HALLELUJAH!!!

So, after an interesting 2nd half of Easter Sunday mass where daddy ended up in the car battling it out with a toddler whose will of iron preferred throwing a tantrum over obedience while I was on the opposite side of the church campus with the other toddler on the run who  was just too squirmy for mommy's lap or arms (especially with the competing one in the oven), the day definitely took a turn for the better after some much needed rest time at Mimi & Bapa's. Worked out perfectly because our friend, the sun, showed up a tad late anyway...

It feels a little odd to be celebrating both in spirit and in external feasting after spiritually mourning and fasting for more than a month. I still think twice before putting a cookie or piece of candy in my mouth and then...it all goes downhill...

But we are definitely still experiencing the aftermath in our home of the most joyous occasion of our Lord's resurrection, which is the beauty behind the Liturgical seasons, in that it's not simply a 24 hour celebration but living out the spiritual calendar, if you will, of our Church.   We have been busy with family gatherings, barbecues with friends, spontaneous play dates, breakfast & lunch picnics out front on the porch or grass, spending nearly the entire day, other than naps, outside or in the water enjoying the gorgeous warm weather we've had this week and doing too much indulging in sweet treats given to us that I just don't have the heart to throw out for the sake of healthy eating. (ha) 

This little one sure can go from one extreme (being Spicy) to the sweetest little thing. It was pretty funny hearing ourselves, 5 adults all exclaiming to Spicy at the same time in our own words to  leave some eggs for Sweet as she calmly responded "I was just showing her!" as if to say "chill out guys!" Ha! I love you so much, Alizea Ann.

Some more highlights...

 

And a few more...

 

And now I am so very excited for another celebration tomorrow, in honor of baby Soren gathering with my closest and dearest lady friends. Incredible women of strength, integrity, honor, wisdom, beauty and just plain fun gals of all ages and backgrounds as we craft and share in each other's company! 
More to come on that & of course all the fun party preparations!

Holy Saturday

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I take counsel in my soul

and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

  Psalm 13:1

In years past, the last thing I would be doing on Holy Saturday, the only day in the whole year where this is nothingness, no Christ, no Eucharist, no mass, is laughing or singing. Quiet meditation, stillness, remembering and living out the solemn passion of our Lord as if I had just attended a funeral, yes. Baking, tickling, kissing, playing, not so much...

Well, as much as I have been trying to continue to deepen my understanding of the meaning of Christ's death this week, I have realized in the last few days that a different season has arrived than that of my single days of discerning my vocation and praying for my future spouse and family. The luxury of drifting into quiet prayer at any given moment, of stillness, of constantly receiving consolations have been replaced with constant noise, both joyful and dreadfully unpleasant, and of giving what I have received in continual instruction to my children.

Last night we attended the Good Friday liturgy, and as we stood up to begin to walk in a procession to venerate the cross (which is SO beautiful), a bouncy, smiley toddler was next to me looking up into my eyes with curious anticipation. I got down at her level to explain to her that we were about to all walk up to a big cross and she could touch the cross, kiss it and say "thank you" to Jesus for dying for us or whatever came to her heart. As I approached the cross myself, I could feel my heart starting to race, a nervousness come over me, an inability to control my emotions. Although there were people all around me approaching it from all directions, I felt like I was the only person alive. The only one that Jesus died for and a burden came over me. Placing my lips upon the wood, probably touched and kissed hundreds of thousands of times, I walked away with tears welling up and a knot in my throat enlarging by the millisecond. And then as I got back to my seat, I felt a soft chubby hand grab mine as she bounced up and down in excitement. I turned to my right to see my beautiful baby sis, kneeling, head sunken in her hands, deep in prayer, obviously touched, engrossed in her personal meditation time and I smiled remembering those days with sweet fondness, thanking God for that season which strengthened me for this current chapter of my life where quiet, lengthy prayer times are scarce and rare. 

All week, Spicy has been asking "what day is it?" highly anticipating the Easter celebratory festivities. Last night, desperate for a good night's sleep, I reminded her that the sooner she went to bed and if she stayed in her bed, we would begin our Easter preparations first thing in the morning. After cuddling sleeping with us for a little over an hour, around 7:35am she perked up exclaiming "Can we bake Easter cookies and cupcakes now?, it's Wake Up Time!!!" It was clear, I was not going to be able to prolong this week-long awaited activity for an extra 5 minutes of sleep so within seconds we were pouring and beating and kneading and shaping...

While I still do need quiet, personal prayer time, now I am constantly incorporating my religious experiences into the life of a child. I am called not to keep my meditations for myself but to apply what the Lord shows me by teaching my children each and every day. It's a tremendous responsibility but it's so fulfilling! Who doesn't want to share their faith with others?  I am able to remind my Spicy that the Easter egg symbolizes new life and why the birth of the baby chic emerging from the shell is similar to the resurrection. I get to share why we refrain from saying or singing "Allelujah" during Lent and teach her a simple chorus of Allelujah's I learned that we can yell at the top of our lungs tomorrow. And guess what? She gets it and she is the easiest person I have ever tried to witness to or evangelize because she listens with an open, pure heart hungry & thirsty for Christ's true redeeming love! And so, this year was special because in the sadness and loneliness of Holy Saturday, I was constantly reminded through my children of God's provision and promise. It is always right smack in front of my face, impossible to ignore, cries and giggles and all. Hence, we spent all morning & into the afternoon preparing goodies for our friends, family and neighbors. 

Not too shabby for a 3 year old, eh? 

Oh, the top picture were my creations. Hers are below...

hehe. 

Barf! Er, I mean, beautiful!!!!

I must admit I broke my Lenten sacrifice terribly as I licked gobs of icing and cookie dough from my fingers hands but technically Easter celebrations begin in just a few hours.

