Easter

Today is Easter.

And Sarah's Easter basket was filled with a live surprise!

Three baby chicks!

(From left:  Pollita, Daisy and Maple)

We set off for church with flowers 

for Sarah's Sunday school teachers.

Oh.

And there was chocolate.

Of course.

And a bunny named Cottontail.

"THE LORD HAS RISEN INDEED..."

LUKE 24:34

Rehearsing

Sarah is rehearsing, rehearsing, rehearsing,

for the "really big show".

May I Have Your Autograph Please

Sarah was really into autographs this Disney trip.

We stood in many a long line just to get an autograph.

She was tickled pink with every signature.

She constantly wanted to thumb through her book 

and would smile at all the "famous" signatures she had.

She also loved the conversations she had with the princesses.

Especially her favorite princess, Cinderella.

Well, on our last day at Disney, we were walking outside

the Toy Story ride and saw a character standing nearby.

The whole time he was signing Sarah's book I was wondering.....

What is he going to write?

What's his name?

When I looked at Sarah's book afterwards,

it made me laugh for days.

It read:  Green Army Man

You see, I have an affinity for Green Army Men.

I have one above my kitchen sink.

It's been there for years.

I don't remember consciously placing it there.

But I think I know why it's there now.

You see, we moved into this house 13 years ago.

When Matthew was 8.

When Alex was 7.

When Kevin was 5.

When Ranae was 20 months.

And Sarah wasn't even born yet.

I was surrounded by toys and most of them were "boy" toys.

These "boy" toys would sometimes drift down the stairs

and I would pick them up and put them on the lower stair

to be taken back up when the next kid went.

This one may have been at my feet as I cleaned the kitchen

and I'm guessing I just placed it on the windowsill

to remind me to put it away later.

~ ~ ~

But the Green Army Man stayed.

He's been there for more than 10 years.

~ ~ ~

He is a poignant reminder for me now.

He reminds me of when all my boys were little.

He reminds me of how quickly they grew up.

He reminds me of how much fun it was to discover

"boy" toys with my three sons.

He reminds me how much fun it is to be a mother of sons.

~ ~ ~

So I have a soft spot in my heart for Green Army Men.

They can even bring a tear to my eye.

The Happiest Place on Earth.

This statue may not look happy...

but it's in "the happiest place on earth".

We're talking Disney World of course!

A place to dress up like a princess.....

and meet the mouse of your dreams.

Dodge Ball Tournament

I forgot how much fun dodge ball can be!

Ranae's school had a dodge ball tournament for a fundraiser.

The rules stated that you had to have at least one girl on the team.

So five competitive guys asked her to be on their team.

They won second place and a trophy for best costume

and.....it was a lot of fun!

Fair Time

When the fair comes to town it consumes our life.

All the preparation of a year is played out in one month.

We pledged.

We prayed.

Then, we competed.

This year was Kevin's last.

Here he is with my farm favorite goat, Little Dot.

We came with smiles on our faces.

And left blood, sweat and tears behind.

(But not a bit of hay or goat poop.)

(We have to clean all that up.)

My 4-H group entered the hay bale decorating contest

and won a blue rosette ribbon.

We also designed and built a club booth that housed our

hatched butterflies.

We brought 8 of our goats to the fair this year.

(Including our three babies.)

And after all was said and done,

we rode a few rides.....

and called it finished.

.....UNTIL NEXT YEAR.....