For the month of May, our family is being featured as an adoptive family on Hip Mom Jewelry. For this month alone, any necklace purchased from the adoption collection (many BEAUTIFUL necklaces, some specific for adoption, some more general) will garner 30% profit for OUR adoption!!!

If you could spare a minute to at least check out their site we'd REALLY appreciate it! They have WONDERFUL jewelry that would make anyone's day!!!

Thanks so much for your support! Please feel free to post this on Facebook, Twitter, your blog, wherever you feel called! Thanks!

yep, we still do the Easter bunny, but we spend a lot of time talking about why we REALLY celebrate Easter. I love the video in a previous post that I found this year, it's really helped with explaining to Liam though I still don't think he truly understands.

Next year I'm hoping to make Resurrection Eggs. I had thought about this for a while, but when I came upon THIS POST this year, it was exactly what I had been wanting to do but wasn't sure how best to execute! Not enough time this year to accomplish it, but hoping to get it done for next year!

Liam was amazed that the eggs weren't in the carton any longer!

We just got our new "carpet" in the basement last night (actually bound carpet with adhered padding on the back so it didn't have to be installed, and a GREAT, AMAZING deal!), so the bunny decided to hide the eggs downstairs: perfect solution for a rainy day (though we've never hidden eggs outside!) and for a puppy who would be all over them upstairs.

They were all stumped over the egg I said I spotted on the shelves, can YOU find it!?

Each got some great things in their basket... two books, a chocolate bunny, and a few small toys.

See Liam's "How to Train Your Dragon" DVD???

Yep, he tried taking it out of the case himself and it BROKE in HALF!

I about cried! Money down the drain, even if it was a steal of a buy! :(

Our church is having family worship today and since that doesn't always work out so well for us, we're actually having church at home in a few minutes! We're going to read devotionals, sing songs, and do some role plays! They're so excited!!! Then it's off to the kitchen for me to make our dinner... sweet potato casserole, veggies, and ham!

HE is RISEN!

Treasure means such different things to different people based on perspective.

Last week Liam came out of day care, reached in his pocket, and with a HUGE grin, handed me the heads of about six dandelions he had picked while playing outside that day.

Flowers.

For me.

With love and grins.

Priceless TREASURE.

He then proceeded to take them (back from me) and give them to his teacher at church that night.

A young, most likely in college, girl who he enjoys spending time with each Wednesday night.

She barely glanced at them.

Folding them into her hand, ready I'm sure for the garbage.

And my heart BROKE for him.

He was so excited to hand them off and make someone else's day, as I had Ooooed and Awwwed over them when he gave them to me.

Today he came out with two more for me. All mine. I was thrilled.

These BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS remind me so very much of one of my favorite songs...

I cannot wait for summer!

I think that's pretty typical this time of year for kids and parents alike.

Summer conjures up images of running through the sprinkler, family reunions, travel, and WARMTH. (Something that seems to be missing for a while now around here!) :)

But more than any of that, I long to be a stay-at-home parent once again.

Being a teacher affords me that time during the summer and I relish it!

This summer I'm especially excited for we're going to try something new.

Usually I get the kids some type of workbook to spend a little time on each day during the summer. (The teacher in me I guess!) And this summer is no exception.

For Liam I'm very excited about his summer learning! He's (finally) at a point of learning. Of wanting to learn. Of understanding letters and sounds. And since he starts kindergarten next fall, I was thrilled with the Brain Quest Workbook I found on Ama*zon that seemed perfect (and is!)

These came in the mail yesterday and this workbook is so much more substantial than what I thought it would be! It looks so great! I think Liam will love it and I look forward to spending time with him on it!

Braeden and Olivia, however, needed a different approach for this year.

Braeden is such a smart smart kid. He reads almost anything and everything, sometimes is a detriment. :) He does fairly well with Math concepts as well. But overall, mostly because of his ADHD/behavior issues I believe, he struggles with school in general. I didn't want to fight to have him work in a workbook over the summer.

