Thankful…

Today, I have much to be thankful for.  First and foremost, I am so thankful that the Lord protected our home and family yesterday during terrible weather we experienced in our area.  I had no idea that the weather was even going to be that bad yesterday morning, so I didn’t think twice about leaving the house to take Myla to Mother’s Morning Out.  Well, about halfway to town, I realized that I had made a big mistake.  The sky was black, it was raining terribly hard, the sirens were going off, and I got really scared when I saw an 18 wheeler pull off on the side of the road and watched the driver run as fast as he could into a local fire station.  I just knew there was a tornado right over my head that I couldn’t see.  Well, God went before us and got us safely to our church where we immediately went into the basement with other people who were already there.  We stayed there several hours and listened to reports of damaging winds and tornadoes that had happened.  After we left the church, we came home and got ready for the second wave coming through later in the afternoon.  I was very uneasy because it is not a good feeling being at home by myself with the girls.  I didn’t want to get Myla upset, so I tried to stay calm as I kept my eyes glued to the TV trying to see what was coming.  Around 1:30 we got in the bathroom when the sky got super dark and it started hailing.  About that time we lost power.  Then, about 90 seconds later, it was all over.  The sky got light again, and everything seemed fine.  We were spared, but literally minutes down the road from us, there was unbelievable devastation.  So close…  Please pray for the people who have lost everything.  This afternoon I started collecting things for a family that came to our church for help that has a 6 month old little girl, and they lost everything…they literally have nothing.  My heart breaks for all of them both here and in other parts of the state and Alabama.

Secondly, I am very thankful that after several ROUGH days with Selah, today she had a great day full of smiles!  I cannot tell you what it did for my spirits!  She has been screaming for no apparent reason almost all day for several days, and it has been so hard!  I am so thankful that she had a better day!

She was full of smiles and kisses for big sister!

Sweet girls!

Are her eyes not the most beautiful color??

I’ll take this smile whenever I can get it!!

Myla has learned to work the camera pretty well, so she was trying to get a picture of Selah giving me a kiss!

I was so thrilled that Myla got this picture!  I really think it is the only picture I have with Selah where she is smiling!!!  I love it!

Easter…

We had a wonderful day celebrating Easter with our families!  Selah must have known the Easter bunny had come because she was up WAY earlier than normal!  Oh well, the morning started off with the girls opening their Easter baskets up.

Myla was so excited that the Easter bunny had come to her house!

Selah wasn’t quite sure what to think, but she had lots of help finding things in her basket!

She loves playing with balls, so I, I mean the Easter bunny, knew she would like these squishy ones!

She loved the Smarties too!

Silly Myla…I couldn’t get a “real” smile out of her for anything!

Myla and Daddy

Myla and Mommy

Michael’s parents, my parents and my grandmother came to church with us then came out to the house for lunch.  Sae Sae brought the girls Easter baskets as well, so they dug into those as soon as we got home!  Myla was in HOG HEAVEN to have everyone here at the same time.  We all went down to the nursery to get her after church, and she about killed herself trying to get out of the gate to see everybody!

She loved everything Sae Sae brought her!

And of course, little sister started scoping out big sister’s basket immediately!

She was ready to dig in to some taffy!

We started taking family pictures, and, of course, Selah started melting down!  Oh well, better a pacifier in her mouth than a scream coming out of it!  I love to look at our little family.  When I see a picture of all of us together, I just can’t help thinking about almost 16 years ago when Michael and I started dating and there were so many pictures of just the two of us.   Now, there are two beautiful little girls in the picture with us and another little one on our minds.  I know it will be a long wait, but I can’t wait for our next little one to be here!

Mimi & Bodie with the girls!

Sae Sae and Granddaddy too!  Notice how Selah is accumulating toys with every picture.  We were trying hard to get a smile!

Selah was almost at her breaking point while we tried to get a picture with Sis Sis!

My mom and me

We were so happy that Peyton and Henry got to join us too.  Myla was already excited before they got here, but when she saw Henry, she was ecstatic!!

After lunch, we went out to hunt eggs.  Selah didn’t do much hunting, she just carried her basket around and pulled all of the grass out of it!  Last night Michael threw away ALL of the Easter grass in our house because he said he was tired of picking it up!

Running out of the house to start hunting.  Notice in her excitement, she ran right past an egg in the corner of the flower bed!  She did a lot better at this hunt that the one of Saturday!

Henry busy finding more eggs!

“Hey, over here, I’ve got one!!”

When they thought they had found all of the eggs, we told them there were some more in the driveway, so they took off again!

Selah just enjoyed watching all of the excitement!

Myla and Henry with all of their eggs!

Selah quickly tried to make a getaway with all of her sister’s loot!

Sweet girl!

This was the best we could do trying to get them all in a picture together!  We would tell the big kids that when Selah sat down somewhere to quickly go and sit by her so we could get a picture.  So they would watch and as soon as she would sit down, they would run over and sit by her.  But as soon as they would sit down, Selah would quickly stand up and walk off.  It became almost like a game!  Too funny!

