Update

Not a lot has been going on since my last post. We have spent countless hours enjoying the warm weather. My sister gave us a Lightening Mcqueen car that was my nephews and the girls love it! The morning after Alex picked it up, Lillie got up and the first thing she asked was if she could look at her car and then spent ten minutes just staring at it. I know - Thou shalt not make any idols! :) Both girls have been driving it even though Gracie can barely reach the pedal. Here are a few pictures of them driving it on the tennis courts behind our house.

We have also been playing out back with Tallie, our beagle. She just turned one and is so much fun. She is a jumper, but a great dog! Here is a couple of pictures of the girls out back.

Gracie is calling for Tallie.

If the rain ever clears, I am going to take the girls out to plant some flowers this week. Today however is pajama day at the Thompson house. While Lillie was at preschool I finished my shopping at Wal-Mart and also purchased each a new pair of pajamas - which they had to wear. (I wrote finished because I started Monday shopping and had to leave half-way thru due to two very unhappy girls making it too difficult to shop. :( They are normally so good at the store, but everyone has a bad day.)

On Friday, my uncle is having open heart surgery (Please pray for him and his family) and we get to watch my two little cousins who are a few months older than Gracie. This should a lot of fun, I am hoping for sunshine!

Busy - Busy - Busy! That would describe my May. Between birthdays, preschool and a few other obligations I have almost packed my May schedule full. I don't really mind being busy as long as I am not rushed busy. Does that even make sense?

Well, I have wasted enough housing cleaning time and should probably attempt to get back to work! (I really need to earn a few more stickers!) Have a great day.

Charts

I now have accountability with my chores. : ) Lillie made me a chore chart yesterday afternoon while I was putting Gracie down for her nap. We had made one for her earlier in the day and she must of decided that I am not doing a good enough job and need more motivation. She even said after I earn so many stickers I could buy anything I want. I thought I would post a picture of it, and if you have noticed I have already earned one sticker! : )

I also wanted to post those Chuck E. Cheese pictures from a couple of weeks ago.

They had a blast in the jeep!

Lillie thought it was pretty cool to ride this pony, even if she did not win the race.

Gracie loved this Chuck E Cheese, but when the one came out to dance with the kids she had

a death grip on me.

Gracie has finally gotten her last 2 year molar! I hope that with the appearance of this tooth that she will get back to sleeping thru the night.

I want to start this post off by saying sorry for being grumpy yesterday. I started the day off on the wrong foot and I let it keep me frazzled, but not victorious. I spent most of the day thinking of the negatives. I taught the 3-4 year old class and they were wired. I think the kids must of finished off the chocolate from Easter before class yesterday! I am a very structured person and will usually come to class with a schedule of what we are going to do and when. I don't always stick to it, but it helps me feel better and more in control by just having it. I did not make one because of the late notice of being needed to teach. It seemed like I was in constant motion, corralling those who were running into others, keeping those who were behaving from being bored and just trying to maintain some form of sanity. I ended class feeling exhausted and not sure if anything I taught even stuck.
Anyway, last night at church the Lord revealed what really happened. I taught about the Ascension and how Jesus is living in heaven with God and that he could also live in our hearts. When I said that He could live in our hearts a little girl's eyes (who was new) got real big and she goes "REALLY?!" I said yes and asked if she wanted to ask him to. She of course got really excited and said yes. I asked who else wanted to and almost every hand went up. I lead the class in a simple salvation prayer. I was pretty excited to get to pray with the little ones at the time, but let my frustrations take over and I missed out of the blessings. Twelve little children, four of whom have not been to church before learned an important bible lesson and accepted Jesus into their little hearts. Please help me, Lord, not to overlook the little blessings you have placed in my life.

Not a lot has been going on this week. I still have piles of laundry to get finish and the girls have drawers full of winter clothes that need put away, but am sitting here blogging. I will say that laundry is my least favorite chore, but really is there someone who really loves doing laundry? If so, please give me a call! :)
I found a good bargain today. I got a box of Trix, Cocoa Puffs, Granola bars and 3 half gallons of milk for ................. $3.65 at Krogers!
Well, I must start getting the girls ready for bed and then I plan on finishing up some dishes and get the bags ready for church in the morning.

Easter Sunday

Our family had a great Easter Sunday. Alex and I took the girls to the sunrise service at our church and stayed for breakfast and the egg hunt. The girls had fun looking for the eggs. The girls were in different age categories this year, so I was not able to watch both. I was with Gracie and she would walk past 10 eggs to get to the one she wanted. It was cute. Alex said that Lillie jumped right in and she too got a basket full of eggs. I took a picture before service of the girls in their Easter dresses, but my girls were wound up (it was only 6:30 am too) and being goofy. They are still cute in my opinion. :)

The Easter story recipe turned out pretty neat. The girls helped with each step and Alex would read the corresponding scripture. I think that this is going to become more of a Easter tradition for our family. I personally didn't like the cookies when they were done, because I thought they were too sweet. Alex and the girls seemed to like them.

We also colored eggs Saturday, and that too was fun. Gracie would not cooperate with pictures and close her eyes or make goofy faces the whole time. It was funny though. Lillie was the same, but I did a good one of her working.

We visited family after church and had a nice time. The girls were exhausted by the time we got home for the night and went fast asleep.