And Olivia, schoolwork has become an area of control for her. An area of battling with mom because it's not always easy for her, and it's something I was insisting was important. So earlier this year I stepped back from my role in that area. I had a feeling I knew what was going to happen, and it did. Instead of my "making" her do homework and checking it for her to "fix", etc. I talked to her, I explained why (not that this was a new concept or discussion!), and I stopped. She was no longer "made" to do homework and I would no longer check it unless SHE asked. If she did ask, she could not get in an argument with me. Often what would happen is that I would try explaining something she was working on and it became a battle. She would get furious, wouldn't listen, and would go back and not do what I suggested. Even with her wonderful teacher's help this was not getting better. I had a feeling that if I stepped "out" of the role, she would continue DOING the homework. She wanted too much to please her teacher and herself and the natural consequences of missing recess would win out. And it did. She still has occasion to argue with me even when she asks for help but then I discontinue the help. And her teacher has a way, I guess as an "outsider" to show her what she is doing and how she doesn't do that with her teacher, to where Olivia can then turn it around for a few days or more and stop the arguing to actually listen to what I say. I know most of this may seem unbelievable, but it did and does happen. Her other teachers didn't really believe me or see it but I am SO grateful for her teacher this year (a friend of mine to boot!) understanding and seeing herself some of the manipulation and issues and being able to come in with that understanding and explain it to Olivia so that she can also see what she is doing. Things have been so much better in this realm since Christmas.

And the more I processed what I DID want for them for this summer and more than that, for the long term, and the more blogs I see lately focusing on just that very thing: of growing children's hearts and not worrying so much about their heads, I realized that is exactly "it." I want to impact my children in lasting, adult-growing, heart-growing, ways.

So I decided instead of the typical workbooks, I wanted to do Bible studies with Braeden and Olivia. I asked them if they wanted to do one together, the three of us, or individually, and they went the individual route. I chose a few studies for each at their level and asked them to pick one, hoping that that too would help Braeden feel a sense of ownership and more desire to continue the study.

And here's what they chose (I am SO very excited!!!)...

Braeden, who is also going to a "Superhero Camp" this summer, chose Joseph- God's Superhero...

And Olivia, who is such a dardevil herself! chose Extreme Adventures with God...

My favorite time of the day is 3:20pm!

Every day at school, my class is ready to go home by 3:20 (hopefully!). The first bell rings then, signaling my one car rider to leave. Ten minutes later at 3:30, my two "regular" bus riders leave at the bell and make their way to the gym to wait for their buses. And sometime between 3:35 if it's early and 3:50 if it's late (teachers are SUPPOSED to LEAVE at 3:40) my last four walk out the nearby door to their bus.

And then starting at 3:20, my ears are in tune to any announcements being made. When I hear, "Bus 6 has arrived, students riding bus 6 can make their way to the front of the school." My heart races. Because I know that this one is making his way to my room...

A little while ago I was the winner of another blog's giveaway!

Shannon at Throwing Our Arms Open Wide was giving away a $50 gift card from CSN Stores! (Love CSN!) And I won!!!

I had been "watching" a mini-tramp on Ama*zon for a while now (did you know you can add things to your cart there and then every time you open the cart it will show if any items are up or down in price currently??? LOVE that!) Well, I found a similar one at CSN for $59.89 with FREE shipping! So I paid the whopping $9.89! I knew it would be good for the boys, and hoped they'd use it, but mostly was wanting one for our new treasure whoever she may be, to help with gross motor skills!

Well, the trampoline is GREAT! And Liam has become a BIG fan!

...when you have days like my day yesterday...

Our weekend was just gorgeous! You could see from the pictures yesterday how warm and nice it was! Today after church we had lots of time to just be outside!

The kids worked on riding their bikes...

Braeden always ends up with a "pet", this time a (disgusting) black spider!

Liam thought it was warm enough for the pool and since I needed to clean it out anyway, I obliged...

Some water fights ensued...

And there was lots more bike riding...

Of course it's going to be cold again the rest of the week, but we took full advantage of the great weather this weekend...