Easter pictures

Easter day was so busy for us. With Adam preaching and then trying to work a nap into the day and an egg hunt, it was so full. We did have a good afternoon.

I decided to color our eggs with these new dye things I had found. The are sort of the cross between a q-tip and a glow stick. You crack them at one end and the color drains to the bottom of the q-tip thing and then you can dye eggs with the tip of the q-tip thing. What was great about them is the you could draw on the eggs and make pictures and words. Aidan made a few eggs with a rainbow and flowers and Alora spent all the time that we decorated eggs trying to color 2 eggs completely yellow. She succeeded, but that was pretty much all the yellow! I will be heading to the store to see if they have any on sale, since they are a product that I liked and will probably be discontinued!

Enjoy the Easter pictures. Aralyn doesn't really have a half blue face, she had grabbed an egg and the dye came off on her face!

No kiwi for me, thanks!

Well, everyday you learn something new!

Yesterday we all went to playgroup and had a great time. When we left we headed to Augusta to pick up Alora’s picture originals and drop off my order for Aralyn’s and the Easter pictures that we had done a few weeks ago. We were there quite a while and then headed back to Aiken (the town we go to playgroup in) so that I could run by the Gap Outlet there and use my 20% off coupon. I got some GREAT deals on clothing for Aidan and Alora for the summer. Most everything was already 20%, 30%, or 40% off already, so my 20% was just icing!

Afterward, we ran down to the food court to get a drink and a small snack. We settled on some bacon, cheddar, ranch fries, an unsweet tea and a kiwi lemonade. The place we were at has some great natural lemonade (regular and raspberry were the other choices yesterday.) The kids and I shared the fries, which were so yummy! And Aidan and I drank most of the tea while the girls shared the lemonade. Aralyn really didn’t drink more than an ounce or 2 and did spill some down on the front of her outfit. I didn’t worry about it and just figured, I could change her outfit when we got to the car.

No more than 20 minutes later, we were back at the car and while loading Aralyn into her seat, I noticed that she was red on her little chest. I took her outfit off and her whole tummy was red and rashy. I was shocked! I thought and thought about what she had had all day and the only thing that I can think of that she had never had before was kiwi. I called the place that we had eaten at to make sure of the ingredients in the lemonade (to make sure it wasn’t from an artificial sweetener or possibly the type of oil that they fry with.) I guess Aralyn is allergic to kiwi!

I got her home and gave her an oatmeal bath and then let her little tummy air some. She slept well last night and woke up with it slightly less red, and more pink. I know it itches because any time I change her clothing or pull up her shirt she will scratch her little tummy and chest. I know it must hurt, but there isn’t really anything over the counter that I could give her considering her age. She is much better today and for that I am thankful.

I think in a week or so I will buy a kiwi and see if it was a topical allergen or from the ingestion. I also want to make sure it was the kiwi and not something else so that I will know for the future.

(This picture is from this morning. I didn't think to take one yesterday, too busy trying to figure out what it was and make her feel better.)

What a day!

We planned a wonderful day at the zoo a week before time to go. At that time, there weren't forecasts of severe thunderstorms. However, by the middle of the week, there were! We decided to go to the zoo anyway, and just play it by ear, since we had already told the kids where/what we were going to do.

We made it to Columbia around 11:30 am and it was pouring rain. Too heavy to even try to make it to the first available indoor exhibit at the zoo. So, we headed on over to home. Well, they say it is just like home. Cracker Barrel is one of the kids' favorite places to eat. Alora got to pick and I figured that that would be the winner. We got there right at the lunch time rush, so we had a bit of a wait. It was really nice to just sit out on the porch and rock in the chairs, since the air was nice and cool. We had a wonderful lunch, added a little TY beanie babies pink dog named Fanciful to our family (or more appropriately, Alora's family of animals and dolls) and headed back to the zoo in the drizzling rain. We had a pretty good time. We spent most of our time in the indoor exhibits, since it was pretty much raining non-stop. The kids had a great time looking at the gorillas, who were laying and looking longingly out the windows and doors at the rainy afternoon. I think they were thinking along the same lines that I was, that few hours of some sun and no rain would be nice, but they had to wait until the next day along with me.

