caroline is 5 months old!

i promise she's teething...

papa rocks!

my dad & joy came over for dinner last weekend, and they came loaded with grandchildren goodies... including a new drum (it is actually pretty quiet), a very cool notepad that "paints" with water, and ethan's favorite of all the loot...... pop rocks! i think grandma joy about fell out of her chair when i said it was ok to give ethan some of this fun candy that i remember loving as a child. honestly, i thought ethan would be scared of it-- he's funny about things these days. i put some in my mouth and let him hear it sizzle first, and then i gave him a little. he loved it! (i mean, what's not to love about pure sugar? and did i mention this was at about 7:30 pm?) it wasn't long before ethan was saying, "hold please, hold please"... noooo son, you may not hold the whole packet of poprocks, but good try. :)

we really enjoyed our evening with them.... here's a sweet picture of caroline with her papa.


hope you all had a great weekend. ethan went on his first egg hunt. more on that soon...

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

easter is the most wonderful day of the year. it is the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! yes, we as christians celebrate our risen Lord with our daily lives all year long, but what a glorious day to join with brothers and sisters in Christ to proclaim, "He is risen! He is risen indeed! alleluia!" our pastor made an awesome point in sunday's sermon:

without easter, christmas means nothing.
what a precious gift God gave in sending His Son to this earth as a baby... but praise God that the story doesn't end there! Jesus Christ grew up from a baby to a man, a perfect man without sin. and while i did nothing to deserve His love, He died on the cross to pay for my sins. He was buried, and He rose from the earthly grave! He lives today! Jesus Christ triumphed over death and saved me when i was dead in my sins! my justification is wrapped up in HIS works, and i am being sanctified every day by the refining fire of the Holy Spirit. i boast only in the cross of Jesus Christ and daily lean on His grace...all for the glory of our God! now THAT is something to celebrate!

really, without easter, my life means nothing. and as a christian, i cannot help but share that story. i cannot hide behind the easter bunny as "the reason to celebrate"... if my daily aim is to glorify God and to point my children to the cross, i must strive to speak the Truth in everything. and american consumerism cannot get in the way. i fail in this area on a daily basis, i know, but i must keep looking to the cross. praise God for His mercy and grace. praise God for His risen Son, Jesus Christ.

my dear friend sums it up in this poem. i hope you'll read it and remember that He is risen!

here's a little about our easter...

after church on sunday, we celebrated easter with a wonderful lunch at jeff & kristie's with brian's parents, my mom, and kristie's parents. here's a few pictures from our afternoon... i meant to get some with the rest of the family, and i guess i was just a little excited about the food and forgot!


ethan's first time to actually hold caroline.
3 generations
saturday night-preparing for sunday
"hurt! hurt!" ok, so maybe the coat is a little too snug...
meanwhile, caroline was very happy with her easter dress!

hope your easter was a blessed one...

babies all a"round"

i have tons of pictures to share from this weekend...but i'll post just this one for now to whet your appetite! here are all of caroline's little friends at church... all dressed up to celebrate our risen Savior yesterday. you should've seen us trying to get all of them to look at the camera for this picture! i'm sure this will be a favorite to look back at in the coming years. thank you, Lord, for our babies!

oops- caroline is really 4 months old now!

when you're a mother of 2 small children, some things just have to fall through the cracks. whether it's mopping your kitchen floor or getting all your laundry put away before it's time to do laundry again, something just has to give. well, i finally mopped the floor yesterday, and laundry is almost done....but i realized i never posted caroline's 4 month pictures-- from over 2 weeks ago. call me a slacker, but at least i have a clean kitchen floor.....



so there's our baby girl...her 5 month pictures are just around the corner....