Easter

We had a great Easter and it was the first one I did not have to work since becoming a nurse so I really enjoyed being able to spend the whole day with my family. The girls were eager to see what the Easter Bunny had brought them or I should say Payton was eager. I asked Claire if she wanted to go see what the Easter Bunny brought her and she gave her very secure "No." I think she thought he was downstairs. They had a chance to play before getting ready for church. After church we went to Nani's house for lunch and another Easter egg hunt. Then that evening we went to play with our cousins Ben and Ryan before heading home. It was a great day with family.
Payton woke up from her nap the last two days talking about Jesus. The first day she came to me and said
P- "You know what Jesus does"
me- "What does he do?"
P- "He takes away our sin"
me - "Payton, what is sin"
P- "You know the bad things we do"
me - "What else does Jesus do?"
P - "He has friends called disciples"
me- "Are they nice"
P - "Not Judas, he says bad things about Jesus"
Then that was the end of the conversation for the day.
Yesterday she woke up and came and laid on a pile of laundry I was folding and said
P- "I learned about Jesus' body"
me - "You did, can you teach me?"
P- "He was in a tomb and then a big rock rolled away and he came out"
P- "Then he saw his grown up friend Mary and told her I am Jesus and then he told the disciples too"
me- "Why was Jesus in the tomb?"
P- "The bad men put him there and they pulled his beard"
Then that was the end of that conversation. I am looking forward to her waking up today to see what else she has learned. She told me that Ms. Judy (the children's worker at my bible study on Wed am) taught her all these things. I am so thankful for our church and my bible study. Their is nothing sweeter that hearing my daughter talk about Jesus and sing about him in her room. My greatest desire for my girls is that they would love Him with all their hearts and always want to know more so they can be more like Him.

Egg hunt #2

Steph had an egg hunt at her house on Saturday. It was fun and we finally saw Claire catch on to the idea. She was focused and picked up as many eggs as she could. Payton got to start a few minutes before the "big kids" which was a bad idea because she was on a mission and was swiping up all the eggs before the older kids got a chance. Next year we will remember she is little, but extremely competitive and should not be underestimated as a "little kid."
Later that night the Goforths came over to play. We are extremely blessed to see them as much as we do since they live in Asheville. It was fun to watch the girls play and was nice to catch up with Catherine and Michael while the girls entertained themselves. We dyed eggs and made rice krispe treat eggs for desert. Payton got messy while Abby and Caroline were neat and tidy little girls. It was a great day.

Zoo

Friday we all went to the zoo as a family, except poor daddy had to work, and had a wonderful time. The weather and crowds were perfect. The girls had a great time seeing the animals and being with their cousins. It was fun to watch Claire's response to the animals and even hear her try and repeat their names. While watching the zebras we heard Claire all of sudden say "Zebra" very clear, which for those of you who know her is rare. She doesn't talk a lot and when she does it usually is quite and unclear. It was a full day of fun. Payton got to spend the night at Mimi and Pawpaw's house the night before so she had an extra special treat.

Ms. Jamie's Easter Egg Hunt

Our friend Ms. Jamie has the best play dates and parties. She goes all out to make sure the kids have a great time and the egg hunt was no exception. She hid I think 200 eggs all with surprises inside for the kids. They had a wonderful time and again my girls reacted completely differently to the egg hunt. Payton wanted to find all the eggs and was all business, while Claire spotted a ball and then wanted nothing to do with the eggs or the surprises inside. After finding the eggs Payton went off to find a hiding place so she could go through all the candy while Claire took me by the hand to the van and said "Bye Bye" because she was cold. It was a fun event with friends. Thank you Ms. Jamie.

Fun with Aunt Jill

Last week we got to spend the day with Aunt Jill. We went to Stone Mountain park and met Daddy and Kiki for a picnic lunch and played on the playground. Claire liked slowly crawling through the playground while Jill followed patiently behind. Payton like running, climping and trying to master the monkey bars. I love seeing their differences. After the playground we went to play in the river. Once again Payton wanted to get right in and run, splash and race Jill while Claire wanted to sit and watch. I would ask her is she wanted to get in the water and she was reply with a quick "No" but we loved watching Jill and Payton play. Payton did take a tumble in the water and then a tumble in the dirt getting out, but she was a trooper. After a brief moment of crying she suddenly said "I am so okay" and off we went to show Jill the rest of Stone Mountain. Thanks to a well prepared daddy we had a change of clothes in the car so Payton was as good as new for dinner that night with Kiki. It was a great day with family and we are so glad that Aunt Jill came to see us. We love you!