"Holy Week"....

On his way to an Easter Egg Hunt, and super excited

He was a master "hunter".  He was bound and determined to find every last egg.

I just love this picture. It really doesn't have anything to do with the egg hunt, except this antique tricycle was at the house of my friend Mary who was hosting the egg hunt! EB absolutely loves this tricycle.

Yep, a new bike - not for Easter, but a "just because" present from his grandparents. He thanked them 100 times for the bike, completely unprompted, heartfelt, genuine thanks.  Pretty funny that my 2 year old is riding a bike with neighborhood boys and also still in the crib!  I still can't get used to it.

So big, so happy.

Showing me some candy, which was quickly confiscated!

Just hanging out either before or after the Easter Egg hunt - can't remember which one.

"Resurrection Buns"

With a hollow center no doubt!

After church, at the farm, and super tired - but still so handsome.

Pretty sad this was the best family picture we could get on Easter Sunday!!   Love the trailer in the background, and EB's exhausted and "so over the pictures" look.

E-Daddy, Pop Pop, Elijah Brooks, and Daddy

Fishing with Daddy

Posing with the fish - he wasn't sure what to think about the fish. He kept saying, "put him back in the water with his mommy"! Love my boy's heart.

Loving some "Gammy time" downtown.

I think I have about decided that Easter is my favorite time of the year. I used to be a Christmas kind of girl, through and through.  Love every single thing about Christmas. However, I am changing, and my heart is changing.  I still love Christmas and everything about it, but Easter is just taking on a new meaning for me it seems. I am so thankful that God does not leave me where I am, but is daily working on me. He is so gracious to show me my sin and my need of a Savior daily. It's so painful to see my own sin, but how kind and gracious of my Lord to do that for me so that I do not have to be left in my own filth and yuckiness. My heart has been through alot in the past year - nothing earth shattering or monumental - but God is changing me and growing me and I am so thankful.  This Easter was more precious to me than ever before for that reason. "It was MY sin that held him there, until it was accomplished"!  That truth is so humbling.  The verse on my header has special meaning this season as well - "for the JOY set before Him, He endured the cross".  WE WERE THE JOY He was looking at while He endured the cross- let that truth sink in to the depths of your soul and rejoice in the salvation that is yours through His sacrifice!

We had a wonderful week of preparation, and tried our best to keep our eyes upward.  We were able to participate in a Seder Meal at our church on Maundy Thursday, which was a re-creation of the Passover Meal. It was fascinating to me, as we were given the opportunity to actually partake of the food that was served at the Passover. Each time we ate or drank something, we were told the significance and symbolism of each thing. VERY powerful, and it truly set the stage for the rest of the weekend. We had a Tenebrae Service Friday evening, which was a service of darkness. Our choir sang several songs, the congregation sang several hymns, Jay and the other ministers read portions of the crucifixion, and I sang a solo at the very end of the service - in total darkness, right before the tolling of the bell. My precious Dad played the piano while I sang, and we both agreed that this was the most powerful music we have ever done together...., not because of anything that we did, but because of what the Lord did in those minutes. Both of us felt as though we completely yielded our spirits to the Lord and allowed Him to do what He wanted to with the music. Musically, things happened that we had not planned, and spiritually, I felt as though I was sitting at the feet of Jesus singing directly to Him. We both felt as though we had encountered the Living God in those brief moments. All praise be to Him.  We left the sanctuary quietly, still in darkness, and silently walked to our cars.  There were many tears after the service, but we had the hope of the Risen Savior whom we would celebrate just 2 short days later.  Saturday morning, we gathered at the church for an Easter Egg hunt, children's sermon by Jay, and lunch. And then of course, Sunday morning, the sanctuary was full of light, hope, and celebration, as we rejoiced in our Risen Savior, and sang with confidence, "I know that My Redeemer Lives"!

Jay's parents flew in to visit us for the weekend. We had not seen them in nearly 6 months, which is entirely too long.  They couldn't believe how much Elijah Brooks has grown and changed since Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time with them, and enjoyed a true quality visit.  Even though it was a busy weekend, we still felt as though we had alot of quality time with them. They left yesterday, and Elijah Brooks has walked into "their room" and has looked for them numerous times.  He has also seen several airplanes and has asked if that was "Gammy and Pop Pop".

