Nemo Party!

 With Evelyn's 3rd birthday, came Evelyn's 3rd birthday party!

This was the first year she got to choose a theme.  She was consistent about having a "Mickey Mouse/ Elmo" party for the longest time, but the week of the party changed it to "Word World".  I was excited about having a party with lots of letters and word building.  However, girly changed her mind one more time and decided to have a Nemo party.  (This may be why she's becoming a little sassy...since the completion of her birthday she has definitely not been aloud to make so many stinkin' decisions!)

I'm pretty sure Evelyn has never seen Nemo.  The girl however does loves orange!

 

We looked for some Finding Nemo decor, but apparently that doesn't exist since the movie came out circa 2003.  (We literally could not "find" Nemo.)

My printer was also on the fritz, but we did manage to print out a Nemo which Ella colored.  Other than that it was simple fixings with a theme of orange and blue.

As you can see we did throw out some goldfish crackers and Swedish fish just for the occasion.

Ella had the idea to decorate the clementines to look like Nemo with 3's on them.  A girl after my own heart.

Pinterest is full of amazing cakes that I can't replicate.  However, this Nemo cake I could do.

(unless you think it looks more like a tennis ball...)

We again were blessed with a beautiful day for a birthday party.  Papa, the nearby cousins, aunties and uncles came over to celebrate with us.  Given the beautiful weather we skipped the pizza and opted for burgers and hot dogs instead.

The chandelier looks like a jellyfish right?!

 

Following lunch the kid played outside for a long while.  I regret not taking photos, but they played so well without much supervision it was amazing!  They did go through a gazillion bubbles, but it was well worth it and it even fit our underwater theme.  

Ella hid Nemo so we could play a game called "Finding Nemo", but everyone had so much fun that we forgot about it.  It's been almost two weeks, and we still haven't found (or even looked for) Nemo. Oops!

We were able to convince the kids to come in for gifts!

 

Evelyn got some great gifts including clothes, coloring books, and a suit case.

 After gifts, you should have a tissue paper party!

Then cake time!

Still can't believe this precious little bean is three years old!  

Ready to blow out the candle!

 

Following cake the party cleared out and we got a chance to relax clean up the disaster area.

We are so thankful beyond words for our little Evelyn Jane Lucille.  She is a blessing to our family, and she makes this world a better place.  The more I'm a parent, the more I realize how much it is totally worth any little sacrifice on my part.  

Happy Birthday Evs, we love you!

Evelyn is 3!

 My BABY is three!

 (big, big, sigh...)

That's right, Evelyn Jane Lucille has turned three years old on April 23rd.
As usual, we celebrated it up all.day.long.  You only get one birthday a year after all.
Our day started early so we could bring Nathan to school.  We then came home to brush our hair and (ahem) get dressed.  The birthday girl got to choose her breakfast.  The conversation went like this:
Me: Evelyn, what would you like for breakfast?
Addie:  Doughnuts, you want doughnuts.
Evelyn: Doughnuts.

So, off to our fave local doughnut place, Flyboys!

Evelyn went for the frosted cream-filled sprinkled doughnut!

We then spent the rest of the morning shopping for her upcoming party on Saturday.  We shopped all of Target for almost two hours, but had a fun time.  Shopping without a time limit or major agenda can be surprisingly enjoyable!

For lunch we grabbed a couple of Lunchables and ate at home.
I'm fully aware that so far my girls have only eaten junk, but you can do fun things with a cracker and cookie!

She was in a really fun mood (which will happen when you get what you want I guess).  She also picked out her flower dress (with a tutu on underneath) for her birthday outfit.

The day turned out to be much warmer and sunnier than forecasted, so I decided to renew our family pass to the zoo.  We hadn't been there for almost a year, so it was fun to go again.

There wasn't a lot of action at the zoo yet.  

Here Evelyn  is looking at a goat.

I'm sure she was making some adorable comment here, but I don't remember what.  She also chose the hat to accessorize for going out.  

Lovely.

The zoo is conveniently located about 3 blocks from Nathan's school.  So after about an hour at the zoo we left to get him, then came right back again!

Nathan's such a boy.  Here he requested I photograph him fighting this bear.

(Nathan has a little Dwight Schrute in him, if you've seen The Office you know what I mean.)

Then Ella wanted to also show off her bear fighting skills.  

