Easter Pictures! ... and The Real Deal

It is technically Easter still as I make this post. My husband is off Monday & Tuesday so I'm trying to make all my posts for the week. I'm trying to make this my Sunday thing. That's my goal anyways. :)

I woke up early Easter morning because I needed to finish out my week 2 in the Couch to 5k program. It was such a beautiful day and as I was running I started thinking. Thinking of all the events in my life that led me to this point - running in North Carolina on Easter morning. Last Easter I was hoping and believing for healing in my kidneys and bladder. I remember knowing that I would have full restoration, I just wasn't 100% sure if that restoration would be on Earth or in Heaven. I knew it was coming though. I knew that whatever life had ahead for me, He would be with me always until the end. ♥ I received the news and seen my insides with my own eyes at an amazing facility the day after Mother's Day that my kidneys and bladder where made like new! The doctor said exactly what was prayed over me the day before "it's like nothing ever happened"! For some time I didn't understand or know why God chose to save me and then heal me completely. I thought "I'm nobody". and I still am. But it's not because of who I am, it's because of who He is! He is merciful and gracious beyond measure. What really hit me was as I was thinking of all this, I was running, 1 year later!! running with brand new kidneys and bladder! 1 1/2 years ago it took me 5 minutes to walk from the hospital bed to the bathroom and now I'm completing week 2 in a running program!! GOD IS GOOD!!

Motivated by Carissa's honest post a few days ago - I'm going to start including what I'm calling "The Real Deal" at the end of applicable posts! Make sure to scroll to the bottom of the Easter pictures to check out The Real Deal for Easter 2012 with the Cartes. :D

Baskets:

Breakfast:

Church:


Egg Hunt:


The Real Deal: My husband got stressed out while getting ready for church and yelled at one of the boys, since we've lived here his schedule is wed. - sun. 8-8. he was able to get the morning off so he's working 2pm-2am today. He left right after the egg hunt. Our lunch was McDonald's in our van. My two oldest got into 3 or more fights. Nathanael didn't care about 1 thing in his Easter basket, he cried and pitched a fit for most pictures, and I could not get him to pick up 1 egg!! (don't let the pics fool ya ;) I spent the afternoon keeping him from playing in toilet water (that may or may not have been used) and putting crumbs and little findings in his mouth. (yes, he's 19 months, but has some developmental delays and is probably somewhere between 9 - 12months mentally and physically) To this day we have NEVER had an "Easter meal" due to my husband has worked every Easter. HOWEVER - This Easter As a family we ate breakfast and lunch together, we went to church and talked about our service together on our way home, I played with each of the boys one on one and Chris was able to do so too before he left. We prayed together and we read the Easter story. We remembered God and what He has done for us. We had a great day mixed, as always, with real life. What more can ya ask for?? :D

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day

I hope all Mommies are enjoying their Mother's Day!!

Handprints made for Grandmas & Me :)

Cards made for Grandmas (our moms) at TinyPrints. Very happy with them!

Easter Fun + an update

We had a great Easter! It was a little different this year due to some things. This was a little hard for me because I like tradition and I like Easter & Christmas to be celebrated LONG (think Lent & Advent)! I had to evaluate my heart and though those things are Good it is ok if things are different one year :) With that being said - here are some things we did for Easter this year:

• the boys memorized two new prayers - one for meals and one for bedtime
• we created a "repentance box". You can read about it here. Hers is much prettier than mine. we used an old baby wipe box. :)
• the boys made these t-shirts during Holy Week. I got this idea from Rick & Marilyn Boyer's Hands-On Character Building book.

~ Easter Sunday ~ Nathanael's First Easter!!!

My two oldest received Pillow Pets and a special book. Chris got The Beginner's Bible (Holy Bible). This is the whole Bible. Zack received My ABC Bible Verses. They loved all of these things. :)

We made some cute Eastery cookies I seen in a magazine. I personally didn't like them but they did and so did my stepsisters.

That wraps up our Easter 2011!!

~~Update~~ I haven't been on much lately because I was trying to spend less time on the computer for Lent. I'm working on trying to figure this out! How I can spend the least amount of time on the Internet and still look and enjoy everything I like to do! In addition, my husband & I are working on some major changes (jobs & living location). I really do enjoy blogging though so we'll see... hopefully I'll get it [balance] soon :D

Late Valentine's Day Post

The boys always wake up on Valentine's Day to a surprise! It's different every year and some years are more elaborate than others. But it is always celebrated! This year was a less elaborate year but as always fun!!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Valentine's Day!

December Memories

This month has gone by so fast to me! I have noticed with so many doctors appointments now the days and weeks seem to go by quicker than before. I don't like it and will be glad when my health is fully restored and the appointments are no longer!

Still, we have had great memories and activities. I only have pics. uploaded on my computer from the first week so I will have to add the rest after Christmas.

We made a Scripture Countdown chain. So everyday we take turns on breaking one off and reading out loud the verse.
We put up our tree. It's a 4ft tree this year. The boys love it the same.

We made our first popcorn garland. It was fun, easy, and took some time. I can't imagine how long it would take for a 7ft tree and look good. ... I'm thinking about having the boys do it next year. It takes preciseness, concentration, and patience.


I read A Treasury of Christmas Miracles by Karen Kingsbury. I found it very inspiring!

I also read a few stories out of A Prairie Christmas Collection. They were great heart warming, happy ending stories.

I hope everyone has a Beautiful, Wonderful, Merry Christmas!!

A Nice Morning

I've had a nice leisurely morning. I made & mailed out some Thanksgiving cards. I even enjoyed my walk to the mailbox. The trees were bright and crisp, the clouds big and fluffy w/a tint of grey and a nippy breeze. Then printed out some recipes for December and made some shopping lists. One is for our Christmas Adventure project we are doing as a family. I can't wait to post on it. The other list is for the homemade gifts I'll be making soon! I just love and relish every bit of this season!

Thanksgiving Links

Just wanted to share some Thanksgiving/Fall links that I am enjoying:

School:

• 1+1+1=1 has a Fall Fun page filled with lots of cute downloads
• 1+1+1=1 also has a Thanksgiving Preschool Pack that I downloaded that is really neat!
• My Montessori Journey is filled with November activities! My boys have enjoyed lots of her ideas!

Home:

• Paper Glitter has a free Thanksgiving decoration download. It's really cute and I already used some of the print outs to decorate food I brought to my MOPS meeting.
• On Money Saving Mom quite a few bloggers put together a thanksgiving e-book that is free. I made the pumpkin dip recipe in there for MOPS as well and it was pretty good. My boys loved the leftovers when we got back from the meeting. I've also made the pumpkin rolls a few times and they are yummy.

Crafts:

• The Pink Elephant thanksgiving/fall cards
• Shimmerz Paints has fally ideas