Happy Easter!

I read the Easter story with the kids on Thursday.  I probably should have saved the resurrection part until Sunday but the kids were really into it and wanted to hear the whole thing.  Isaac loves that God is so powerful that He can rise from the dead.  When we looked at the picture of Jesus ascending into heaven, we talked about how only God could do that.  Isaac asked, "What if the space shuttle launched into Him?"  Can you tell what's on our minds besides Easter?  We left Saturday to see the last of four launches before the shuttle program is retired.

Since we knew we would be traveling on Easter Sunday this year, we took the opportunity to do Easter pictures early.

The Sharpletts

The Lagoylings

Even if I'm not an evil person, sometimes the weight of my own imperfection, the accumulation of all my little failures, seems to rise up and overwhelm me.  Thursday I forgot to bring an Easter basket to school for Isaac's class party.  Fail.  Then I looked at the backyard with the rose bushes and wisteria that needed to be pruned about three weeks ago in preparation of spring, and the jungle of weeds we have yet to tend to.  Fail.  And why do we still have ants finding their way into our bathroom after trying everything to keep them out?  Fail. I forgot to put the garbage can out this morning and we'll be missing the chance Monday too since we won't be here so our garage is going to be stinky by the time we get back.  Fail.  I didn't budget my time well on Thursday either so I was 10 minutes late to pick up Isaac from school.  Fail.  Sometimes life can get busy and stressful and I feel like I just can't keep up.  And sometimes I'm just plain old mean, or selfish, or grumpy, especially toward those I love the most.  Fail. Fail. Fail!

But this is actually the perfect time of year to be reminded that failure is okay because there is One who did not fail.  He has passed every test for me that I could not pass on my own.  Thank You Lord, for Your sacrifice on my behalf.  I may fail often in rapid succession but I do not have to feel like a failure because I am in You.

Before we hit the road, I wanted to give Isaac the opportunity to experience as much of Easter as he could (Abby will be staying with Mimi and Boppa).  So we decorated eggs too.

After I read the Easter story to the kids, Isaac had so many questions.  

Isaac: Why did Jesus die?  

Mommy: Because He knew it was the only way to help us get to be with God.  Now that He has done that, we get to be with God in heaven if we just believe His story is true and love Him with our whole hearts.

Isaac: I do!  I love Jesus with my whole heart!  

Mommy: That's wonderful!

Isaac: Tell me what heaven is like. (He knows the answer to this, but he loves hearing about it.)

Mommy: Well, it's a place where there's no bad guys and no sadness. Everyone is happy and praising God all the time.

Isaac: Why aren't we in heaven right now?

Mommy: Because we have a job to do here in our world.

Isaac: What's our job?

Mommy: We're supposed to love God and love others while we're here.  And we're supposed to tell others about Jesus.  Everything we do, the way we love our friends, and the way we help others should point to God to help others know Him better.

Isaac: (pointing to two bicyclists who were stopped at a red light next to our car) Let's roll the window down and tell them about Jesus, Mom!

Mommy: (you're probably wondering how I weaseled my way out of this one, right?)  Well, people don't usually like to hear about Jesus by having strangers yell at them from a car window.  It's best to start by telling the people you already know.

Isaac: Okay, let's tell Mimi and Boppa!

The Bible tells us to have faith like a child.  It amazes me how readily and enthusiastically Isaac believes what I tell him.  There is no doubt or skepticism.  There is no weighing the possibilities, looking for loopholes, or finding excuses.  He simply believes and loves Jesus.  And he is so willing to do what God asks us to do with no thought or regard for himself or for the possible negative consequences.  Faith like a child.  Perhaps instead of explaining my way out of the situation, I should have rolled down the car window and told those strangers the story I had just told my own son. Instead I refrained because of social propriety and self interest.  Lord, help me learn faith from my child!

Before we left on Saturday, the kids got to do their egg hunt.  (Lucky Abby will get to do another one today with her cousins.)

Then, at the hotel room this morning, Isaac was surprised with this:

Happy Easter, loved ones!

Visitors!

After camping, I stayed at Mom's house to drop off Adel at the airport for his monthly business trip.  Then I hung around an extra couple days to visit with my Aunt Cindy and my cousin Jennifer who are on spring break from Virginia.  It was so fun to see them and Jennifer is this amazing, mature 17 year old...the kind of 17 year old I wish I had been and hope my kids will one day be!