I am trying to start a few traditions for Easter, so I decided to make "Resurrection Buns" for breakfast Sunday morning.  Quite honestly, I was prepared for this to be a disaster, but much to my surprise it was a huge success. I let Elijah Brooks help me make them on Saturday night (I really probably should have made them on Good Friday if I wanted to be theologically correct - maybe next year)!  This was a trial run anyway!  As we prepared them, we talked about why Jesus had to die on the cross and be buried etc.....  I asked him why Jesus had to die on the cross, to which he responded, "Jesus died on the cross for His own glory"!!    Where in the world did he hear that?  We talk about God making all things in the world for his own glory, but never have I said that he died on the cross for His own glory - even though I probably should have!  After making several of the Buns, he was beginning to get the hang of it and pretty much was doing it himself and reminding me that the marshmallow was Jesus.  We put them in the fridge overnight, sealing the tomb, and waited to cook them until Easter Sunday morning.  It was so precious Sunday morning, because when he came downstairs, I yelled, "He's Alive, He's Risen, Jesus is Alive Elijah Brooks"!   He stood there looking at me, furrowed his brow as he was thinking, and said, "Mommy, where He is??  Where is Jesus"? He stood on his tip toes looking on top of the counter and said, "He's not there mommy"?  That child looked all over the kitchen for Jesus.  Well, I thought that was a good time to bake the Resurrection Buns, still halfway thinking this recipe was sure to flop.  Well, would you know, 13 minutes later they came out of the oven just as beautiful as could be!  And even more exciting was when I cut into one of them, the center was perfectly hollow - just as it should have been!!  Elijah Brooks then joined in my excitement proclaiming, "He's Alive Mommy, He's not in the tomb anymore"!  Ah, the faith of a little child........

Easter afternoon was lazily spent at my grandparents farm, eating too much yummy food, taking naps, fishing, playing with bubbles, lying in the lush green grass, riding the John Deere mower (of course), and just enjoying being with family.

It was the perfect end to a perfect week.

"Barefoot on the Beach..."

"EB's latest funny sayings".....

As usual, I have to jot these down while they are fresh on my mind!  I gave up on a scrapbook a long time ago - definitely not my area of giftedness.   The blog will just have to suffice. Here are a few things that Elijah Brooks has said recently that I want to remember:

1. "Hush little baby, don't say a word, momma's gonna buy you some pumpkin bread" (he truly thinks this is how the song goes).

2. "I like cheetos, candy, and Mozart".

3. "I would like a wife one day"!  This was in response to our conversation about our next door neighbor, Mr. Cornelius.  EB asked me where his mommy was, and I said that he was a grown man who had a wife and children and he didn't live with his mommy anymore. Should I have my feelings hurt about this?

4. "I would tell God in Heaven that I am sorry for lying".  I asked him if he could meet God and talk to Him, what would he tell Him.  I was very pleased (and surprised) with this response - especially since the day before I prayed for EB to have a repentant heart.

5. "That veggie straw looks like a saxophone". (it was curled and bent)

6. "Mommy, put your camera and phone down and come play with me"! (since playing with him 24/7 is not enough)!

7. "That car is TOOOOOO small for that lady to drive" (he was looking at a tiny, red Mercedes with a lady driving it).

8. "Mommy, I like your pretty blue eyes. Thank you for buying them from the store".

9. "Look at all that beautiful grass"! (as he watched a beloved John Deere tractor mow it).

10. "That's excellent Mommy"! (I built a small house out of Lincoln Logs). 

11. "I don't have a clue" (I asked him where a certain toy was). 

12. "Where is Jesus' car?" (I said, I don't think Jesus has a car).  He replied, "then where is Jesus' truck"? 

"Trip Pics..."

Playing in FREEZING cold water!

Did I mention, it was FREEZING???

A sweet, happy boy on vacation

He rode a bike for 3 days straight - loved it, and is doing remarkably well.

A helmet "protest" for a few minutes. He looks SO BIG to me in this picture.

Riding in a "car" on the back of Daddy's bike

Helmet back on.....

Dancing on "stage"

The only family picture we took

Loving some Bebe and E-Daddy time

Stopping to rest in the middle of our bike ride.  He had the easy part! Although, after 2 knee surgeries, I am just thankful I can still ride a bike at all - who cares if it is slow and I am ridiculously out of shape!

"Heart...."

