Favorite. Easter. Ever.

The weather was bad.  Rain (even HAIL!) all day long.  Grey skies, wet streets, no cute pix of the kids by our spring flowers.  Mad dashes into the church made more difficult by the fact that Avé was convinced she was wearing rain boots (why wasn't she???  her parents totally should have thought of that) and jumped into several puddles in the church parking lot.  Church full of slippery floors and dripping umbrellas.  But nothing, NOTHING could put a damper on this day for me.

You see, both my sons were baptized this morning.
Easter Morning.  It was wonderful.

So wonderful that I really don't even have words to describe it.
So I won't even try.

My heart is full.  So very full.  And I'm so grateful.

Life isn't easy.  But it's beautiful.

And they were baptized by Uncle Gyle.  Even more special.

And her hair just looked like a little Easter Nest of love.  ;-)

"Easter Hair" Practice

We are on our 4th round of yarn braids and we are loving them!  So cute, so much variety, and so easy (once you get them in.)  ;-)  This last round only took me 4 hours- as opposed to 6 hours back on New Year's Eve.  I bragged to my best friend that I did her hair in "just" 4 hours, and Kelly said, "...Ummm... I think you need a perspective check.  That's still a really long time."  True... but now we won't have to "do" her hair for at least 2-4 weeks! So the time investment up front is worth it. 

We have been playing around w/ the braids to see what we want to do for Easter.  I think we've settled on this style which Ben has named "The Crown."  

Very fitting for an Ethiopian Princess, don't you think???

I think on Sunday I will try to get the "crown" to sit a little further forward on her head, and try to make the twists a little tighter in back.  But other than that, this is a very quick and easy style and we all think she looks like Royalty!!!

The "Good Advice / Bad Advice" Podcast

I was all for calling Episode 6 our "Return of the Jedi" episode, but that didn't fly w/ my co- hosts.  ;-)  Instead Kaysie named it "Gayla Wise."  You'll have to listen in to see why, but rest assured that title totally fits it's not because I'm actually wise.  More because of a certain baby-rearing book that I really, really, really, really disliked and which Kaysie didn't quite feel so strongly about.  WE HAD WORDS, PEOPLE!  Okay, so not a cat-fight per-se, but I do believe that Kaysie "shushed" me at one point and that Kelly looked away and said, "Oh, here we go" more than once.  ;-)  I love these girls and we are having a blast making this podcast... even if we don't always agree!!!!

Oh, and you can also subscribe on iTunes and each new episode will automatically download for you, and if you want to connect on Facebook you can find us by searching for "Three Moms and a Podcast."  Join our FB group and then you can add your two cents to our discussions.  Great to listen to while you fold laundry or run errands in the car!  Believe me when I tell you that between the three of us and our varied opinions and experiences you will find yourself feeling very, very NORMAL.  ;-)

Spriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love Spring.  It's my absolute favorite season for so many reasons.  I hate winter.  Maybe up north or in Colorado it's amazing, but here it's just dull grey skies, dull grey ground, dull grey trees, dull grey days.  And then suddenly... the tulips and daffodils and hyacinths poke up their heads...  and then those tulip trees (don't know real name) put on their incredible flowers... and then the pear trees start to bloom... and then the gorgeous redbuds... and then the dogwoods start putting on their show... it's just AMAZING!!!   It makes my heart so happy.  And we still have the azaleas to look forward to!  I LOVE SPRING.