Easter With Kids

This is the first Easter that I feel like Little Dude has really "gotten" what was going on. We have talked about Jesus, and what is going to be celebrated come Easter morning.

And yes, we even saw the creepy mall Easter Bunny and had a disccuson about what the Easter Bunny has to really do with it all. I didn't know quite how to answer that question, since I have often wondered that myself, so I just told Little Dude that he celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus and the coming of Spring by handing out candy. The Easter Bunny, despite being super creepy, got major cool points from Little Dude for the candy part.

And I got out of having to coax Little Dude away from the candy at the grocery store by proclaiming that the Easter Bunny will be bringing candy, so long as the boys are good....I wonder how long I will be able to milk that one? I am still milking Santa whenever questions about new toys come up. I just say, "Put it on your Christmas list..."

I am going to be sad when they out grow that statement; it has served me well. And now I can add the Easter Bunny...oh man! Sometimes I wonder if these characters are truly for the kids, or just great ways for parents to control their kids.....

Either way, I'm excited about Easter this year,especially, and I can not wait for our Easter egg hunt tomorrow. Now let's see if I can keep up with all three kids as they fight a mob of kids for eggs.....

Rebirth

Today is so hard on kids, young adults and well, everyone. Beyond the normal bullying and teasing kids can go through, the internet has opened a whole new door to tormenting and judging from peers. It is scary, as parents, to realize we need to do our best to arm our children with the self esteem, attitude and skills to fight back against the ills they will face as they journey through this world. And to follow our own advice and keep our self esteem in tack, as well.

Regardless of faith or not, everyday offers a chance of rebirth, of starting over, and getting on a straight path. Today is a great day to leave whatever demon you are fighting behind; a decision only you can make.

As a Catholic, I believe that Jesus was reborn today, and on Easter in 2004 I was born into the Christian Faith. Though I am not always strong in my faith, I try to be, and I hope I can pass that strength in God on to my children and grandchildren.

Here is a video Nell over at Casual Friday Everyday shared with me. The visual aspects are touching and a great reminder that though there are many demons out there to knock us off our path, God will always be there to pick us up, help us through the dark days, months, years. The greatest gift of faith is knowing that we can get through anything because of Him.
Happy Easter, everyone!

Easter pictures and JR kidneys

Hi, Everyone! We are happy to say that JR looks great! SUPER YAY! His kidneys are still large; however, my Dr. is not at all worried as they are still smaller than the size where he would worry and there is nothing wrong with the tubing to the kidneys, so there are no obstructions or anything causing them to not be functioning at birth. GREAT NEWS! I am so very relieved and happy to have the great news. We will still be checking the kidneys again later in my pregnancy and probably through ultrasound after he is born just to ensure everything still looks good, but otherwise, the Dr. wasn't worried. YAY!!!

So, as for the Easter egg hunt Friday-Little Dude was SO EXCITED he dropped his basket and started running around laughing as soon as the announcer said the kids could start finding eggs.

The Town of Clayton put out 6,000 eggs for each age group, 3 and under and 4 and up. We were, of course, in the 3 and under age group. Little Dude had so much fun just running around and watching the other kids! Once I showed him with one egg how to put them in his basket, he was transformed into a Competitive Easter Egg Grabber! He was so super smiley and having such a great time! When we got home I counted his eggs-16!! That is super good for a little guy that didn't even start grabbing eggs until late in the game!! Also good for me, as they all had candy in them so I benefited in eating the caramel and chocolate. Yay!

Easter weekend was wonderful, our family and dear friends came by to visit, and Bill cooked the best ham ever! We had tons of fun after dinner letting Little Dude dye eggs. I think we had as much fun watching him dye the eggs as he did putting eggs in the cups! His little eyes just filled with wonder at the dye tablets in the vinegar and then they got even bigger when he realized that 1)he could stand in a chair and 2)he could shove eggs in a cup and 3)he could mush the eggs in the cup!!and 4)the eggs changed color!!!!!! I don't even know how to describe his excitement, and the pictures really don't do the event justice, but you'll just have to see for yourself.


Here is Little Dude running around; this is after he has discovered the fun of putting the eggs in his Easter basket.

Here is Little Dude putting eggs in his basket while scanning the grass for the next egg to grab.

Here he is dying eggs-he had such a blast! This would be a great rainy day activity, though notice there are no clothes on him...

More Easter Egg dying fun-he was amazed with the colored dye!

Our family

Jogging...and Easter Pre-view

So, I have been looking for a double jogging stroller for awhile now, and though I have found some brands and styles I am just IN LOVE WITH, they are sadly way too expensive for my work from home budget.

BUT!! I did find this stroller that I am just in love with. However, I haven't been able to find one to look at in person and even though $200.00 has been a deal for a light yet sturdy double jogging stroller, it is still a week worth of work for me at Dakno before I can afford it.

So, I am wondering if anyone out there has any advice on what type of double jogging stroller they enjoyed? And what do you think of this one I am looking at?

I was blessed enough that a parent at my preschool gave me a single jogger as a present when I left to start staying home and I really loved getting back in shape with it. Little Dude also really enjoyed the running (well, honestly, it was more of a walk with a hop to it for a long long time-I really started running about the time I go pregnant again and had to stop...hahah!) So, anyways, the point of that was to say that I really enjoy running and want to do it as a way to loose the baby weight with this baby; however, I don't want to get stuck with a stroller that is two heavy or hard to push with two kids.

I have been thinking long and hard about it and I do have plenty of time to get one, since JR can't ride in the stroller until he is holding his head up very well any way (I think 6 weeks is recommended; however, I would probably wait until closer to 3 months to do more than a real light jog/quick walk with both the boys.)

So what do you guys think? Anyone with double jogger experiences to share? Please leave me a comment and let me know!

Also, I wanted to report we dyed eggs tonight with Little Dude and he had a BLAST!! I will put up pictures on Monday, as I am sure with all the family and church activities I won't have time to get on here tomorrow. I wish you guys could have seen him in action with the egg dying..he was just in heaven and having the GREATEST time.

Of all the fun Easters I have had; this, by far, has been the best. Our Little Dude loved the Easter Egg Hunt Friday (I will put more about that Monday too) and has been playing with the plastic eggs and his basket ever since. Tonight was wonderful with my in-laws and John over to share in the fun. Little Dude was all business with the eggs and smiled like crazy watching the colors dissolve in the vinegar and water. Be on the look out for tons of pictures Monday!

Oh my goodness; the greatest joy is just watching him experience new things! I hope you all have a wonderful, blessed Easter (if you don't celebrate, then I hope you got to enjoy a fun day off from work and great time with family). And, I hope that everyone just has a wonderful, WONDER-FILLED day like my Little Dude.

Happy Easter!