Rob worked Easter Sunday morning, so the kids and I got up and went to church. After church we came home and hung out for the day. Rob slept. Then in the evening we went to his mom's for Easter dinner. These are some pictures from our day. Nadine and Rowan made Resurrection Eggs during Sunday School. They are having so much fun playing with them and talking about Jesus.Jourdyn and Rob have been running together! She is doing so well. I've been walking with my friends and taking bike rides as well. In fact, today our family rode for 5 miles over to the park and around it and then back.
Saturday...a day that the disciples spent in darkness...the Light of the World lay dead in a tomb...all hope had been lost...darkness had spread over them...
Praise God that we have the end of the story! We know Sunday is a-comin'!!!!
As we wait in anticipation for celebration of the resurrection, our day was spent once again living in community - the broader community! This morning our church hosted a prayer breakfast for all of the Oregon Area churches. We had about 100 people there, sharing a meal and praying for our community. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and communion.
I took Nadine today for a hair cut. We officially went pixie! It is so cute on her. We left a little over her ears, but it is adorable. She wasn't too sure of it though, until we told her it's a Tinkerbell haircut. Then she seemed to love it! I think for the summer she is going to do so much better with it this way.
Rowan was buzzed for the time being as well.
This evening my sister and I headed over to the April Lifeline Community Dinner at the North's house in the Old West End. This was Julie's first experience there!
It was a good night. One of the older gentlemen brought his banjo and played for awhile. For the first time every, an artist came and just sat in the corner painting. The first ever "Jefferson" Award was given out to our friend, Ken Leslie tonight. Gary got up and made a big deal about the Jefferson Award for Public Service, and the group wanting to nominate someone from within who is making a huge difference in our community. However, they missed the deadline. So they decided to give it out anyways. They made the "George Jefferson Award." One of the Lifeline attending is a sculpture for George Caruth. She hand carved George Jefferson's bust. They painted it and put it on a plaque. They made a big deal about it. It was very funny! You'd have to know Ken to know that he absolutely loved it! It was a great moment!
Gary was supposed to read some poetry and more musicians were supposed to come, but we had to get going and leave the party by 9:45. Next month they are going to have a band playing at Food For Thought and then at the Lifeline Dinner. I'm excited!
I know we were just at the zoo on Wednesday, but our family returned today! We love having a zoo family pass! It's a fantastic place to take the kids! It was packed today though. Every year the Zoo has an Easter Egg Hunt for the animals. My friend Traci planned an excursion for our families to the zoo. Her family went, my family, Bethany & Brandon w/their 2 boys, Holly w/her 2 girls, Erin w/her 2 girls, Brandy w/her 2 kids and Mandi w/her 2 kids. (I think that was everyone!)
We weren't able to all stay together because it would have been just impossible. We saw the gorillas, orangs, some monkeys, the hippos, the elephants and had lunch together. We also made a craft and saw the frogs, and the bugs and spiders.
Nadine was a little hesitant to enter the bug room. Becca is a tom-boy so she dragged Nadine in. Nadine made it through the cockroaches, completely disgusted but she made it. Then she came to the bird eating spider and she was done. She high-tailed it out to the wagon and never went back in. The boys loved it though.
It was a beautiful day to go. I even got a little bit of color. After the zoo, Tina and I went for a walk at Maumee Bay and then Tina and her kids came over to have dinner with our family. We grilled out in the backyard. The kids played football and just hung out.
Today is Good Friday. This is the day that we remember what Christ came to our broken world for. He came to mend broken relationships, first between us and God, but ultimately even the relationships between us and others here in our world. There is no better way to remember what Christ did on the cross than to build others up, to live life together, to recognize that we were created for each other.
Thank you Lord for loving me! Thank you for all you did that day and for all that you continue to do. Thank you for seeing me at my lowest point and still loving me. Thank you for carrying me!
Spring break has finally arrived!!!! Nadine's first day off was today. We started our day with heading out to Barnes & Noble to try and find some good chapter books for her to read. While we were there, we were able to catch the first story at story time.
The sales associate did such a fantastic job at telling the story. Rowan didn't want to sit and watch her at first so he walked away. He eventually ended up hiding behind me, but listening attentively to her story.
We found some great series for Nadine with the help of the associate. The first series is Ivy & Bean by Annie Barrows. She got a boxed set that contains the first three books. Ivy & Bean are two very different little girls that learn to become the best of friends. The second series that we are going to begin is Mercy Watson by Kate DiCamillo. This just seemed like a fun series. Mercy is a pet pig that gets to all kinds of fun stuff. Kate DiCamillo is the author of The Tale of Despereaux.
After our excursion to the book store, we headed out to Maumee Bay to go for a walk with our friends. Nadine took her bike to ride. We walk 3 miles though usually, so we knew today would be a short walk since she wouldn't be able to ride that long. We went about half of that distance. It was 75 degrees. The lake is completely thawed and so we took a couple of shots near the water.
Rowan had an exciting day too! We learned that we are going to have to buy him a bike. Nadine's bike is just a bit big for him. He felt like such a big kid. Although he has learned the art of letting us push him through the park! After we turned around and headed back, the kids played for a few minutes on Tina's trampoline! She says I should get them one for our backyard! LOL!
I'm going to upload a video to here from my phone. I'm not sure if you will be able to see it well, but it is Rowan kicking the soccer ball around the front yard! This is something else we discovered today. He LOVES to kick the ball around!
"I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward--to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back." Philippians 3:12-14
Rob worked Easter Sunday morning, so the kids and I got up and went to church. After church we came home and hung out for the day. Rob slept. Then in the evening we went to his mom's for Easter dinner. These are some pictures from our day. Nadine and Rowan made Resurrection Eggs during Sunday School. They are having so much fun playing with them and talking about Jesus.Jourdyn and Rob have been running together! She is doing so well. I've been walking with my friends and taking bike rides as well. In fact, today our family rode for 5 miles over to the park and around it and then back. 