(Ignore the 4th of July star'd cupcake covers. I ran out of Easter pastels...ARGGGGH!!!!)

And this simple, attempted project was a flop due to a couple stickers not adhering but we'll just pretend these are mine until next year. 

Hope your preparations have been beautiful on this Eve of arguably the most important day for us followers of the Living Christ!

It's a Circus Life

These 2 bums have been inseparable lately, even in their sleep. 

Yep, we have made the transition from separate sleeping quarters to the chaos closeness of a single shared dormitory. Last night was the 4th night sharing their new combined space and it's been...well, interesting. I'm sure for many reasons, including cutting new teeth, new surroundings, new bedtime routine for Spicy, etc. they have both been waking a bit lot more than usual. Sometimes, the one off in dreamland can sleep right through the noises and sometimes, she just can't, which comes, the interesting part. Two babes vying for mommy's assistance to get back into a deep sleep, in the middle of the night, as my 3rd baby does somersaults of his own making my tummy feel like an erupting volcano. Good times! 

Good thing for daddy's!

But enough about that thing they call sleep (what's that, anyway?), I'm sure it will just take some time to adjust and soon they won't remember anything differently.

The real reason I was so excited to post this was to document the changes, the little (& not so little) decorating projects that have been completed to make this room possibly my new favorite little spot in the house. 

The dresser. 

Ah, the dresser. The focal point of the room. This dresser was my little sister's up until about the age of 11 or 12 when she got a new bedroom set. She's now 28 so I think it's officially an antique. Anyway, my mom moved it from room to room definitely getting her money's worth until she finally got sick of it convinced my dad to buy some new furniture for their sun room. She offered it to us and I graciously accepted, keeping in the back of my mind all those impressive DIY refurbishing projects I had seen (but never attempted) and thought I could  partake in to transform it into something of my liking. I wish so badly I had a before picture (I know I took one but after searching & searching through hundreds of my unorganized pictures, I gave up) but just imagine an off-white color, stained by the sun with paint chipping and wood warping (due to daddy and my negligence keeping it outside, uncovered, in days of harsh rain, woops!) with hideous, obnoxiously large wooden knobs. 

And here it is today...

Isn't it a beaut? I was supposed to do all the sanding and priming and painting myself (under a certain contractor's mentor-ship) but of course, SuperDad came to the rescue, completely undertaking the entire project himself and doing an amazing job as always & a whole heck of a lot better than I would have done! I absolutely looooove the way it turned out! So often, projects I undertake don't come out anything near what I had in my mind but this one surpassed my expectation and vision (probably because I didn't touch it, ha!)  I seriously get so excited when I walk in to greet my baby blue friend.
And the knobs.

 I get all giddy when my hands touch those knobs. After searching all the hardware stores and several online sites, I finally found what I was looking for and in my price range. It took about 5 days to receive them and when my UPS friend arrived yesterday, apparently I couldn't contain my excitement because without hesitation, I shouted "My dresser knobs!!!!" throwing my arms straight up to the sky as my neighbor who was standing next to me looked at me very perplexed and couldn't help but laugh at with me!  I even made the bearer of such a wonderful gift chuckle as I embarrassingly explained, "Hey this is serious stuff for a SAH-internet-shopper Mom."

Anyway, I think the glass knobs give it a vintage twist and showcase the awesome-ness of my dad's handy work!

The pendant name sign was done to coordinate with big sister's that I made over a year ago. 

Before:

After:

Another fun project was dressing up this family of hand carved elephants that traveled all the way from Ghana, Africa from my Missions Trip in 2001. I hesitated to taint their original beauty but the crafty part within me just couldn't contain itself. Once I found the coordinating crib bedding for Sweets (courtesy of IKEA) and saw the decked out elephants here (& on the back side),

 the idea immediately popped in my head and I knew I just had to tackle it!

So here goes, the Before:

 And the After:

And this bad boy has been with Spicy & I through many an adventure. 

I picked him up from Z Gallerie on sale (the only time I have ever walked past that store) when daddy was oversees and I was filling much of my down time missing him, trying to accessorize her jungle-themed nursery. It's been lugged to baby showers & photo shoots & I was so glad he still worked in this room because as annoying as it is when the girls knock him over time and time again & want to be lifted onto his back for pretend rides, I wasn't ready to part with him just yet. 

Other little touches to the circus inspired room come from Grandma Emde's labor of love.

 I absolutely treasure that these things she left behind are in my girls room, not just for looks but apart of their play and enjoyment. Seeing them take pleasure in her crafty and talented creations just warms my heart and connects all of us to her (even though they never had the chance to meet her). Every time I see them flipping through the pages of the cloth book she sewed or asking to take Mr. Clown down from the shelf, I think of her, I am flooded with memories of her, I pray for her, converse with her in my thoughts and smile, knowing she is with us in our circus party every time we play together in here.

And because the girls spend a lot of time in here, I tried to preserve the little work stations/play areas that previously existed since they still desperately need their own space/time for independent play. Although many times, I am tempted to plead with SuperDad to build an iron wall divider with a deadbolt that only I control, I think these little 'nooks' work to keep them from killing each other. ;) 

The art/drawing/coloring/homework table:

The dollhouse that they both seem to enjoy together (& yes that would be a blue-headed martian bobble-head guy invading the party on the top floor):

 The reading corner:

And the dress-up corner where Spicy spends a lot of time trying on various dresses and accessories pretending to be a ballerina princess:

Some more details:

Anyway, it's been a fun, fun undertaking that has kept me quite busy, mainly trying to purge, consolidate and organize toys and clothes that used to have twice the space.

And now, onto finishing the little guy's nursery...