Isaac: Mom, you know that girl?
Mom: You mean Jennifer?
Isaac: Yeah, I like her.  She's pretty.

Sweet Jennifer and Isaac

 Jennifer and Aunt Cindy 

As I'm taking this picture, Aunt Cindy says, 

"I hate pictures...they look so much like me!"

You look great Aunt Cindy!

Mom and her two sisters surrounded by a random assortment of us.

I feel like a giant in this picture!

Second Camping Trip With the Kids

We arrived at the campsite again only an hour or two before sunset.  So the kids had a little time to play and dig around the area before the sun went down.  One of my favorite things about camping with the kids is that they can get just play and get messy and I don't have to fuss at them or send a thousand rules their way.  It's a place where they are free to be kids.

Lily and Abby made "birthday cakes" for Isaac.

They did a little log rolling too.

Feeding Bitsy, and, oh yes, I brought the potty along...

we are too far invested in potty training to stop now!

Then we had dinner and, of course, s'mores!

Isaac made a bed for himself.  Looks comfy, right?

He's a man's man for sure.

The next morning we went on an easy hike.

But with these two dawdlers, 

an easy hike can take a long while.

They are the sweetest little twinkies, 

collecting "baby" pine cones.

On the bridge with "Uncle Delly"

More dawdling, this time with "adventure gear."

This picture just kills me..."Adventure Girl!"

She's ready for anything.

What's this?  In a rare move, Abby finally takes the lead.

It was the mention of hot dogs for lunch that got  her going!

We headed home a little earlier than planned because my poor sis had some very nasty ear problems.  But in all, it was another good family camping trip.  We'd like to try to camp a couple times every year while the kids are young.  In the lines of my last post on camping with kids, we again got to experience:

• Coming home smelling like campfire and feeling like grit
• Knowing, beyond a shadow of a doubt that a hot, clean shower is the most glorious thing in the world
• And still, daydreaming of the next time we get to pack up and do it all again

Summertime...And the Livin' Is Easy

After a dull spring break, I've been trying to plan ahead for this summer to figure out a way to keep Isaac occupied and to keep me from going crazy with too many unaccounted hours in the day.  One thing I think I'll do is use a portion of the budget that currently goes toward Isaac's preschool to pay for a membership at the YMCA.  That way I can work out while the kids play at a place that's not home, with toys that aren't their toys.  Then there's always the neighborhood swimming pool and visiting Mimi and Boppa, both of which I'm sure we'll do a lot.  But I was recently inspired with a new idea for a long-term project the three of us can do together.

Every time I talk to my cousin Robin about her homeschooling experience, I get inspired.  Not that I actually want to follow through with the discipline of homeschooling my children...but the thought of creatively teaching my kids without being controlled by state tests and principals looking over my shoulder is very appealing.  Plus, it would be great for Isaac to have even more of a background before starting Kindergarten (he'll still be four years old on the first day of school...his birthday is day two!)  So, I think I'm going to try a mini-version of home school.  I guess it could be considered "home summer school."

(Disclaimer, you must keep in mind that I am a HUGE dreamer and we are months from summer...whether or not I actually DO any of this is still to be determined).

Here's how I envision this working for us:  The kids pick a new theme every week.  Then, during the week, we do as many of the following as we can incorporating the topic (let's pretend our topic for this week is "hamsters" because Isaac is really into hamsters right now):

• Check out books at the library (on hamsters)
• Print out coloring pages (or cut out of magazines) to make a thematic poster (about hamsters)
• Keep a journal about what we learn (about hamsters)
• Go on a "field trip" to see one in person (pet store: to see the hamsters)
• Watch a video (pre-screened YouTube video on hamsters maybe?)
• Pretend we are one ("yay, we're hamsters!")
• Print out the word and practice letters and letter sounds (H-A-M-S-T-E-R)
• Use pictures of the topic to do counting and math skills (what's 2 hamsters plus 1 hamster?)

squeak!

Any other ideas?