Nathan was very clear that Ella must fight the smaller bear.  Only he was brave and strong enough to fight the big bear...

More goats.

Wingspan:  Nathan's comparable to a red-tailed hawk.

The kids were then playing on some small statues.  I didn't ask anyone to pose, I just simply told them I was going to take their picture.  I like how each one's personality came out!

Sweet, goofy Evelyn.

Spunky, independent Addie.

Charming, lady-like Ella.

(7 going on 17.)

and , Adventurous spirited Nathan.

I'm noticing that all of my photos are with statues of animals.  Like I said it was a slow day at the zoo!

Last stop before we left was to lay in a fake egg and pretend to be a baby bird.

We went home to meet Matt, then promptly left again for birthday dinner at Qdoba.

This is what three looked like after doughnuts, shopping, the zoo, and dinner out:

(Ok, it's what thirty-three looked like as well)

We had a small group meeting this night with dear friends from our church, so the fun didn't stop!  Our friends who hosted were very sweet and decorated their house with balloons and a birthday banner just for Evelyn (I wish I would've taken a picture!).  

We brought cupcakes, because you can't have a birthday without some cake!

The last half of our day was so full that Evelyn didn't even open her birthday packages (Nathan didn't want to miss out on it, so we didn't do it earlier in the day).  

She did open her gift from Nathan, Ella, and Addie though!

She was very excited to open their gift, and it was fun because they were so excited to give it to her.

(It was a sippy cup and bottle for her baby dolls.  She loved them!)

Wow!  

As you can imagine she slept well her first night as a three year-old.  

She had a day of recovery, and then it was time for her birthday party!

Lost.

It's happening.

Our children are shooting up like weeds.  Despite my efforts to keep them little, things keep happening that remind me that my "littles" are turning into "bigs".

It used to be that losing teeth was only something that happened to Nathan, then Ella joined the club, and now...

Adeline Marie has lost her first tooth!

At nearly 5 1/2 Addie lost her first tooth, and now claims that a second one is wiggly!

She had been wiggling it for about a week.  At first it barely budged, but she was so excited!  Then one afternoon she came to me to see if it was wiggly enough to pull out.  To me it wasn't (I actually have never pulled out any of my children's teeth and don't think I could...), so I told her not yet but maybe in a day or two. 

Nathan, the stinker, was sitting beside me and said, "Let me see."  She let him, and Nathan just grabbed the tooth and pulled it out!  This could have ended poorly, but Addie was excited to have lost her first tooth and didn't seem to mind how it happened!

Unfortunately later that day she "lost" her tooth for good so she had nothing for under her pillow.  The Tooth Fairy (she's a stickler here), gave a first tooth grace and generously left Addie 75 cents...which I think Addie also lost.

Easter 2015.

It's come and gone, but I thought I would get a couple of the few Easter photos posted.  

Obligatory Easter photos:  

The girls love to dress up, so this is their usual Sunday attire.  This is however one of two days each year that Nathan graces a tie.

  You would think that we could be a more photogenic bunch.  Maybe someday we'll get our act together.

Not sure what's happening here.

 

 We were able to attend our church's early service.  I sang in the choir, and the pastor had an awesome message titled "Death has no sting, long live the King".

After church, we zipped up to my sister Brenda's house for dinner.  We have traditionally spent Easter with my mom's side of the family.   We have kept this tradition, but now my sister hosts.

Evelyn is all ready to eat. (We have impeccable manners)

  

Following dinner and clean-up, there was an Easter egg hunt.  When it comes to Easter day, I have never done anything "fun" for my children.  I'm not totally against it, it's just not super important to me.  I'm thankful that my Aunt Kathie has taken it upon herself  for at least the last decade to buy candy and hide the eggs.  She has even acquired an Easter Bunny costume!

We don't even remotely pretend like the Easter Bunny is real, and I don't even think my children are aware of the tradition where the Bunny brings you a basket of goodies, (but ask them, I could be wrong).  So, our children are usually pretty nervous around the Bunny.  We would normally get a posed photo with whoever is the baby at the time.  Now my baby is almost three and Bunny fear has set in.

 So, this is what we got. :)

After this photo she wanted to go inside (away from the Bunny).  She told me that the Bunny tried to eat her candy...

Nathan collected his allotted amount of eggs and candy. 

 

 I normally would have taken more photos, but I was inside with Evelyn.  We may or may not have been consoling ourselves with candy. 

