Happy Easter!

We had such a lovely day celebrating the resurrection of Jesus! Bob tuaght the 4-year-old children's church, which Anna got to be in for the first time, since she just had her birthday. I was scheduled to be in the infant nursery, but we didn't have any infants, so I was able to be in the main service, which was wonderful! We actually have a lot of babies in our church, but all the moms have chosen to keep their infants with them, rather than use the infant nursery. And all the babies that are Faith's age have just learned to walk, so they are in the toddler nursery now!

After church, we hurried home to finish getting our share of food ready to take over to the McC's house, where we were eating Easter dinner. We brought a ham and a potato bake that Caleb can have. I had to finish glazing the ham and melting cheese over most of the potatoes. Christine had rolls, glazed carrots, and stir-fried green beans. We had a delicious meal. Another girl in our small group, Rachel, came as well. She is a full-time, live-in nanny for 2 children, so it was very interesting to hear her take on child-raising and the nanny phenomenon, which is very common in this area. Both Christine and I agreed we would NEVER want a nanny, even the very best one! We would not want someone other than ourselves influencing our children so much, whether for good or for bad. Now a housekeeper, on the other hand--both of us would be VERY interested in one of those, LOL.

The weahter was absolutely beautiful, so the kids spent most of the day outside. Our boys brought their ripsticks and hockey equipment, so there were lots of games going on outside. The adults sat outside a lot too--it was just so nice! Then Bob got inspired to help Craig move their big wooden swingset/play fort. They had already taken it somewhat apart because the people who lived there before them had sort of plunked it in the middle of their yard. They have a neighbor who seriously does not like boys playing outside in the front, so they want to be able to have more backyard space. They wanted to move the swingset over into the corner. Bob and the older boys were a huge help with that. They all agreed that Craig and his boys probably couldn't have moved it by themselves, so we were glad we could help. Besides, it's a lot more fun doing something like that as a big group! More like a party!

We did learn one new tradition this year. Craig's mom is Hispanic, and she sent a bunch of traditional Easter eggs--cascarones. These are hollowed out eggs (well, ours were not real, LOL) filled with confetti. The traditional thing to do is crack them over someone's head, showering them with confetti. Having one broken over your head is supposed to bring you luck. Well, our boys should be plenty lucky! The McC's deck was filled with boys chasing each other around, cracked eggshells, and tons of multi-colored confetti pieces! A very festive look! The boys definitely had a great time with this tradition!

We didn't leave until around 7:30, by which time the girls were absolutely fried. We came home, put them straight to bed, while the (sweaty, stinky) boys showered. We were so thankful for the resurrection of Christ, and our belief in Him and His sacrifice, that makes us brothers and sisters in Christ! We really are family!