Oh Glorious Day!

I must admit, I don't exactly get the mommy of the year award for this Easter... I failed to take my boys to see the Easter bunny for the traditional bunny picture.  We ran into the furry guy a month ago at the mall, during a shopping excursion in a children's store and while Collier ran up and hugged him, Noah preferred to observe him from afar.  So I totally forgot to even take them to actually "see" him.  And on top of that, I didn't do Easter baskets either.   It's not that I was taking a stand on trying to focus on the real meaning of Easter vs. getting caught up in the hoopla of it.  It really just slipped my mind until the night before.  I knew my mom bought the kids plenty of candy and a few little toys and to be quite honest, neither of them even grasp the concept that the bunny is supposed to drop by the night before Easter, so I just decided to not even worry about it.  Oops.   

I guess in the GRAND scheme of things, it really doesn't matter since that's not what Easter is all about!  I'm so thankful that I was raised in a Christian home where Easter was a very special day.  It's always been one of my favorite church services and I LOVE the Easter hymns, all the traditional ones and even alot of the newer contemporary ones.  I've always understood the significance, but as a mom, I now understand it on a whole other level.  I really couldn't imagine witnessing Jesus's road to calvary, much less that being my very own baby boy enduring all of that indescribable torture.  It's painful and emotional to even think about... and to know that our Father allowed his son to go through that, and that Jesus willingly endured that for me. An unworthy sinner. 

 It's unfathomable. And humbling. And completely amazing. 

And makes me eternally, undeniably grateful.

Our Easter weekend began with lunch, yummy easter snacks, and an egg hunt at our church on Saturday morning. I was with Collier while my mom hunted with Noah.  Collier understood the concept and collected several eggs, but he had more fun just running and exploring without having to hold mommy's hand.  Noah had a lot of fun as well and enjoyed being with his sunday school classmates.

And we attempted pictures in our Easter duds on Sunday morning... however, Collier wasn't having it! He fought when we tried to hold him and he wouldn't stand still AT ALL, so we gave up.  This was the best we got.  I'm quickly reminded WHY it's so much easier to have professional pictures taken.  I did Easter pics of the boys with Captured so I'm glad I've at least got those...

Yes, Collier is holding a clothes hanger... it wasn't worth the fussing that ensued whenever I tried to take it away. Some battles just aren't even worth it.

After church on Sunday, we enjoyed a huge lunch at my grandmothers, followed by another egg hunt in the backyard for the Noah, Collier and my cousin's 2 kids, Natalie and Allison. 

Oh that sweet little face. Gets me everytime :)

The kids wore themselves out, so we went home for naps, then reconvened at the Brink's for dinner and one last egg hunt with their cousins. 

I can't believe I was able to get all 4 to sit still but we did it.  Here is Collier @ 17 months, Madelyn 3 years, Eastlon 2 1/2 years, Noah 4 years

Collier became very resourceful on this last egg hunt.  Since momma left the baskets in the car, he just carried the ones he found around in his hands, however, he decided to open them and stack eggs inside of one another so he could carry more around.  Smart kid.

Noah had a blast standing underneath a shower of bubbles, produced by the bubble-blowing toys that Nanna and Grandaddy bought the kids.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Here are the lyrics of two of my favorite Easter songs.  Sorry, a few verses are in Spanish (I translated in italics). I would give anything to hear one of my really good friends from high school sing this beautiful song.  She could blow it OUT OF THE PARK!  Literally it would give you chills and tears all at the same time.

Via Dolorosa

Down the Vía Dolorosa in Jerusalem that day

The soldiers tried to clear the narrow street
But the crowd pressed in to see
The Man condemned to die on Calvary

He was bleeding from a beating, there were stripes upon His back
And He wore a crown of thorns upon His head
And He bore with every step
The scorn of those who cried out for His death

Down the Vía Dolorosa called the way of suffering
Like a lamb came the Messiah, Christ the King,
But He chose to walk that road out of
His love for you and me.
Down the Via Dolorosa, all the way to Calvary.

Por la Vía Dolorosa, triste día en Jerusalén (down the via Dolorosa, a sad day in Jerusaleum)
Los soldados le abrían paso a Jesús. (The soldiers made way for Jesus)
Más la gente se acercaba, (but people gathered)
Para ver al que llevaba aquella cruz. (to take a closer look at the man carrying the cross)

Por la Vía Dolorosa, que es la via del dolor (Down the via Dolorosa, which is the way of grief)
Como oveja vino Cristo, Rey y Señor, (as a lamb Christ came, King, Lord)
Y fue Él quien quiso ir por su amor por ti y por mí. (and it was Him who wanted to go because of His love for you and me)
Por la Vía Dolorosa al Calvario y a morir. (Down the via Dolorosa to the calvary and to die.)

