Easter

We started celebrating the week prior to Easter week, with our annual egg hunt at church. Luke really got into things this year! The day was terribly windy and cool, but we managed to hunt and hide eggs about three different times!

We started off with some Easter activity sheets...

...but Luke decided he was more interested in having Mrs. Amy make him a paper airplane!

Then the hunt was on!

Ella and Luke show off their loot!

Can you tell Luke was ready for the candy?

We ended the day with some music from Luke and his nursery buddy, Anabella.

They actually sat and played without fighting! Anabella is at the age that she wants whatever Luke is playing with, and he is NOT happy about it!

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Easter week was super busy! We had dress rehearsals for our Easter passion play on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and performances on Thursday and Friday nights. It was exhausting, but absolutely wonderful! Everyone worked so hard, from learning lines to the music to the costumes and scenery. We had a full house and a sweet spirit both nights. I do believe that the choir and cast got as big a blessing out of performing it as those who attended. I have to admit I was a little sad when I changed out of my costume that last night...we'd worked so hard for so long, and there was a little bit of a let-down. However, I found out a couple of days ago that we're taking the show on the road! Another church has asked us to come and put it on for them on Mother's Day evening. It will be a challenge, adapting the sets, etc., but what a wonderful opportunity to share the gospel with more people! I only got a couple of photos, but maybe I'll be able to snap some more when we perform it again.

This was Barabbas. We did a different "take" on Barabbas than what you usually see. He did a soliliquy, talking about how he felt when he was in prison, when Jesus was thrown in the cell with him, when he thought he was about to be crucified, and finally when Jesus was led out to be crucified, and Barabbas realized that Jesus was dying in his place. Very powerful! A couple of people have told me that was their favorite part of the play, because it made it so personal.

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On to Easter morning.....very low-key for us. We'd had our Easter lunch with our family the Sunday before, since we would be leaving for FBLA state conference that afternoon. The boys found their Easter baskets by the door where we'd left them the night before, and were tickled to see their goodies. Luke's favorite surprise was an electric toothbrush (Thomas) that he promptly took out of the package and tried out, right there on the couch, without toothpaste!

The very best part of our Easter, however, was our Sunday morning worship service. God moved in a mighty way, and three (maybe four) people came forward wanting to get saved, and several more wanted to move their membership to our church. One of those who got saved was someone we'd been praying for for a very long time, so that made it even sweeter. God is so good!!!

95

That's how many posts are sitting in my Google Reader, waiting to be read. And that's with me reading a few on my phone over the last few days.

I've been MIA for almost two weeks now. Last week was spent at Easter play rehearsals and performances. We had Saturday "off", if you can really call it that, because I was trying to get packed to leave on Sunday afternoon for FBLA state conference. We went to church on Sunday morning, then hurried to meet my students by 2:00 to head to the conference....a six-hour drive. Even though Tracy, Mama, Matthew, and Luke all went with me, I feel like I haven't seen them in days, because I was so busy. Unfortunately, the stomach bug hit me while I was there, along with Matthew and Luke. Not fun, especially being so far from home. When I'm sick, I want to be at home!

So, I'm writing from my sickbed, watching all the royal wedding specials, and trying to get caught up with reading about everyone's Easter celebrations, new babies, etc.

Hope to be back with pictures from Easter and the trip soon. In the meantime, please pray for all the folks affected by the tornadoes this week. So heartbreaking!

It's Been Awhile....

About six weeks to be exact! I can't believe I've gone so long without blogging. I've missed y'all! I think I kept waiting for something "blog-worthy" to happen. Well, lots of little stuff has happened, nothing terribly exciting, but it's all been keeping me busy, busy, busy! Plus, we've had some kind of event or activity just about every weekend for a couple of months.

The recap....(I'm using bullets to hopefully keep me from getting too wordy!)

• I had my first little photography assignment. A couple from church asked me to take photos as their 50th wedding anniversary party. It was fun to be able to focus only on taking photos and nothing else.


• We are doing an Easter drama/musical at church this year. First time as long as I've been a part of our church. It's lots of rehearsal time, but we are all so excited about it!


• I'm getting a new camera! Guess what I did to "earn" the money? I went to a "gold party" and sold some chains, bracelets, etc., that were either broken or that I'm never going to wear again, etc. I got quite a nice little paycheck! I'm going to host a party sometime in the next few weeks. My friends can come and make a little money, and I'll make a small percentage as well.


• We had to build a leprechaun trap. These kind of projects aren't my forte. Thank goodness, Matthew came up with idea of what to do (after seeing some pictures) and he and his daddy made the trap!

• We lost another member of the Jones family. My aunt Jackie, Daddy's twin sister, passed away in mid-March. The goodbye part was sad, but at the same time, I know Aunt Jackie's is having a ball. She was mentally challenged from birth, and the last few years, had been in poor health. She's home now with her parents and brothers who have already gone on. Unfortunately, there was some family "drama" that weekend....hurt feelings....most everybody has forgiven each other, but I have one cousin who was pretty angry with me. It still hurts. I've done all I can do, and I'm still praying about it. I hope in time everything will be okay.


• Matthew escorted a little queen for her farewell walk this past weekend. I didn't know if he would do it or not, but he agreed to it. He did such a good job...looked like a little man. So handsome!

• School is rolling along. We're gearing up for state testing next week. If I live until then.... I'm doing school all day, and then coming home and doing it all again...checking Matthew's homework. He has had a TON of work every night for the last week or longer. I really do appreciate all the effort his teacher is putting into preparing the kids, though. Third grade is the first year for this particular test, and the students must make a certain score in order to be promoted to fourth grade. That's a lot of pressure for 8 and 9 year olds!


• We have three more weeks until spring break.....and I don't get a break. I'll be taking students to an FBLA conference that week. I think I see a couple of "mental health" days in my future.

I'm hoping to get back to regular posting now! Have a great week!