Oh, I just love them.

Brother, wiping her hands and leading her into church...

Love, love, love!

Easter Egg Hunt at the Church, 2015

Eliette was lucky enough to attend the Easter Egg Hunt at the church this year. Gage had a soccer game. He was given the option of joining us after soccer, but they had big plans to go camping that day, so he didn't make it up to the church.

Eliette was ready though!
Who wasn't ready?
THIS mom. At picture time, my camera read some wonky message on the screen that I'd never read before. What!? What!? Don't fail me now!
Luckily, a friend came to the rescue and took lots of pics for me.
...I just haven't seen them yet because I'm sure she's forgotten, we both got busy, and here it is in the weeee hours of the morning when I'm thinking about it, and I won't remind her now because that would just be rude.... But I digress....

Cell phone pics are all I have, and I'm lucky to have those. I had to delete all kinds of stuff (which I probably should have cleaned out a long time ago) just to have room for more photos....

So, when the hunt was started for her age group, she wasn't really sure what to do. Initially, she'd pick up the eggs, and then put them back where she found them. 

With encouragement and guidance, she got it... and although Brother wasn't there, Eliette found a way to have minions. Brother's friends will do!

The unstated, "here, you hold it" was heard loud and clear, and W answered obediently. Sweet boys W&C (brothers)!

At the petting zoo area:

Then there was E.B. himself.
Eliette wasn't sure....but she finally shook his hand.

Eliette's favorite part of the event were the pony rides. Her excitement started when she got to wear a helmet. "Hat. Hat. Hat. Hat? Hat." {Love her!}

Now, there are no pictures of this because I was holding on to her. She was ALL SMILES! Loved, loved, loved it. It was her first pony ride ever.
"Po-eeeee. Po-eeeee."
Somehow when she says it, the "n" is silent.

Back at home....

Oh, it was a great morning.
Now, if I only had those pony pics!

Family Service...

So, the Children's Ministry at the church offered an evening meal and service primarily for families of little ones. It was fun. I have a few pictures---very few pictures---because Eliette was quite active that night. {Read: she was running around like a wild woman!}

There was dinner, prayer, singing, dancing, games, crafts.....it was a lot of fun. I'm so glad we went. We did perhaps stay out a little later than we planned. Eliette's good behavior was long gone by the time we got her to the car kicking and screaming---but that's okay. We will know better for next time. (...actually, by next time, she'll be a year older and maybe it will be easier. I doubt it....but maybe.)

Giving Back.

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

A dear friend of mine had the wonderful idea to have our boys put on a small violin concert (one of her sons plays the violin) at a local assisted living. The mother in law to our pastor is a resident there, and we were looking at opportunities for our children to share their gifts with others.

So---we did just that. It was great!
Gage, C, & W passed out cards and candy canes to the residents, and C put on two mini-concerts for the residents in the two different units. We then went around to those unable to attend and offered them a song and candy canes as well. It made us mommies proud, and the boys REALLY enjoyed it. Gage has a softness for the elderly to begin with, so this was very up his alley.  Eliette was with us, and she even got in on the giving. It was so sweet.

 (above: the kids with Becky, our pastor's wife. below: us, the kids, and our pastor.)

It was a great event. The boys are excited to go back and host other events at this facility.

Bah Bah Black Sheep

....Well, Eliette wasn't the black sheep in the church nativity, though she probably should have been! She wasn't the black sheep only because ALL of the sheep costumes were white.

So, there was a church nativity.
So, Eliette was cast as a sheep.
Some would say that the timing of the event was unfortunately planned at Eliette's nap time. Others would simply say, "there she goes again" as she RAN OFF EVERYWHERE.
This mom would say, "WHERE IS THE SHEPHERD? ISN'T HE SUPPOSED TO BE HERDING THE SHEEP?" Eliette would probably say, "I was clearly cast into the wrong role. I am not a sheep. I am not made to be a follower!"

For the brief moments she participated, she was a pretty cute little sheep.
:)

 She also refused to wear her shoes at church that day. Socks were ditched too.

Not pictured: Eliette taking off and running through the halls of the church, Eliette taking off and running through the parking lot (after church, open space), me chasing her, and also not pictured: me accidentally standing in an ant bed (better me than her with her little bare feet!) and having others hold all of my stuff while I danced them off. Good times....

Be in the Nativity next year? Oh, I'll have to think long and hard about that....
Back at home:

Then there was this happy little dancing doll:

Not at ALL the darting the dashing toddler that was with me at the church. TGFN: thank goodness for naps!

So where was Gage in all of this? He refused to be a part of the Nativity. Someone thinks he's getting too big. {sniff, sniff}

Church!

I tried to get the obligatory my-kids-look-cute-today-pre-church picture, but it didn't quite work out they way I'd hoped...

So here are the action shots of our kiddos actually AT church.

Shoes for Kids, 2014

Soooooo----we have a local program called Shoes for Kids. It's a charitable giving opportunity, where school age children identified by local school systems  and other processes are identified as being in need, and they get free shoes for back to school! What what!? The event is awesome. I volunteered at the event last year and loved it!

This year, sadly it would take place on my one Saturday to work. (booooo hooooo!) So---I signed up to help with the set up. Daddy kept Eliette at home, and I took Brother with me so that he could maybe give back to the community as well. Children/youth are not allowed to volunteer at the actual event because it just might make it weird when/if they see their friends there getting shoes, or rather, if a recipient child is being served by a peer and they feel uneasy or embarrassed by it. You get where I'm going here.

Anyway---I thought it would be a great way to serve.
Gage was pleasantly surprised when two of his buddies were there to serve too.

How much 'serving' did they do? That's certainly questionable....but even if it's just laying the foundation for them seeing us in an attitude of service, then that is one step in the right direction.
:)

Now, just to brag about this program: the program has grown, and it's awesome! The kids can get caught up on immunizations then & there. Free haircuts? Yep! Socks to go with the new shoes? Yep! It's shoes and so much more. It's a great, great, great program and I'm so lucky to be a part of it, even in a small way.