Easter Weekend

Joel and Silas attended an Easter party last Thursday at Joel's preschool. This lamb cake was the centerpiece on the table that day, and Silas just fell in love with it. After the party Joel's teacher said they could bring the cake home with them. They came over to our house for dessert Friday night after the Good Friday service at church and brought their precious lamb cake so we could all see it and even sample some. On Easter Sunday everyone came to our house for dinner. Jim's folks had driven down from Milwaukee for the weekend; and on Sunday after church Annie, Justin, and Claire arrived; and then Jorie, Mark, Joel and Silas. The boys had a blast looking for Easter eggs that Grandpa Jim and Justin had hidden outside. Sorry, the event was all over with before I had a chance to get my camera in gear!

Claire made a huge hit with her Easter dress, shrug, headband, and little black patent leather shoes. Why are baby girls so much fun to dress??

Of course, both Grandpa and Grammy had to have a turn posing with her!

As stated in earlier entries, Joel just delights in going into the backyard woods with Grandpa. When he found out that Grandpa would be raking there on Friday, he was eager to get in on it. Grandpa gave him an old broken rake handle to use as a special walking stick.

They both worked hard - I think Joel spent 3 hours working with Grandpa on Friday. He loved his reward - soaking in the hot tub with Gramps to soothe those aching muscles when all that hard work was done!

Wheaton Weekend and My Dad

Jim and I spent last weekend in Wheaton visiting our good friends, Glenn and Judy Bredfeldt. We had so much fun catching up on each other's lives. A highlight was attending a play together in Chicago. It was a comedy, "Don't Dress for Dinner," performed at the Royal George Theater in the Lincoln Park area. Afterward we enjoyed a wonderful meal at an intimate little Italian restaurant down the street from the theater. We enjoyed worshipping with them at Wheaton Bible Church on Sunday morning. This was the first time we had attended a service in the gorgeous new building on North Avenue. It was fun to run into several other old friends at church and to hear Rob Bugh preach.



While in Wheaton we made a point to stop and visit my dad a couple of times. We had a little scare with him the day before we arrived. He had been taken to the ER at Central DuPage Hospital on Friday morning. The nurse at Windsor Park Manor where he lives suspected he may have had a stroke and wanted him checked out. It turns out that everything seems okay. Dad has had problems with dizziness since some TIA's a few years ago, and he may have just experienced a more serious dizzy spell that morning. We were glad to see him pretty much "himself," and were happy that we could be there to make sure everything was okay. Dad seemed in good spirits - even told us a couple of good jokes - something he has always enjoyed doing.

April Fool's and Easter Eggs

My day with the boys began with them playing some cute April Fool's jokes on me. I was finishing up removing my nail polish at the kitchen counter. Joel said to me,
Grandma, just keep doing what you're doing; we'll be right back." They headed down the basement together. I wasn't sure what they were into down there, but I do keep several of their toys in the basement, so I assumed they were just looking for something to play with. Soon they came upstairs and Joel reminded me again, not to look, but to just keep working on my nails. After a few minutes he shouted, "Grandma, there's some huge spiders in your house," so I jumped up, and sure enough, there were three LARGE black (plastic) spiders on my carpet. After I expressed fear and shock, Joel shouted "April Fool!" Then Silas (who has been the process of potty training for several months now - has mastered peeing in the toilet, but still prefers to "poop" in his diaper) ran up to me and said "Sorry, Grandma, but I pooped in my big boy pants!" He KNOWS this would not please me. I said, "Oh, no! You did??" to which he smiled and replied, "No, April Fools!" So, so cute. Later he told me Mommy gaved him the idea before they arrived, but he remembered it on his own, and certainly pulled it off without a hitch.

Our special activity today was dyeing Easter eggs. The boys loved this and did an awesome job being patient while I set things up, and following my directions. We had no broken eggs, arguing over colors or tools to use, or any other scenarios one might expect doing such an activity with 4 1/2 and 3 year old boys. They were SO GOOD, and their eggs turned out very well.

The first ones were done with regular dye.

Then we tried decorating with paint and glitter. Silas was a very careful painter.

Joel concentrates as he adds blue to the pink he already painted on.

The boys proudly display their finished products.