Our Easter Weekend

Having just been blessed by seeing an abundance of family at our place recently, Easter weekend was a quiet one for us, one of time as our little family. It was very good to have Daddy home for a three day weekend after his many long hours recently. 

And yes, we both missed our families on Easter morning, but we rejoiced each other and in the children God has given us here, as well as in the family of Christ that surrounds us. 

Good Friday.
A day of laundry and cooking for me. I'm so thankful the girls think folding laundry is fun! I have given up on trying to keep clean laundry off the floor, because you know what? The floor is just the most practical place to fold it with little kids. :o)

Activity time.

The cute little man.

He sits so well in the Bumbo. It won't be long before he's sitting on his own, he'll just need to learn to hold his legs still. :o)

You read your children the Bible, pray with them, sing with them, read them Bible stories, and pray that they will understand in their hearts and come to share in the faith. You seek to live Jesus before them, and pray that they will know. Know Him.
Then one day, your four year old tells you - "Mom, before we can finish the empty tomb craft we have to do the crosses. You need to draw three for me, and I will colour them in." Understanding. :o)
Wow. I stop and whisper a prayer of thanks. Then I draw the crosses and write Is 53:5 from the AMP for her to trace over. And I help her colour in the crosses too, because she said they were pretty big for her.
"But He was wounded for our transgressions  He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities  the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole."

Simple gifts.
I often make myself a cup of tea in the afternoon when the girls are napping. This day, I made two - one for my hubby and one for me.

And the sun was shining so nicely through the living room windows, I got in a photo-snapping mood and played around a bit. :o)

After naptime, Hope was ready to start working on her Easter poster. :o) 

I cooked a turkey for us on Friday night, since it was fresh, not frozen, when I bought it on Thursday.

The smells of fresh baked bread and turkey cooking are blessed smells to have in one's home indeed.

This is our meat-loving child. You wouldn't believe how much turkey she ate!

Blue-striped guys! :o) Love 'em!

Hope was "babysitting" Philip while we cleaned up the dishes.

He likes that book that plays music.

Then, on Saturday, before the girls got up from quiet time, Josh and I dashed into the back yard for a few minutes to prune our rose hedge while the roses were still dormant. :o) Philip barely fit in that snow suit, and wasn't too sure about having direct sunlight on his face, but it all worked out in the end. :o)

Happy to have their Daddy around. :o)

Easter morning, in the dresses they picked out from Costco. We were shopping together one day, and when I told them we were going to buy them Easter dresses they both started talking excitedly about the yellow ones they saw, and so those were the ones we bought. :o)

This was the kids during the worship service on Sunday morning. Philip was content in his carseat and played with his toy for quite a while. Hope and Joy rotated between standing, sitting, dancing, being held by me, and playing with Philip. :o) And yes, I-took-a-picture-with-my-iPhone-during-church. Not something I plan on making a habit of, but it was blessing me to see the girls interacting with Philip, and I wanted to capture it. :o)

Hopey's and Mommy's finished project. :o) I think I'll be keeping this one around. :o)

Can't believe I've never thought of making "flowers" from celery and peppers before!

Crafting with Hope must have a good effect on my creativity engine. :o)
We had chilled turkey, veggies, and snacks with some friends who came for a visit and a game on Sunday evening. It was a blessed day indeed.