Palm Sunday

For the past two years we have joined our wonderful friends at Village Baptist for their annual Easter egg hunt.  Last year it was so unbelievably cold that everyone was completely miserable.  This year the kids hunted indoors.  Yay!!  The Kindergarten area was taped off and included several fun toys that the kids either had to crawl or dig through to get to the eggs.  This was in addition to the hundreds of eggs that were just scattered across the floor as well.  Within minutes, Liberty's bucket was completely full!  She had so much fun.  Instead of just focusing on one area and gathering as many eggs as she could, she kept running from place to place picking up one egg at a time.  She discovered pretty quickly that there were "special" eggs.  These were plastic eggs shaped like animals or ones that were sparkly or had some other unique characteristic.  She specifically hunted for those extra special ones.  There were so many eggs that every child had more than their little baskets could hold =).

When the 1 year olds went I sat Emory down next to a giant pile of eggs.  She sat there for a little while and then grabbed two eggs.  She made no attempt to move any further and was completely content to chew on the two eggs she had retrieved =).

My favorite part was, of course, that they got to wear their matching Easter dresses!  Too bad I forgot to get a picture of them together.

"these two are perfect"

"YUM"

This is a perfect shot of her running from place to place even though there are eggs scattered everywhere!

Check out all the loot!

B is for Butterfly

This week we are learning about butterflies. We are using the example of a caterpillar changing into a butterfly to illustrate how God can make us new. In my process of explaining this to Liberty, I said something along the lines of "When we decide to love Jesus with all of our hearts and become a Christian, we put off our old selves (like a caterpillar) and become new (like a butterfly)." Liberty seemed to understand the concept and replied by saying that when we are new, we obey God's commands and try to do things that please Him. This seemed like a reasonable interpretation to me, so I moved on, trusting that she understood the metaphor. Today I asked her to explain to Scott what she had learned about the butterfly life cycle. This is what she told him...

"First there is a tiny little egg."

"Then there is a caterpillar, which is the larvae."

"Then the Chrysalis."

"Then the caterpillar turns into a butterfly and it becomes a Christian!"

It was absolutely priceless. Rather than destroy her confidence and little spirit, Scott and I just praised her for remembering her lesson so well. Obviously, the metaphor didn't go over as well as I thought. Nonetheless, I like the idea of little Christian butterflies =). I guess I'll take another stab at the concept at a later date.

First Spring Zoo Trip

Before our Spring snow storm the weather was absolutely gorgeous.  One dear friends, Matt and Marianne, came into town with their three kiddos and we all headed out to the zoo.  We met them while we were in the hospital with Lilly.  Their daughter, Makenna, has had half of her brain removed as a result of a rare disease.  I am so thankful for them and so glad that our precious Lilly brought us together with such wonderful people.  Thankfully we got the zoo early because it turned out to be an insane day.  By the time we left around lunchtime there were literally hundreds of people waiting to park.  We all had a blast and enjoyed the warm weather.

Liberty and Jacqueline

Liberty's friend Jacqueline also joined us.  She was our neighbor before we sold our house.

Liberty and Ellie Kate

Our friend, Ryan, and her children were also able to join us.  This is a friendship we also have as a result of our sweet girl, Lilly.  Liberty loves Ellie Kate.  She is four and has rare genetic disease.  She is non-verbal and cannot walk, but Liberty absolutely adores her =).  How sweet are they!?

Emory enjoys any activity which allows her to cruise around in her stroller.  I realize that there comes an age when you just hope and pray that your child will stay in the stroller without screaming; however, until then I imagine it must feel like royalty just being carted around and shown the world in such a leisurly manner =).

These are the "big" kids

Conner, Micah, Liberty, and Jacqueline

By the time the kids headed to the playground, Emory was out!  Too much excitement for her.  We had so much fun and enjoyed some wonderful time with our friends!

Girls Day Out

Scott had to work on Saturday, so Liberty and I decided we would have a girls day out. We started with Liberty getting a badly needed haircut. She looks oh so cute now. I wish I could grow her hair out long, but the longer it gets the worse it looks. After her haircut we headed to Red Robin for lunch. This is always a great treat for all of us. Liberty loves it because she get a balloon. I have yet to figure out what is so exciting about a balloon and why an almost 6-year-old would still be interested in them. Nonetheless, a balloon still provides loads of enjoyment for Liberty. Emory also had a good time. I have been axiously awaiting the age when I can give her a french fry in a restaurant to occupy her while the rest of us eat. While this may have been premature, I decided to go a ahead and give her the opportunity to lick her first french fry (and what better fry to lick for the first time than a Red Robin steak fry!) She didn't eat a single bite, but instead immediatedly proceeded to smash it up and smear it all over the table. It was awesome and still achieved the desired result which was giving me the opportunity to eat my burger in peace without simultaneously haveing to shake and object in front of her or keep her from pulling every single item within reach off the table! Anyone who dines with small children knows how important this is. By the time she got her french fry, I had already had to retrieve her weeble twice, from underneath someone else's table, after she had thrown it across the aisle.

She is licking her lips like she is going to eat it. I guess smashing it unrecognizable and creating potato art seemed more appealing.

After lunch, we headed to Sweet and Sassy to pamper Liberty's tiny toes. She has been wanting to do this forever. I hesitated to spend the money on such frivolity, but she LOVED it. Her feet looked so fancy and she was so proud. Emory also enjoyed it and came out looking all sparkly from sitting in glitter while watching Liberty.

So fun! I love have my tiny little girlfriends!