Easter

yes, i realize Easter Sunday was 2 days ago. i can't believe i forgot to download and post these photos then.

i had found the cutest dress and shoes for Kiara. of course they will be awesome when we have nicer weather. i also like how her hair looks with the hair ends curled up. not that any of that can be seen from these photos. it was chilly and we had a wind. we are just thankful there was no snow!

apparently we inadvertently began the tradition of putting their "baskets" outside their bedroom doors and also hiding eggs outside. it was expected that it continue just so this year.





i had bought a Spiderman chocolate for Aidan and a Tinker-bell for Kiara. {if they had a Star Wars form, then no doubt that is what he would have gotten!} and then there were also smaller treats. including their own toothpaste and toothbrushes. i also had some lego that i thought would be fun to add...from their reward prize bag.

one evening when we thought Kiara was asleep, she had actually found the chocolate and devoured 98% of Tink by the time we discovered her. we caught her just before she was about to start on Aidans' spiderman. it was explained to her that she would not be getting this treat from the Easter Bunny, and to only eat the candy given to her.



so, Easter Sunday they both woke up at 7am. just as they had all weekend. they were told to go back to their rooms and sleep, read, play, be quiet....whatever! just let us sleep. incredibly, Kiara ignored the basket of goodies outside her door for the next hour and a half. she didn't cry. in fact she informed Aidan why she didn't get a big chocolate treat. we were quite concerned about the 'tear potential'. phew!

as they ate their breakfast, Aidan tried to figure out how the Easter Bunny did his job. i heard comments like, "it is amazing how he knew to go into the prize bag" and "he sure hid the treats well outside, we can't see any". hmmm. he did not know that there were no treats hidden outside yet... thus began the plotting to distract them from the many windows looking over the backyard while we hid them! as far as we know we were successful.




Kiara does have a history of being able to find candy in any kind of place. on this Easter she did not follow her instinct...she followed her big brother. in fact, she stuck very close to him. i think his purpose was to do the "dirty" work for her. perhaps that was her instinct?



they were still cute to watch!!

as well, they did not find all the eggs we hid before church. later that afternoon they played outside and discovered more. which brought great joy to them both. i love that 39 cent treats bring such happiness.



it is interesting how their personalities are coming out in church. Aidan has never enjoyed singing, but he has started to become more interested in it. Kiara loves music and tries to sing along to every song. Aidan loves to learn something new and is excited to share with us. Kiara is still pretty quiet about that kind of stuff. i suspect she is more like her dad that way. they both have a thoughtful personality. it is a good thing for Kiara to have that trait as well. although she can chat happily for hours about many subjects if she has the right audience!

the latest AWANA task was for Aidan to memorize the titles of the 27 books of the New Testament. a few weeks ago i got the "smart" idea to have Kiara try to learn them with Aidan. their motivation were some Cadbury chocolate candy eggs. can you say "sugar high"? Kiara could say the first 7. Aidan could say the first 20. at that point they both crashed. hard. at which point i wasn't even sure if they could behave themselves in AWANA, let alone have Aidan even recite them. i fed them a supper filled with as many carbs and vegetables as i could and hoped no one was too unbearable. the irony is that they were given this adorable little package that contained 2 little chocolate bunnies by Aidan's leader that evening.



this is one of them.

they were just so cute! and we are keeping that cage...just need to figure out what how to decorate it. i may be on the hunt for a stuffed bunny. ha! if you see any good ideas out there in internet land, please send them my way.

in case you may be wondering....even after all that chocolate....the kids can still remember those same book titles. go figure.


in other exciting world news....
today i discovered that Kiara's bike riding pace matches my running pace. hooray for that!

reflecting

Easter weekend.

a time to reflect and be thankful.

to truly be grateful for the mercy and grace of Christ. it is the story of true love.

for myself, i think of the suffering myself and those close to me have had to endure. i used to think that it was something chosen by God for us to endure, know that He was with us and would allow it to make us better. i've changed that philosophy. i think there are many other ways to grow without having to endure hardship. now, when myself or those i love suffer, i can picture Christ shedding great tears of anguish.

