mymeanderings's Xanga

My Love's Birthday

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:58:17 GMT

In the middle of editing photos I came across this photo of Steve. We were away at a camp with the kids when this photo was taken. I found Steve and Jeff asleep on the lawn.

My heart swelled with so many feelings when I saw this, he is such a kind and patient father. I tell him all the time

"I love my life with you!"

Today on his birthday my constant thought is:

I am so grateful that he is alive and shares his life with us.

Confession

Tue, 18 May 2010 18:02:16 GMT

I did not wear the camera holster even though the majority tipped towards wearing it.

Blush

Okay, but here is my excuse;

The church was packed the very small front pew was empty so I was able to leave all my gear right there. I hardly had room to move around much so I did not need to have a bag with me.

So there you have it,

I confess it was not worn.

Don't be mad Steve and I really enjoyed reading all the comments and I really did want to hear what you thought!

Would you like to see what was waiting for me when I came home from the wedding?

Steve and the kids saw this commercial

The cupboards were emptied of all the flour and the counters were lined with the empty containers.

and then there was this

If Steve had the van on Saturday, to go out and buy more flour, I am sure it would have been even bigger.

Steve and the kids were very very proud of their little culinary accomplishment!

We ate the giant biscuit with dinner on Sunday.

I hibernated with the kids after the wedding. I missed them so much that when I get back I sort of shut the world out.

Coco and I took a long nonsensical walk yesterday.

I let her direct the walk ..sometimes we would turn around half way down the block and go in a different direction. We found some alley ways and streets we have never walked down before, and also found these wonderful tiny lilies that smelled dreamy.

I asked Coco to hold them so I could get a macro shot of the buds and she kept bringing them up to her nose to smell them.

A neighbor stopped us on our walk to talk to us and Coco said "We are on a look walk, we are looking for flowers!"

This is her collection she arranged in the vase so we would have something pretty to look at while we ate dinner.

I have not uploaded all the pictures yet. I chose a few without seeing what they looked like, it was a fun challenge "whatever numbers I choose will be the ones I show on the blog".

God was so so so good to me on Saturday. I asked Him to show me His glory, to show this bride and groom His glory, and He did in so many ways.

I stood on this field at sunset and whispered "Okay Lord what do you have for them?"

He is so kind to allow me to see and experience so much beauty.

Can I wear it?

Fri, 14 May 2010 19:00:47 GMT

Steve ordered this camera bag for me. He was so excited when he found it and he loves it.

I needed a bag to keep my hands free at weddings. I usually am carrying two large cameras at the same time.

This fits every little thing that I have to have on me and all other gear is in a large backpack usually with my assistant.

In the past I have used a regular bag but during the wedding it slips off my arm and drives me crazy.

I have a wedding tomorrow, I was all ready to bring this and then Juls my sister came over a few minutes ago and said "ABSOLUTLEY NOT YOU CANNOT WEAR THAT, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE PACKING HEAT"

I thought that if I was wearing my black shirt and dark pants people would hardly notice it. It is a camera bag but even Steve agrees that there is something very Tomb Raider about it.

I do not want to draw attention to myself while shooting a wedding but it is so so practical. I just can't bring myself to wear a photo fanny pack, I thought this was cooler, but Juls totally disagrees.

So please please tell me TODAY if possible if I can get away with wearing this to the wedding in the morning. I will go with the majority vote.

From the archives

Sat, 08 May 2010 13:31:02 GMT

I don't remember ever seeing these pictures before.

I had taken the kids to a park to scout out a location for a photo shoot that was coming up in a few days. I must have come home and downloaded the shoot onto the computer, these pictures must have been still on the same card. They were set these aside for when the business slowed down and then I forgot to come back and look at them.

In latin camera means "chamber" or "room" and it feels so much like I was allowed to peak into a little room from the past.

A room where Chloe had just turned three and Etienne was five, Jeff was in school, and the seasons were changing.

In the past few years we have come to this park numerous time and every single time I remember this day, the day I took these pictures. It was November and I was so surprised to find an entire bank full of roses still in bloom and I smelled them for the longest time. I knew that they were the last of natures perfume of the year. It was only a memory, so it was really sweet to be able to have that memory come to life with a visual memento.

I was humming this tune, by Simon and Garfunkel, over and over while looking at these. The words are sad but so fitting.

