Easter Weekend and A Few T-Ball Pics

We had a very busy Easter weekend, and this post is going to be full of pics. Friday, we did laundry and then had a birthday party. On Saturday we spent the day at a nearby park with Sarah and Anthony. Sunday morning we had church (of course, I have no pictures of us in our Easter best), and then we headed to my parents' where we ate way too much (I'm just emerging from my food coma) and hunted eggs. Monday night we had our third t-ball game. I'm not kidding when I say that it feels like our 33rd. This is just a very busy week, and I'm a little grumpy about it. I'll live.

And the pictures are in reverse order . . . I'm way too tired to fix it . . . I'll live.

T-Ball and Baseball . . . Monday Night

Fake cough . . . because no one is looking at me.

Still being ignored . . . I'm not liking this.

I finally got Mom's attention . . . now she must take my picture because "I'm so handsome".

Move it or lose it Dad (and by "it" I mean your head).

Tiny little uniform for a tiny little four year old.

Anthony pitching . . . his game was much more serious.

No laughing and playing for the big boys.

Hunting Eggs  . . . Sunday Afternoon

Anthony didn't really want to hunt eggs . . . he's nine which means he's extremely cool . . . Andrew's four which means he could care less about being cool.

Day at the Park . . . Saturday (for a very long time)

My sister and my nephew . . . so sweet (for about 10 seconds ;)).

We rode (paddled?) the paddle boats. Snakes kept popping their little creepy heads out the water. It gave me the heebie geebies (that's not even remotely spelled right).

Haha . . . look what happens when you sit in the mud . . . for three adults we found this way too funny.

He's Alive

Matthew 28
New King James Version (NKJV)

He Is Risen

1 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. ² And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. ³ His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. ⁴ And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.

⁵ But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. ⁷ And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”
⁸ So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.

The Women Worship the Risen Lord

⁹ And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary

Remember that nursery rhyme? Well my name's not Mary, and I don't have pretty maids in my garden, but I can be contrary from time to time.

This is our little garden. I knew (still know) nothing about gardening when I started, and if I've learned nothing else, I've learned that when people tell you to give squash plants plenty of space you should give them plenty of space. Also, there are tons of blooms under those leaves, and so we're about to have a mother load of squash. Can you freeze fresh squash? You can't see it, but there are jalapenos, bell peppers, and tomatoes on the other plants. As long as we can keep them from being eaten by the alien mutant squash from outer space . . . 

In addition to gardening, I also have a new breakfast obsession (nice segue huh?) . . . 

You start with these . . . the most amazing English Muffins ever (they are great toasted with peanut butter, but that's an old breakfast obsession not a new one) (this is not a paid advertisement . . . this is true love)

Then you do this . . . I cook one egg over-easy in a little bit of butter flavored Pam (yes, I know, chemicals in a can) . . . clearly you can cook your egg however you please . . . with half a pound of butter . . . scrambled . . . fried . . . whatever floats your boat (excuse the sideways picture . . . too lazy to fix it)

Next I add tomatoes and a lot of little salt and pepper (and a paper plate because, again, I'm too lazy to wash a bunch of breakfast dishes)

And voila . . . you have my new breakfast obsession (I'm losing big points for presentation here)

So you would think I invented the breakfast sandwich as excited as I am about this. And I mean you could doctor it however you want . . . cheese . . . bacon . . . ham . . . oh McDonald's invented the breakfast sandwich? Or you could just go to the McDonald's drive thru and let them make one for you. Like I said . . . whatever floats your boat.

Good Friday

Being raised in church, I've heard the story of Jesus's death and resurrection all of my life. I know it backwards and forwards. I can tell you every detail, but unfortunately sometimes with knowledge comes familiarity. The sad truth is I am so familiar with the story that sometimes I repeat it without even thinking about it, but it's not just a story we repeat at Easter. It's not just an excuse to get together and have a big meal. It's the truth. I think for those of us who have lived our whole lives with Jesus as a part of us, we sometimes lack an appreciation and understanding of what it is truly like to be without Him. Not that I'm planning on trying it anytime soon, but I do want to recognize that without Him I am truly nothing. He is the one that created me, that loves me, that heals me, that leads me, that guides me . . . He is the one that saved me.

If you don't know Jesus but want to it's not complicated.

Romans 10:9

New International Version (NIV)

⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

You can do this wherever you are. It doesn't take a pastor or a minister to be saved. It's just takes Jesus and you. And if you do accept Him, I encourage you to tell someone. Your life will never be the same!

The Story of Jesus's Crucifixion (Taken from Matthew 27 NKJV)

The Crucifixion of Jesus

 ³² As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. ³³ They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). ³⁴ There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. ³⁵ When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. ³⁶ And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. ³⁷ Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

 ³⁸ Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁹ Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” ⁴¹ In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. ⁴² “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. ⁴³ He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

The Death of Jesus

 ⁴⁵ From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. ⁴⁶ About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,^[c] lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).^[d]

 ⁴⁷ When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”

 ⁴⁸ Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. ⁴⁹ The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

 ⁵⁰ And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

 ⁵¹ At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split ⁵² and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. ⁵³ They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and^[e] went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

 ⁵⁴ When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

 ⁵⁵ Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. ⁵⁶ Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph,^[f] and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

The Burial of Jesus

 ⁵⁷ As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸ Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. ⁵⁹ Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰ and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. ⁶¹ Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

Playing Catch Up

It's hard to believe that's it's been over a year since we started the whole adoption process. It's one of those things that seems like forever ago but also seems like it just happened yesterday. Still we're one year further along in the very long wait. Since it's been a year plus we have to update our homestudy and our I800-A (which means nothing to most people but is extremely important). From what I can tell the homestudy update is pretty basic and simple. I've already asked our doctor for updated medical letters, and I just have to call in the payment for the homestudy update. Nothing about this whole process is cheap. There's no two ways about it.

The good thing is we paid off my car. Yay! It's only a few years old, and now it's paid off so that's a little extra cash in our pockets, and we don't have to turn around and buy a new car. It seems like everytime we pay a car off, we need another one. Hopefully, we won't be in that boat for a couple more years.

I also booked part of our trip to the Smoky Mountains this summer. I'm so excited about going. But I can't give you any details. Patrick thinks one of you people will somehow figure out the exact location of our house and rob us blind (ya know because we're incredibly wealthy . . . that's a joke) while we're gone so I can't give you details. And did you know that you can, in all actuality, figure out the exact location of almost anyone's house? Google provides a wealth of information.

Andrew is finally feeling better. Another yay is in order. He's still coughing like crazy but at least he's not puking his guts out anymore. Sorry about that . . . I'm sure you didn't want to hear that.

Speaking of my child . . . he suddenly seems to think it's hilarious to use words such as "stupid" and "idiot". Not sure why . . . Mama doesn't think it's funny nor does Daddy. Let's just say he's been in quite a bit of trouble the past couple days.

Let's see . . . I'm pretty sure I'm caught up. I can't think of anything else that is important because you know this post is chock full of important information. I'm pretty sure you couldn't live without knowing my child's current upchucking status. And with that I'll say adios.