Easter Eggs

Jackson and I took advantage of the two little ones napping by making Jello jigglers and dying Easter eggs. He was so excited! It is always fun for me and him to do some things together and not have the little ones "wanting to help out" if you know what I mean! ;)
Jackson is ready to get the jigglers made!

I didn't get the step by step process on this one, but here they are done and ready to go to the fridge. We ate them after dinner for dessert. They didn't quite turn out like I thought they would. They split in half when I opened the container...even after spraying it with cooking oil. So, I guess we have to make more so they turn out looking like eggs. ;)
Now, ready for the Easter egg dying! Jackson brought Cubbie Bear home from Awana on Sunday so he wanted to make sure he was in the picture as well.
Pouring the vinegar into the bowls. He loved how it fizzed when the tablets were dissolving.
Waiting until it's time to put the eggs in...
He was so very careful to put the eggs in using the special dipper wand. But it was just easier to put in them by hand. His fingers were all different colors afterward, which he loved!
So proud of his eggs!
After we were finished he was more interested in eating them than putting them in a basket. They were yummy colored eggs!

Homemaker

Jason and I are taking a bible study at our church in the evening while Jackson is going to Awana. The bible study is called Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas and I am loving it so far. While Jason and I were doing our reading today something we read really stood out to me. Here it is:

Contrary to popular opinion, woman was not created for her own fulfillment. (That goes for the men, too!) She was created to be a helper and a nurturer. Now that is not an easy assignment to accept. We tend to bristle and think, There must be something more significant that that! What a homemaker hasn't hound herself asking, after the fiftieth load of laundry in a week or when facing yet another sink full of dirty dishes, "Is there anything significant about what I'm doing here?" Yet in God's eyes, nothing is more significant than servanthood. The path to genuine greatness lies in serving.
Grasping for power or recognition is natural. Servanthood is supernatural. So many women are missing out on the supernatural today because they are caught up in the "search for significance." Ironically, the more they search for it, the less satisfied they feel. Why? Significance is found in giving your life away, not in selfishly trying to find personal happiness.
~Gary and Betsy Ricucci

Potty training...an update

Happy to say that this morning while we were getting ready for church Grace was walking around naked (yet again) and said she had to go potty. So I popped her on the toilet and what do you know...SHE WENT POTTY!!! We were all so excited for her and did the usual potty song and dance. I am hoping that she will start making this a habit!

Oh, the joys of potty training!

Grace is very interested in the potty these days. She loves to "act" like she is going potty, but has yet to master it. It is hard to keep a diaper on her because most of the time she takes it off, and runs to the bathroom yelling, "I go to the potty!" So needless to say she has become our little nudist around here. I found her some plastic covered panties that she can wear so at least there are some what big girl panties for her, and yes, she does have accidents in them. The other day I was getting ready while she was playing in her room. She ran in my bathroom saying, "I go poo poo on bed." I thought uh-oh what does that mean!?! What do you know...I walked in her room to a nice surprise on the bed! Yuck!
I know it will come in time and I am not trying to push her to do it. We have a spring break trip coming up to Spain in a couple of weeks, so maybe I will try after that...but we will see. I believe that she will do it when she is ready as long as I keep her potty seat out and available for when she wants to use it.

Jesus Loves Me~by Grace

While my mom was here she sang this song with Grace many times. Before too long Grace started to sing it randomly throughout the day. Grace loves to sing!

Papa's Special Day

We love you "so much!"

"Zum Geburtstag viel Glück!

Zum Geburtstag viel Glück!

Zum Geburtstag liebe Papa,

Zum Geburtstag viel Glück!"

(Maybe next year we will be able to sing your birthday song in german!;-)

Creative Snow Play

We woke up yesterday morning to 3 or 4 inches of fresh, beautiful snow on the ground. It was gorgeous! I love seeing the trees covered in so much snow that it's hard to see what color their limbs are. I still love the beauty of winter...but have to admit I am ready for some warm weather to come our way! Most of the days last week we had blue skies, which is a nice way of mother nature telling us spring is right around the corner.
After church today the kids needed to get some energy out before rest time, so an idea popped in my head of something I read in Family Fun magazine a few months ago. I filled a spray bottle with colored water of their choice and out they went to make a colorful mess in the backyard. Before I knew it there were green and red spots all over the backyard. I am sure my neighbors are going to think we have something strange going on back there!
The kids had fun making a mess in the snow and so did I knowing they were outside making the mess. ;-) As the days warm up this week, the snow will be gone before we know it.
Ahh...the joys of winter....

The view of our backyard from our kitchen window.
The trampoline covered in snow.
I love icicles!

Let me mess begin...
Notice the sticker on his head. He wanted to make sure it was in the picture. ;)

Sweet, goofy Jackson

Jackson makes me laugh on daily basis. He does funny things, says funny things and is full of energy. He is always the first one up in the morning. Thankfully he doesn’t wake us up—he is usually reading in his room when we get up and check on him….which is so nice! He is go,go, go all day! The other day I had him try some Nutella and we laughed at how funny he looked after he took a bite. The other picture is a funny face he made at the camera after the Nutella incident. I am so thankful for him! He truly brightens my day and my life.

All Girl!

As you can see from the photo, Miss Grace is all girl and more!  The other day we were jumping on the trampoline and she kept on falling down. I joked to her saying, “Grace quit being such a girl!” She looked at me with a very serious face and said, “I’m a princess ballerina!” And at the same time she did a twirl like a ballerina.

She is such a cutie pie!