Happy Easter

This was a rather busy weekend for us. It all started Saturday with an Easter egg hunt:

Then Grace had her performance with her ballet/jazz class at the Celebration of the Military Child event here on Fort Huachuca, in honor of Military Child month.

While there, they got to meet Elmo and the Easter Bunny.

Then we came home, baked a cake, and decorated Easter eggs (after a nap, of course).

Today began with church, then David and I helped out in Tristan's Sunday School class for the 2nd service. While the kids napped, David worked on supper, and I decorated the cake.

The kids went for an Easter basket cake instead of a bunny cake... Which was fine with me - lots easier to decorate!

Then it was finally time for the kids to see what was in their Easter baskets and find all those eggs the Easter bunny hid around the house and yard.

They are pretty patient kids - they saw the Easter baskets before church, and waited to tear into them until three or four o'clock!

They did have a couple of gifts from Grandma to hold them over though!

It turned out to be a pretty good weekend, and we finished it with delicious ribs for supper, followed by cake and ice cream and a movie for all to enjoy (not to mention the delighted looks of surprise and excitement on our children's faces). We hope y'all had a wonderful Easter as well.

Hallelujah, He is risen!

He made me mad...

...so I hit him!

Well, that wasn't quite the case... But I sounded tough, didn't I?

Almost 5 years ago, David was out turkey hunting with his cousin Matthew, when some shot went astray (or so Matthew says ;-) ) and entered into the area around David's left eye. I was resting soundly in bed - after all, it was my birthday - when David comes in and says look at my eye! I begrudgingly rolled over and said "What about it?" Frankly, I didn't see anything wrong with it. After looking at it a bit more closely, there was just a tiny scratch near his eye, but there was a piece lead shot that had lodged in there too. We saw several different doctors, but none were able to remove it, and the plastic surgeon that said he could said that there was no need to remove the shot if it wasn't bothering him. So, along with life we went...

Fast forward to this year. As most of you know, David suffered a back injury when he was in Iraq, and has been seeking different kinds of treatment for almost 2 years now. His pain management doctor finally referred him for a new MRI since none of the treatments they attempted worked, and if they did, the effect didn't last long. We went for the MRI months ago, and the radiologist refused to do the MRI because of this tiny piece of shot in David's face (nevermind that he has already had 2 open MRI's and lead is not magnetic!!!). Sooooo, we've been referred to doctor after doctor after doctor to get this darned thing cut out of his face, and we finally got it accomplished yesterday. This is what he looks like post op, and a picture of this tiny little piece of shot that has been causing this big trouble these last few months:

Hopefully we will now be able to get that MRI done so we can fix his back!!

Just an update

Just wanted to fill all of you in on some things that you may or may not know:

First, Grace took a Kindergarten placement test before we left, and did well enough that she will be starting school in the Fall. She will be a little bit younger than most of the kids in her class, but we felt that with her level of intelligence (not to sound "snobby") and socialization skills, she would do well. My fear is that if we waited until she was "supposed" to start school, that she would be bored - she can count to 150 now, knows the majority of her letters (upper and lower case) by sight, can write words if you spell them for her, and is beginning to read. So, that's my proud momma story about Grace...

Second, I was hired on as the School Nurse at the First Baptist Christian Academy (where we attend church). Although I had no intentions of working until both kids were in school, the opportunity caught my eye in the church bulletin one Sunday, and I decided that God was trying to get my attention. So, I applied, and thought that if it was His will, I would get the job - and sure enough, I got a call about 30 minutes after I got home from my interview. I was not supposed to start until the new school year started in August, but while we were in Nebraska, some changes occurred, and I was asked if I could start April 8. So, since we've returned home, it's been a whirlwind of trying to get childcare lined up for Tristan, get all the paperwork done to get Grace into FBCA next week, instead of in August, and get my Arizona Nursing License paperwork finalized! Both of the kids will be attending FBCA beginning in August - they were kind enough to find room for Grace immediately, but Tristan can't go until he is 3. I am very thankful to have been selected as I have thought that being a school nurse would be the ideal job while the kids were in school so I can be on their schedule and still be available for all of their activities. It also gives me a little income to pay for their tuition!

We're home!

