Mother's Day

After church, lunch, and nap, we headed down to the coast.  It was a beautiful day--close to 80 and sunny.  We walked around an island I had been to in the fall for a women's retreat.  The boys enjoyed climbing around on the rocks by the water, and throwing the smaller rocks into the water.  (I don't know at what age this cheap entertainment stops being fun, but so far we're still good!)  After that, we had an early dinner at a pasta place by the water. 

I received several lily of the valley plants and a lilac bush as my gift.  Those are two of my favorite flowers.  Benny and Paul were very excited to help plant them!

Afternoon at the beach

We finally had a sunny, slightly warmer day yesterday, so we decided to take a picnic lunch to a state park.  We had fun playing at the beach, jumping off rocks, and exploring the gardens.  It was so clear, we had no problem seeing Long Island and lighthouses from the shore.

Moving to North Dakota

No we're not really moving, but the boys were playing "moving to North Dakota" this morning.  As far as I could tell, it meant emptying the entire toy trunk, and piling all of the stuff in Paul's room, aka the moving van.  Then they had to "drive" to North Dakota on the couch, while going over large bumps and swerving to avoid deer, bear, and moose.  Love the imagination!   =)

Vermont

The boys added another state to the numbers they've been to--I think it's 22 states now.  We all went to Vermont earlier in the week to attend the district pastor's conference.  Despite the rainy weather, we found enough to keep us busy.  The boys and I swam in the indoor pool, played ping pong in the game room, and played croquet out on the lawn.  On Tuesday, during the free time, we all went exploring in the mountains.  We found some waterfalls and very steep drop-offs and snow!  We also visited the Ben and Jerry's factory for a tour and a free sample of ice cream.

Week in Florida

We just spent a week in Florida with Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle David (Jonathan's brother).  It was a nice way to unwind after Lent and Easter.  We had warm, sunny weather--perfect for swimming and playing outside.  We went to their pool and the beach several times.  The boys were swimming well (with the help of floaties) by the time we left.  We also visited a children's museum and park.  And we made the trip a little farther north to see Aunt Mary, Uncle Ken, Great-Grandma, Aunt Joan, Aunt Rita, and Uncle Charles.  The boys also visited the putting green and tennis courts in Grandma and Grandpa's gated community.  Busy, but fun!

Bike riding on the lanaii

Visit to the children's museum--it was not David's expectation of something with the word "museum" in the title.  =)  They were watching the boys build with these foam blocks below.

Snuggle time with Grandma

There was a church picnic after church on Sunday.  This was a water relay race.

Here you were supposed to eat a Peep without using your hands.

Riding the duck Jonathan rode as a boy.

At the park with Reese, grandson of Grandma's close friend.

Building at the beach 

Easter weekend

Before church

Easter egg hunt at church on Saturday

Coloring Easter eggs

This picture, with Paul looking at Benjamin as a cue for how to act, what to say, what to do, is a classic example of what happens all day long!

On Friday, Benjamin asks, "Why is it Good Friday, if I don't have school?"

Easter Cross

So, Jonathan was telling me about his Good Friday sermon ideas on Tuesday morning. And I had a thought, wouldn't it make it more personal if we had some kind of cross that we could actually nail our "sins" to. We could write down our sins and nail them to the cross. (I don't think this was an original idea--I think it was lingering in the back of my mind from hearing about it somewhere else.) I was thinking, maybe next year, when you could find someone to make the cross ahead of time. Well, there's a retired member in our congregation who is very handy, and he had the cross finished that afternoon! Amazing!

So, we did indeed nail sins to the cross on Good Friday. It was quite sobering to think my "little sin"--it's no big deal, right? That same sin did actually nail Jesus to the cross. Many people commented on the impact it had on them.

When people walked in on Easter, this is what they saw. The same cross, sins gone, butterflies in place.