Easter Dresses

I've never been one to go overboard dressing for Easter. I can get distracted by the smallest things, so making a big effort on clothes, shoes and accessories on this day is a "no" for me. My girls shopped a little and borrowed a little and dressed sweet for their Easter celebration. They looked beautiful, and I can't believe how much they are growing up!





Sheridan woke up in the middle of the night and then again in the morning with a high fever and a sore throat. We stayed home during Bible Study, got her fever down, then met everyone for the worship service. After a wonderful lunch with friends, we headed home in tornado-like weather for Sunday afternoon naps. Incidentally, it rained for the next 36 hours.

The most powerful part of my Easter weekend was the time I spent with Him on Friday afternoon, quiet and alone. I'm copying I John right now, and the words were fresh and powerful to me. I also was introduced to a song earlier in the week that was moving. :

(click to see on YouTube)O the Blood

O the blood

Crimson love
Price of life's demand
Shameful sin
Placed on Him
The Hope of every man

CHORUS
O the blood of Jesus washes me
O the blood of Jesus shed for me
What a sacrifice that saved my life
Yes, the blood, it is my victory

Savior Son
Holy One
Slain so I can live
See the Lamb
The great I Am
Who takes away my sin


O the blood of the Lamb
O the blood of the Lamb
O the blood of the Lamb
The precious blood of the Lamb
What a sacrifice
That saved my life
Yes, the blood, it is my victory

O what love
No greater love
Grace, how can it be
That in my sin
Yes, even then
He shed His blood for me

Bunny Ears

Hope you didn't miss these. Sheridan has a thing for Kit Kats so they caught my eye. Cute Easter food, what can I say?

Transitions

1) Sale season is over. And my days are no longer lists of sale things to do.

2) However, it's time to clean house, seriously. (see 3)

3) Decided to list our house and try to sell. (We've lived here 13 years)

4) Richard is transitioning to part time at church (Sun,Mon,Wed, Thurs), part time with Rhea Lana's (Tues in Conway, Fri). Now "home on Friday", means working on Friday, not quality time with me. Not sure about this yet.

5) Started substituting again this week. More like babysitting at the end of the year.

6) AFTER selling house, we will look for a 5 bedroom in which to live and hopefully adopt two little boys.

7) In not so many months, Ryan will be a senior.

8) In not so many months, Lauren will be a junior.

Sign of the Times

Today in the mail I got two thin bank statements, our trash bill and Ryan got 7 letters from colleges. He doesn't know what he wants to study, if he can play ball while he's at school, or where he wants to go. He's talking to coaches from lots of different schools now. If the envelopes had checks in them, it would be a lot easier.

The neighbor girls

Love these sweet friends. All playing soccer this year, in the same grade as Lauren, live within walking distance and are fun to have around. Arie, Lexi and Lauren...counting our blessings.

Quote of the Day

"Jesus is Lord"

~Sheridan, before her baptism.

My boy is 17. He is a junior. He is in his second to last season of high school baseball. He has grown up right before my eyes. He still hugs me. He likes to text me. He sometimes thinks I'm worked up about nothing, but mostly he just wants to be close to the family. My college vote is for an SEC school...we'll see.

Cutie Petutie!

She doesn't trust me on clothing, but somehow we agreed this newest purchase from my last sale was a keeper! I can't believe she wore the scarf to school...and risked all kinds of 2nd grade embarrassment... but she did!

Say cheese!

We were all excited that Emily was coming to Clarksville for PROM! Emily was a great date for this very special event! Heidi brought her down for the evening, we picked them up at their motel, took the first set of pictures, and then headed off to two more photo venues.

I am so thankful for Ryan's group of good friends. They're all pictured here, the girls are seniors, and they "adopted" Ryan and Trey into their group of friends throughout the year and on this special night. Ryan and Emily, Connor and Hannah, Aaron and Katie, Zack and Lindsey, Trey and Hailey, Tyler and Madison.

Ryan couldn't resist holding the other Ryan on this momentous occasion.

The entire community seems to roll out to the beautiful college campus in town to take pictures. With all those folks, there's someone in the back of all the pictures. We waited our turn to have pics in front of the chapel. It is fun for the parents to see all the kids dressed up before they go to the dance too.

Suede's been around forever, and I never noticed how much bigger he is than Ryan.

I love this preview of the Banning's back yard. Heidi and I went over and helped set up a little bit before the kids got there. Someone else did the cooking and we just did simple decorating to make it look special. The kids came over after prom (around 9:30) ate a great dinner (served by the dads), complete with personalized cakes, and then went on a scavenger hunt until the early morning hours. I was in bed, not able to stay up for the duration as I was headed to Broken Arrow in the morning for my 9 day week there. The night was a success.

It's a good thing when you can go to bed, knowing your child is out all night in your car, with their friends.