Happy Easter!

We sang one of my very favorite hymns, Jesus Paid It All, in church today. I cried tears of joy and thankfulness through every word. What a gift that God sent his son, Jesus, to die on the cross so that we might live. How a.m.a.z.i.n.g that on Easter morning He was raised from the dead -- and that we need only to believe in Him to receive God's GRACE? He is ALIVE. He ALIVE indeed.

I hear the Savior say,
"Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all."

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

.....

I love these cuties and I pray that they grow to love the Lord as much as their father and I do.




We spent the afternoon at McDowell Nature Center. It was our first official hike as a family where everyone walked (Griffin was carried for about 10 seconds total). We heard a few "comments" in the beginning, things like, "I'm tired. I'm hungry. I want to watch a movie. I want to play wii. etc..." I figured since the kids were so burdened by all of the choices of activities for the day, that I'd give them a hand: no tv/wii/ds during the rest of spring break. I'm calling it Vacation Unplugged. The boys really appreciated me taking the pressure off of them. :) The complaints slowed down after that and we had a good time finding lizards, listening to the different animal sounds, throwing rocks in the water, watching fisherman hook worms, etc.. Ice cream on the way home was the perfect topper.



Happy Easter!

Saturday

Today's winning kick-ball team:


Ain't dinner always better when shared with best friends?

Hello Spring Break. We LOVE You!

As of 2pm on Thursday, our family kicked it into high gear for Spring Break. Our big plans include sleeping in (7:05am?), hitting all of the local parks and hanging out with our buddies. Ahh....sounds perfect....

We spent the first night of our vacation having pizza in the hood with some of our favorite neighbors. The boys loved the food, their friends, and of course, the Marlers kickin' tree swing. Love that thing (especially when Mike is doling out the underdog pushes).

Miles' Party!

It was a g-r-e-y day, with rain continually imminent, but Miles didn't care...neither did the 19 other kids who joined him to celebrate.



Highlights:

Miles invited all of the boys in his school class and all but one was able to come. They were all so excited to hang out outside of school. It was really cute.  Ella & Jack, Heydon and Ryan, and Evan and Sydney also joined us.

We had an entire "indoor party" (ugh) planned in case it rained -- but we lucked out and held the party in our front yard/driveway/garage. The party was kicked off with a little dancing while the jumpy was being set up. As soon as it was ready, everyone piled in. Basketball and nerf guns (targets = different characters on a Mario poster) were also big hits.  We made everyone special hats as a part of the kids' favors.  The boys got Mario hats, the girls got hearts with wings. Loved seeing the sea of red hats at the party.

The chocolate Mario cake was y.u.m.  We couldn't find a Mario character cake, so we ordered a bunch of little plastic Mario Brothers characters from amazon and stuck them a nascar background cake.  Worked great (too bad I forgot to photo it).
By age 7 (at least) the kids really want to open gifts at a party.  I was surprised how many kids gathered around and watched Miles.  I was so proud of how Miles thanked everyone for his gift immediately -- and how if he reached for a gift that was from someone not near him, he would find that person and let them know he was about to open their gift.  It was so sweet (and confirmation that if you tell your kids something over-&-over-&-over-&-over-&-over again that it will eventually sink in).

Noah picked out a skateboard for Miles and Griffin was so excited about some Mario trading cards he found at Target.  Miles loved them both.

Mike surprised everyone by coming out in his gorilla/Donkey Kong costume.  It was a huge hit - Miles was so excited about it.


We're thoroughly enjoying our last 5 months with Dana & Brad before they move to China.  So glad they could join us for the party (and much of the weekend).  Brad even made his own Mario hat for the event.

Mike was away for a long weekend (a much earned getaway!) and was able to return in time to celebrate with Miles.  For that reason, I couldn't have pulled this party off without my parents!  My dad made awesome Mario posters,  picked up the cake, blew up a ton a balloons, and took a bunch of pictures (many in this email).  My mom decorated posters, helped me set-up/clean-up, and helped with the boys.  They are such AMAZING parents and grandparents.  We love you!!

Acquisition

I've been wanting a little desk in our sunroom/playroom as an alternate spot for me to park my laptop. It seems like a good, central location to have a spot for the kids to be on the computer, or for me to work on my pictures (with them hanging out close by). After drooling over so many DIY/design blogs, I'm also itching for a project....

So, after Griffin, Noah and I had lunch with Miles at school today, we decided to swing by the Habitat for Humanity Restore and see if there was anything project worthy. We picked up these two items and I'm so excited to transform them. I'm thinking I might end up with a color scheme feeling of this green desk between my two pieces (maybe a fun green for the desk, black for the chair, and a fun fabric on the seat cushion?).

$25 (love the history; i'm sure mike is shuttering as he's reading this)



$45 (going to try to figure out the age of it -- the writing below is faint, but legible)


Noah and Griffin ate popsicles while I unloaded the pieces, then climbed all over them. LOVE the X on the back of the chair. It stands for "kisses" of course.




I'm envisioning the boys climbing all over the chair and enjoying having it and the desk.





I'm excited to get started! Maybe a spring break project, while the boys are playing around in the jumpy slide. Time to get priming....can't wait!

I ♥ Faces: Dramatic B&W

This week's I ♥ Faces theme is 'dramatic b&w'. Thought of this pic of Griffin and his 'glance back' during a hike on the greenway. Love how he is gingerly holding onto that tall weed, almost as if its a beautiful spring flower (or maybe the perfect height & weight for a mock light sabor or ninja sword?).



Check out I ♥ Faces to see some amazing b&w pictures! www.iheartfaces.com.

Miles' Birthday Wind-Up

My parents came in town for the weekend, to join us for Miles' 7th birthday party on Sunday. It was so fun to have them here, and they were a huge help with Mike away on a golf trip. I snapped this picture of them with the boys MOMENTS after they arrived. They got out of the car and the boys immediately handed them props (including a hat and gun holster for my mom) and said, "let's go!" Would be perfect if they lived in Charlotte. :)


Noah (Captain Underpants) and Pop


My dad made some HUGE Mario Brothers b&w posters for the party. Gram and Miles worked on one. Aunt Dana pitched in on the other.

Griff and Uncle Brad, chilling out, watching the game.


My mom, Dana and I, getting in the party spirit (taken with my mac's photo booth) a couple of hours before the big party.

Sweetness

Last week while I was drying Griffin off after his bath, he looked up at me and said, "mommy, I cried today at school." When I asked him why, he said, "because I missed you sooooo much, mommy." (i think my heart did an actual somersault)

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Over the weekend the boys found a bag where I'd stashed all of the school/family Valentines. Griffin immediately found the card he made for me at school (to be honest, I was surprised that he recognized it an entire month later). He yelled, "mommy! this is your valentine!" Then he opened it and announced, "mommy, it says, I love you sooooooooooo much!" :)



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This little note was attached to Griffin's school bag last Thursday. :)

I ♥ Faces: Angles

This week's I ♥ Faces theme is angles. Right away, I decided to submit this picture of Griffin from last week. Its not technically perfect -- but to me, its "emotionally perfect" (term I learned recently from Stephanie/Auburn Soul...love her)

I LOVE pictures of kiddos when the photographer is looking down on the child's face and want to learn how to do this well. I called out, "hey, Griff! Pick your head up and look at me." It cracked me up that he took me so literally. :) I'll keep practicing....


Can't wait to see the amazing pictures that are posted this week! www.iheartfaces.com.