5 dollar tulips from walmart

Tue, 04 May 2010 22:57:52 GMT

I was waiting for weeks looking for our first robin and a few weeks ago I finally saw one!

The kids and I painted/sketched/colored robins and I had a little party for us. We had our yearly picnic outside.

This year I also did something different: I bought some fresh flowers as a way to welcome Spring in. I brought the flowers up to my bedside at night so that I could see them first thing in the morning and then brought them down to the kitchen during the day. After what felt like a long winter they were such a bright spot!

Steve snuck over to my bedside while I was sleeping and opened the windows, (it was too cold to have them open all night). The birds have all returned and he knew that I would want to hear them in the morning. So I woke up under layers of warm covers, with crisp air coming through the window bringing with it a chorus of birds (cardinal, robin, and mourning doves) and there was also the beautiful stripes of light falling on the flowers. The sheets had been hung on the line earlier and smelled wonderful, so all my senses were really happy.

The days I took these photos were beautiful, warm, early Spring days and the boys had no school. We spent an ENTIRE day outside. Eti wanted an apple because he wants a garden so badly. After he finished it he buried the core and checked on it every few mins to see if it had started to grow yet.

One of the other things I did to celebrate the first robin was to cut little strips of material to use in their nests. I did this when Jeff was a little baby. The birds came and took little strings and ribbon and bits of cloth from our back porch and where we had hung some from them in the trees. The following year they did not come back to that nest so when we moved I took the nest that still had little bits of ribbon woven into it.

The material I used this time was little bits of cloth that I had used in projects and was now too small to use for anything else.

Coco helped me cut them up, as well as some ribbon.

We wrote lines of poetry on tiny strips of paper, because how cool would that be to find a nest with bits of poetry woven into it?!

Here is our Robin cake this year.

I found a recipe for a chai-flavored cake which tasted like a basic spice cake and then poured a lemon glaze over the top.

Lemon glaze

1/3 c. lemon juice

2 cup confectioner's sugar

2 T butter

1 T water

Whisk together, poke holes in the cake and then pour over.

My morning view.

The second book on my bedside is a poetry handbook by Mary Oliver.

Even though it was a handbook it read at times like poetry.

"Invention hovers always a little above the rules"

"The poem is not a discussion, not a lecture, but an instance - an instance of attention, or noticing something in the world."

"You find that most poems are gatherings of words, in good order, in simple order, plain and appealing."

"With a great poet the sense of beauty overcomes every other consideration, or rather obliterates all consideration." -(John Keats quoted in Mary Oliver's handbook)

"..the first few draws of the long oars through the deep water tell a lot - is one safe, or is one apt to be soon drowned? A poem is that real a journey. Its felt, reliable rhythms can invite, or can dissuade."

"It does not take much, but it takes a sure eye and a capable hand to be forever noticing and writing down particulars."

"The poet must not only write the poem but must scrutinize the world intensely... If the poem is thin, it is likely so not because the poet does not know enough words, but because he or she has not stood long enough among the flowers - has not seen them in any fresh, exciting, and valid way."

"I like to say that I write poems for a stranger who will be born in some distant country hundreds of years from now.-Not MY poem, if its well done, but a deeply breathing, bounding, self sufficient poem. Like a traveler in an uncertain land, it needs to carry with it all that it must have to sustain its own life-and not a lot of extra weight either."

"A poem on the page speaks to the listening mind."

"The natural world (nature) is the old river that runs through everything, and I think poets will forever fish along its shores."

Some friends of ours came to visit--it was so good to see these two sisters, Mandy and Liz. Mandy with her beautiful new baby and Liz with her thought-provoking questions. They feel in many ways like younger sisters to me.

Liz

NYC

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 00:54:47 GMT

This week I had the opportunity to go to NYC. My friend Jenean had an extra ticket to the Metropolitan Opera. We arrived in NYC at 10 am, so we had the entire day to explore the city (The opera started at 8pm).

The first place we went to was the Museum of Arts and Design . One of the floors in the museum was called "Open Studio". Art work was on display and behind the display you could step in and see an artist in the process of making a new piece. On this day, it was a ceramic artist and she talked about what it is like working with this material. She spoke about how her grandmother gave her antique lace and that inspired her to incorporate lace in her art. She welcomed us to walk around, observe, even touch some of the materials.

