Josh turned 11

Joshua turned 11 last week but I never got to blog about him. His birthday fell in the middle of Spring Break. What a treat! We got to sleep in and then celebrate the birthday when we were all ready to get up. Josh got to take a few friends and his brothers to play laser tag. We had his favorite, pizza, and rasperry jello cake. Notice there are only two candles on the cake. That's all we had, so it stands for 1-1. (It's better than the time we had to use matches because we had no candles at all!) Josh is our tender-hearted boy who loves to help and give and receive lots of love. He has really grown up a lot this year and is even becoming a very good family babysitter. We are so glad to have him in our family!

Easter Reality

On Saturday afternoon, Rich and I decided we better stop procrastinating and go buy the Easter treats. We were in charge of the Easter egg hunt at my sister's house, plus I wanted to at least have some small Easter baskets. When Rich arrived at the bulk section of Winco, there was no more Easter candy. Walmart, nothing. Target, gone. So Rich decided to get creative. He said he felt like the dad who shops for the Christmas stocking stuffers on Christmas Eve at 7-11. We searched far and wide for plastic eggs for the egg hunt (along with a pretty good group of other procrastinators!) Then we scrounged together a crazy assortment of baskets we that already had. Here is what the children found on Sunday morning. At least he found some jelly beans. Life is so funny!

Easter's simple message

I love spring, which you probably noticed, since this is my third post about it. One of the things I love about spring is Easter. I love all the pastel colors and the blooming flowers. I love the sky full of clouds and the off-and-on rain that keeps everything so green. I love buying new dresses and white shoes for the little girls (on the years that we are organized enough to do that). I love coloring Easter eggs (although I do not love it when the dye is spilled all over the table, which happens pretty much every year.) I love Easter egg hunts and Easter baskets and getting together with family for dinner and going to church where we often hear the story of the Resurrection during all three meetings. I love pulling out the plastic egg kit as a family with the symbols and scriptures that tell the Easter story.

I especially love that Easter can be so simple. We don't have to give gifts or make things too complicated. We seem to simplify more and more as the years go by. One year, we forgot to get Easter grass for the baskets, so we shredded green paper. (It worked and was a lot easier to clean up!) Another year, we didn't do baskets at all, just a big egg hunt. Many years, we have to forgo this or that tradition due to lack of time. But we never miss out on the feeling of new life and (mostly) happy children and family and hope that winter is over and everything is alive again. I love Easter's message, and it's feeling comes through for me in all the things we do to celebrate. That message is simple, yet infinitely profound, and even the youngest child can feel it: He lives!