He Is Risen!!!!

Happy Easter! I am so thankful that Jesus didn't stay in the tomb, but that He rose again on the third day! He is alive! Or as Rylie told me in Sunday School, "He arose!" Speaking of Sunday School, her teacher (Jacki) was telling the kids that people are bad and that's why Jesus had to die on the cross. Rylie gets out of her chair, goes up to the front of the class where Jacki is, and announces very loudly to her whole class, "My Mommy is bad!"! Thanks sweetie! (I don't know what Ryan's been telling her!)
We had a great Easter lunch with Mom and Dad and Elisa, Bryan, and Gabe. We had lots of good food and fun! Hope you all had a great time today and took a little time to reflect on the reason for the day, He is alive!

Rice Project and Sassy Picture

We Have Poop!

I'm sorry if that title is offensive, but I am very excited! Rylie went poop in the potty today! This is the first time she has done this and it's a big potty training milestone! I was at work today, so she was with my Mom. My Mom knew it would be a big deal to me. She had Rylie call me at work and tell me! I told Rylie how happy I was for her, she was very proud of herself! Two days ago, I put her in panties for about an hour. Right away, she wet them, but then after I put clean ones on her, she stayed dry for a long time. Yesterday she went pee three times on the potty after she initiated the trip to the potty. Today, other than the poop, she went pee everytime she sat on the potty! Once again, I'm sorry if this post is offensive or gross, I never imagnined that I would be excited about bathroom functions, let alone talking about them to everyone! But, now, I'm very excited! Any other Mom's been there?

Thursday Thoughts - Kind of

The bulk of Thursday Thoughts is postponed until my thoughts are comprehensive. However, I do want to mention a couple of things:
First, Happy (belated) Birthday to Dan and Clayton! It was such an amazing gift three years ago to Dan to have Clayton born on his Birthday (way to go Sara!). When I called Clayton to wish him "Happy Birthday" he said, "Aunt Amy, it's my Birthday NOW!", with all the excitement of a three year old!
My Grandpa now has a lump of some sort in his breast tissue! He had to have a masectomy a few years ago (yes they do do them on men too) and he's now having some pain. He has to have an MRI. Please pray for him and his salvation. We should be hearing any time if my Grandma still needs radiation, and when.
Please keep praying that Luke will get over this little cold so surgery can proceed next Wednesday!
For some odd reason, Rylie had a complete meltdown in the bathtub Wednesday and was terrified that there were sharks in her tub! I have no idea where she got that notion! She was sobbing! Then I put her on the potty and she said, "Sharks in potty?" When I assured her there weren't any, she said, "Sharks in sink? Sharks in my towel?" She finally said she needed to be a towel baby, so I told her that she had to take a bath before she could be a towel baby, and that worked. The whole rest of the day, whenever she would talk to someone, she would say "no sharks?"!
The picture from the Wordless Wednesday post is from Key Center, WA, near Gig Harbor. Our friends have a vacation house there that they let us use for free. We've been going there (as a family, and as a couple) for over ten years!
Rylie has now learned that Jesus is God! I don't think she understands all the ramifications of that, but at least she's getting used to the fact. During our Women's Biblestudy she's in the nursery with "Auntie" Susan. Susan has decided to teach these little ones during that time instead of just watching them! I'm so thankful for that! Yesterday Rylie learned about Samuel. She told me "he obeyed God". It's so exciting to watch her learn! She really wants to help around the house too. Last night we were playing with stickers together and I said that I need to get up and clean the house and she said, "Mommy, I'll clean the house!" It was sweet. She brought me a sippy cup the other day and I told it was dirty and asked her to put it in the sink. A little while later, I found it in the bathroom sink! She told me the other day, "Mommy get your broom, my toes are dirty"! She says so many adorable things during the day, I wish I could remember them all to tell you!
I'll work on my usual Thursday post later! Have a blessed day!

Wordless Wednesday! (One of our favorite vacation spots!)

Luke News, King Felix, etc.

Luke's surgery has been rescheduled for next Wednesday instead of this Thursday. There was another baby that had a more emergent need for surgery and the PICU was also full, so Luke got bumped. But, it's a blessing in disguise because Luke is starting to get the sniffles and this gives him time to get better before the surgery. Keep praying for him and Matt and Pam.
Grandma's recovering great! Thanks for all your prayers!
We love King Felix! He is the starting pitcher for the Marineers (for those of you who don't follow baseball), and he is only 20 years old! He is amazing! Yesterday, opening day, he had 12 strikeouts no runs alowed! This has not happened since 1967! He is also one of the youngest starters for an opening day! Of course the M's won yesterday and as I'm writing this they are in the bottom of the 9th and are up 4 on the A's! (And by the way, Eric and Dad, this is better than that other team on the East coast that exists solely for the media. "America's Team" my big toe! Rylie had it exactly right today when she said, "Boo Yankees!"!!!) Sorry for that rant (really only a minor rant, I could go on. . .)! Kudos to Dave Niehaus, he has over 4,000 broadcasts for the Mariners under his belt! I know it's spring and the sun is starting to shine when I hear his voice!
I want to recomend a web site: www.parents.com. It has great craft/activity ideas for kids. You can even search for ideas that are specific for a certain age group, holiday, or season. They have free printables, and a free email newsletter also. It's worth checking out. Tomorow Rylie and I are going to try out a craft idea that I read about using uncooked rice that I dyed with food coloring. If it turns out, I'll post pictures of it. I'm wanting to do some homeschooling with her now, anyone have any good ideas of craft projects, lesson plans, etc.? I know she's only two, but she really wants to learn and she's grasping left/right, shapes, colors, numbers, etc.
(Mariners just won! They're starting off the season on a great note, 2 and 0! Go Mariners!)
My brother is in the hiring process for a professional firefighter postition, a Lieutenant actually. He has made it past the first round and now has to give an oral presentation next week. If he makes that then he will have an interview with the Chief. Please pray that he gets this position!

New Blog

My oldest friend, Wendy (not in age, but in longevity), has just started her first blog! The link is under "my favorite blog" tab, but I'll also give it to you here: http://everybodysauntie.blogspot.com ! Check it out!