He Is Risen!

We had a wonderful Easter service this morning! It just felt like a party to be in church! Isn't that what it should be like?! -God's people absolutely celebrating the power and wonder of Easter! It was awesome to be a part of it!






When we came home, we of course had to hunt for the eggs. This was extra fun this year because Trudy kept stealing them out of the baskets and running away with them! It was like an egg hunt and an egg chase all in one! The girls got to wear their flower girl dresses from Rob and Meg's wedding one more time. I bought them pink cardigans (because it's freezing!)and they looked precious!

We're going to my parents' house in a little while for an egg hunt with their neighbors around the pond (they may even find real duck eggs!) and dinner with my family.

Happy Easter everyone! Jesus is alive!

Crazy Weathermen!

What do they know?! It was supposed to be a high of 40 degrees and snowing today! Instead we enjoyed a fun day outside: skating, jumping rope, cleaning out the garden, fixing Trudy's invisible fence line, etc. I'm glad the crazy weathermen were wrong!

Egg Dying Party

We had fun dying eggs the other night. You can always count on Aunt Becca and Uncle Chris to color eggs with you. Uncle Chris teaches Emma fancy new faux finishing egg techniques and teaches Lila to eat all of the cracked eggs!

One More Irish Lass

Happy St. Patty's Day - A Little Late

I've had this picture of Emma on the side of my fridge for about 5 years now, and I just realized that I needed to get this sweater on Lila while it still fits. My Nanny made this set for one of us when we were little.

Nothing says March 17th like this kelly green sweater and hat. I will say that Lila was a little less cooperative than I remember Emma being with the photo shoot this morning.

We're a Mess!

Emma's home from school today with hives all over her. I have no idea what they're from and have through all of the obvious possibilities in my head, so I have to think it's viral. I remember one of the girls having a viral hives thing a couple of years ago - I think it was Emma. Anyway, she feels fine - no other symptoms, but 24 hours of Benadryl hasn't yet cured her, so we'll wait and see.


Lila took a nasty spill outside at my mom's house over the weekend. I thought I'd add her boo-boo's to this little freak show blog entry. She didn't cry much , of course, but it looked pretty bad on Sunday with the swelling and the blood. Thankfully my cousin Joe (a newly certified EMT) was there with antiseptics and ice packs right in his car.

Oh yeah, and of course Ryan's away in Washington D.C. since yesterday afternoon.

Priceless Memories in the Making

Ryan took Emma to her 2nd ever Daddy-Daughter Dance for Brownies last weekend. Emma was looking SO forward to it and Ryan was too. They had a great time! The highlight was when all of the dads got to learn the line dance to Shania Twain's "Man, I Feel Like Woman". I wish I had been there to get that on film! As I was taking their picture before they left, the neighbors were lined up for Junior Prom pictures. We admired the limo and the beautiful girls and Ryan commented that the next time we blink that will be Emma going to the prom. I know Ryan will cherish those Daddy-Daughter Dance memories.

Jammie Issues

So, I already had to get rid of all of Lila's jammies with feet in them because they're shruggily. Now she's revolting against the long john style because they're "not flappy" (I think that means they have elasticized ankles). I think she likes looking like Emma in big girls flannel or fleece pants and a T-shirt. Either way, she sure is opinionated!

Emma's Talent Show

We had Emma's Talent Show on Saturday night. She did a great job! She was in the opening act with a lot of kids from K - 4th grades. They danced to "We Go Together" from Grease - very cute. She was also in the 2nd grade act - Michael Jackson's "Thriller". The boys dressed as monsters and the girls were so cute. The dance mimicked the old video (as much as untrained 8 year olds can dance like M.J.!) - it was hilarious! I was proud of Emma. She knew the dances so well. She was right on with each move and the other kids looked to her to see what to do. We don't do dance lessons (no time in our lives), so the talent show is always a fun 8 week dance class for her. She enjoys learning the steps and hanging out with her friends. Since soccer has really started again, I'm very glad the the Talent Show is over!

Boxed French Wines

Good to know...

Nantes

After Paris, Ryan had to work in a smaller town called Nantes. The town was beautiful - full of old streets and churches, fountains, bakeries, shops, and a castle. We traveled there by train (the TGV) on Sunday, and I spent Monday and Tuesday there while Ryan worked long days at their pavement test track. I loved strolling the streets and exploring by myself, but after two days of it, I was so ready to come home and see the girls! Our hotel room was beautiful and much bigger than the one in Paris, so I spent time there reading by the open sunny window, but I kept forcing myself to venture out since I wasn't going to be in Europe much longer. Very few people in Nantes speak English at all. That was very uncomfortable for me. I felt like the "unfriendly American", and I hated not knowing what everyone was chatting about. This was especially challenging on Wednesday when I boarded a train at 5:30 am and prayed earnestly that it was the one that would take me to the airport. It did, and I made the long journey home by myself with no problems. Here are some of my favorite photos from Nantes:

This one is actually taken from the castle.

Cathedrale Saint Perre Saint Paul -
in my opinion every bit as impressive as Notre Dame:

Chateau des ducs de Bretagne -
built in the 1400's for Anne de Bretagne, Queen of France

beautiful fountains at night

Ahh, the bakeries - I can almost taste it!

French dogs:

Last night in France -
timer shot of smooching in front of the castle

Seine Dinner Cruise

We spent Saturday night on a Seine River Dinner Cruise - how romantic! We rode past all of the sights of Paris lit up at night. The food was very French, so we tried new things. Some were good, some we were afraid of - the desserts were wonderful!

The best view of the night was this:

Paris

Bonjour from France! I'm here with Ryan, who is on a business trip, and it's an amazing experience! I've never been to Europe before, and I'm amazed at how old everything is. I guess I'm used to living in a new country like the United States. It's beautiful - it looks like every painting, picture or movie I've seen. Thanks to Mom and Dad who are watching our daughters and puppy! We couldn't be here without you!
We spent the weekend in Paris and saw the major sights in 2 days. It's so much easier to rush around and see things without two little kids - we had time to spare (and we spent it drinking wine at sidewalk cafes!). Here are some pictures. The highlights are: The Louvre, The Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the streets and shops, us at the top of the tower, me pinching a sculpture's but at the Louvre, our tiny hotel room, me buying a lovely Bordeaux wine at a Paris gas station.