I love taking Aralyn to see the penguins! She will jump (well bounce up and down) and laugh and scream and giggle and wave her arms as they swim by and it is so CUTE! Alora and Aidan love to jump on the rocks that are there in the exhibit area, and look in the cave that has one of those bubble windows like on a playground, only this one looks down under the water where the penguins swim. I also took the girls to see the lorikeets. Alora was very excited, but didn't want them on her, once they landed to drink from her cup of nectar. I was able to take the cup from her and move the birds to my own hand (and head) and Aralyn was fascinated! She wouldn't reach out to touch them, but she couldn't take her eyes off of them. She did get a little upset when one landed on her head...I guess her hair isn't thick enough to make it all that comfortable for there to be birds' claws on her head.

After the zoo we headed over to the hotel that my parents were staying at and got ready to go swimming. They kids had such a good time. Aidan loves to try out new things in the water and the girls are little fish! Alora would jump off the sides to any one who would catch her and she had the best time. Aralyn loved swimming too and would even jump in like her sister. She was even learning to close her eyes before she took the plunge! She was getting so frustrated because we wouldn't just let go of her in the water. She would push away from us and try to "get down".

We ate at the best restaurant that I have been to in a while (well, family friendly, at any rate, cause I just recently went to the Melting Pot with a girlfriend of mine and the food, especially the dessert does top just about anything!) Smokey Bones Barbeque and Grill was just the best. My father picked it, cause he was in the mood for some barbeque. On a Saturday night, there was no wait for our party of 7. We were seated promptly and the service was great! I was so pleased. The atmosphere was great! There are televisions scattered around and all on different channels. Most of them were sports or cartoons. They have little boxes that they can bring to your table with a speaker on them so that you can tune it to the number television that you prefer and listen to the channel that you are watching. The kids got to listen and watch some Boomerang cartoons! The food was great, very appealing, very good, and very reasonable prices. None of us got their ribs, which were supposed to be their specialty, so we will have to go back to see how they are. Our waiter was great, we even got a picture of him and Aidan.

We did the birthday cake there; Our waiter came and sang with us and then we all had cake! Aralyn even stole my fork and ate my piece of cake while I was helping to serve some other pieces! She loved it!

The kids had a long day, but a fun one! It was great to spend some birthday time with my parents and do something all together.

Three 3 Three 3!!!!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet little girl!

Alora is 3 years old today. This time 3 years ago, she was just under an hour old. I was sitting on my bed, holding this precious little girl who changed our little family of 3 into a family of 4.

Alora was definitely my “easiest” birth. Aidan was a very short, very intense labor, mostly all in the car on the way to the hospital. I couldn’t get comfortable, and by the time we were at the hospital, he was just 20 minutes from being with us, so I didn’t really feel like I was prepared for his arrival…he just came and I wasn’t ready, if that makes any sense. Aralyn was a longer birth, but intense with some back labor and she was so much bigger (1.5 pounds bigger than Aidan and Alora) that she was just harder to have.

Alora, however, was my “dream” labor and birth. I felt like I was able to get in a place where I could relax and enjoy the moment. I could feel that I was in this place of peace. It helped that I was able to have her at home, and labor in my garden tub. I remember that to talk or be talked to during my contractions was irritating…I couldn’t be where I needed to be if I had to converse, so it was a quiet labor and I really feel like, my body was guiding me. She was actually born in the water, my little water baby. She came all at once, just head and body and all, which surprised us all. I remember that I first saw her head and these fat white thighs! I couldn’t get over how fat her little thighs were. And, I knew she was a girl almost immediately, and I had wanted a girl, so badly! And here she was, the addition to our family, with me getting to pick her up out of the water, and look in her little eyes and welcome her to our home. It was so great. I hardly remember walking her to our bed to lie down, but I do remember, just sitting on the bed and holding this little bundle.

