Chocolate Bunnies

The girls at Gramma's house eating their chocolate bunnies

When I went to sneak a bite from the kids' chocolate Easter bunnies today, I was surprised to see how each bunny revealed something about their personalities. First of all, Jared's was gone. He does everything with gusto...never half-way! Then there was Caleb's. He had the most left over--he's my cautious one. Grace's was the only one with the wrapper still in tact. It was peeled back neatly, only so far to take a nice bite. She's actually very organized. She puts her dishes away after snack time and mealtimes. Then I had to laugh when I pulled Lily's out of her box (which had chocolate smeared all over it). Hers was a strange consistency...like she had drooled all over the chocolate and then it dried. There were also fingerprints all over hers.

So which one did I sample? Well, I thought it would only be fair if I took a bite from each one...yes, even Lily's.

What is Best

I remember the night well--the night I wrestled with God. It was two years ago today. We found out that we were having twins on April 14, and it took only two days for my excitement to turn into extreme panic! Jared had just turned 2 in January, and Caleb was only 9 months old. What would I do with twins? Did God really plan this? With Phil working his overnight shift and family out of town, I spent the night alone with my boys. I couldn't sleep, because I was anxious about the future, questioning God's purposes, even His goodness.

At 2:00 a.m. I went in to soothe my fussy Caleb who was teething. We sat and rocked in the dark listening to his lullaby CD. As I sat there singing to Caleb, I thought about the words I was singing to him..."My Redeemer is faithful and true; Every morning His mercies are new"..."Give thanks with a grateful heart"..."Let me never forget...God is the Ruler yet." It was then that I realized that God was soothing me, His restless child, while I was soothing mine! I bowed my head and thanked God for what He had brought into my life, even though I didn't understand it.

This is the reason I love Zephaniah 3:17 (posted to the right). Mommies love to soothe their children--to sing over them, to quiet them with love--and so does our Heavenly Father. For two hours I sang to Caleb; he fell asleep right away, but I needed to sit there and spend this precious time with God. When I look at my girls, I can't thank God enough for the blessings and the joys of having twins. He gave to me what He knew was best for me.

On a lighter note, escrow closed today so the house in Spokane is officially ours!

Mud

Doesn't this look like FUN? It's always good to have a rainy day once in a while! The kids enjoyed playing outside in the mud at Gramma's house while Phil and I went to his doctor appointment on Friday.

Patience

I like to drink tea every night. When I drink Good Earth tea, I enjoy the little quote attached to the string of my teabag. Here's last night's quote:

"Our patience will achieve more than our force."
-Edmund Burke

I was trying to take a picture of my girls in their new little Summer outfits, but as you can see, they were too busy discussing who should hold the shovel. It's hard to imagine that a quiet, "Girls, please obey Mommy and look at the camera" would achieve better results than a louder "Girls, look at the camera NOW!" Patience won out (this time), and here's the picture.

"A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare." -Proverbs 15:1

Lily and Morgan

Lily went to Gramma's house today and played video games with her cousin Morgan. Should I be concerned that she looks like a natural and enjoys this so much? She handles the controls with such dexterity! Hmmm, maybe this isn't her first time playing video games over there!

Let Him Eat Cake

This picture was taken a while back. Jared won this cake at the Deep Valley Christian School carnival cake walk. When we got home that night, he asked for a slice, but we told him that he had to wait until tomorrow. This is what we woke up to the next morning. I guess 7:00 a.m. counts as tomorrow!

Cousins

Morgan and Lindsay are visiting from So. California! They're on their Spring break this week. On their first day here, they managed to squeeze in an Easter egg hunt, a lunch date with friends from the area, a tractor ride and a sleepover with movies. What is left to do for tomorrow and the rest of the week? I'll have to be very creative! What can top Easter egg hunts and tractor rides?

Happy Easter

Lily among the lilies (she's actually eating them!)


My silly boys with chocolate


Grace and Lily on their way to church


The story of Jesus' Death and Resurrection becomes sweeter to me every year. I can't fathom the love that He has for me--that He would die for me.

"What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest Friend, for this, Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?"

Hallelujah to my Risen Savior!

