A Closet, A Messy Face, A Mother's Day, and An Evening Lakeside

This is just what we've been up to for the past few days

A Closet

I received a magazine from Sally (my wonderful mother-in-law) that was all about organization. Mark's and my closet has been driving me crazy for quite a while. I wish that I had taken a picture of it before I decided to do something about it. It had a dresser in it that has been bothering me because it was bulky so it took up a lot of room in the closet. And it just didn't feel like a closet it was so crowded. My shoes were up really high which I had to either throw up there or Mark had to reach them for me. I got rid of the dresser. We had some extra shelves in one of the basement bedrooms. I brought them up and moved some poles and shelves up and down and took some out. And viola!

It looks better in person but it feels so much cleaner!!!

A Messy Face

 Sutton ate a cakester which was Mark's birthday "cake."

A Mother's Day

For Mother's Day from my husband I recieved his time and his elbow grease (that sounds a little gross). The best thing I could have ever wanted right now! We went around the house and weeded most of the flower beds and garden (we ran out of the day before we could finish) and trimmed bushes. I didn't get before pictures of all of it, but here are a few. You can see the bushes are touching the house. They needed to be trimmed and of course, you can tell that you can hardly see the irises for the grass.

before

after

Before - except that I had already trimmed the far bush.

after

Laina's butterfly "Flower" that she got to play with for a few hours...then we let "her" go.

"Cheese!"  That's always his caption! :D

An Evening Lakeside

Mark volunteered for something for work, so the kids and I went down to the lake across the street from our house to play in the water.

We walked.....

hand-in-hand...

some quickly....

some slowly....

but all with a smile.

Downtown Buffalo across the lake

We played...

with sticks....

and more sticks...

with flowers....

and sticks...

and flowers...

with wet feet...

with rocks...

and with splashes.

It has been a great past few days.

Bubbles and Playsets

My Grandparents

I found these pictures of my grandparents (maternal) in a plastic container while cleaning the garage. They always make me smile so I thought I'd share.

 My grandma laughed so easily. 

Can't you just see the love for her on my grandpa's face.

She was such a fun person to be around, even when I was little and she made me put away my clothes!! hehe She loved to play cards. We would always laugh sooo hard while we were playing. She always got a kick out of something hurting. Like if you did something clumsy and got hurt, she'd laugh. Obviously she made sure you were okay first and then she'd crack up, which in turn would make you laugh. She was a very thoughtful person and I don't remember ever seeing her angry. She always explained things to us as kids and not just boss us around. 

She was a sweet person. I miss her a lot. I could use her help with sewing. I inherited her sewing machines when she passed away and I'm not entirely sure how to use them. She taught me to sew on a 1960s one so I know how to sew a straight stitch but if it get's too fancy, I'm at a loss, which is why I need her. I remember the lessons like they were yesterday. I still have one of the pair of shorts we made.

We always loved going to their house especially to spend the night. I got to sleep in my mom and Aunt Sid's old room. That I always thought was so neat. And then we moved there and it became my room. :)

They'd take my siblings and I to Eau Claire to the mall. And on the way, my Grandpa would be saying silly things and my Grandma would always smile at him and say, "Dill (Dale but it sounded like Dill), they don't understand you." And we didn't but we still laughed just because we knew he was being funny and it was nice that he talked to us like that.

I remember that my Grandpa would whistle all the time. He had a clown musical statue (in the room we couldn't go in unless there was an adult with us) that would tap his foot and play the trumpet (I think it was the trumpet or was it a saxophone...). He would listen to music all the time, like Louis Armstrong. I think that that's why I love that music to this day. I love my Grandpa.

My grandparents made a huge impact on my life. I thank the Lord that he gave me this sweet couple that loved each other unconditionally - an incredible example.

Sailors

I thought I'd show you the lovely pictures that my sister (MEL Photography) took of all our kids in their Easter garb. 

Our little Sailor Kids

Bodie was "being talked to" because he wasn't being very cooperative. :)

Bodie absolutely loved his tie. When we put it on him this day and the day he tried it on, he didn't want it off! And then I was putting his shirt on him for Sunday morning and he said, "Tie!!"

Of course, Laina loved her dress as she loves dresses. She's such a girl

Sutton's outfit just didn't really fit quite right, so my mom got him this outfit instead. He LOVED it!

Happy Easter....again!!

Easter and Preparations

We decorated Easter eggs and made our Easter baskets on Friday night. I had forgotten to take pictures during the whole thing...oops. But remembered after the boys (all the boys including Mark) went to bed. So it's just Laina in the pics. But she's cute, so it's okay

For Easter Sunday we headed down to my parents for the day, so we had to do our Easter on Saturday. And of course, I forgot to take pictures DURING the Easter egg hunt, so here they are afterwards playing with their stuff.

 

 This is a sticky bug thing that climbs down the window. :)

 My little bunnies.

All righty, now here is the Easter egg hunt at my parents' house. 

I realized later that I didn't get any of Sutton or Sawyer...the poor middle children!! 

I love them just as much! Poor kids.....

 

 All tuckered out at the end of the day.

Such a wonderful Easter! Busy, but so nice!

I thank God that He sent Jesus to live the perfect life that we are incapable of, willingly die on the cross, and then raise again on Easter Sunday. Our Christian faith in completely dependent on that fact. As 1 Corinthians 15:17 says, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile. You are still in your sins." He did raise! Praise the Lord! He sees us as righteous by Jesus blood! But, if, and only if, you actually believe and trust that. You are not saved by default. You and I are sinners. Doing something wrong is a sin therefore we're sinners. And God the Father is perfect. He can't be in the presence of sin in heaven. We need something that makes us clean and holy. And that something is Jesus blood. He became the perfect sacrifice...for us selfish people, who sin all the time.

Hebrews 9:12-15 "Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance."

How can He love us enough to do that?
It's amazing.
Remember Him. Not just at Easter and Christmas, but always. He always remembers you.
Happy Easter!

Chicks

Here's our cute little Easter craft and what we used.

Painting....interesting with kids under 4. haha

But they had lots of fun doing it!

Not the eggs but the carton.

Our Bobble Head Chicks

 

 My Baby Chicks with their baby chicks