We had a really nice Easter this year. We celebrated with the usual traditions of attending a special Easter service, going to an egg hunt, getting baskets of candy and delicious food. The most special thing this year for Seth and I was that both Jackson and Owen were really interested in the story of Easter. Throughout last week Seth read through the Easter story to them in pieces. They were all ears and had great questions. On Good Friday when Seth sat on their floor with the lights dim and boys heads on pillows ready for story time Seth told the boys he was going to read about Jesus dying on the cross. Owen exclaimed “ohhh I love that part of the story”. lol. Clearly he doesn’t love that Jesus died on the cross but he and Jackson were engaged and for the first time Owen was in on the action. Our church sang the song Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed by the Getty’s throughout the season leading up to Easter. It has become a favorite. I will attempt to add the link below…
We hosted my brother and his family for brunch and it was SO refreshing for me to work on creative, hostessy things again after a hiatus since MaryAnne was born. I have so missed having people in our home. It was nice to try a couple of new recipes and sweep up old cheeries off the floor and wipe off crusted finger prints spruce up the table. We had lots of great food but this time around my criteria was a bit different…I made things that make great leftovers, easy prep, and kid-friendly for the most part with a few specials! My mom always jokes that as kids we knew it was a holiday when there was kiwi in the fruit salad. To this day I love the sight of a big fruit salad with kiwi to boot.
For those interested in the menu…
Easter Brunch Menu
Mimosas for the adults and Strawberry lemonade for the kiddos
{you can get fancy about this but I just layered chocolate pudding with crushed Joe Joe cookies from TJ’s! Added a few gummy worms and flowers and the kids loved it!}
Before climbing out of bed this morning I told Seth I wasn’t sure I was ready to face Spring Break with the kids! He responded with something along the lines of…”no worries, just think of it as one really long snow day, you all loved your snow days together”. Not really the pep talk I was hoping for! Since the kids are happily playing outside in the Spring weather I figure it’s safe to recap the snow days that will go down in history! Up until now I have been scared to report them as a past event but I think Spring is officially upon us so it’s safe to go there!
Spring break will include lots of outside time, shorts, popsicles, friends, sibling arguments (keepin’ it real), extra cartoons and enjoyment of not rushing out in the mornings! We’ll end Spring break with a fun Easter celebration with cousins! Have a great week friends! If all goes well I’ll be back on here sooner rather than later with some recipes and garden swooning posts!
Saturday was opening day for Little League and Soccer in our area. Jackson had a packed day of sports. As did Seth. Seth is coaching soccer again this year and just got roped in to assist with tball so he is one happy dad! Here are a few shots from the weekend! Owen, MaryAnne and I need to get into our cheerleader groove but I am sure it will come! Owen requires constant snacking and MaryAnne will miss many a’nap! Next year Owen will be getting to do sports so from here on out it will be picking one per kid!
The below faces are meant to be “tough guy” faces, though the result looks pretty grumpy! The awkward one that looks like a fall during a photo session is in fact a picture of what sliding looks like according to Jackson!
Two years ago when we moved into our home (you know the one we bought sight unseen from Switzerland) I took my first drive through the neighborhood and spotted a home that looked similar to the layout of ours but had fresh grey siding and a happy, red door. I jokingly told Seth that whoever lived in that house would be a friend of mine. She had great taste!! So certainly she was friend material.
We dove head first into our home renovations and got busy settling the kids before school. School kicked off and we lived in that first month fog trying to navigate life with a little boy in school, along with all of the wonderful to be stateside activities like playdates, bible study and MOPS! A month or so into school Jackson pointed out one morning that he knew the little girl coming out of the mysterious red door on our way to drop off. I soon learned that this little girl was from Jackson’s class and that her mom was the class room mom. As I got to know her she indeed became a fast friend. Not one that I spent tons of time with but one that I could quickly relate to and jump in where we left off in our last “speed session”. I learned that her family too was a family that moved every couple of years for her husband’s job and she was juggling making life normal for her kids while also trying to keep her sanity in the midst of life being in a state of flux most of the time. We shared a similar lifestyle and similar work so we had plenty to chat about!
Over the last couple of weeks we have been doing the final touches on our outside work on the house. The shutters are done and the fixtures are up but the last thing to do was a cheery red door. And as much as I wanted a red door I can now tell you from experience that the process was a bit more vulnerable than I had anticipated.
We picked California Poppy by Behr for our first go round. It came out, well, let’s just say, more poppy than we wanted. I went out to take pictures around dusk to send to my mom and it practically glowed! We tried a couple more coats in hopes it would deepen. Next round we took the remaining paint to HomeDepot and had them add a little black which was supposed to deepen it. When Seth popped open the can to get going on the last coat he discovered that the guy had added WAY more black than needed and it had turned a purpley maroon color. So back to HomeDepot (wonder how much Homedepot makes from projects gone wrong?…probably more profit there than original purchases) for a deeper color all together. Ruby Ring it is.
Here she is. I haven’t rehung our wreath but you get the idea!
She looks extra good with a cute tball player posing in front of her! Don’t you think?!
Back to vulnerability and what the heck this all has to do with friendship. The minute we started taping the door we were causing a scene. Our winter barren front yard left all the attention on the action. Cars were slowing down to see what Seth was doing! Ha! With each coat we got comments from neighbors and held our breath for the outcome. The texts and facebook comments were coming in! It’s a bit like putting yourself out there in friendship. It requires a bold move and risk. And it certainly requires time for the friendship to develop into what you hope it will be. You can feel a little silly and awkward in those early attempts but if you can endure those days of deepening you can see something so much more unique and fulfilling than the surfacy stuff you began with.
The risk is worth taking. On friends and doors. The friendships I have taken risks on are worth every effort, and if they are not I soon know to move on….to other paint colors, I mean friendships.
Paint something red this week….and take a risk on a new friendship. Don’t get scared in the maroon, poppy phase…it will deepen in to something so much better!
The friendships I have taken risks on are worth every effort, and if they are not I soon know to move on….to other 
