Easter 2014

Happy Easter! We had a wonderful day celebrating the risen Savior. It was the quietest Easter we've spent in the last 6 years, not having a young families party to host or attend. It was also the coldest - it only got up to about 55 today!

Easter weekend started out on Good Friday with a wonderful conversation with the children. We were talking about Good Friday in the car. Emma wanted to know why Jesus had to die for our sins. Will said, "so we can go to heaven." We talked about how we alone will always sin and never be good enough to go to heaven, so Christ came to pay for all our sins by living a perfect life and sacrificing himself. Emma said, "and so God can live in our hears, right? I want Jesus in my heart." I said yes, the Holy Spirit lives inside you if you ask Jesus to forgive your sins and be your Savior. She said, "I want that, I want him to save me." So we prayed together, right there in the car. It was a wonderful, sweet moment.

After church, we did our little Easter egg hunt at home. I printed out verses with pictures for each section, and cut them into pieces for each egg. So the kids had to find all the parts and put them together to make 3 verses "For God so loved the world...", "He is not here, He is risen," and "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (the first is Will's favorite verse, and the last is one of Emma's two favorite verses). They had a lot of fun finding the eggs, and opening them to find the verse clues and also some candy and coins.

Springtime!

Over the last couple of weeks, Spring has gradually crept up, then suddenly bloomed in Virginia Beach. The first signs were the beautiful white flowering trees (we don't know what they are called, they look like crabapples). I took some pictures of them and the blossoming cherry trees in our neighborhood, but they got erased somehow. Let it suffice to say that the landscape is just as beautiful here in the Spring as it was in the Fall.

Will started soccer at the end of March. He really likes it, and it is easier for him than basketball. I enjoy it because I get to sit outside to watch him play, and Emma can wander around and sing without bothering anyone! His first game was yesterday. The weather was perfect and the kids had fun.

 

Emma's June recital outfit came in recently. She is "so excited for this beautiful dress." Her recital is June 21, and she has the routine down pretty well already. I downloaded the song (Sugar, Sugar by the Archies) on my iPod so she can practice at home.

 

On Friday Will's class celebrated Easter with an Easter egg hunt for the first grade, followed by a class party. Emma and I helped hide the 1400 eggs, and Will's teacher let her participate in the egg hunt. We also ate lunch with Will, and went the auditorium afterward for his reading time. Will was a great big brother: he held Emma's hand the whole time, and took her around the lunch table to introduce her (although we've been there a few times already!), read a book about stars to her, and helped her find eggs during the hunt. This coming week is Spring Break, and we are looking forward to the time off from school, and also soccer, ballet, and Awanas, which are all on break. The weather the last few days has been SO nice, in the high 60s and 70s! We have spent many hours fishing, at the parks, and playing with neighbors. Next week it is going to be back to the 50s and rainy, but at least it's not snowing anymore!