Holy Week

The last couple of years we have had a traditional Passover Supper with our friends the Malone's. This year they were out of town, so we had our own family "Upper Room Experience."

We talked about why it was so significant that Jesus took on the form of a servant and washed the disciples feet and then each of us took a turn washing someone's feet.

A time of prayer. Thanking Jesus for His sacrifice on the cross for us.

It was a wonderful time together reflecting and taking to heart the meaning of what Christ did for us.

Then on Easter morning, we got dressed up and headed to church with great excitement!

Only to get half way there and run out of gas on the free way!!

(At least we had Uncle Josh for entertainment, while we waited for the tow truck to bring fuel!)

Next stop: Uncle Mike & Aunt Katie's for an egg hunt!

MONEY!!! :)

Connor found one of the golden eggs!!!

Warmer...warmer...hot...hotter...burning!!!

A special thank you to cousins Nate & Erica for doing such a great job of hiding eggs!!

Then inside for a little Easter Egg coloring...

It was a wonderful Easter. We completely lost track of time!

And thoroughly enjoyed each other!

Paigey Nailed It!

I've been a little slower this year to get my act together for the preperation and anticipation of Easter, but lack of preparedness has forced me to keep things more simple and I have found that to have equally as beautiful meaning as the years that I've had a whole plan in place.

It's fun to see the kids get all giddy about getting out the decorations! They each place their Resurrection Tombs in their rooms just like they did their Christmas trees!! This warms my heart. To see them seeing Easter as equally meaningful and celebratory as Christmas is exactly what I hoped to impress. I praise the Lord it's taken so early.

I drove in the driveway yesterday to find Paige & Steve together nailing together two pieces of wood...a cross that Paige requested to make. As if seeing her "wood working" with her Daddy wasn't precious enough, to hear that she desired to make a cross to decorate her room like the one displayed in our family room, was heart-melting!!

To the left is her PINK Resurrection Tomb that she made last year and then to the right is her newly constructed cross. I love how her princess heart clock is at the foot of the cross. It's sweetly symbolic of how she is in her own way laying her heart at the Jesus feet by honoring Him through her remembrance.

I'm always looking for new, fun and innovative ways to bring these meaningful Celebrations to life for our kids. Recently, I came across these few suggestions that I felt my kids were ready for this year...maybe yours are too.

Introduce your family to the concept of dying to our selfish desires to train our focus on God and deepen our relationship with Him by fasting. Fasting doesn’t necessarily mean skipping a meal. What would be a sacrifice for your family? Replacing dessert with a time of prayer? Going tv-free for a week? Singing praises together instead of plugging in to an Ipod?

For our kids giving up dessert, a desired afternoon snack or Wednesday night Wii would be a great start to this discipline. Its never too early to start teaching the disciplines of hearing from the Lord!! And selfishness runs rampant in our house, from Mommy straight on down...so we can all benefit from taking some time to give up something we love and spend some time in thanks to the Lord.

I hope your Easter Anticipation Celebration is off to a great start! You don't have to wait until Holy Week to start!!

Family Fun Times

We are rarely lacking for fun in the Posey home! Here the kids are singing, dancing and walking the ceiling to Mary Poppin's hit song, "Step in Time."

Jake hosted a "Family Art Class" where he gave us all step by step drawing instructions. He's a fantastic teacher!

When Paige isn't knee deep keeping up with her two brothers and all their aggressive, adventurous endeavors, she's being treated like a queen. There are truly benefits to being the only sister!!
Uncle Craig-o is going to have some serious Jim Carey impersonation competition. Connor has his role as the Grinch pretty well mastered.

The Never-Ending Birthday

Paigey's birthday got an early start this year. We began the weekend prior to her birth date with a Princess party (party #1) that included all 10 girls from her class a school, a good friend from church and her cousin Macy. She chose a Rapunzel theme for her party.

We had to change the date of the party due to a conflict with the entertainment we hired. As a result that our professional cake was scheduled for the later date which left me having to create something on my own. Trust me when I say I won't be doing my own cakes again!

The birthday princess in her Rapunzel costume before her party begins...

We had no repeat princesses. Of all the girls that came, not one costume was doubled up!

The girls were very fast eaters. So when lunch was done, we had to come up with a couple activities to do with them until our Princess entertainment arrived. So Steve played Princess music on his computer and had the girls tell him what princess movie it was from. His idea!

It was too cute!

The girls were lovin' it! And he would tease them of course saying things like,

"I think this one is from Batman."

Then they'd all scream, "Noooooo!" (giggle, giggle)

Finally our Princess arrived and greeted the birthday girl!

She made each girl a balloon creation.

Played some games, taught a couple dances, and read a story how to be a polite princess.

Next she painted faces...

Sang "Happy Birthday"...

That evening we hosted the Posey side of the family came over for dinner and cake & ice cream (party #2). And cake creation number two...

Paige opened "Sweetie" a Zhu, Zhu pet from the Titus' and she was in glory!!

Thanking Aunt Kate!

and cousin Erica!

Party #3 preparations took place Tuesday afternoon as our resident Chef, Connor, helped make cupcakes for her family party. He took the job very seriously and did a excellent job.

Party #4 was held at school with her class. Below are the Rice Krispie treats that we took in for her class celebration. We had fun in the kitchen ...creating...

some for the boys and some for the girls.

Finally the REAL day arrived and she got breakfast in bed (party #5) with cinnamon rolls and "spicy orange juice."

She got to open one gift before getting ready for school. It was a Mary Poppins "Barbie" doll.

After school, Daddy, Mommy & Connor picked Paigey up and took her to lunch at (her request) McDonald's. (Party #6)

(Note that she wore her Easter dress to school for the fancy occasion).

We surprised Jake at school with McDonald's for lunch since he had to stay all day and missed out on the fun.

And yes, I did bring a plate & napkin for her to eat her birthday lunch on :)

For dinner Paige chose The Rainforest Cafe' (party #7). It just happened to be that Wednesday was Kid's Night so there was face painting, balloon creation making and lots of fun things going on.

Connor reads Paige the card that he made for her.

Jake picked out a Rapunzel wig for Paige and she couldn't have been more excited about the gift...

And the birthday Volcano...

The hair she's always dreamed of...

Her last gift of the big day was opening her Bitty Baby American Girl.

She was VERY grateful for her baby...

Her last and final birthday(party #8) was a Tea Party with Grammy and Aunt Pam in which we celebrated Grammy's, January 18th Birthday, Aunt Pam's January 22nd Birthday, Paigey's January 12th birthday and Dee's February 21st birthday. Paige chose to wear Cinderella's Wedding dress to the party.

Cup cakes -YUM!

A bed for Precious, her Bitty Baby.

It was a full month of celebrating, but it was fun and full of sweet memories.