Hippity hoppity, Easter's on its way!!

The last few weeks have just flown by! Our schedule is quickly filling up and we are getting back into the swing of things. It feels so nice to be doing normal things again. Going to church, cooking dinner for my little family, getting on the floor and tickling my sweet girl, visiting with friends. These simple things sure mean a lot to me right now. 

Last week, my parents went out of town and while my sister and brother in law were working, I had the pleasure of watching little Madelaine. Ella Claire and Madelaine are at such a fun age these days. Whenever they see each other, they just look and smile and are basically giddy with laughter. It's just about the cutest thing you have ever seen. At least that's what we think. ;)

For the most part, they play great together. But, Ella Claire thinks only Madelaine is a baby. I have to remind her that she is still a baby too and that means she can not pick Madelaine up! :) I only had to remind her of this 1,000,000 times during the few hours that M was at our house.

Can you tell I have some learning to do when it comes to my camera? For the life of me, I could't get a good picture where one of there little faces wasn't blurry. It also might have something to do with the fact that these girls are extremely fast and moving non stop. I was happy to get a few pictures with them both looking my way. None the less, learning a little basic photography is on my to do list for this summer.

Other big news around our house is that Ella Claire got her first scraped knee. I guarantee you, it was a much bigger deal to me than her. She fell on one of our walks last week and was such a big girl about it. No shed tears at all. She actually hopped right up and was running again.

She does love to point to it and say "boo boo", and lifts it up so I will kiss it. It kinda makes my heart swoon, that she wants me to kiss her boo boo.

She wanted me to know, that she hurt her hands as well. They also needed kisses to make it all better. I was happy to do it.

When we got home, after we took pictures to document the occasion, I cleaned it up and put a cute little hello kitty bandaid on it.

Once again, she was a trooper and didn't complain a bit. But, after a few minutes, she realized she does not like bandaids. We have been completely unsuccessful with keeping one on it. I don't understand that at all. Especially since the bandaid had a little kitty on it. I did my best at keeping the germs away, but this little girl was not having it!

I can't believe this week, Ella Claire will be celebrating her second Easter. It seems like just yesterday I was about 12 weeks pregnant with her, wishing she was already here so I could bring her to our Easter service at church. (Even though at that time we didn't know if we were having a he or a she.) And, it really seems like yesterday, that I was putting her in her big ole Easter basket to have her picture made. She is too big for that basket now.

Easter is such a wonderful, wonderful holiday and I can't wait to show her over the years why we really celebrate it. We are already reading Bible stories, singing songs and talking about Jesus. I know that her little mind is absorbing so much and the more we read, sing and talk, the more she understands. But, the truth is, even as an adult, the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross is hard to comprehend. He endured so much for us. As a parent, I can't imagine how God must have felt sending His son, His only son, to die on the cross and carry the sin of the world. He loves us so. Each one of us.

One of my favorite Christian artists is Casting Crowns. In November of 2009, they released another great CD with many powerful songs on it. Yesterday, one of my friends posted a few of the lyrics to one of the songs as her face book status. An hour or so later, I was in the car and heard it on the radio. The name of the song is "Glorious Day". It's a great song, especially at Easter time to remind us of Christ's sacrifice for us. It might sound a little familiar to you and if so, it's because it's their version of the hymn "One Day".

"One day when Heaven was filled with His praises 
One day when sin was as black as could be 
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin 
Dwelt among men, my example is He 
Word became flesh and the light shined among us 
His glory revealed 

Living, He loved me 
Dying, He saved me 
Buried, He carried my sins far away 
Rising, He justified freely forever 
One day He’s coming 
Oh glorious day, oh glorious day 

One day they led Him up Calvary’s mountain 
One day they nailed Him to die on a tree 
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected 
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He 
Hands that healed nations, stretched out on a tree 
And took the nails for me 

One day the grave could conceal Him no longer 
One day the stone rolled away from the door 
Then He arose, over death He had conquered 
Now He’s ascended, my Lord evermore 
Death could not hold Him, the grave could not keep Him 
From rising again 

One day the trumpet will sound for His coming 
One day the skies with His glories will shine 
Wonderful day, my Beloved One, bringing 
My Savior, Jesus, is mine 

Oh, glorious day"


If you get a chance, go listen to it. It's powerful, and it's true! 
Happy Easter!!!