond to their questions, their testing the boundaries, their need for independence, their insecurities.......

*sigh*.

Thank you, Jesus, for coming so that we could not only have the hope of Heaven, but the wisdom we so desperately need-- both from seeing how you lived, and from the Spirit which you left behind. May we strive to become more childlike as we depend on you, and not ourselves, for help in parenting these precious little lambs. Thank you that I don't have to have it all together or have all the answers to be a good mom. I just need you. And because of Easter, I do.