The Paint Shirt

It didn't start out as the paint shirt. It was the shirt that Jared wore the day he discovered the bucket of paint under my mom's back steps. Unfortunately, she didn't use Crayola Washable Paint for her steps, thus, the paint shirt. When I put it on Caleb this morning, he was very excited about it for some reason. I now realize that to a two year old boy, paint shirt means shirt on which you paint, and not the shirt worn while painting. My mistake!

Cookies

We baked yummy chocolate chip cookies this morning! My friend Emily gave me a great recipe. These are less "cake-like" than most. If you're interested, here's the recipe:

Mix together:
1 cup shortening (I use Butter Crisco)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs

In a separate bowl mix together the following, then add to mixture above:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

Mix in 1 cup chocolate chips

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 min.

Hope you like them. The kids sure do. Before I go, here's one quick story...Jared was crawling on the floor this morning, so I asked him what he was doing. He told me that he was "getting a different perspective." He was looking for his juice cup, and couldn't find it standing up!

It Works!

My friend Sandi told me to try sprinkling grits around my kitchen to get rid of ants. We tried it two days ago, and it works! I guess they got too full, because I certainly didn't poison them. This morning I removed crayon from a surface by heating it with my hair dryer, and then rubbing the crayon markings off with a piece of bread that I squished into a ball. It worked like an eraser! I read about this in a magazine. Clearly, I don't get out much if killing ants and squishing bread amuse me! Phil and I did go on a date yesterday. Grandpa came over and sat with the kids so we could go to the bank to sign loan papers for the new house. That was probably our most expensive date yet! When we got home they were reading together in the backyard.

Zipping Along

Jared loves his zip cord, as you can see from the look on his face. The girls do fairly well on it, too, with a little assistance, of course.

Hosanna!

"Hosanna, loud hosanna! The little children sang...The children sang their praises, the simplest and the best."

After lunch today the girls played with their Sunday School papers from Palm Sunday. I heard Grace repeatedly say, "aya, aya, aya." When I turned to look, I noticed that she was waving her little paper palm branches. She was singing, "Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna!" Can you imagine God's delight when little children praise Him?

"All glory, laud, and honor to Thee, Redeemer, King, to Whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring!"

Of Bunnies and Princesses

Lily is taking Stuart Little for a ride.


Caleb loves The Little Einsteins!


Grace and Lily only wanted to look at Princess toys.


The boys played the Reactrix game for over a half an hour.


You know you're from the country when you bring your camera with you to the mall! We went to Marin today for Phil's doctor appointment. We found a great park for the kids and ate a picnic lunch there. Then we headed to the mall to look around in the Disney Store and to enjoy a snack in the food court. The boys enjoyed the Little Einstein toys, and the girls loved the Princess toys. I was surprised when I saw the Easter Bunny come out of the elevator, but my kids were not at all impressed. It embarrassed me a bit, because he didn't get a reaction from any of them when he waved. We decided that he must have gone upstairs to use the restroom. I thought I had it tough in the restroom with the interruptions of four young children. At least I don't have to maneuver out of a huge bunny costume!

Phil

God's goodness overwhelms me at times...especially when I think about how He spared Phil's life last year. I am thankful for such a wonderful husband who loves God and his family as he does. Phil is very patient and wise. He is extremely giving. He is not easily angered. He loves his children, and he is a very capable father (he gives baths and changes diapers!). No matter what trials come our way, his faith remains in tact, unshaken. He is confident in the sovereign hand of God. Sometimes I'm tempted to think of the "what ifs." What if I would have lost him last year? These are sobering thoughts for me. I'm thankful that God has allowed me to share more time with the man I love...time I pray will not be taken for granted.

*Update--2009*

Because of his injuries, Phil was not able to return to work as a Firefighter/Paramedic. God gave Phil an opportunity to follow a new career path and use his previous medical experience. He was accepted into the University of Washington School of Medicine's Physician Assistant program in January of 2007. He'll complete the didactic portion of the program in the Spring of 2009 and then enter his year of clinical rotations in the Fall of 2009, working in various hospitals and clinics.

Phil with Grace and Lily

Phil with Caleb and me

Phil with Jared