In Italy

Well I just had to post a few pictures of where my parents are at in Italy. They have been gone for 2 weeks on a trip of a lifetime! They are having lots of fun and said we just had to check out this city that they have been in most recently. It is Portifino, Italy. They said the food has been really good except at one nice restaurant mom ordered a pizza with octopus on it. We talked to them on Skype a few days ago and Olivia just wanted my dad to hold her. She was so cute and she kept saying, "mon papa" like come on and hold me and squeezing her hands. Ella was telling me that she wanted to go to Italy with Mimi. Yes, Ella me too! 

a few more easter pics.

Easter part 2

Okay here is part 2 of our day. 

Lunch and Easter egg hunt in the back yard. 

Liv is so proud of herself! 

Ella got some money in one of her eggs and she said, "Can I take this money to church and put it in the bucket?" We loved that she wanted to do that with her money! 

I think she was beginning to zone out a little but I took her picture anyway because she was still. 

right before we were done hunting the eggs liv dropped her basket. When the eggs fell on the ground some of them busted open and the candy came out. She was in shock. She didn't realize they had candy in them and then she was obsessed with opening every single one and eating all the candy. Up until then she was content just finding them and putting them in her basket. 

Easter Sunday

Here is our Easter so far:

Church was really good. We went to first service and came home but Kevin is still there at the 2nd service. Here is a picture of my bunny cake. It's not like the ones my grandmother used to make for the kids its a smaller version. Kevin doesn't like coconut cake so I knew if I made a big one that me & Ella would eat it all.

Here are me and the girls. We dressed like pink easter eggs... Liv's toes kept coming out of her shoes. Her big toe stayed in just fine but all the others kept coming out the top and it hurt her to walk like that so every few minutes she came up whining pointing at her foot. You can see it in this picture. I tried to explain to her that it's not always easy to be pretty. 

She couldn't get the pez out with her hands she tried and tried. I guess you are never to young to know when all else fails...use your teeth!

Daddy met us at church and helped us to class and back to our car. He stayed to drive the bus to additional parking and Ella begged to be his copilot. She thinks it is so cool that her daddy can drive the bus.  

My family looked so good today! 

Here are the girls when they first woke up and took a look at their baskets. Liv just immediately dumped hers out to see what was inside and Ella gently picked her presents out of hers. So funny Liv was trying to see what she could eat first. 

Here are their baskets. Liv had mostly candy and toys but Ella got a new necklace to wear to church with her Easter dress.

Gymnastics

This week Kevin got to come see Ella's class. She was so happy he could come watch her. She learned how to stop in the middle of the balance beam jump up and keep going. She landed it first time. Its like hop but she went for it. But what can I say she learned to jump at like 3 months old. Also, she loves to jump off the end of the beam and some kids are really scared but Ella loves to do the twist jump. The teachers were impressed how brave she was!

Okay, we are still working on the front flip over the bar. Still didn't come natural this week but I think Kevin and I are going to try to build her confidence and help her learn it. It takes a little coordination with the arms and head that I think she is not used to. You kind of have to use your head for momentum and she is a little afraid. 

Very slowly Sarah helped her over. 

Easter Picnic

Sunday afternoon was our church's easter picnic and Liv's first easter egg hunt. It is at a park near our church and it is mostly open fields. In one little area of trees they drop a bunch of eggs and let the kids pick them up and then the kids exchange them for a bag of candy. Ella and Liv loved the open space to run around.  

She paused for a quick picture - Hurry mom I gotta go! 

At first Ella's feelings got hurt by another little girl so she didn't want to hunt but then I went with her and she had fun. See all the kids dashing off to get their eggs. 

Did I mention Liv loves the wide open spaces? 

The next picture is of Kevin chasing her down for the 100th time :)

And the picture after that is Kevin saying, "okay mommy, its your turn"

She loved her easter basket. She thought it was a new purse! 

She took her own time picking out what color egg to put in her basket. The more I coached her the more time she took! Once she found one she liked she put it in her basket and walked a few steps and took it out and set it back on the ground and kept walking. Didn't really get it.

No Pain, No Gain

That is the title of the series Kevin and others have been speaking on the last few weeks at middle school. Yesterday Kevin spoke and it was really good! He talked about how it is not enough to look at ourself in the mirror and know what needs corrected (inside or out) and to immediately walk away and forget what we saw. We have to do something about it. 

So for the past few months I have been working out 3 times a week at the gym with my friend Michelle. Not because I have discipline and devotion but because she does. Seriously, she is amazing. I am the queen of excuses and I can find one for anything I don't really want to do. But she has listened to me whine and put up with me. Until now... she can't workout every other day like she used to actually it is hit and miss so whenever she can't go I gladly set out but today was different. I went to the gym and did the workout as though she was there with me making me. 

I know this is really pathetic but she counts the laps and reps and pushes me every time. Mostly I am whining and trying to quit but she keeps me going. But not today. I decided to make some changes and I know that it has to start with me. 

Kevin says it is really hard to get queso out of his beard and that if he did get queso in his beard it takes like 2 or 3 washes to get it completely out. I know that is really gross but anyway he said its like if he looks in the mirror and sees queso and says, "ok, great. I saw it now I am done" but does nothing about it - he will be walking around with old gross queso on his face.

I know that is how we are on the inside and outside a lot of the time. I know that I should be doing a lot more than I am on the outside and inside. When that comes up in a conversation I conveniently say, "Yes, I know I should eat better, or I know I should spend more time with God". And its like that's it. Because I know I get the golden pass to exit the conversation. But I know that I walk away and immediately forget what I look like and what needs to be changed. 

Like GI Joe says, "knowing is half the battle" well I have been half way there all along. 

So, if this makes you think and do something please let me know.  I am really trying to challenge myself to keep my commitments to change!