Easter 2011

HAPPY EASTER!

We had a really great day, celebrating Christ's Resurrection.... Great morning at church, followed by a fun lunch with Uncle Steve at the Olive Garden.  Mmmmmm.  My parents called us on Skype from Jerusalem, where they were sitting a few feet away from the VERY EMPTY tomb of Jesus!  What a place to celebrate Easter!  Watched the RAYS game, then off to our friend's house to hang out for a while and eat dessert.  All was very fun and relaxing and family oriented, which we loved.  

These kids have a great time with their Uncle!

As does THIS kid!  I had to post this picture because Ryan looks like a CRAZY Uncle... and also to show off Eli's kind-of-hilarious mosquito bites!  You know, and his insane eyelashes!

We really enjoyed this Lent, Holy Week, Easter Season... we had quite a few really good conversations with Ben and Carly throughout the last few weeks about Christ's sacrifice for us and it was just really cool to watch them grasp God's Love even more.  Many "meaningful" family moments, that I know Ryan and I aren't soon to forget.  A whole season of thankfulness and awe, perfectly blended together. 

And I'll never know how much it cost

to see my sin upon that cross...

So here I am to worship

Here I am to bow down

Here I am to say that You're my God

and You're all together lovely

all together worthy

all together wonderful to me.

Easter Treats

 While most people were decorating eggs today...

...Don't get too excited, I didn't bake.  CARLY made the cupcakes, and Aunt Rochel made the cookies.... but I did help them decorate:)  Carly and I saw the Jelly Belly's ad in the Sunday Paper a few weeks ago where they showed off a whole bunch of these.  We've had it hanging on our refrigerator ever since,  and Rochel and I planned a decorating party.  Shockingly, BEN even helped decorate the cupcakes.  Although, he spent most of his time entertaining Eli, who's Auntie was feeding him jelly beans.  (You are Welcome, Edgar!)

The white cupcake with the red dot is Carly's nod to the people of Japan.  Most of these are covered with Starburst jelly beans, Jordan almonds, colored sugar from the Mennonite store in Michigan, bunny shaped marsh mellows, and ridiculously expensive spring colored candy corn from the scoop bins at Target.

Mostly, I wanted to have a decorating party so I could swap Rochel 24 cupcakes that Carly made, for 24 Sugar Cookies that Rochel made.  Whatever it takes to get the cookies, I guess.  They are insanely good.

This one with the bunny is my favorite because it reminds me of the cards I make... but I must give Rochel credit for the decorating design.  

These are for Rochel's Sunday School class tomorrow... I am hoping not many kids show up.  Wait, that's probably not very nice...

And the cupcakes we helped decorate for Rochel...  Yum!

... now I've got nothing against coloring eggs, but these go a little better with COFFEE:)

Sand Key Beach

Lots of pictures from our fun afternoon/evening at Sand Key Beach... our favorite time to go to the beach!  Not as crowded, not as hot, and less chance for a crazy sunburn.  Which is good for the very pink people who live in our house who burn even WITH tons of sunscreen.  We also love the sunsets!  So those pictures are first.

And it's Florida, so there MUST always be a Pirate Ship out in the Gulf.  

Ben's favorite thing at the Beach is building a Castle... and flying a kite, but we didn't bring it this time.  He didn't even wear his swim suit because he had Big Building Plans.

Big Building Plans were interrupted when Carly told him it would be really funny to pretend to fall down "the hill"... so he started pretending, then really DID fall.

Of course, his sweet Mama took pictures of the whole thing.

Ryan can always be talked into putting his book down to assist the Master Builder.

They even talked Carly into helping, but only for about 5 minutes.  She was way too busy swimming.  All by herself.

(yes, we removed the straws before we left the beach)

The Castle was a strong fortress, however, it was NOT protected from an Air Attack.

Could have something to do with the bread and pretzels The McGregor Boys covered it with before we headed for home.

Which Ben thought was COMPLETELY hilarious!

... not so Random book

This book.

by Ann Voskamp.  Who gets it.

It took me nearly 3 months to read it.  Certainly not because it was boring.  But because I had to put it down so often.  And think.  And breathe.  I had to let it sink in.  And write stuff down.  Because I tend to forget all too important things.  Unless I write them down.

It is based on this verse, Luke 22:19

"And He took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."

eucharisteo ~ giving thanks.  And the premise that thanksgiving ALWAYS precedes the miracle.  And this (Luke 22:19) miracle?  He did this for you.  Christ's most remarkable miracle.  For you.

And a challenge.  