I thought I would share one last thing, but it is not about Easter. The other day Lillie came to the computer and complained about a bellyache. Before either Alex or I could do anything (she usually asks us to pray for her) Gracie jumped up, laid her hands on Lillie and started praying. Can things get much better than that?!

Have a wonderful day!

Easter Trauma

As I had posted earlier, the girls got to see the Easter bunny as Alex's work. It was definitely not a pleasant memory for Gracie. As you can see she had to be forced to stand next to Lillie. Although as soon as she was picked up, she would talk and wave to the bunny. Lillie was not too thrilled about the bunny, but toughed it out for a picture this year. Have a great Easter!

Easter Recipe

My mom sent me this recipe for the evening before Easter and I thought I would share it with you. It seems like a great idea for presenting the Easter story for little ones to understand. To give credit where credit is due it is from the DTK website.

To be made the evening before Easter
1cup whole pecans
1tsp vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch salt
1 cup sugar
zipper baggie
wooden spoon
tape
Bible

Preheat oven to 300 degrees (this is important, don't wait till you're half done with the recipe!)
Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, He was Beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3.

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1tsp vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27.

So far, the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup sugar.
Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66.

GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22.

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matthew 28:1-9.

Enjoy! I will post some pictures of how this went at my house. Along with our Chuck E. Cheese trip. Also, I do not think Gracie is ready for full out potty training and thus we will go along with the flow she sets. She will be mainly in pull-ups and encouraged to use the potty often. You can't rush into potty training or else it will be more frustrating for both mom and child.

Have a Good Friday.

And the winner is.......

ME (of course). I picked the closest score for the NCAA Championship game! Poor Alex, this is the fourth year in a row he has lost.

Gracie seems to be doing pretty good thus far with our potty training boot camp. She didn't go as successfully Monday, but today we only had 2 accidents and one was probably because we had to run a couple errands.

Monday night Lillie and I had a "sleep-over". Her cousin Alyssa was suppose to come over one day this week, but ended up not being able to after all and they were going to have a sleepover. Lillie was pretty upset, so I set up the portable DVD player and the two of us watched a movie and snacked. Then half-way thru the movie Lillie said she was tired and that we could watch the rest it in the morning (this was shortly after 9 - the earliest I have gone to bed at a sleepover in a long time. For that matter, it is the first sleepover I have been to for a long time). She made sure to tell me that at a sleepover, I had to sleep with her all night. We got up this morning and played Princess Memory, CandyLand and HiHo-Cheerio. I think that it is important for me to have that one-on-one time with both my girls and this was very fun for me.

Well, I need to rest because we are planning a trip to Chuck-E-Cheeses' tomorrow.

Sarah's Toddler

I decided that since we have little to do this week, I am going to try and get Gracie potty trained. She has been working on it herself for a couple months and doing really good. There are days that we don't have a wet diaper until evening, but there are days that she is too into the toys to go. With Lillie we did used a timer and when it went off we would drop what we were doing and run to the potty. It only took a couple of days before Lillie was using the potty and into pull-ups or panties (depending on where we were going). What was so cute was that when the timer would go off and I was cooking dinner, she would ask if that was the pee beep or the dinner beep. Anyways, I have the timer going and the focus on. I just hope that my toddler doesn't turn into a Pavlov dog!
I was blessed this weekend to hear Lillie telling Gracie the Resurrection story. My mom had gotten the girls Easter magnets and Lillie used these as illustrations. I love that my girls know that Easter is not just about bunnies, eggs, and candy (although tasty), but about Jesus.
I also got to sit thru a whole service last night with getting called to the nursery. Yay!!!

This has been a fairly quiet week. SONY had the Easter Bunny visit Wednesday and we took the girls. It was quite a trip, but not as bad as Santa. Lillie actually stood by the bunny and I held (or maybe I should say pushed) Gracie next to her. We didn't bring our camera so I will post the picture of them when we get them back from SONY. Lillie had her Easter party and egg hunt at preschool yesterday. Gracie and I went to breakfast and then came back to help hide the eggs. Gracie has decided that it is her preschool too and as soon as we go in the building will walk right into class and sit with the others for craft and lessons. It is cute to watch. Ms. Bobbi had made Gracie a basket and made enough eggs for her to help find them. Both girls found a lot of eggs and had a blast.

Thursdays must be the official nap day for Lillie. I wish she would take a nap more often, but we have found that if she napped during the day, no matter how early, she was up half the night. Alex and I would rather deal with a cranky child in the evening than be up at midnight with her. Last week it was the ottoman, this week the computer chair. She was sharpening her pencil and all of a sudden got really quiet. I looked back at her and she was out with pencil shavings all over her lap. After taking a couple of pictures I moved her to her bed. She was a much happier child last night.

While Lillie was napping, I was straightening up my bedroom and looked over to see Gracie using her toes to pick up a pencil. It is a "talent" that both girls have gotten from me, the ability to do odd things with our toes.

I couldn't resist posting this picture of Lillie reading to Gracie. I actually had a video, but you couldn't hear Lillie reading. She has the Dr Seuss book, One Fish Two Fish and is "reading" it pretty accurately to Gracie. It has been one of Lillie's favorite books and with many times I have read it to her, she can recite most of the pages or at least put them in her own words.

Hope you have a blessed weekend.