A Whole Lot of Nothin' Going on

I have not been my usual verbose self lately.  Partly because nothing's really happening around here.  And partly because there's a whole lot going on!  That's confusing, right?  I guess what I mean is, there's not much going on that seems worth writing about, but there's still a lot going on.  So, I'll recap rather than write:

• Spring break was not much fun as I didn't plan anything special and Isaac and I became bored and got into our old pattern of driving each other crazy.  I will NOT make this mistake again!
• We redeemed spring break though, with an awesome weekend spent in the company of our Houston family and my visiting cousins from Lubbock...playing games while the kids played happily, eating to our hearts' content, and a much-appreciated date night thanks to Aunt Teri and Uncle Bill and Mom and Dad.
• Abby is taking some very positive steps toward potty training.  With HEAVY bribery set up by none other than the famous (infamous?) Mimi, Abby has finally made her #1 AND #2 debut on the potty.  (Told you, not much worth writing about!)  What is still lacking is the ability to go "on demand" but just today she showed signs of perhaps starting to understand even that.  I am THRILLED at the thought of not buying diapers any more!  Just must stay patient and not get carried away...daydreaming...about not buying diapers...ever...again!

Daddy helping the kids play video games

• I am waiting/hoping for a phone call from my cousin's MOPs group for a possible speaking gig.  I would LOVE to do that again.  
• I'm making plans for this summer, trying to figure out the best use of our time and money while Isaac is not in school for 3 months (yikes!).  
• I have also been working here and there on planning a first-ever retreat for my women's small group.  We are joining the other women's group that split from ours last year and going to a bed and breakfast for a weekend next month. I am revising devotionals that we found on-line as well as writing some of my own.  If you look at that website, we are using bits of the "apron" devotional as well as bits of the "spa" devotional.  The theme of the weekend is peace and I am so excited to see it come to fruition.  The neatest thing is that I am working with some of my favorite ladies who are helping to plan the activities, devotionals, and even the food (and it's going to be gourmet good!). 

• On the down side, my dog was attacked by a neighbor's dog yesterday.  This is the second time this dog has been aggressive to mine. Thankfully Bitsy was unharmed, but it was very very scary.  I thought it was the end for my little pup many times in those few seconds but the big dog finally got bored of toying with her and "allowed" his teenage "owner" to pull him home.  After I composed myself I went and talked to the girl's parents.  And today I made a call to the animal safety department of the police to register a complaint.  If anything like this happens again, I will ask them to step in.  Just one more argument for dog owners to be smarter about knowing, understanding, and training the types of dogs they chose to adopt.
• I have set up with my mom, my aunt, and my sister to make April a month of eating better.  I have been letting some bad habits creep in like weeds and I'd like to start fresh.  So, for the month of April, I'm going to trade my unhealthy habits for some healthy ones.  I started the lunch trade today.  I have been eating quesadillas for lunch pretty much every day since I was pregnant with Abby and craving them big-time (yum).  But, I'm bored of that now and it's a good time to make a healthy switch.  My new lunch is going to be spinach salad topped with apple, swiss, walnuts, cranberries, and a raspberry vinaigrette.  It's quite good and since I eat a healthy snack before and after lunch, I'm not so starving that I just want a big fat cheeseburger.

So, that's my whole lot of nothin' going on!  Coming this weekend: our second camping trip with the kids and my sister's family.  Looking forward to having a little something going on!

New Recipe #4: Greek Pitas

It's like "taco night" gone Greek: a great, healthy, casual family meal.  We combined two recipes (from Family Circle Magazine and Better Homes and Gardens:20 minute Super Suppers) to make Greek pitas last night.  We (okay I) actually messed up (not surprising) and put 1/4 of a red onion (equivalent to about one cup chopped) in the creamy salad instead of 1/4 cup red onion!  Our breath was baaaaaaaad.   So with the adjustments we agreed to make, here's what we came up with that we will do again:

• 1 cup creamy cucumber and onion salad from the deli, add 1/2 cup chopped plum tomatoes and 1 tsp snipped fresh dill (Or, combine 1 cup fat-free plain yogurt with 1/2 chopped seeded cucumber, 1/4 cup chopped red onion, and 1 tsp fresh dill)
• 4 wheat pita bread rounds
• 12 oz thinly sliced cooked deli roast beef (Or, 2 cups sliced rotisserie chicken mixed with 1 tbsp Greek seasoning and 2 tbsp lemon juice)
• 3 cups chopped lettuce

Heat meat in foil in the oven at 350 degrees. Line pita halves with meat and fill with lettuce, tomatoes, and creamy cucumber salad mix.

