Sunshine!

What an eventful weekend! I am so thankful that our girls do as well as they do in the car. Chris and I are always driving places and they are both so good.



Sometimes, you just need something a little extra to get you through the day. Thanks to Chris, my wonderful husband, for this treat.



Here is our flower box. I am hoping that I didn't kill the flowers. They seem to be doing alright, so far, but I am not good with these things so we will see.



The girls really enjoyed the sunshine we got last week. We all did, actually. It was so nice to have our daily activity options tripled because of the nice weather!

Friday, we hiked up Beacon Rock, which was beautiful. The girls had a great time, although Abby was rather upset that we wouldn't let her out of the pack once we reached the top (not exactly small childproof, what with the jagged cliffs on all sides).

Saturday, we did our Resurrection egg hunt. The girls had a great time hunting for the eggs. Abby's were all out in the open, but Allison had to hunt for hers. After collecting them, we went inside and went through them one by one. Each egg is numbered and contains an object relating to the resurrection story. We opened each egg and read the corresponding Bible verses. It was so wonderful to share it with the girls.


Here they are hunting...


Abby found one!


Here's one for Allison.


Abby was so proud of herself each time she found an egg.



So was Allison :)

I started the resurrection rolls and we were all disappointed to find that my yeast had gone bad and the dough did not rise. I guess we will have to try all over again next year!

Sunday, we surprised my parents by attending Easter service at their church. I love surprising people :) After service, we headed over to Chris' parents' house. Lots of relatives were there and we enjoyed a nice afternoon and delicious lunch. It was my first experience with "Easter baskets." I grew up with a First Day of Spring party and Easter was celebrated with church and family. The girls each received three baskets!! I was so afraid they would get carried away with all of it, but right in the middle of all the talk about easter bunnies, Allison got frustrated and announced loudly "Easter is not about the easter bunny! It is about Jesus and how He died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead three days later. That's what Easter is all about!" I was so proud. As long as the true importance and value is ingrained in her heart and mind like that, I could care less about the candy and toys.

Allison started first grade on Monday and, so far, things are going great! She is really enjoying the material and we haven't even gotten into most of the really good stuff. The programs I got all flow really nicely together and I think we're going to have a great year!


Abby finds all kinds of things to "get into" while Allison does schoolwork :)


I finally emailed the local homeschool group with a few questions and have gotten numerous replies. Two of the moms in particular would like to get their 1st/2nd grade daughters together with Allison for playdates! Allison knows both of them from AWANA and swimming and is very excited. The group is also organizing a homeschool coop to meet once a week beginning this next school year - something I am very eager to be a part of and have Allison participate in. Praise the Lord!

We found out, today, that we will not be able to get our little black and white ShihPoo puppy. The other couple decided they preferred his coloring over the solid black females. Although we are disappointed, we trust in the Lord's will. Jennifer, the breeder, has a number of other Shitzus that will be having puppies this year and we are on the list for first pick of the next litter of ShihPoos. The dog, whose puppy we did not get, always has very small puppies (approx. 6lbs full grown), whereas the other dogs all have puppies that grow to be a bit larger (up to 10/11 lbs). This is a better size for our family anyway. Having first choice of the next litter, the girls will really be able to watch our puppy grow and we will be able to visit before pick-up. All in all, I think this has worked out for the best.

I'll leave you with this picture of Chris goofing around with the girls. With two daughters and a bazillion stickers, you just never know when you'll get stickered!