What I was thinking as I was standing there was how cool it would be to (I realize this is fantastical) walk into God's "Open Studio" and see the spiritual characteristics--the virtues--on display that He will be incorporating into a life and then observe them being developed. It would be mentoring at its very best. To see it there on the shelf and admire its beauty and want it for yourself and then be able to go in and see how it is developed, the habits formed and then lived out.

One of my favorite pieces in the museum was by Lissa Hunter I found some more inspiration of hers online.

This is the view looking out from the 3rd floor in the museum. I liked the reflection of the taxis in the window.

My friend Jenean at another window.

The gathering place.

I had to go down into the Apple store to play with the new iPad

Window shopping

We went intoTiffanys. I love this ring, and also love love love this ring. Ooh and one more.

This is one of the displays that I would love to translate into a photograph, maybe have a bride holding a huge handful of balloons like this

I really wanted to take Jenean to St. Patrick's. I have been to NYC so many times that I was thinking of special places that she "needed" to see. Before we got to the block where St. Patrick's was, we went past Saint Thomas' church. This is a much lesser known church, so we had the interior almost to ourselves. Saying that we had it to ourselves does not sound like much unless you understand what it is like on Broadway mid-afternoon.

Cars are honking, people are talking constantly, dogs are barking, Street workers are dragging garbage cans across the pavement, music is spilling out from the windows, sirens are going off, vendors are calling to passerbys, Heels are click-click-clicking along the sidewalk. Hundreds of people are rushing past you. There is a constant rush of color, smell and noise. Bright yellow taxis everywhere, horses, police officers, men on bikes trying to talk you into a ride, homeless men and women holding signs and rattling cups with change in it. The tour buses hissing their brakes.

And then once you step into the church

silent.

The church is made almost completely of stone. The vaulted ceiling is 95 feet tall. You feel hesitant to even whisper and you walk as softly as possible so as not to disturb the absolute silence. We sat and took it in. The absence of sound, and color, and movement. The beautiful stillness just washed over us.

We came back to this church at 5:30 because we saw a notice that there would be a boys choir. The acoustics were beautiful, they filled the church. The 8000 pipes from the huge organ sent out a powerful backdrop. The organ was way up high and behind us so it fell like musical rain and then the boys sang out in front of us. I hung on every note.

When we were leaving, I took this photo of contrasts below. The glass window in the foyer provides a view into the peaceful sanctuary and also a reflection on the busy world past the church doors.

Both of these photos are of Saint Patrick's. We did walk past the front of it and it was so crowded people were spilling out of the front doors, so we were extra grateful to have found our own church--the silence was a gift.

Below is a picture I took with a pinhole camera. With pinhole, you let go of the aperture and shutter speed. The only thing that you can control is the ISO--even the focus is not as controlled as with traditional lenses. You are left with a soft idea of what was there with the edges all cloudy.

St Patrick's reflected in a window across the street.

My cute spunky friend Jenean.

A stranger walking past me on Broadway, shot from my hip with the pinhole

Street vendor.

This is the Metropolitan Opera. We went to see Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata which was originally a play written by Alexandre Dumas (author of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers). To be totally honest I thought that I would sleep through it because we had walked all day. It started at 8pm and was three hours long. But no, I was ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT, you should have seen the set decorations! There were three acts and each one cost a million dollars. Each set was a room reminiscent of the 1800's. One set looked like an old French country living room.

Another reason I loved it was because even though it was sung in Italian, the seats had a little screen in front of them that interpreted the words. I was able to follow the story and get caught up in what was happening.

Fountain in front of the opera house.

Meanwhile or it could be called:

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 21:24:44 GMT

Free-range kids

I took this picture on the last afternoon I had alone while the kids were away. I was walking in and saw my reflection in the back door and decided to snag it. The reason I wanted the shot was because I had forgotten that I had stuck a pen in my bun and I laughed when I saw myself. I am wearing very red corduroy pants from the 70's--the kind with deep square pockets that are lined with tan stitching and provide immeasurable happiness when worn. (Steve thinks they should NEVER be worn out in public.) I have my stack of books and journals and my tea. It is a safe picture for me because it hides the very bad hair stage I am in right now, and the fact that I did not wear makeup all week. The curtain is kind and hides all those flaws and leaves only the sweet memory of being calm and alone, uninterrupted, skin warmed with the sun, and a mind filled with thoughts I borrowed from other authors.