We arrived home from Nebraska on Monday, and I think we've been running ever since. The kids, once again, travelled very well. They are such troopers! I think they tolerated the trip home better than David and I did.

Here's a few things that the kids enjoyed while we were gone:

It may not be a real tractor, but they didn't care! Their Uncle Dana offered them a ride when we were out at the farm, but it was just too cold...

Sharon came over to see us before she had to start her bus route after school and offered to take the kids for a ride. They had an absolute blast. For those of us who have ever ridden a bus it wouldn't seem like a big deal, but for a 2 and 4 year old it was the best!

A little role reversal:

And, now that we're home, Tristan is back to his old tricks:

The animal train

Nebraska

David's Grandma Naomi passed away last week, so we travelled back to Nebraska for her funeral. The Lord blessed her with 94 years on this earth before He called her home - but it's still hard to say good bye. Or as the pastor said, "We do not say good bye to Naomi today, but good night, as we will meet her again some day."

We stopped in Denver and stayed overnight with David's Aunt Katie and Uncle Johnny. It is always good to visit with them. There was just one problem with our visit:

I don't think my kids need any encouragement to be race car drivers...

The kids travelled really well, and we didn't hear "are we there yet" every 5 minutes. Thank goodness for movies and DVD players!!

The kids have enjoyed playing with their cousins: Here's just a few pictures of what we've been up to the last few days.

Cousins: Macy, Chase, Chad, Emily, Grace, Tristan, Erik, Emma

(it was impossible to get these 8 adorable children to sit and look at the camera at the same time)

Dancing with Emma

Choo-choo train!

Yesterday we had a high of about 74 degrees - with rain, hail, and a tornado warning (it wouldn't be Spring in Nebraska if we didn't), and today we had 34 degrees and snow...

The kids were terribly disappointed that it didn't stick. I however, am looking forward to tomorrow's high in the 50's!

Family Hike

Grace and I - who normally are pretty busy on Sundays - had an entire Sunday (after church, that is) free, so we actually had some true family time. It was a beautiful day, so we went for a drive in some of the mountains we have nearby. We intended to go over to Parker Canyon Lake, but this is what happened shortly after we got in the car:

After turning off onto a pretty bumpy dirt road, the kids woke up, and we were able to find a really neat area to get out and explore. There was a Boy Scout troop out camping who directed us to this tire swing that the kids really enjoyed.

Then it was off into the wild...

She's getting so independent it's killing us!

Both of the kids had a really good time (as did David and I). They are such troopers - Grace wanted to keep going, but again, this is an area that you don't want to be traipsing around in after dark...

On our drive home, this was some of the scenery:

The kids really got a kick out of the cows and the fact that Daddy could "talk" to them and make them come over to the pickup. They have never been this up close and personal to cattle...

Then, as we got a little further down the path, Tristan yelled out "DEER!!" just about the time David and I saw 3 mule deer on the side of the hill (2 scampered off):

Talk about a proud Daddy who's 2 1/2 year old can spot deer in the distance!

Girl's Day Out

I have been telling Grace for a few weeks that we would have a "girl's day" where she and I would go do something together. She has been wanting some alone time with Mommy - and especially makes her request known when I go anywhere by myself - for some time now.

We went to Taco Bell for lunch (since David hates that place), and then went to a place called That Painting Place. It is a paint your own ceramics shop. Since Grace enjoys doing crafts so much, I thought it would be the perfect place to go. We had a great time, and to my surprise, she did a great job painting her unicorn, and never got bored with it. I really expected her to say that she was done mid-way through the project and want to go home.

She chose her own colors: brown for the body, and black for the mane and tail

Talk about concentration!

The finished project - complete with blue eyes and coral colored spots...

Both of our projects awaiting glazing and firing.

The lady who owns the shop was very nice and helpful. She showed Grace what the next steps would be - dipping them into a glaze, and then showed her the kiln that they would be fired in and explained to her that they would be like glass and would be the colors that we painted the projects, even though the glaze turned them green. Grace had no problem leaving her unicorn behind, but I imagine I'll hear about it until we pick it up next week...

By the way - if anyone wants to leave comments, you should be able to now, even if you don't have a log-in or blogger id. I think I changed my settings so that you can make "Anonymous" posts.