Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter yesterday and I hope you & your family did as well! I'm so thankful that we can celebrate the resurrection of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ!

At our new church we have a very diverse style of music from the great hymns of old to the wonderful new worship songs. We actually sang a few of both yesterday--we sang one of my favorite Easter hymns, and the chorus actually brought me to tears--it's not often a hymn does that...

Up from the grave He Arose
With a mighty triumph or His foes
He arose the victor of the dark domain
and He lives forever with His Saints to reign
He Arose, He Arose, Hallelujah Christ Arose!

Oh how I love those words--I could have sung it with my eyes closed...I desperately want my children to know it as well. We tried to focus on the real meaning of Easter this year with the kids...don't get me wrong, we died eggs and hunted them too, but Easter is soooooo much more than bunnies and eggs.

It's all about JESUS!Go here for a current, powerful worship song that we sang in our Easter service as well--Revelation Song. I hope it blesses you like it does me!

Happy Easter (a day late)!

Going, Going, GONE!

Baseball season has begun, but it's not what you think...Jones hasn't hit a homerun yet. In fact he still has a looooooong way to go before that event could actually happen!
However a few things have been going on around here...here's a look at our big 5 year old and all his precious teeth...Looks like they are beginning to go (he's only lost one tooth in this picture even though it appears to be 2). Jones' smile was not so pretty for a couple of weeks..he reminded me of an old man losing teeth! :)Now they are both GONE! Ahhh, a cute smile once again!Actually now that I've seen all the pictures...he looks precious to me in all of them! Check this silly one out of him--it's his I'm getting ready to mean & growl at you face!Why do I have the sneaky feeling I'm going to have more silly pictures than serious ones of Jones?

Epcot

Epcot was the middle of the week park, so unfortunately we were a little tired and not many photo ops were created. But here's one...As a family with young children, we only spent half a day in Epcot...don't tell anyone, but we didn't even walk around the big pond to see all the countries of the world...maybe we should have, but I'm pretty sure their feet couldn't have made it one more step that day! :) However, we really liked Epcot--the rides there were great! We went on a Mission to Mars as astronauts, rode Test Track BABY (Jones' favorite) a super fast race car...imagine that, went on the Finding Nemo ride, Turtle Talk with Crush & saw a Dolphin show, toured the World in the Giant Golf Ball and rode SOARIN' a 3D ride that makes you feel as you are flying over the California coast--it was AWESOME (Laynie's favorite there).

What is crazy to me is we were told by several people that Epcot usually sells out of Fastpasses for Soarin' ASAP, like by mid morning--which would mean you might stand in line for up to a couple of hours for a 5 minute ride (CRAZY)--we walked up about 3:00 in the afternoon and got a Fastpass. I have since found out we were at Disney during the least busy week of the year--Hallelujah! It was nice not to fight the crowds--in my opinion, it's the ONLY way to go (and I'm pretty sure the only way my husband would ever go back--he's not quite the patient one while standing in lines)!

More Disney--Finally

I know, know...you are growing tired of anxiously waiting my next Disney posts (so I can finally get this trip over with on the blog) right? OK well maybe only my Dad feels that way as he dashes to the computer each and every morning only to be let down that "She hasn't blogged again....so here's for you Daddy and whomever else may be reading! :)

Disney's Animal KingdomI give this park a thumbs up, and the kids had a great time here as well. I took them by myself on Sunday for about half a day and Laynie fell in LOVE with riding Expedition Everest--it's the roller coaster at AK that goes forward, backward and VERY fast! I wasn't sure Jones would ride it, but I sweet talked him into it...it wasn't his favorite ride, but he did fine and rode it a couple of times actually, pretty good for a 4 year old--hopefully we are raising some roller coaster riding children! While we were there we also watched a fabulous bird show, rode the DINOSAUR ride (which in my opinion is scary, loud and too jerky), hung out in Dinoland area complete with a huge playground for the kids & dinosaur bone excavating area, and met lots of characters! There are Disney Characters everywhere...in AK, Laynie got to meet Pocohontas, but Jones was afraid to meet the Indian, as he put it--crazy guy!Daddy was able to go back to AK with us at the end of the week so we started that day with Donald's Animal Safari Breakfast--it was a wonderful family fun atmosphere complete with meeting all the characters and GREAT breakfast food which we love at our house! Then we took a jungle safari and saw many unique animals, rode all the rides AGAIN, went to It's a Bugs Life 3D show (which was very cool, but a little freaky as you feel the 3D bugs running all over you) and Jones' favorite was Finding Nemo on stage--it was very good! A must see on our list! At AK there are also little stops around the park where the kids can do an activity and learn about different animals, Jones really impressed his Daddy when the guide asked what type of dinosaur a certain one was...Jones simply raised his hand and said "It's a herbivore." I'm pretty sure I didn't teach him that one...must be from the Dinosaur Train on PBS! :) Once again, for the animal lover, AK is the place to go!!!

Happy Birthday Jones!

Of course I'm a few days late posting pics of our little ones 5th birthday party. I cannot believe Jones is 5--he'll be starting Kindergarten in the fall--yikes! I know he will be ready...the question is, will Mommy be ready for that day? We had Jones' birthday party last weekend (football theme), and I think all the kids had a great time. There were a few of his new buddies traveling so they couldn't make it and some sickness as well but those that got to come burned off some energy at Sonshine with Jones!He is VERY into Star Wars and Cars, but his new love is Battle Force 5. If you ask me it's a cross between the two...BF 5 are cars that defend Earth from vandals in battle zones...kind of hard to explain unless you've seen an episode or two. Anyway Jones is into Battle Force 5 so most of his presents centered around those main themes, and he loves playing with them all! (Even the 10 new hot wheels Uncle Robert & Aunt Danielle seem to bestow on us at every opportunity....Question: Can't a boy get too many hot wheels? Answer: NO WAY! Keep 'em coming!)
Jones is full of energy and has a great personality. He loves to race (and win), jam out to loud music, watch movies over & over, play MarioKart on the wii, jump on the trampoline, ride his bike, do maze puzzles, watch Scooby Doo & Battle Force 5, the color red, chewing bubble gum, & eat PBJ sandwiches with chips, a cheese stick & grapes for lunch (everyday). He loves his sister and going to his grandparent's houses. He really likes to help Mommy in the kitchen, especially if cracking eggs is involved. He likes doing 'boy stuff' with Daddy. He's beginning to sound out words and read a little bit. He's about to loose his first tooth. He really likes to snuggle and read books at night. He's going to be good at math. He's silly and sweet and ALL boy--he's basically just fun to be around.

He's not too into coloring or writing, but he is getting better thanks to his teacher. He doesn't really like to give out kisses much anymore (only on rare occasions and then usually only to me). He depises vegetables of any type unless you count mashed potatos. He does NOT like to be last for anytihing!!!

Happy Birthday Jonesy!!!