I brought all my unfinished sewing projects, like the kids' karate pants that needed to be hemmed and the pillow I have been working on, to my mother-in-law's house so we could sew together. She is a fantastic seamstress and has sewn things for us in every single room of the house. So many of my ideas have come to life because of her.

The boys were over at Shel's house so it was just us girls. While Mom and I worked, Coco sat on the chair near the window and read to her beloved stuffed cat.

Steve and I looked at this picture for a long time, talking about our Chloe and all that we hope to give her and teach her, and protect her from.

There is something about this photo that draws me in and I get lost just looking at her.

Shelley watched Food,Inc. and it really influenced her and James. They now buy local and organic, free-range meat. They are raising their own chickens for the eggs and also for the meat. They just got these little baby turkeys. She is planning to grow tomatoes, corn, potatoes, (the list keeps growing)! They tapped their trees for maple syrup.

I just read a quote this morning that said:

"Be yourself, everyone else is taken" Oscar Wilde

But I seriously want to be her now! :) The maple syrup put me right over the edge.

Jeff said he was a turkey whisperer because he put them to sleep when he held them.

On the ride home from the grandparents' house, Jeff was talking non-stop about all the adventures he had while he was there with Grandma and Grandpa and also at Shel's farm. He took just a breath in between all his tumbling words and said "And those are not the only things that happened, there were also meanwhiles!"

I love that! "There were also meanwhiles!"

The very best of life is hidden in the meanwhiles!

Busy, busy picture. It depicts one of the meanwhiles. The kids call the many acres of woods that Shel and James own, "Ethan's woods". Ethan calls them "My woods." For example, he will says "Hey Jeff, do you want to come with me and explore my woods?"

Shel lets them go wherever they want. Ethan brings his walkie talkie--if he gets lost, James looks for him on the four-wheeler.

One of the things Ethan discovered in his woods was a large fallen tree. The boys asked us to follow them into the woods so we could see it.

In this picture, the boys are sitting on one of the bottom branches, Madeleine is handing her brother a flower, Jeff is pointing out something else to explore, and Eti is looking over at it. Chloe is out of the picture, but her and Simon were trying to climb up and join the others. The huge roots of the tree were up on its side and left a small cave in the ground that Eowyn was exploring.

Shel and Madeleine--do you see them walking out of the frame?

Free range puppy

These little flowers were all over the floor of the woods. In some parts, there were so many that it was impossible not to step on them. I also found some delicate lady-slippers.

The boys were over by the pond finding one of the many garter snakes. Coco was carrying one around and holding it very close to her face.

When I was uploading these photos to post here, Steve said "Are you going to tell them what you did?"

Here is how it all went down...

I have never ridden on a four-wheeler before, much less driven one.

Shel took me around the property and then let me drive it myself. After that, I took Eti out alone on it for a few turns. He insisted on riding it with his arms outstretched like it was a roller coaster ride.

After that, I gave Coco a turn. She is so little, I had her sit in front of me. We were way off in one of the fields and I was going faster and faster, the wind was whipping our hair around and Coco was laughing like crazy. It was a great feeling, flying over the bumps and dips in the fields. When we got to the lane I decided--and this is where it all went wrong--that it would be a good idea to let Coco push the throttle. It is difficult to write that out, because even writing it, the thought surfaces "What in the world was I thinking?!!!"

I showed her where the gas lever was on the handle, and before I knew it she was pressing it VERY hard all the way to the handle and the ATV was flipped up. She was screaming, the four wheeler had flipped up so fast it smacked her little face, and there we were looking up at the sky with the wheels still spinning and I was yelling "Let it go! Let it go!!!" I was so sure it was going to flip backwards, first me slamming on the ground and then Coco on top of me and then the ATV on top of us. But she did let go and it flipped back down on the ground the right way. The next thing I knew Shel was running down the lane scared out of her mind that we were hurt and I had to explain to her what happened.

Not my proudest moment.

Chloe on a much safer four wheeler.

Below is the shot that TOTALLY sums up Shel's life now. She said she looked over at James not too long ago and said "Well, we made it through our first winter."

Happy distraction

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 00:57:39 GMT

This. Tax. Season. Is. Killing us.

I needed a distraction so I pulled out some pictures of a happy memory I have of when cousins from both sides of the family got together.

