Easter Day and Egg Hunt

Today we celebrated Easter-a very special day for our family! We had an inspiring Easter service at church this morning filled with celebration, remembrance, thankfulness and joy. Then in the afternoon, after we all had a lovely nap, we had our family Easter egg hunt. This was Kaley's first official experience with hunting for eggs, and it was a delight to watch her excitement. She found everyone of them and only at the end, found out that there was a treasure to be had inside each one. Had mommy been thinking ahead (or just plain thinking) I would have filled the eggs with a few chocolate eggs, but the rest with grapes, raisins or peanuts. So, yes, she consumed way too much chocolate- but she loved it! Then Kaley searched for her basket and found it in no time. Thanks to the dollar store, we were able to find some fun items for her to enjoy.

Another family tradition that was a huge success! It is so much fun creating these special moments that we enjoy together.

Kaley's Easter dress.
When she looked at it this morning she said "sunshine!"
And that she definitely is -our little sunshine:-)

The lovely flowers that Mark surprised us with yesterday!

And the hunt begins!

Getting some pointers from daddy to where to look for her basket.

Assessing her treasures.

He is Risen! Worthy is the Lamb!

Egg Decorating

This afternoon we decorated eggs for the first time! Kaley had a blast getting her hands into the dye and playing with the eggs. We only had one mishap as she took two eggs and banged them against each other:-). It was so much fun doing this together. It reminded me of when I was a child and our family decorated eggs for Easter. What a fun memory those times were, and now being able to share it with Kaley and Mark is something special. We only did 8 eggs because that's a lot of hard boiled eggs to consume, but I think next year we may do a lot more just for the fun of it.

Good Friday

I can't think of a more fitting song than this on Good Friday. Words just can't properly express the reality of what happened more than 200 years ago on this day.

Spring Thing Family Fun Event

This morning we went to our church's Spring Thing Family Fun Event. It started with a yummy pancake breakfast. And no, it wasn't just plain pancakes with syrup- there were plain, chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes with not only syrup for a topping, but apples and whipped cream! They also had fresh fruit and juice to finish off a delicious breakfast. Kaley of course was ecstatic with all of the people there and her friends from the daycare, so she didn't have much time for eating.
After the breakfast, there were pictures with the Easter Bunny and face painting for the kids. Then, we all headed outside to the back field for a family riddle Easter egg hunt. We were given clues and had to go to 15 different stations to collect Easter eggs and our next clue. We made it to #3 and then Kaley was just as happy to run around the field! We had a great time this morning and it was fun to see so many daycare families and their children there. Kaley's highlight of the morning was the little chocolate eggs:-)

Kaley with the Easter Bunny!

Out at the Egg hunt

The prize! (And yes, the runny nose)

The Baby's Heartbeat!

Today I had my 17 week check up at the doctor's office and I had forgotten from the last time, that it was at this appointment where I was able to listen to the heartbeat for the first time. I can still remember the day when I went in pregnant with Kaley and was amazed and so taken back by the fact that at just 4 months old, you could hear this tiny tiny heart beating! I get teary eyed just thinking about it.

Today was no different. I am amazed at how much I *missed* during Kaley's pregnancy and how much more aware I am with this pregnancy. Maybe it is because my life is so much different now than when it was before we had Kaley. I am working, but it not my entire focus. I have made more time to spend enjoying each day for what it is instead of cramming work into every spare minute and then feeling spent by the weekend. This pregnancy, in fact, seems to be going much slower than I remember from Kaley's, which is a good thing. I am taking more time to enjoy these nine months and to savour the small changes that are happening each week. Pregnancy is such a magical thing!

Talking about magical, our baby at just 17 weeks old is fully formed with all the major organs developed, the nails and hair have started growing, 32 little teeth buds have formed in the jaw, is starting to suck, is aware of noise and light and responds to touch, the limbs are fully formed, and can frown and squint!

Truly amazing - no wonder they call pregnancy a miracle!

Mark's Spring Break Project

We decided that one of the projects that was most needed in our home was a larger coat closet in the entry way. The closet that was built with the house was too small and the space where it was situated at had a foot or two to the right that was wasted, unusable space. Believe me, we tried to fit many things there and nothing really worked. Our entryway was too crowded and awkward no matter how we organized things.

So, my genius of a husband put together this idea to expand the closet by moving a wall and making it flush with the wall in the kitchen. He tore down the outside wall, moved it about two feet, put in new dry wall, installed new tile in the space where the old wall was, added grout, put shelving up and installed double sliding doors; thus making a completely new closet and a much less cluttered entry way. Now to figure out how to decorate it! Mark is simply amazing in his abilities to renovate. What a gem:-)

The new wall!

The old tile removed and cleaned up.

Putting down the new tile.

The sanding of the mud- yuck!

Putting the grout on.

The new shelving put up. Room for coats up above and a shelf half way down for Kaley's coats to go (and baby #2).

On the right side, room for more coats and the shoes underneath. What you can't see, is there is a carpet and a boot tray on the left so there is plenty of room for muddy and wet shoes. They no longer need to be in the hallway! Yeah!

The new sliding doors!

The finished product and a much bigger entry way. Nice job honey!