The blood that would cleanse the souls of all men
Made its way through the heart of Jerusalem.

Down the Vía Dolorosa called the way of suffering
Like a lamb came the Messiah, Christ the King
But He chose to walk that road out of His love for you and me
Down the Vía Dolorosa, all the way to Calvary.

And here's one of my new favorites...

Glorious Day

by Casting Crowns

One day when Heaven was filled with His praises

One day when sin was as black as could be
Jesus came forth to be born of a Virgin
Dwelt among men, my example is He

Word became flesh and the light shined among us
His glory revealed

Living He loved me, dying He saved me
And buried He carried my sins far away
Rising He justified freely forever
One day He's coming, oh, glorious day, oh, glorious day

One day they led Him up Calvary's mountain
One day they nailed Him to die on a tree
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He

Hands that healed nations, stretched out on a tree
And took the nails for me

'Cause living He loved me, dying He saved me
And buried He carried my sins far away
Rising He justified freely forever
One day He's coming, oh, glorious day, oh, glorious day

One day the grave could conceal Him no longer
One day the stone rolled away from the door
Then He arose, over death He had conquered
Now He's ascended, my Lord evermore

Death could not hold Him
The grave could not keep Him from rising again

Living He loved me, dying He saved me
And buried He carried my sins far away
Rising He justified freely forever
One day He's coming, oh, glorious day, oh, glorious day
Glorious day

One day the trumpet will sound for His coming
One day the skies with His glories will shine
Wonderful day, my beloved one bringing
My Savior Jesus is mine

Living He loved me, dying He saved me
And buried He carried my sins far away
Rising He justified freely forever
One day He's coming, oh, glorious day, oh, glorious day
Glorious day, oh, glorious day

Collier at 17 months

Oh how this child keeps us on our toes.  He's mischievious to say the least!  Some things he is doing is pointing to and recognizing his hair, eyes, nose, mouth, belly, toes and tongue.  He's a dancing machine and spins 'round and 'round until he collaspes from dizziness.  It's hilarious!  He's been saying "dat-doe" repeatedly for awhile and we had NO CLUE what he was trying to say... I finally figured out he's saying "hotdog, hotdog" as in the hotdog song on Mickey Mouse.  He doesn't say a ton of words but he talks his jabber non-stop and he understands majority of what we say.  He was sitting on the arm of our couch and I told him to get down.  He didn't so I asked if he wanted a spanking and he shook his head no and sat down like I asked.  He follows alot of commands and understands what we are telling/asking him to do. His 'no' used to sound more like "nah" but it has just recently evolved to a firm, "NOOO."  He and my dad were playing peek-a-boo, and dad said, "Pee Pie!" and Collier repeated, "Pee Pee!!!"  He loves hiding, jumping out and yelling when we say, "where's Collier?" He has just started saying "Papa" and has called my mom "Na-na" (even though we've always called her Mimi.)  Collier now RUNS full speed pretty much where ever he goes, climbs on furniture and kitchen chairs (ours are the tall barstool kind!) and mimics anything we do.  One day I was having a sneezing fit and was sneezing into my shirt and next thing I know, Collier is pulling his shirt up to his mouth and fake coughing into it.  He has just started acting somewhat bashful in front of people he doesn't know.  It's so cute to watch him hide behind whatever's around and smile bashfully.  He's really into grouping things and will get several different toys or objects and line them up or put them one by one into a bucket, then empty them all out one by one. 

He had Hand, Foot, Mouth during Noah's Spring Break so we spent ALOT of time indoors and at home.  I had an interesting day last week after Collier had been playing with the phone.  I noticed he had pressed the talk button, so I hung it up, not realizing he had actually dialed a number.  Shortly after, I received a call back from the police department.  Yep, Collier had dialed 911! I assured them everything was fine and we figured out what had happened but it's their standard procedure to send a policman to check things out and make sure all is well. So yes, we had the FPD at the house already and he's not even 2 yet!

And my last funny story... one afternoon, I laid Collier down for his nap in just a diaper.  He slept for awhile then woke and and was playing quietly in his crib.  After awhile, I went in there to get him... he had pulled his "boy parts" OUT of his diaper, peed all in the bed AND had a blow out in his diaper that had gotten everywhere.  After I quit laughing hysterically, I had a big, nasty mess to clean up!  Oh this child....