Our scores:

Adel: 9 out of 10 (with the onion adjustment!)

Megan 9 out of 10 (with the onion adjustment!)

Abby: 7 out of 10 

Isaac: 7 out of 10 (both kids ate the parts but not the whole, as usual, and neither one went for the creamy cucumber salad...at least they didn't have onion breath!)

My Review:
I will for sure make this again.  Even with making the creamy cucumber salad ourselves, it wasn't too much work (and I loved that there was no actual cooking other than heating the roast beef).  I will also for SURE watch the amount of onion I add...1 cup was waaaaaaaay too much!  I want to try the rotisserie chicken version too.  Either way, it was an easy, yummy, healthy meal (minus our onion overload).

My First Speaking Gig

This Thursday I went to my mom and dad's church, Windwood Presbyterian Church and followed up a wonderful Beth Moore study on wisdom for mothers with a short talk about my book (EveryMom).  Of course I was nervous but the small group of ladies I spoke to were extremely gracious.  They laughed at all the right moments and I felt most welcome.

And how did I feel about my talk when it was all said and done?  Overall I was extremely pleased with the whole experience.  Of course, I could list a dozen things I plan to change should I get another similar opportunity, but this was a great first run and wonderful learning opportunity.  I also had several ladies take my business cards and brochures to pass on to other women's groups so I am hopeful that I will get the chance to do this again, Lord willing!

I think what made this experience the sweetest is that the ladies of my Houston-based family all came out to support me that morning.  I invited them rather last minute with the thought that, "Hey, this could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I may never get to experience again.  Why not make the most of it and celebrate with the ladies I love most of all?"  And so they came: my cousin's wife (expecting #2), my sister, my mom, my grandma, and my aunt.

Of course, they all had nothing but encouragement and positive feedback to offer me afterward.  You've never heard such an outpouring of "I'm proud of you" or "It was perfect."  And it struck me how blessed I am to be held up by such an amazing group of loving women.  

There was a moment, just after leaving my small high school for the great big world, when I actually resented the people in my life who had poured so much praise into me.  It happened right around the time when I started realizing maybe I wasn't quite as amazing as they made me feel.  At least the rest of the world didn't seem to think so!  And, oh, how could they build me up so high only to set me loose in a world that could have cared less?!  Cruel and unusual punishment indeed. 

But, not to worry, it didn't take long before I realized the value of the love that my family has to offer.  They fill me with praise, not because what I accomplish is any better than the next gal out there.  They think I am beautiful, not because I deserve to grace the cover of magazines.  They love and encourage me even when I try and fail simply because they see and love me just for me.  That explains why my precious Aunt Teri insisted on keeping that horrid picture of me on her refrigerator (you know the one, Aunt Teri, where I was 15 pounds overweight after having Abby and experiencing some trouble with hormonal acne).  She did not see the extra weight or the blotched face (until I pointed it out!).  She simply saw the face of one she knew and loved. 

As a mom, you bet I get that now!  There's not a thing my kids could accomplish that would make me love them more.  And not a thing they could do to take an ounce of my love away.  I am so, so thankful for the women in my life who love me just because they love me.  And I am so thankful that my kids will grow up to know this kind of love too.

Oh how

I love

these

beautiful

women!

Best Playdough Recipe Ever

The secret's out!  I got Isaac's preschool teachers to share the "secret" recipe that they use for playdough.  It's the best homemade playdough I've ever seen...much better than the chunky, dry stuff I made last year!

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
1 tbsp oil
2 tsp cream of tarter
food coloring

Combine flour, salt, and cream of tarter. Set aside.  Bring water, oil, and coloring to a boil.  Pour into dry mixture.  Mix until it is cool enough to knead.  Store in air tight container. (For a special touch, add scented oil, Kool-aid, or glitter.)

Measuring

Mixing

Adding the colored liquid ingredients

Playing

Creating

Final touches

Happy little monsters and their maker