Traditions

As in the past few years on Easter we headed off to a hotel, where we had an Easter egg hunt, big breakfasts, lots of time in the pool, but most importantly rested in each company.

Resting in each other's company is something that doesn't happen often enough.  Actually, it feels like a very rare thing these days.  The boys are more independent, I work a lot, Strong man works, chores, doctor appointments, friends, and the list could go on, it just seems like whole weeks go by without us being together as a family.

It was good for our hearts, even deeper then that it was good for our souls.  We were reminded of who we are as a family.

Because phones were off, and work was forgotten (mostly), and our real life was 150 miles away we were free to remember past years, talk about where we were at, and dream of our future.

Last year in this very hotel little Laughter fell off the bed breaking his clavicle.  Two years before that as we slept waiting for Strong man to sneak into the room after his flight had arrived the fire alarms went off leaving me and two very sleepy boys to walk down four flights of stairs.  Laughter slept through the whole thing wearing only his diaper and the blanket I had wrapped around him, while little Man of the woods was a trooper doing everything I asked.

This year while the boys were happily chatting in the back seat and while miles of road lay before us Strong man asked me, "If you had to write mission statement for your life what would it be?"  Quite for a few minutes I replied, "Living a simple life but loving Jesus so deeply that others wanted to know what made me so unique, allowing me to share my love for Him just because they asked."

I have no idea if I'm actually living that statement out.  I'm not sure if I live a simplistic life, I'm not sure that people see my honesty, or how hard I work to do things right, that I genuinely care about everything I do, or that I know none of what I've been given is because of me.  I haven't been asked in a long while what makes me different.  I haven't been asked recently why I love life the way I do.

I am sure that my coworkers know that I will not cut corners or cheat in anyway.  I am sure that they know that I am well aware of my flaws.  I am sure they know that I expect the same from them.  I am not sure that shows how much I love Jesus or if it just shows them I'm a rule follower which isn't at all the same as loving the Maker of the heavens and earth.

I do wonder if my boys see how much I love Jesus or if they see that I love my job so much I don't have as much time for them.  But then I wonder if that's just the curse of a working mother to always be torn between family and work.

In the end I am comforted knowing that I don't have all the answers that I still have goals I'm striving to for, and that I'm not comfortable with where I'm at.  This conclusion shows me I am still working towards my life goal to live simply, to love Jesus, and to stand out in the world.

I'm guessing it's the first of many

Broken bones, that is.

Almost every year find a hotel to spend Easter weekend at, just the four of us.  The other holidays are spent with family but this one, the one most dear to us, we spend snuggled in at some hotel.

We always make sure there is a pool for our little fish to enjoy.

This year we also took a walk by the ocean.

We have ourselves a wee little egg hunt where each egg has a piece of the resurrection story hidden inside.  Then we cuddle up on the big bed while Strong man tells the story of Jesus' defeat of death.

We usually get a little something to remember our trip by.  This year we experienced build a bear for the first time.

Waiting for his x-ray.  To which he kept saying, "Oh Mom isn't this so much fun.  I get to have an x-ray.  Isn't it fun Mom?"

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But this time we also got to experience our first broken bone.  As Laughter put his shoes on he slipped off the bed breaking his clavicle.  He was a trooper.  For at least two weeks he wears an ace bandage and a sling, while I follow him all around the house reminding him not to climb the back of the couch, not to run, or wrestle, or sword fight, or really do anything that little boys do.



104.  Last minute family trips.
105.  Death defeated.
106.  Two happy boys.
107.  Salty air & and the sound of waves.
108.  Brave hurt boys.
109.  Excitement about seeing his own bones.

I'm disgusted.

Mondays are by far my favorite day of the week, for one simple reason: Date night!  Each Monday the grandparents are happy to spend the evening with the littles while we are happy to spend the evening making googly eyes at each other as we talk about where we are as people not just as parents. 

Tonight as we were looking over the Monday night specials I noticed a small piece of paper with this title, "The greatest news ever heard".  The waitress in me instantly rolled my eyes and my mouth spewed out, "Yes it's the greatest news you've ever heard in fact it's so important you won't even take the time to tell me in person."  Out it came, harsh but true.  That's exactly how my coworkers would look at it.  After I tucked it in my purse so our waitress wouldn't have to find it I noticed another one entitled, "Easter basket or empty tomb?"  Now really let's put ourselves in the shoes of a not yet believer who has only heard of Jesus from t.v. and news articles..."Heck ya, I'll take the chocolate and spring colors with children giggling as they search for hidden eggs.  What do I care about a dusty old cave?"...Seriously, you who left that tract, admit it, you hid eggs for your children and let them open there Easter baskets before church just like the "pagans".

