Pool fun and firsts..

We are blessed.... blessed with family and friends that include us in their lives and share all they have with us. Recently I had the opportunity to take Bryce to my Aunts for a few days and play in the pool and then a dear friend invited us to come swim w/her and her wonderful grandkids. Bryce loves the water and is pretty fearless which delights me but makes me a little sad as we have not had the ability to get him swim lessons. He does awesome with his little body glove floaty top thing (lol) and my mom and I have been working with him the few times we have been in the water on actually swimming vs. his dog paddling.

Day two (2) Bryce was inspired by my girlfriends grandson's to take the floaty top off and try motoring around without it. We went thru a few take it off, put it on sessions each time growing more and more confident, his little face displaying his pride. The older boys were diving down to recover pool toys and Bryce gave it a try but could not figure out how to get down, under the water and to the bottom. Aiden would not give up on Bryce and kept showing him: like this, do it this way, watch me, see this is how you do it, you can do it, try it this way. It was so precious to see little ones help each other and be so patient and not give up on him and then it happened...

So very proud and thankful for such wonderful opportunities!!

Easter Egg Story Idea :)

Each egg will need to be numbered {1 – 12} … see the picture at the top of this post.

Here’s what you’ll put inside each egg:

• {Egg #1} Put a picture of the world, a cross, and a heart in this egg and the following….on a piece of paper, write or type: World and heart ~ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son… {John 3:16} God loved us so much that He sent His one and only son to die for our sins.

• {Egg #2} Put a small leaf or branch in this egg and the following….on a piece of paper, write or type: Palm Leaf ~ On Palm Sunday, they put palm branches and coats on the ground and waved palm branches at Jesus, shouting “Hosanna!”

• {Egg #3} Put half of a ritz cracker or other small broken cracker piece in this egg and the following… on a piece of paper, write or type: Bread ~ Jesus was having Passover, and it was called the Last Supper. He said, This is my body that was broken for you.

• {Egg #4} Put one hershey’s kiss in this egg and the following… on a piece of paper, write or type: Kiss ~ Judas told the soldiers who Jesus was by giving Jesus a kiss.

• {Egg #5} Put one nickel in this egg and the following… on a piece of paper, write or type: Judas got paid 30 pieces of silver for being bad and betraying Jesus.

• {Egg #6} Put one toothpick in this egg and the following… on a piece of paper, write or type: Thorns ~ They put a crown made out of thorns on Jesus’s head.

• {Egg #7} Put one nail in this egg and the following… on a piece of paper, write or type: Nail ~ They nailed Jesus to the cross.

• {Egg #8} Cut a small piece off of a sponge and put it in this egg with the following… on a piece of paper, write or type: Sponge ~ They gave Jesus “pickle juice” {vinegar} to drink in a sponge.

• {Egg #9} Cut a small piece of tissue, toilet paper or paper towel and put it in this egg with the following… on a piece of paper, write or type: Wrapping ~ They wrapped Jesus up in cloth and buried him. When he came back alive, the wrapping was left behind.

• {Egg #10} Put a small rock in this egg and the following… on a piece of paper, write or type: Rock ~ The stone was rolled away on Easter morning because Jesus rose from the dead.

• {Egg #11} All that goes in this egg is the following… on a piece of paper, write or type: Empty ~ He is not here. He has risen!

• {Egg #12} Put a penny or a gold dollar {if you have one} in this egg and the following… on a piece of paper, write or type: Gold Coin ~ Because of what Jesus did on the cross, if we believe in him, ask him to forgive us of our sins, and ask him into our hearts, we get to be with Him in heaven some day! Heaven will be so fun, and will even have streets made of gold!!

Once you’re done… every day leading up to Easter, open 1 egg and read that part of the story!

I hope you enjoy making these with your kiddos, and the fun family tradition they’ll become!!

Sacramento Zoo and Storyland

A gorgeous spring day! Daddy joined us and that makes it extra special. We had a wonderful time and recommend both places which are located across the street from each other. Here are a few pictures.

Giraffe hide

Can I remember how to post an update?

I have been away for far too long and have missed my "therapy" as it were. A lot has happened since my last post. I got a job and lost a job, we have experienced financial struggles beyond belief and thru it all God continues to amaze me! He is so very faithful!

Back to work...back to blogging

Well, it's official I start my new job Monday, June 21st...

After a year and a half of staying home I am going to be returning back to work. It is bittersweet. but I know that it will be fine and I will miss Bryce, but that it what caused me to start blogging to begin with sooooooooo.. the show must go on or rather pick backup. I am excited for the new beginning and so very thankful for the time I have had w/my precious, active, rowdy, rambunctious, expressive, fabulous sometimes temperamental over the top toddler~ Bryce :). It's been great and more great things are ahead. Look forward to me getting back on track!

Catching up... trying at least

Bryce, Elyse & Jocelyn- Max's 1st B'day

Well my best intentions to get current and stay up to date have failed.. and I'm ok with that. At least I have the pictures :) . Anyway...Bryce's newest love is watching Big Cat Diary and pretty much any show that has to do w/animals etc. It's pretty cool because we are learning right along w/him. He loves to pretend he is a cheetah on the prowl/hunting prey. And when he isn't doing that he is pretending to be some type of hunter or warrior with either a toy gun or plastic sword, makes for lots of adventure and fun!

Here are some recent pictures of the big guy..thanks for catching up with us! We luv ya!

Bryce's 4th Birthday

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SELF PORTRAIT OF HIM AND NANA ..not bad :)

Kay Arthur

Kay Arthur