Happy Easter!

...Easter!  We love Easter, and it is such a blessing getting to teach our kids about the empty tomb.  We had some fun things planned for Easter week from hunting eggs to playing at a friend's house to dyeing eggs to celebrating at church.

Jude and Kate were practically inseparable from their Easter baskets this week.  Is there any candy in there yet?  No.  How about now?  Jude's basket is almost as big as he is.

Kate's class before their Easter egg hunt.

Getting ready for the church Easter party.

She was so proud of her eggs

C'mon Daddy, let's go find some Easter eggs...as long as they're filled with candy.

Yes!!!  This one has the good candy in it!

Part of the Easter party at church.  The day before Easter Sunday our church set up a giant radio control race track, four giant inflatable bounce houses, hot dog stands, cotton candy machine, and Easter egg hunts all over the church.

Jude approves..."Yes, I love Asbury!"

Neither kid was too sure about cotton candy, but it made for cute pictures!

For the older kids, the church had a genius idea.  Instead of hunting eggs inside, they filled up a space with green balloons and hid tickets under the balloons.  The kids then found a certain number of tickets or certain ticket colors, and then turned them in for a prize.

Kate and Daddy having fun!

Jude was mesmerized by the race track.  He watched for a solid half-hour.

Jude's first fish!!!  He was so excited.  Granted, Daddy helped a little, but Jude never let go of the pole. Way to go buddy!

Saturday night dyeing eggs.  Always a crowd pleaser.

The Easter baskets on Sunday morning.  Clothes and candy--who could ask for anything more?

Happy family!

Jude and my Dad not only look alike, but they dressed alike and managed to fall asleep in the car on the way to church.  It wasn't sunrise service or anything--our church starts at 11.

Jude figuring out the egg hunting thing.

After church, my parents and our friends Charles and Michael came over for lunch.  It was a great Easter in Tulsa, and we spent the afternoon playing outside.

I've Gotta Crow!

...Kate's first...of many...musicals.  For my mom's birthday Kate and I bought her tickets to see Kathy Rigby in Peter Pan.  Of course, it seems the real gift to mom was watching Kate watch her first musical.  At first it seemed odd that a 60 year old would play a young boy, but Kathy Rigby was pretty amazing.  It's been a couple of weeks now and Kate is still crow-ing around the house singing the songs from the musical.

 I'm not sure what was up with the part in her bangs but we fixed it later in the evening.  Sometimes ladies have bad hair days.

Prior to the show we got the customary baubles for her and a sword for Jude (since he didn't get to come).  I passed on the poster for Kate that allowed for a spot in line to meet Peter Pan after the show.  I confidently assured my mom that Kate would be asleep by intermission and I would most likely be carrying her out after the show since the show didn't even start until her bed time.  Those of you who know Kate know that she is very serious about her bedtime.  We went to our seat, the whole way people were commenting on her sense of style (see photos).  I was becoming more confident that she would be asleep by intermission as we waited for the show to start.  She was a bit restless and tired.

Then the orchestra started to warm up.  She perked up in her chair.  They were not even playing songs yet.  I started to think I might be wrong.  Then the overture started...she might just make it to intermission.  Then Wendy, Michael, John, and Nana were on stage and I knew she would make it to intermission, but the verdict was out on making through the whole show.

Then it happened.  Tinker Bell and Peter Pan made their first appearance and it was all over.  She was buzzing the rest of the evening.  I thought she might levitate too when Kathy Rigby began to sing, "I Can Fly!" She even loved Captain Hook.  Would you believe we had to rush downstairs after it was over to buy the poster so she could meet Peter Pan?  She also wanted to meet Captain Hook.  Would you believe we were some of the last people to leave the Tulsa PAC at 11:30 pm? Would you believe she is sitting next to me right now with her Peter Pan book making sure I talk about all the characters?  Do you think that was her last musical?  Do you think she likes musicals?  Do you think we are on the right track with all the dance lessons?  I think so.

 Kate was fairly certain the pixie dust Ms. Rigby gave her was the real thing since she just saw her flying all evening.  My mom was a little concerned about Kate climbing on things and jumping off.

 Kate was so funny.  This is her pirate face.  You can't really tell in this picture but she was being so funny with him.  He was actually pretty tall, probably about as tall or taller than my brother.  She didn't care.  She is making her pirate face. Captain Hook was a little jealous of her boots.

It was 11:30 when this picture was taken.  I thought she would fall asleep the second we got in the car. Wrong again.  She didn't fall asleep until about 5 minutes from the house (we live about 35 minutes from the PAC).  I think there will be more musicals.

Makin' Do with What We Got

...another down year when it came to snowfall.  So, when we finally got enough to at least leave tracks in we bundled up and made the best of it.  We had about a 4 hour window once the snow stopped before it started melting, so we had just enough time to get the sled down, our hoods up, and our mittens on.

Jude loved the sled.  Despite the frozen face and wet pants, he cried every time he reached the bottom of the hill.

Working on our snow person.  It was more snow than dirt this year, so that is an improvement.  Still, he was only about a foot and a half high.

Daddy decided to take the kids to the big hill in the neighborhood.

Once was enough for Kate, but if Jude could have felt his toes and fingers he would have stayed all day.