...Yeah, I'll just tuck those words deeeeep in my bag so there is no chance of it falling out...

To us who already know the gift of Easter the tract makes perfect sense, but to those who only know Christians as media portrays them:  a people who don't allow women freedom of choice and hate homosexuals, those same words are not going to be seen as a gift but rather more proof they should stay out of the way of Christians.

God wants a relationship with us.  Anyone who is a Christian knows this so why would we take the relationship out of the gospel and think we are doing a great thing for the kingdom when we leave a tract without taking the time to personally show God's tangible love.

Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?"  And he said, "Well, how could I, unless some one guides me?"  And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

~ Acts 8:30-31

EFA 3.6 and our Resurrection garden

I love, love, LOVE family days!  I think that's why I label them Epic Family Adventures, because no matter what we do they are always epic...Well okay let's be honest here, they are almost always epic, and this was one of those days.

To begin this epic day we had breakfast at my most favorite pub where the food is filling and the price is low.



Laughter: Hey, this looks like one of the letters from one of the names in our family.

Strong man: Oh yeah which letter?

Laughter: The letter 2.

Just before Easter the past few years I have seen this idea of making a Resurrection garden.  Last night I decided this year we would give it a try. Here's what you need:
~3 crosses
~Dirt
~A plant pot base
~Itty-bitty plant pot.
~Grass seed.

Last night I went out to our wood pile looking for some wood splinters to make miniature crosses out of.

 

After we got home from breakfast I gave each hooligan a spoon to put a thin layer of wet soil on the bottom of the pot base. Then  we placed the itty-bitty pot on it's side as to be the empty tomb.

 



Once we had it where we wanted it we covered the pot to make it look like a tomb in a hill.

I say "we" used spoons but for one of us it seemed better to use his hands, even though I had to dig out the tomb entrance three times.

My wild one covered in mud grabbed a whole handful of seed but found that instead of nicely falling onto our soil they clung to him like thistles cling to socks, but once we got hands washed and dried the grass seed fell into place quite nicely.

Lastly we added crosses before setting our soon to be garden in a sunny window. 

It should take 4 to 7 days for the grass to sprout.  The goal is that each time we see this garden of ours we will remember and fall more in love with Jesus.

Easter traditions.

When we married we knew Easter with an Easter bunny most likely wasn't going to happen in our house.  It was confirmed when Man of the woods was asked at the age of two if he was going to get a basket from the Easter Bunny?  Having never talked with him about the Easter Bunny I silently waited for his response, "The Easter Bunny is just a game, he's not real."  Well that settled it if he at the age of two instinctively knew there was no such thing as the Easter Bunny then we weren't going to have one. 

The only problem with this is that I love Easter and it has become our family's private holiday.  We share Thanksgiving with my parents and Christmas with his parents, but Easter is all ours.  So what should we do to celebrate?  the other thing I madly passionate about is making Easter as big a deal as Christmas since they go hand in hand.  What good is the birth of the Christ child if we don't celebrate the resurrection as well?

So each year we make it our own a bit more, by starting our own traditions.  Last year we started two.  1.  We added the Easter egg hunt in, by using the resurrection eggs.  These eggs don't hold candy they hold a little bit of the story of Jesus' death and resurrection.  When the game of finding is over the story begins and last year was repeated at least three times in a row.  The second tradition we began last year was that we spent in in a hotel.  As I said before this holiday is ours and ours alone so we hit the road found a great hotel and spent the weekend swimming, cuddling, and just being us without the daily routine.  It was good. (Although this year April is a busy month with us spend a little over a week apart so we're saving the hotel experience for the day we're reunited.)

It's been fun watching the holiday become our own.  Looking forward to this year and teaching the boys about the One who loves them most.

The Cross.

In our living room we have a cross hanging up.  I put it up on Ash Wednesday so we could be reminded to remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us.

Today Laughter pointed to the cross and said, "That cross on the door tell us Jesus go up!"  I'd say it's working.  God is good.