Busy, Busy, Busy

Wow, this is getting to be a busy time of year! Last year at this time I'm pretty sure was the week that I was on bedrest. We had already had Easter and were waiting for Jonas to make his arrival.

Last weekend there was a birthday party for Rex's brother and cousin. Rex had to work that day so I decided to take the boys and go. We stayed at my parents' house and went on Friday so that we could get together with Amanda and her kids. She and I met in 5th grade and were friends all throughout Jr. High and High School, even though we went to different schools by then. We also hung out some during the college years but then lost touch. We found each other on facebook (see, facebook is awesome those of you who refuse to get on!) and started chatting. Last Friday we spent some time at her house and then went to the park for a picinic and so the kids could play. It was such a good time! I'm so happy to have her as a friend again, and Isaac is really excited about his new friend, Gabe, her 2-year-old. She also has a baby, Sawyer, who is just a little bit younger than Jonas. We didn't get to meet her daughter, Chloe, since she was at school. I hope that we are able to continue to get together on a regular basis.

Now we're getting ready for Easter and then for Jonas' birthday party which is going to be 3 weeks after Easter. There's not much time to get everything done! We have the church reserved so that takes care of location. I can't decide on the theme though... I've had the cake pretty much planned out since I was pregnant, LOL, but either of the themes will work with that. I went to the store sure of what I wanted today but then saw the adorable Sesame Street 1st theme http://www.birthdaydirect.com/sesame-babies-1st-birthday-65-in-sq-lunch-napkins-16-p-10980.html and remembered just how cute it was. Isaac had that one though, so Jonas should probably have a different one. I'm leaning towards the teddy bear http://www.birthdaydirect.com/hugs-and-stitches-boy-in-sq-beverage-napkins-16-p-18277.html. (For some reason I can't get the option to make those links clickable work so if you want to see them just highlight the bolded links and paste them in your address bar.) Jonas can have Sesame Street (and the adorable Sesame Street marching band cake toppers!) for his 2nd or 3rd birthday. :-P

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE birthday parties? I'd love to have a little child's party to plan all the time. It's too bad that I don't have the same feelings about weddings or I could have quite the little business going, LOL. But yeah, I'd love to just plan children's birthday parties all the time.

The reason that we were out in the first place was to find Easter clothes for the boys. We went to Kohl's (in the rain!) but didn't find ANYTHING for Jonas. I saw a couple things for Isaac but wasn't crazy about any of it. So now I'm going to look around the house and find something that they already have.

When we got back home Jonas was sleeping so I put him down in his bed and boiled some eggs. Isaac and I then colored Easter eggs. We used the Pas Tye-Dye kit. They turned out really cute. There is enough dye and eggs to do more tomorrow. It's a good thing that I eat several hard-boiled eggs every day (low carb eater) because I think there are close to 2 dozen! It was fun though, and tomorrow Rex gets to join us. I know Rex will be so excited to hear that. [/sarcasm] But it does mean a lot to Isaac when Rex is able to do stuff like that so Rex does it with a smile, and usually winds up having a good time as well. I will post pictures when I take them. They will be in this post so be sure to check back.

Today is Good Friday and so there is service at church tonight and rehearsal for Sunday immediately after. We sing the same opening hymns every year on Easter - "Christ Our Lord is Risen Today" and "Thine is the Glory" - and I get choked up every single time. There is a cross in the front of the church made out of chicken wire. We bring flowers and during the opening hymns we walk up and put them in the cross. It's pretty moving.

I'll never forget that cross and our very first Easter at the church. Choir was walking up to do one of our songs and at that time the risers were right behind the flower cross. I wasn't watching where I was going and walked RIGHT INTO THE CROSS! Smacked it with my head. Some of the flowers fell off. I was so embarrassed that I got up on the riser and didn't even look to see them. I was even more embarrassed when I saw that two other choir members were picking up the flowers and putting them back on the cross. I'm sure my face was bright red. I think of that moment every year when I see that cross and it brings a smile to my face. It's a funny reminder of how much I love our church family and how at home I truly feel there.

If I don't talk to you before then, I hope that each and every one of you has a truly blessed Easter.