Happy Pentecost Sunday

However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Romans 8:9

GEMS celebrated Pentecost this week.  Here is a little video I shot during the lesson.  The mom that lead it did such a nice job.

Horsing Around

Gram's birthday party fell on the same day as the Kentucky Derby this year, so we had a horse themed birthday party for her.  The kids all got a riding lesson from Gram's best college friend.

PD made mint juleps:

We watched the derby and Papa even ordered a horse cake!

Butterflies

GEMS went to the beautiful Franklin Park Conservatory for a tour of the gardens and a lesson about butterflies.

The conservatory has some amazing Chihuly glass sculptures on permanent loan and the tour ends with a butterfly release in the garden.

Even the moms got in on the action.  Everyone commended me for not freaking out when butterflies landed on me.

Bad Dreams I Have

These are the recurring nightmares I have been having most of my life.  They are listed in no particular order.  Feel free to leave a comment telling me yours.

1. I am back in college and it is finals week.  I realize I am signed up for a class that I have not attended all semester.  When I explain the situation to "the office" they tell me there is nothing that can be done and that I should take the final and see what happens.

2. I am running and a giant ball of dried glue is chasing me and bowling me over.

3.  I am at my childhood home.  I start to walk around the neighborhood and realize there are wild and rabid dogs and hyenas prowling around.

4. My teeth itch and hurt and then I taste blood and reach up and realize my teeth are falling out.  I have googled this one and it is a classic dream to have if you are a control freak and feel out of control.  Well, that explains it.

Easter

Dyeing Easter eggs.  So easy and stress free now that my girls are almost 7 and 9.  Although I messed up and didn't so much hard boil my eggs as poach them.  @#easterfail  That didn't ruin the dyeing, just the breakfast the next morning.

We celebrated Easter at our house with our good friends from church this year. Look how cute these kids are.

The girls set the table pretty:

And we made this cross cake.  This actually took me longer than the whole rest of the meal put together. My sister's mother in law makes this with red velvet cake but i just made mine white.  The blood red just seems a little too "Eucharist" to me.

The food.  I just learned how to roast carrots and now I make them a lot.  I don't even usually like cooked carrots.

Pretty girls in last year's dresses.

Getting ready for the egg hunt:

My friend and her little one:

And even though we had to miss the family festivities this year, Gram and Cousin Karen both got the girls an Easter basket.  Thank You!

Gigi and Grandad Get the Tour

Gigi and Grandad came for a visit and we took them on some sight seeing expeditions. Here we are feeding the ducks at Schiller Park. 

They really liked The Book Loft.

And our favorite Jeni's Ice Cream.

They wanted to see where PD works so we went down town to the Statehouse.

We also just hung out at home a bit.  What a fun visit!  Come back soon guys!

Reasons I Currently Loathe Myself

1. I never stay current with my blog. I make myself feel better by back dating posts and reminding myself that only 8 people read my blog.

2. I am cleaning out my basement and have decided that I am a hoarder.  It is like sorting though a sea of regret.

3. In cleaning out the basement I found an old video camera in a grocery sack with 3 tapes in it.  That is the sum total of the video I have of my children.

4. At any given time there is a half of a bagel in a plastic bag in my purse.  I pack it to eat at church and usually only have time to eat half of it.  There is often also a half a bagel in the "ash tray" of my mini van. PD calls it the "toast hole."  I think because I used to eat toast, not bagels.  But always with peanut butter.

5. My hand hurt really bad and I couldn't figure out why.  I realized it was because I found a new blog I really like and I read 5 years of the archives in one night while simultaneously playing Words with Friends with PD.

6. I always stay up until midnight and then I always don't want to get up in the morning.  This is mostly PD's fault.  (see #5 ie Words with Friends)