Tea break

My Grandma Edna used to say something to the effect, "When you get overwhelmed, stop, grab a cup of tea, chat with a friend and get back to work."  I love that thought because it reminds me that it is okay to pause every once in awhile, in fact, it is good to do so, but then you need to get back to work (hopefully a bit more refreshed).

When I pause for tea these are my favorite mugs to drink out of.  The flower one is from a friend I met in the Czech Republic.  The striped one is one that my MomPom sent me when we were in Korea.  I kept it at my work desk when we were there.  The middle one is from my lovely Brad.  I have a tendency to knock mugs over when I'm putting them away and break them, so I've broken a couple of my past favorites.  It gives Brad good gift ideas, though, because I always like a new favorite mug.

Now, when I say that I "pause" for tea, I say that loosely (ha! loosely...like loose leaf tea. Maybe that was only funny to me).  I do drink 2-3 cups of tea a day, but they are usually lukewarm or almost iced tea by the time I get to them.  I make my delicious, comforting cup of hot tea and then get busy changing diapers, cleaning things up or making food.  I usually try to take a cup of tea in with me when I'm feeding Atticus since that is the most still I am during the day and have a better chance at getting to drink it. Oh, I look forward to the day when I will get to drink my tea while it's still hot.:)  My favorite tea, right now, is decaf Constant Comment.  I go through a lot of that because I'm trying to limit my caffeine intake during this nursing season.

When I do take my Grandma's advice and chat with a friend, I usually call Kelli.  She is always fun to talk to and is in the same stage of life as me, so we can relate to one another easily.

I love talking to my mom, too, but we are better face to face talkers than phone talkers.  I look forward to being able to finish a conversation with her without being interrupted by excited children who want her attention too.:) (look at that chubby baby Finn!)

We took family photos, yesterday.  Even though the studio was 30 minutes behind, it went quite well.  The kids stayed in good moods and we were able to zip through some poses and get good pictures.  I had to wake Atticus up, so he was a little confused as to why all these bright lights were flashing and shining on him.

I love our little hobbits.  Babies always look chubbier in pictures than they do in person (or maybe that is just a mom's perspective).

Look at these little feet. Soooo cute!  Feet are much cuter in miniature form.  That isn't a speck of dirt on the bottom of Finn's foot, he has a freckle right there.  Brad always tries to scrub it off in the bath and then remembers that it's a freckle.

I Pad Case

With the few scraps of free moments I have, here and there, I knit this I pad case.  The pattern is from Ravelry and I really like the handle and the cable pattern.  My I Pad fits perfectly and I feel better having a layer of protection around it when it's not in use.  I'll probably knit one for Brad, in his choice of color of course, someday soon.  I still have Aria's doll to finish too.  Projects, projects!

Resurrection Day!

This year we started a new family tradition of family devotions every night during Holy Week.  It went pretty well.  Cadence paid attention the most.  Whenever Brad would review that devotionals lesson and ask the kids questions, Cadence would raise her hand, like she was in preschool.  It was very cute.

We created an Easter tree for our devotional area, adorned with Palm branches, lights, and blown Easter Eggs which the kids dyed.  We had two more eggs, but they got stepped on.  

Everyone also had their own Bible for our devotional times.  Aria and Finn liked to hand them out.

Easter morning awoke with an Easter Egg scavenger hunt.  I hid the eggs and each egg had a picture of where the next egg was hidden.  The final egg had a picture of their beds, which is where they found their Easter baskets.

I taught Sunday School on Easter and we made Resurrection buns.

First, you roll a marshmallow in cinnamon and sugar.

Then, you wrap it in the "tomb".

After it bakes, the marshmallow melts away to reveal an empty "tomb".

We also did Resurrection Eggs and read an Easter story.  

For Easter dinner, we had four guys from the church and college study over (Jeremy, Gregor, Stephen, and Lance).  They were a lot of fun!

Aria was giving hugs to all the boys.  What a flirt!

Jeremy is a vegetarian, so our feast consisted of a vegetarian shepherd's pie, ham, roasted potatoes, deviled eggs, salad, fruit salad and rolls.  For dessert, carrot cake.  Unfortunately, the carrot cake turned out a bit dry.  The rest of the food was pretty good, though.

Even Super Heroes have to eat.

In between church and dinner, Brad pushed the kids on the swing.  They love when he pushes them really high.

Happy Resurrection Day!