Aidan had only been awake for a few minutes and was able to come in and see his little sister. He was happy to see her, and happy that his Poppa was here to keep him company while we were busy with the midwife.

Alora is definitely our challenge when it comes to discipline. I think we just had it really easy when it came to Aidan, he is very laidback and all. Alora, on the other hand, is NOT! She is stubborn and hard headed and emotional and she yells and screams and holds a grudge, and her heart breaks so easily. It is a constant test of my patience to find ways to discipline her that help her to see what she is doing wrong and make positive strides in the future. It can be really hard to remain calm in the face of a crying child, especially when you know that they are upset about something that doesn’t matter at all, or when she just “thinks” that something has happened, or is going to happen, and it never has or will. It is like talking someone off a ledge. If you don’t approach her just the right way, then she jumps….you have to get to her and calmly try to explain what is happening and why. It can be funny though, and I am sure that it is teaching me all kinds of wonderful skills! I know that as she becomes better, which she is, that I am becoming a better mother!

She is so pretty! I love her curls and her bright blue eyes and her dimples! And her little giggle just warms my heart. I love that she loves her daddy. (I at least have Aralyn who hasn’t gone traitor on me…yet.) Alora is my little pistol! She has the funniest things to say sometimes, and a very vivid imagination. She loves music and has been telling us lately to “turn up the music some more” in the van so that she can clap along. Lincoln Brewster and Sara Groves are some of her favorites. She loves to sing too! Although lately, she has been singing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”. Why? I don’t know, but she even sang that song to her family of mice that she got with her dollhouse for her birthday. I told her to sing a lullaby and she sat and thought a minute and said, “I will sing ‘Santa Claus’ cause that is a night-night song too!” She is always making me laugh!

I love her! She is my little princess and just all I ever hoped for in a daughter!

Happy birthday my sweet girl!

We are headed to the zoo today for her birthday. It is supposed to rain and possibly thunderstorm, so I guess I will be coming up with a back up plan soon. Here is a picture of her cake that I made yesterday, hopefully it will survive the trip in the car.

The strength of death

How is it that a woman who has been married for almost 42 years, since she was just 15 years old, be so strong in the wake of her husband's death? And not the, sick forever and hurting and waiting to go death, but the drop dead on a beautiful sunny day kind of death. It is one of those times that for many people makes them question the God of our faith and wonder what He is doing. And yet, for me, right now, I am in awe of His power. This man was ready, he had prepared, he had done the things that he loved to do and he left a love note for his wife the morning of his death. And my God has given a wonderful, powerful strength to his widow. And she is truly waiting for the day when she will see him again.

I do hurt for his children and grandchildren. Two of his granddaughters are having a tough time with it, but I feel that the strength of their grandmother and the love of their parents and family will soon heal those terrible wounds.

Knowing that Satan lost his power over death to Jesus does make it a bit easier to grasp the finality of death, knowing that it isn't "final" but just the end of time and step into eternity for those that die in Christ. And the tears don't feel like such a guilty pleasure when you recall that even "Jesus wept" at the death of a loved one.

Lord, continue holding this family in your arms. Let them be comforted in the thought of you and the hope of all that you have in store for us in this life and our eternal life. Thank you that Danny didn't suffer, that his death was quick and painless and that he had the opportunity for the past few months to do the things that he felt he wanted to have accomplished before his death. Thank you for showing your love even at these times. Thank you for my children who are able to share a bit of love and innocence with the family. In the face of death, a young child, a baby, the laughter of those that don't understand, a girl picking flowers to share with the grieving, playing "he loves me, he loves me not" with a 5 petaled flower....all of this is evidence of your wonderful love. Thank you....