as our kids live and embrace life, they have their own hardships. it is hard to see them physically or emotionally hurt. really hard. fortunately their hardships have been very mild. i pray that we continue to be blessed.

there are still many questions i have. some may never have answers. but i keep faith.

for now, i need to be comforted by the needed mercy and grace. i don't fully understand or comprehend it all. but in know i need it.





this is from last year. i took lots of photos that afternoon of egg hunting. it was the only year we had nice enough weather to have an outdoor egg hunt. i'm thankful for those memories. they had so much fun. we have beautiful weather again this year. i'm hoping to do another egg hunt. we just don't have as many good hiding spots yet! i miss those big trees in some ways. but i don't miss the work that comes with the big yard and trees! Kris and i agree.



i also realize that we have not done egg colouring yet this year.

i suppose that activity can still be done today! given the warm temperatures i think we can even do it outside. that will be fun!


wishing you the most blessed Easter.

joke is on me!

would you believe i had to bribe our children to come INDOORS a few days ago?

i'm a little cautious when they are in the backyard alone. i don't have to sit outside with them and watch them every second anymore. however i am not comfortable working in a part of the house where i can't see or hear them.

it was quite windy this week and neither of them actually wanted to ride their bikes for long. although they are thrilled that the snow has pretty much melted. just a few piles that they can shovel and move to another area. the sandbox is also a big thrill again.

basically all the toys that they haven't seen since October are new again!




we have had this little car since Aidan was 20 months old. it was second hand. that first winter we actually brought it into the basement so that he could play during the winter. i have a few photos from 2 year old Aidan and 4 month old Kiara sitting together on the seat. Aidan has the wheel and Kiara was content to sit beside him and let him decide where to go. not much has changed. i can picture them in 13 years {gasp!} doing the same thing with a real car.



this car was used for a lot of their imaginary games this week. i don't usually play a part in those games. but i hear a lot of interesting material! if they can write out these stories as well as they can act, then we will have many years of entertainment on our hands.

this has been a fabulous neighbourhood for spring. we have yet to make it to the park. however the back path is kept clear of snow, so it is ready for bikes quite early. the yard even has a slope so that the water drains properly and in good time! maybe tomorrow will find us spending some time at the park. this will be the first year that i should be able to sit off to the side for most of the playtime with a book or magazine. it could possibly be my new addiction! i can't see much complaining about that from anyone either. yahoo!!



given it was April Fool's Day today, my joke started early. it was not my brightest moment when i decided to put the kids' easter treats in my closet. nor to leave them there after Kiara discovered them and tried to open a package already. you know what's coming. you may recall this event.

last night had me working downstairs and Kristian upstairs. Kiara managed to sneak past him with a bag of their easter treats. at 10:00pm Kristian discovered Kiara nearly finished an entire chocolate treat. a hollow tinkerbell that was nearly her size. at 10pm. that is 3 hours past the time we tucked her under her covers for sleep. this added more sugar into her system than she has ever had before. not to mention the lack of sleep.

again, i was very excited with the products and ideas i had for the next layout class at Urban. i was anxious to also put the assignment away and spend some family time this weekend. with glee, i worked hard on the page last night. then i crawled into bed at 3am.

Aidan was up at 7:30am and in a totally happy mood. and he was humming the Star Wars theme song while he ate his cereal.

happy Fool's Day to me!



knowing Kiara and i needed sleep...i begged him to be quiet. turned on the laptop so that the could play games. i also turned on the iMac so that he could pick an iTune show to watch if he got tired of games.

it could have been a terrible joke. thankfully he was very respectful of our moods and sleep needs. most likely he was thrilled to play computer games uninterrupted for a few hours!


supper is about to be eaten and the tears have been very minimal with all things considered!


phew!


**added: no photos of the unfortunate chocolate incident this time! shucks!!