I am interrupting my post on our vacation to write something that Elijah Brooks said tonight before I forget it. His heart is so strong, yet so tender at the same time. His little spirit is so teachable these days. We talk alot about the heart every single day, and some days, it's hard to know what he is really grasping. However tonight, he put something together that makes me know that he is beginning to understand something about the heart.  As I was rocking him before bed, I said, "it's time to turn off your mind, turn off your mouth, turn off your ears, and turn off your eyes".  He looked up at me with the most trusting and precious eyes and said, "mommy, can I leave my heart turned on"?  As I could feel the tears beginning to form in my own eyes, I said, "Of course sweetheart. You can always leave your heart turned on. Don't ever turn it off. You can always leave your heart open and turned on".  And with that, he was satisfied with my answer and continued singing his little song before I laid him in his bed.  How blessed we are to have moments like these in our lives.

"Getaway"...

The Grand Hotel, Point Clear, Alabama






Last Saturday evening, Jay and I made the ridiculously fast decision to leave the next day after church and drive down to The Grand Hotel in Point Clear, Alabama...., right on the Bay. My parents were heading down there so that my dad could have a few business meetings and tie up some loose ends of planning, so we just hopped in their car and went with them. I never make decisions this quickly, but we both really needed to get away for a few days. Elijah Brooks needed a change of scenery too - more than we realized - so it was just such a blessing that my parents were heading down there and invited us to join them. Jay especially has been really feeling exhausted, both physically and mentally, and he just needed a break. I have been begging him for months to try to find some time to rest and re-energize, but there just wasn't a break in his schedule at all - and hasn't been for quite some time. But it was becoming apparent that if he was going to take a break, he was going to have to make it happen - or I was going to have to make it happen for him. I am so glad that we decided to do this - it was exactly what all of us needed. It was the "off season", so in many ways, we felt like we had the place to ourselves. The weather was perfect, though alittle cold for swimming, was absolutely wonderful for biking, playing in the sand, and just enjoying being outside. We have been going to The Grand Hotel as a family for many years, since every other year it is the place for the State Bar Annual Meeting. We will be going back in July for the actual meeting, along with my sister and her family. We love it! It is so family friendly, and beautiful. It is so classy, yet so comfortable at the same time. Such the perfect balance! I love some of the traditions that the hotel has every day of the year. Each afternoon at 4:00, several men dressed in civil war uniforms march around the premises playing drums, give a quick history of the hotel and how it was used as a hospital during the war, and then a cannon is fired out over the bay (just gun powder of course). After this happens, everyone is invited inside the hotel for "tea time" - which is just hot tea and freshly baked scones. I love traditions.

We had the most relaxing 3 days - no agenda whatsoever. I did brave the cold water with EB each day and was once again reminded of what us mom's do for our little ones! My body was numb for hours it seemed, and he of course, loved it. We went for several family bike rides, which was so relaxing. It's so much fun now that EB can ride a bike with training wheels. He was more than content to splash in the "zero entry" pool, dig in the sand by the Bay, ride his bike, and talk to every person he saw. Speaking of talking to people, we met a wonderful man while we were there, whose job was to drive people from point A to point B on a golf cart. He was from Africa and was very good at his job and made us feel so welcomed. We hopped on his golf cart and he asked Elijah Brooks his name, to which he responded, "Ewijah Bwooks Joye". And with that, he introduced himself as "Doo Doo". Yep, you read that right. The man's name was "DOO DOO"!!! We looked at his name tag just to make sure we had not misunderstood, and we had not. It was written just as plain as day, "DOO DOO". The funniest thing was when we got off of the golf cart, Elijah Brooks turned to me and said, "I want to tell Mr. DOO DOO thank you for driving me in the golf cart"! Of course, we all laughed so hard and he said it about 10 more times.

I enjoyed turning off my mind and not thinking about anything for 3 days. I have a very hard time decompressing and shutting off my brain, but I actually did it this time. I was proud of myself - and Jay was also able to relax as well. We made it a point not to talk about anything related to home or church.

We have been home a week and EB is still talking about the "hotel" and "going on a trip". He loved it! He has been talking about the "hotel" and recreating every single thing that he did. I guess he needed a break too. And tonight, I even heard a, "I want to tell Mr. Doo Doo thank you" again! He hasn't forgotten a thing :)

More pictures to come of the actual trip.

"Outside fun"....

EB doing his fabulous forward roll. He loves to land on his "bottoman" - as he calls it!










This picture was taken a few days ago, while playing, "hide and seek" behind some big trees at the park. We are loving life and enjoying it to the fullest - or trying at least to find "the coolest place in the heat" (wise words by my Dad for many, many years). Life is crazy for sure, but I wouldn't trade these fleeting moments for anything in this world.