deep, meaningful questions

does jesus care what i wear on easter?

"no, not" (said in my best mr. darcy accent). but i do. instead of a new easter dress, i went with easter shoes this year...

a few years back, i was a bit embarrassed when em offered her prayer request in sunday school, "my mom can't wear cute shoes anymore". well, we can just chalk these cute little numbers up to answered prayer, i guess. take that, bunion surgery!

how important is it for a family to be color coordinated on easter?

very. again, not to jesus, but to me. it's not important to my husband or children, but they oblige. thanks guys.

did i retouch wrinkles around my eyes and a gray patch of hair in the above pictures?

guilty as charged.

did lulu enjoy the easter egg hunt?

you tell me...

(all that excitement before she even knew there was candy in them!)

are my big kids too old for easter egg hunts?

nope. {whew}

can tie dye eggs turn out cool from a $2.99 kit?

yep. totally cheap and totally cool.

does jack ever where a shirt?

church and school. that's about all.

no easter basket? no problem..

is anyone else freaked out by how much em looks like me in this picture?

it's even freakier than the "freaky eyes" themselves.

were we sad to spend another holiday without gunga?

most definitely. we couldn't help but think that last easter, we were with her. she was loving us and laughing with us...

we were so blessed.

and we were we blessed this year to celebrate this glorious holiday with family who we love and with whom we laughed...

all is blessing.

and so it was a very happy easter...

new tradition

Last night we shared communion as a family after Lulu went down to bed...

We prayed for one another. We sang together. It wasn't perfection (dog licking my foot, a few complaints, a little bit of silliness instead of solemnity). But isn't that precisely the point of the Lord's supper? It isn't about our perfection, it is about our lack of it. And Jesus lacking nothing, but giving everything. His body broken...

His blood poured out...

He drinks the cup of wrath. We have communion with God.

There will be easter dying and easter egg hunts and easter gifts to come. But that imperfect, yet sacred moment will likely be my most treasured Easter memory this year.

what makes it good

The kids are home from school...

The weather is a respectable 55 degrees.

But what makes this particular Friday good is knowing that death doesn't get the final say. Not on that hill. Not today. Not ever.

And I cry out, for the millionth time, "I believe, help me in my unbelief." (Mark 9:24)

april

april showers...

april track meets...

(in 30 degree weather)

april foolin' any day of the month...

(wearing tate's underwear just for fun)

april cuteness...

(she likes to give her daddy thumb's up when she has done something well)

lately i haven't been giving the thumb's up to the weather around here. april is such a conflicted month weather-wise (see this clever post). but april is a blessed month of grass greening, birds singing, and kids laughing. and i am thankful.

freeze frame

i am so excited to finally have ordered our family photos (taken in the fall), so it was about time for a little bloggy botox. the fabulous, rachel ruffer took our photos. she had never photographed a family before and the poor thing got thrown into the deep end in with this crew. but she did swimmingly (pun intended) in dealing with the kids and the hardest part, the neurotic mom.

it has been a joy to watch rachel blossom as a photographer, but even more to see her blossom as a woman of god. if you are in nebraska, please check her out (especially the behind the lens part). we love the photos she took for us...

(that was our christmas card pic. i still have 100 yet to send. hey, maybe you'll get one...in july!)

my very favorite, up on our wall...

(photographer of the photo of the photo...the divine miss em)

i chose the frame background for my blog because a) i think it's super cool looking and b) it seems to represent what this blog is all about for me. i want my blog to be a frame supporting the life god has given me. sometimes that picture of my life is out of focus. other times there is so much motion that the picture is blurred. sadly, there are times you miss the shot altogether. and then there are times, those blessed times, when you get a snapshot that is pure beauty. and maybe you learn along the way, that all of the above are beautiful in their own way.

welcome to my life.

home and away

i spent the week here with dear friends and co-workers...

(breckenridge, colorado)

you may ask if it was business or pleasure. in our work, on staff with campus crusade for christ, the two are often one and the same.

this is not a black and white photo, the weather was just that dreary on our last day...

but now i am back home with these dear ones and co-habs...

who add color to my life in every way.

they are anything but dreary!

lunch date

this is my lunch date every day...

sometimes she waits patiently for her lunch...

sometimes not...

but she always prays before her meal...

it goes like this "dear jesus, amen." we're working on the in betweens.

she loves her pb&j...

and so does her beast...