A week or so ago I had my sister Juls' kids for the weekend while she went to see Michael Buble in concert in NYC. That same weekend Steve's sister Shel and our Brother-in-law James came down with their kids. We all (eight children) went to the train museum.

This is Juls son Nate peering down at us from one of the trains. He is Eti's age, but doesn't he look so much older than seven in this picture? They all need to slow down and stop growing so fast!!!!

Coco, Shel's son Simon, and Eti.

Shel's daughter Madeleine

I took this picture by shooting into the window and catching the reflection, isn't it cool that the steam engine is in the background? I thought I was all cute getting them through the reflection and did not realize the other train was in the shot as well. I am not sure how it even got in the picture, but I like it!

Coco and Ally

Simon

The whole gang

Simon is yelling out "All aboard!"

While waiting for the paint to dry

Thu, 08 Apr 2010 14:21:44 GMT

So here I am all week, alone with no kids, not even the puppy.

Steve's parents invited them up for a week in the country.

Our pastor just said in his last sermon that some of his very best childhood memories were when he would spend a week with his Grandparents. I know this is wonderful for them. Not only do they get to be with the Grandparents but also with the cousins and the alpacas!

Not so wonderful for me.

Steve says I am getting soft in my old age, I am just so eager to get my chicks back under my wings!

Usually I am very selfish and when the kids are around have to force myself away from all the things I want to do and invest in them. When I crawl into bed at night my very best memories of the day are moments spent with them and I always ALWAYS regret putting things over them, but in the middle of the day when the phone rings, or email comes etc etc I forget. Rachael's father said once "At the end of the day we all did exactly what we wanted to do". I wish that I could keep this feeling of wanting them near me, underfoot, asking questions, inviting me to their top bunk..just wanting to be in their world this much while they are away, even when they return.

So many signs of them around the house are reminding me of them. The things I usually pick up/throw away/pass by without noticing are now so visible with them gone.

I started to write them down so that years from now I can look back and remember.

There is a rope on the back door from the trap Eti made, when you shut the door the tee pee he created falls down on the unsuspecting sibling that he lured into the tee pee.

There is a little poetry book by my computer Coco and I are memorizing " My Shadow" by Robert Louis Stevenson it is the one that begins "I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me, and what can be the use of him is more than I can see." We recite it together on our walks.

My apron pocket is full of rubber bands, the boys are always building things that require rubber bands, and I am always picking them up because the dog will choke on them.

Speaking of pockets, cleaning out the pockets for laundry, I accumulated a little pile on the dryer of all the treasures my children carried with them, small pebbles, matchbox cars, notes, smencils, paperclips, whittled pieces of wood, a barrette, a pile of pennies...

A small purple crocus looks out at my from the vase on the stove, Eti picked it for me. I was folding laundry on my bed and I heard his little feet stomping up the stairs and then he stood in my doorway holding it out to me in his little dirty fist.

And there is the bunk bed. Before they left we all sat on the top bunk, the three kids and I. Eti played the guitar and then the harmonica, Jeff told stories and I cuddled with them and took in what it looked like from their view on the top bunk.Up on the wall by Jeffs' pillow is a new list of all the things they can do while on the top bunk. The top bunk is where all their "important" meetings take place, the pretend church services, planning out spy strategies, and all serious indoor play. I felt like a giant coming into their little world.

Outside by where the old lilac tree used to be is a very brown apple laying in the dirt. Eti wants a garden more than anything in the world right now and is determined to create one. He buried a half chewed apple and the rain has already brought it back up. There it is and it makes me miss him.

I found a stapled homemade book, Eti is in the book making stage now and made one for Coco. I flipped through it to see what she drew. There were only two pages, one showed a HUGE Christmas tree that went all the way up to the top of the page and was almost as wide, any empty space after drawing the tree was filled with presents and bows. On the next page the tree was so much smaller it looked like it had deflated, all the presents were much smaller as well. She drew a very happy mommy with arms out and a little baby coming to her, and near the baby was another happy little girl and then I noticed the title on the first page. "Ethies here!"

I remember during the homestudy they asked me "Do the children want another child in the house" and I was thinking "Yes yes yes! We all want her to come home to us so badly"

Today was in the 80's

I read the book of Ruth out in the sun. Isn't that the most beautiful story? I love where it says "May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully." I went on a rabbit trail with this verse thinking about how much I ache to have my children back close to me, they belong here, I want to protect and nurture and love them, and God is calling us to His side in the same way.

