the kids of sushi night

Dinner with 21 sweet kiddos (11 and under.)

It was hilarious to look around and find groups of kids everywhere.

I love thinking about the memories they will have of special times like tonight.

and

Was going to add these in...a few more pics from our indoor Easter.

Wilson loves to get his hands on my camera and he snapped this shot of the two of us.

Happy Easter

A day late, but here is the family picture we managed to get on this rainy Easter.
Certainly not the greatest, but here we all are. There were no tears and only a small amount of whining.
I enjoyed the rainy Easter. We went to church, ate too much, sat by the fire, watched a movie, kids hunted eggs indoors...a great day with family.
Hope you all had a happy Easter!

Lunch and Eggs

Today we had over 4 of the 6 Chinos for some outdoor fun. We had lunch and dyed eggs. Hopefully we will be able to hunt them tomorrow, weather permitting.

Random leftovers and other goodies from the fridge were gobbled up.

And then we pulled out the dye.



We were even joined by one of our sweet neighbors.


Though Alison and I agreed that these kind of projects can be a bit stressful (Campbell and Simon broke more eggs than they dyed) the kids all had a blast. And they are so pretty!

Good Friday

^{I'm going to try to take time today to focus on the cross and the huge sacrifice that was made for us all.}

^{Luke 22:66-23:49
66}At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them. ⁶⁷"If you are the Christ,^d]">[d]" they said, "tell us."

Jesus answered, "If I tell you, you will not believe me, ⁶⁸and if I asked you, you would not answer. ⁶⁹But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God."

⁷⁰They all asked, "Are you then the Son of God?"
He replied, "You are right in saying I am."

⁷¹Then they said, "Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips."

¹Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. ²And they began to accuse him, saying, "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ,^a]">[a] a king."

³So Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.

⁴Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no basis for a charge against this man."

⁵But they insisted, "He stirs up the people all over Judea^b]">[b]by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here."

⁶On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. ⁷When he learned that Jesus was under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

⁸When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform some miracle. ⁹He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. ¹²That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.

¹³Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, ¹⁴and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. ¹⁵Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. ¹⁶Therefore, I will punish him and then release him."^c]">[c]

¹⁸With one voice they cried out, "Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!" ¹⁹(Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)

²⁰Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. ²¹But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"

²²For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him."

²³But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. ²⁴So Pilate decided to grant their demand. ²⁵He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

The Crucifixion

²⁶As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. ²⁸Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' ³⁰Then
" 'they will say to the mountains, "Fall on us!"
and to the hills, "Cover us!" '^d]">[d] ³¹For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"

³²Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. ³³When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. ³⁴Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."^e]">[e] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

³⁵The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."

³⁶The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar ³⁷and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."

³⁸There was a written notice above him, which read:|sc THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

³⁹One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"

⁴⁰But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."

⁴²Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.^f]">[f]"

⁴³Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

Jesus' Death

⁴⁴It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, ⁴⁵for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.

⁴⁷The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man." ⁴⁸When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. ⁴⁹But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Thank you Jesus!

fun filled weekend

Last Thursday Pete headed off to Castle Bluff for a men's retreat so my little men and I packed up and headed to Grand Jules. Thursday night we enjoyed a change of scenery and after a rainy afternoon we saw this beautiful rainbow.

On Friday night we were joined by the Alison and the Chino boys. It was a boys only sleepover. Julie had even made little pallets for the boys so they could all sleep in one room.

Unfortunately there was a pillow fight and the 2 C's got moved out, but it was definitely a night to remember.
On Saturday we were joined by MP and the guys returned from Castle Bluff. We all spent some time outside enjoying the great weather and taking some rides.

This was Simon's ride.

And this was the ride the other kids took.Campbell even sported his cool shades to match GrandPaPa.

whit-ology

Sounds better than Whitney-ology

Found this on a friends blog and I LOVE these question things.This one is from facebook, but seemed fun to post it on here and that way i am only bugging you if you made a choice to look at my blog.

Tag- You’re it!!! Let others know a little more about yourself by re-posting and tagging your friends. Re post note as your name “ology”

1) What is your salad dressing of choice? ginger, like you get at a Japanese restaurant
2) What is your favorite sit-down restaurant? Capeo or Boulevard
3) What food could you eat for 2 weeks straight and not get sick of it? pizza
4) What are your pizza toppings of choice? italian sausage, garlic, tomato and spinach
5) What do you like to put on your toast? cheese
6) How many televisions are in your house? 3, only 1 is actually plugged in.
7) What color cell phone do you have? greenish yellow
8)Are you right-handed or left-handed? Right.
9) Have you ever had anything removed from your body? wisdom teeth and babies
10) What is the last heavy item you lifted? children...all the time
11) Have you ever been knocked unconscious? no
12) If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? nope
13) If you could change your name, what would you change it to? Sam, I really loved Who's the Boss as a kid and wanted a girl name that sounded like a boy.
14) Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000? i might try
15) How many pairs of flip flops do you own? lots
16) Whats your goal for the year?
17) Last person you talked to? Julie
18) Last person you hugged? Wilson
19) Favorite Season? spring
20) Favorite Holiday? Christmas and i love 4th of July (sucker for fireworks)
21) Favorite day of the week? Friday and Sunday
22) Favorite Month? April
23) First place you went this morning? Wilson's school
24) What’s the last movie you saw? The Rocker
25) Do you smile often? yep
26) Do you always answer your phone? no, if my children are loud i usually don't answer
27) It’s four in the morning and you get a text message, who is it? who does that?
28) If you could change your eye color what would it be? blue
29) What flavor drink do you get at Sonic? cherry limeade
30) Have you ever had a pet fish? yep, it died on my birthday
31) Favorite Christmas song? can't pick. i LOVE Christmas music
32) What’s on your wish list for your birthday? new camera bag
33) Can you do push ups? yes
34) Can you do a chin up? wouldn't bet on it
35) Does the future make you more nervous or excited? excited
36) Do you have any saved texts? i never erase them until my inbox is full
37) Ever been in a car wreck? yes. two
38) Do you have an accent? yep
39) What is the last song to make you cry? today...don't know what it's called...on my itunes
40) Plans tonight? sleep
41) Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom? ???
42) Name 3 things you bought yesterday. strawberries, bread, and fish tacos
43) Have you ever been given roses? yes
44) Current hate right now? a strange noise that comes from our DVD player when you use it.
45) Met someone who changed your life? yep
46) How did you bring in the New Year? so sad...i don't remember...maybe asleep
47) What song represents you? i need Peter's help to answer music questions...all my answers are like...the one with the guy and the girl and the love
48) Name three people who might complete this? i don't know. do it if you think it's fun. i'll read it
49) What were you doing 12am last night? going to bed
50) What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? clean my house. had a dream that people were coming to look at our house.