To LEARN to be content (did you ever even notice that this word is in those verses in Philippians 4:11-12????  I certainly skipped right over that word!) and to remove your discontentment and ingratitude by replacing it with GRATITUDE.  By writing down one thousand gifts that you can thank God for.  I am speaking from the experience of numbering and list making:  it is truly remarkable to see these things written out.  And to read back over in the moments when I am not feeling it, to remind myself of His Faithfulness.

In naming that which is right before me, that which I'd otherwise miss, the invisible becomes visible. p54

To name a thing is to manifest the meaning and value God gave it, to know it as coming from God and to know it's place and function within the cosmos created by God. p 55

Gratitude for the seemingly insignificant.... finding God everywhere, seeing Him everywhere, because He IS everywhere.

It's naming all the ways that God loves me.

And another challenge:

What if I opened the clenched hands wide to receive all that is? p145

I think I had to pause for about a month over that one.  Just contemplating if I was willing to trust with open hand to fully accept God's Grace.  Fully.  When you see (even in a list!) the ways God has blessed you, the things He has given you... you can SEE His complete love for you.  Who wouldn't want to rest in that?  And yet.  So often I sit with my hands tightly holding onto my fears, my concerns, my needs... what I think is best for me.  What if I let Him decide what is best for me?  It seems silly not to.  Recognizing God's love for me through all He has provided for me (not just tangible, but the intangible as well!) opened my eyes infinitely.  

C.S Lewis argued: that the most fundamental thing is not how we think of God but rather what God thinks of us:  "How God thinks of us is not only more important, but infinitely more important."  

Years of Christian discipleship, Bible study, churchgoing had been about me thinking about God; practicing eucharisteo was the very first I had really considered at length what God thought of me - this ridiculous and relentlessly pursuing love, so bold.  p205

There is just something about taking time to consider God's Love for you.  And seeing it everywhere!  Taking the time to recognize it in the most common of places... I found this life changing.  

A few of the items on my list?

Giggling children.

No snow in Florida.

Sleeping at night.

A caring mother.

Dinner in the crockpot.

Blind Line Judges, and no DQ's.

Being Mrs. McGregor.

Legs 12 miles strong.

Unplanned Sister Time.

That I'm not Amish.

Horrible Run.

A husband who smells like sunscreen.

A Sister down the street.

Redeemed.

Fleeting sunset.

You get the idea.  Not so Random things that God reveals to you... to reveal HIMSELF to you.  Because He loves you.  Finding God in the Common places of life.  

Can it really be this simple?

... not so Random writing

Ryan is the real writer in the family.  I am just the Archive Person.  Memory Keeper, Photographer... whatever.  He's the one with the lexicon talent.  And I've been begging him for FOREVER to post the stories he has written, they are just so beautiful.  And a huge insight into the Strong Silent Type man that he is.  He suddenly decided he'd go along with me, I think mostly for his mom to be able to read his work! You know, without it being attached to a very long email.  Here's a link to a very beautiful story he wrote from his mother's point of view...

Baseball.

Tis the Season.  For baseball.  And we love it.  Even if Our Team has neglected to show up so far.

Win or Lose, we still have a great time together... cheering and doing our best not to annoy those around us when we get VERY EXCITED over plays.  Any Play, as it were.

I have to say, I was a little sad to be back in the Trop.  You know, with out my friends Carlos and Carl.  I even wore black.  I was that sad.  

But Big Mike was there to sing the National Anthem... you know, American Idol Big Mike.  He's from St. Pete, and well, looks like a RAYS fan here.

GO RAYS!!!

Red Flowers 2011

Perhaps you didn't know it was SPRING, since I haven't posted these pictures I took in the middle of March... seriously, I'm only posting TODAY because I am so very tired of seeing "Red Flowers Post" on my sadly neglected "to-do list".

NEWS FLASH!!!  Our amarillas have bloomed!  Just by way of reminder, I photograph my poor children in front of these fleeting flowers EVERY spring.  We bought our house in May 2000, and had no idea what we were in for until the following March, when these beauties sprung up all over our yard. So, THANK YOU to the previous homeowners for the small gift you have left behind for us!  I can't grow ANYTHING but cute children, so I am always so impressed with these flowers that we do NOTHING to, and yet they reappear every spring.

SECOND NEWS FLASH!!! My kids are REALLY tired of getting their pictures taken in front of these flowers every year.  Sadly, they will be doing it until they are very old people.  You know, because I'm the Mother and I Said So.

And in case you were wondering, in the picture above:  YES.  Ben is trying very, very hard not to squeeze her to death.  YES.  He IS making the "dadadadadadadadadadadadadadadada" noise.  Similar to when Carly was a few days old and he kept putting his fist right in her face making that sound.  *sigh*  I'm always impressed with his restraint.

You'd think she could stop fooling around long enough for a quick picture, but no.  I blame this on too much time spent with Uncle Steve. 

Happy Spring!!