Later I stretched out a blanket in the yard and painted pages in my large journal, while waiting for the paint to dry I read a long deep email from a dear friend, and listened to Tracy Chapman on my ipod.

I had a glass of iced tea sitting on a flat rock next to me, along with a bell jar for holding brushes, it was full of water that had turned whitish blue from the paint.

The wind was just right and moving my hair in front of my face enough that I had to paint with one hand holding my hair away from my eyes. It reminded me of when I was little and in the tub letting the water wash over my long hair and cover my eyes, almost like standing behind a waterfall.

Today when I was filling my wood tool box with paints to bring outside I realized that half of the colors I picked were yellow and not the red that I have been using all Winter. It really made me smile that I was reaching for such a cheerful color.

These are all small things I mention without reason except that my afternoons are slow enough to notice what is happening around me while the paint dries. This calm is so rare and I know that the pace will pick up again and all Summer will be a wild ride and so I am sitting outside long enough to think and identify bird songs and watch the grass grow.

There are no leaves on the trees yet, that means that people in homes on all four sides could see me sitting out in the middle of the yard including people driving past on the road behind me. I felt really exposed, similar to when I went to Borders and the only open seat was right in the middle with people walking past constantly. I wanted a safe wall behind me and in this case a secret garden. But the day was so truly beautiful that I could not wait for the leaves to hide me.

When I was sitting outside I noticed that someone had drawn on a tree trunk with chalk, it was just a fun colorful swirl of white, and then on the trunk nearest was a pink chalk heart and so I started looking at all the trunks in the yard and saw a very very happy face drawn on one. I don't think it was Coco, well maybe the heart was, but the face was up too high for her to have done it. I thought of the kids running from tree to tree putting their mark on each one.

Scattered thoughts on a sunny afternoon:

I love how Crystal Bowersox had a didgeridoo on stage with her while she sang her last song. Steve's sister Shel and James brought me a large one from Australia. I have always thought they sounded so cool and love that I now have one, but what I love the most is that Shel loves me enough to have brought it home for me! People who know me well know that I have things from all over the world in my house, and this is one of my favorites. Shel and James carried it with them, in their seat for the very long flight home. I can't even imagine them on a cramped plain carrying my didgeridoo!

Alice and Wonderland was "wonderfully weird" that is how my friend who went to see it with me described it. We saw it in 3d. and it was deliciously artistic and yes eccentric in a Tim burton sort of way. Alice wore really amazing dresses, the whole thing was so inspiring I am sure I see it many more times. What i have been thinking about the most is the character Alice played, in the beginning she caught her brother-in-law kissing another women behind the hedge and there is alice looking at him and he said something along the lines of "Do not tell your sister or you will break up the marriage" and Alice replies "I will break of the marriage, I will break up the marriage?! I have not done anything wrong, you have done it." It is such a powerful scene for any woman who has ever been abused, sexually, emotional, verbally. I wish I could have seen this movie as a young girl, to really get it. A man should not be allowed to do something wrong and then turn it back on someone else insinuating that she must bear the guilt. Alice was so sweet and kind in the movie but also strong. I would love to teach this to Coco, to be soft, and trusting and kind and yet have courage to stand up for what is right, to be pure and to walk in truth, chin up.

Well I have a whole list of things I want to enjoy today so I am going to sign off. I know some of you are reading this and you do not have a slow afternoon like I do today. I am going to pray that each of you will have a little moment of calm, even just a pause where you stop and see the beauty around you. It means more when you are in the midst of crazy. Even just a flash of beauty that makes you stop and notice. If God gives you that please do come back and tell me, I would love to read about what He shows you today!

Happy Easter!

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 22:02:41 GMT

"Christ the Lord is risen to-day," Sons of men and angels say. Raise your joys and triumphs high; Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply." -Charles Wesley

I did take the standard picture with the kids lined up on the front steps squinting into the sun, just like I do every year.

This year the kids asked if they could also have a photo with their pets. Notice I have the rabbit and the dog separated. Steve is behind me distracting the dog. When I took the picture, the ham was in the oven, Steve was about to go hide the baskets for the kids, we had just just gotten home from church. The kids were full of energy and eager to go get covered in grass stains.

I hope you all had a beautiful Easter Sunday!

"Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time." -Martin Luther