  It was a blessing to celebrate our Risen Lord with loved ones.  (We even got in a quick facetime conversation with Aunt Amy and her crew.)   I'm thankful to God for these times with our extended family. 

Holy Week.

Christ is Risen!

Today, this Easter day, we celebrated our Jesus' victory over the grave.  As we sang  in church, "Death has no sting, long live the King!". 

Since this day is what separates Christians from the rest of the world, Matt and I both have a desire that our Easter holiday would honor the Risen Christ.  I love that we can reflect and celebrate throughout the week in ways that are hopefully both meaningful and memorable.

Here is a look at our Holy Week 2015.

One tradition we've done for the past five years is Resurrection Eggs.  I threw these together five years ago by just scrapping things together from around the house and writing the coordinating verse on a piece of scrap paper.  I intended to make them "nicer", but haven't.  Turns out they get the job done, and now the older kids anticipate what is in each egg.  They may be disappointed if there wasn't a Ritz cracker in egg 1 to represent bread. :) (Yes, the cracker has been in there five years.  It still looks good...gross.)   Even Nathan, 8, looks forward to opening an egg.  There are 12 eggs, so we start 12 days before Easter, and each kids gets to open 3 eggs.  Next year I may add more eggs.

Okay, so this next tradition is not really meaningful, but just fun.  The past two years we've gone to an Easter egg hunt at a local toy store.  Each kid gets to collect six eggs, then you hand the eggs in for small toys and crafts.  

I enjoy this egg hunt because:

1.  Most prizes are educational or crafty

2.  The kids are then occupied most of the afternoon completing their crafts or playing their new games

3.  There is a donut shop next door

 As you can see, even Matt got in on some sticker crafting.

 

For the 3rd year, our family was able to host our small group on Maundy Thursday for a Christian Passover meal.  Christian because we focus on the truth that Jesus is the Messiah who has already come and is coming again.  Also, because I've never actually experienced a Jewish Passover meal, and I'm pretty sure there are parts of it I'm not doing right.

It has become one of my favorite days, not just of Holy Week, but of the whole year.  The Passover is seething with symbolism.  I love that we can literally taste and see that the Lord is good.

The kids and I spent the entire day preparing the food and the house.  Many offer to help, but I turn it down.  There's something rewarding about the labor and love that we get to pour over this meal.

 

I was first inspired to host a Passover after my Mom passed away.  The sting of death was fresh and painful.  I needed more focus and purpose in my Easter and I wanted my children to experience Christ as their Passover Lamb.  

 

I found this while digging through a box in the basement a few months ago.  

It belong to my Grandpa and Grandma Garner.  I thought it was appropriate.

Following the Passover ceremony, we enjoyed a full dinner together featuring lamb (of course).

(I've followed the same Passover guide all three years.  I print it off so everyone call follow along.)

Moving forward, we come to Good Friday.

Our church has a service at noon.  We've gone every year, and it's a great time to focus on the cross and our own sinfulness (or if you're like me the sinfulness of your children who are not sitting quietly during said church service...).  But, in all seriousness I love this service and I'm thankful our church has it.

This year, Matt took the afternoon off on Friday so we had some extra time together as a family.  The kids love to make things with "real" tools, so we used some scrap wood to nail together a cross.

Matt and I put in two nails to secure the wood together, then each child got to put in a nail.

 

For Evelyn, Matt pounded in her nail most of the way before passing off the hammer.

 

After finishing the cross, each person wrote down a behavior or attitude they've had the past week (or day, hour, whenever) that wasn't pleasing to God.

 

We then nailed our sins to the cross.

The kids liked it because they got to use the hammer and nails, but it was also a good time to confess sins and thank Jesus for paying the penalty for our sins.

Finally, the Saturday day before Easter, I took the kids to another local church for "Sonrise Saturday".  Matt wanted to get things done at the house, so it worked out well for us to go and not be in his way.

The church set up many different rooms to tell and act out the crucifixion story in tangible ways for little ones.  The children got to participate in things like lifting a life-size cross, casting lots, touching a crown of thorns, and many other activities.  It was fun and something we'd do again.

One of the final stations at the church was "new life" where they had baby chicks and a lamb.

Of course the event concluded with an egg hunt!

 

Man my kids are getting big!

Overall, we had a good week preparing for Easter...Sunday's coming!