After we came in from hunting eggs, we put Selah down for a nap and me, Myla and Henry made Resurrection Buns.  I had been wanting to do this with Myla, and I was glad that Henry got to join us! 

Both of them were so attentive and listening to what each step in the process meant.  Here they were anointing Jesus’ body (the marshmallow) with the spices (cinnamon and sugar) for burial.

After the buns bake, you cut them open, and they are empty because Jesus came out of the tomb!!!  Hallelujah!  Isn’t that what Easter is all about?  It’s fun to get things from the Easter bunny and hunt eggs, but we celebrate it because of JESUS!!

Last night, Michael and I caught the tail end of “The Passion of the Cross” on TV.  We so flippantly say, “Jesus died for us”, but he went through so much more for me and you for the Glory of God.  The scenes from that movie are so horrific, and it is just a reminder of the brutality of His death, but also a reminder that He willingly did it for us.  He could have stopped it at any moment, but he CHOSE not to.  I got to attend Secret Church (by David Platt) on Friday night and he spent a lot of time talking about the crucifixion.  I realized, listening to him teach, how lightly I take what Christ did for me.  I water it down and sugar coat it sometimes.  I am SO thankful, truly thankful, that He has saved me.  I pray that you, too, realize what He did for you…

“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by him and afflicted.  But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our sins; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  he was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth.”  Isaiah 53:4-7

Easter Bunny, Egg Hunt & Yard Work…

We have had a busy day around here today!  I am worn out, but I wanted to do this post because hopefully we will have lots of pictures to post tomorrow on Easter!  This morning we went to Chick-Fil-A to have our picture made with the Easter bunny.  Well, actually Michael dropped us off and went to Home Depot to get some landscaping stuff, but more on that later!

This is the FIRST time that Myla has ever gotten even close to a “costumed character”.  I was so proud of her!! It was actually her idea to go and have her picture made with him!  We were having lunch there last week, and a worker put a poster up in the playground and told the kids that the Easter bunny was going to be at Chick-Fil-A, and after that she has kept telling me that she wanted to go.  Myla did GREAT, but Selah wasn’t much on being passed off to the costumed bunny.  I really wasn’t shocked because if I am holding her, she doesn’t want to be passed off to anybody really, much less a strange bunny.  SO, I just got in the picture with them!  I hate that Myla’s eyes are half shut!  Oh, well, pictures like that never really turn out that great!

***On a side note, when I see pictures of me and my girls, I just have to laugh.  They look like they don’t even belong to me!!  Could we look ANY different??***

Selah was thrilled after the picture was taken to get a balloon!  She started eyeing them as soon as we walked through the doors! 

She was also really glad to get on the playground.  Can you tell that the slide is her favorite thing?

Sweet big sister loved playing too while we waited on Daddy.

Of course, one balloon was not enough for Selah, so Myla let her have hers!

After Chick-Fil-A we went to the local sports complex for a city-wide egg hunt.  Myla had been excited about this, but needless to say, when it came time to hunt, she had a BREAKDOWN! 

All smiles before the hunt

Myla’s friends, Caroline and Jack, were there too!

Daddy and Selah tried to waste time!  They had a small petting zoo, and Michael said she loved the goats!  He said she laughed and laughed when they licked her hands.  She LOVES animals!  Oskie is no doubt her favorite “person” around here!

Okay, so they did a big countdown to start the hunt…3…2…1, and Myla made it about 10 feet from me and turned around with the unsure look on her face.

I thought she was going to go on and get some eggs, but…

She didn’t!  She completely LOST it and screamed at the tops of her lungs!  She said she was upset because I couldn’t go with her.

Sweet Caroline came back and got her, but of course, by the time this all expired, all of the eggs had been swooped up by other eager children!

Jack and Caroline were SO sweet!  They each gave Myla some of their eggs out of their baskets.  I am so thankful for all of Myla’s sweet, little friends!

After we got home, we started working in the yard.  The girls played for awhile and then ate lunch.  After lunch, we put their bathing suits on and let them play in the water hose.  It was a BIG hit!!  Myla is ready to do it again soon!

Selah adores this baby doll stroller and will push it up and down the sidewalk and driveway over and over!

Daddy working HARD digging up a new flower bed!

Two peas in a pod.  I’m so glad they are finally getting to an age where they can play together.  We are still not completely “there”, but they really do enjoy being together (most times)!

After the girls got MUCH NEEDED baths, Selah went to bed and Myla helped me set the tables for lunch tomorrow. We are having my parents and grandmother and Michael’s parents.  Myla LOVED help setting the tables.  She even made Selah a special placemat!

My little helper!  She thought she was so big!

I had to post a picture of our new flower bed!  We had been wanting to do this for a long time, and we finally decided to do it today.  It was some HARD work, but I am so excited with how it turned out.  I can’t wait for everything to grow and get more full.

Our humble abode!

I hope all of you have a wonderful Easter day tomorrow.  May we be ever mindful of the significance of this day in our faith.  I love Christmas…celebrating the birth of the baby Jesus, but Easter makes me want to shout for JOY!  We serve a RISEN Savior!  A mighty and victorious LORD!  Hallelujah!!