Time with Grandma and Grandpa Hays

Dan's parents were down in Alabama for Easter visiting Dan's brother. On their way home, they stopped to see us. The kids had a lot of fun hanging out with them.
Elise has started to crawl and pull up on things, so Grandma and Grandpa were very surprised to see how much she has changed. It seems like Elise is doing something different almost every day!

Nancy

We have enjoyed getting to know our neighbor Nancy over the years since we have lived here. The boys adore her and always have fun when she comes over. She surprised the boys with Easter presents when she came for dinner. They have had fun putting the new puzzles together and trying out the new activity sheets and game.

Easter

Christ the Lord is Risen Today! Hallelujah!! We were excited to celebrate Easter this past Sunday. What an awesome season to celebrate what Christ did for us on the cross and that the tomb is empty. We had fun teaching the kids about Easter this year. It was exciting to hear them talking about Jesus being alive. The Resurrection eggs were a great tool to teach them about the passion week.
We had a quiet Easter this year. Both of our parents were out of town so it was just us. We went to church in the morning. Afterwards, we had our neighbor Nancy over for a ham dinner. Later in the afternoon, we were able to go for a walk in one of the forest preserves. It turned out to be a really nice day.
We tried to get a family picture but that didn't work. Elise ended up sleeping for 3 hours mid-morning to early afternoon. Levi went down for a nap before she woke up. Since Elise is crawling, we didn't want to keep her in her Easter dress all afternoon. We did manage to get a picture of the 3 kids in their "non-Easter" attire!

Egg-stravaganza

Our church hosted an Egg-stravaganza today. They had a bunch of different games for the kids to play where they could win candy...just what we need more of :) They had some animals to pet and see. Levi loved the little chicks. He kept petting them and trying to grab them. Isaac was more interested in the bunnies. They had a little lamb too which I thought was really cute but the boys weren't interested in it!
Earlier this year, the kids were given plastic acorn banks to collect money for missionary kids. Today was the day they got to break the bank! Levi's bank already had a hole in it that we fixed with tape :) I thought he would be really excited to hit it with the hammer but I guess all of the people watching him was too intimidating. He got the safety glasses on and then threw them off and ran back to Dan and me! Isaac did use the hammer and broke his bank but wasn't willing to do another one. It worked out well because the little girl in line behind us didn't have a bank to break so she was able to use ours.
For the "egg" part of the day, each kid was given a bag with 6 eggs. Each egg had a Bible verse in it on a different color paper. The kids had to go around and find the person who was wearing that color with the Bible verse on their shirt. When they found them, they received a silly band. At the end of the morning, they had a little program to explain the silly bands.

Red Heart: For God loved the world so much that he gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Blue Person: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
Brown Cross: But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8
Green Tree: Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3:18
White Dove: But if we confess our sins, He will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done. 1 John 1:9
Yellow Candle: For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of Light! Ephesians 5:8

What a great reminder for the kids to have that they can wear on their wrists!



Levi, Tammy, and Isaac with the chick

Isaac with the bunny

Levi putting on his safety glasses

Isaac getting ready to break his bank

Isaac breaking his bank.

Isaac with his good friend Anna and her brother Josh, Levi

Frosting and decorating cupcakes

Lily and Amanda

Isaac and Levi

Isaac and Levi sitting with Kate and Ella and all the other kiddos

April Showers Bring May Flowers?!

This is what we woke up to this morning!!

Waterpark

Our friend Nancy works at KeyLime Cove. We went to the water park on Thursday. The boys had fun seeing her there and playing in the water. Elise really liked the water too. She splashed in it and was very content to hang out. Afterwards, we stayed and had lunch with Nancy...yum!

Mini Golf

We have started doing family date nights with the boys. Recently, after we had a babysitter for all the kids, Isaac asked if we could do another family date night. We're thankful they enjoy being with us and doing things! Last week, we went out for dinner and then took the boys mini-golfing. We were the only ones there, so it was perfect! Levi actually got 2 hole in 1's with Dan's help. Afterwards, we went out for ice cream, the boys' favorite!

Grandma and Grandpa Larson

One of the many benefits of living close to my parents is that we can see them frequently! Dan had a conference two weeks ago, so the kids and I went down to stay with them. It was nice to be able to see them before they left for their trip to Cancun! On Friday at noon, their church had a luncheon for some ladies in the community. The boys had fun meeting all of the ladies and coloring pictures. We enjoyed seeing the cousins and also got to see Jay for a bit before we came home. Mom and Dad were watching him while John and Carrie were in Cancun for their 10th anniversary.