The tub

I'm having breakfast with kids this morning, when Miss L excuses herself to use the bathroom. Seconds later we hear, "We must have been really dirty last night!" Of course the brothers want to know what she's talking about. She replies, "The tub is disgusting!"

You see it was a beautiful weekend here in MN. The little rascals were outside as much as possible playing at the park, in the yard, and at a friend's house. When we got home last night, the big kids wanted to bathe with their little bro. So we let them. Four Ruffs in the tub rub-a-dub-dub.

This morning my girl was the first to look into the tub after the bubble fest. Um, after the water drained and the bubbles dissolved, the evidence of our beautiful spring weekend was left behind. Guess I'll be scrubbing the tub today!

My heart is melting...

As Steve and C were getting ready to pick up the kids at church tonight, I looked at my baby and said, "I love you!" He looked at me with his big bright smile. Then, guess what happened? He said it back. Yes, I kid you not, he said, "I love you!" Ok, so you have to understand his 22 month old pronounciation, but he said it. It's official. My baby loves me. My heart is melting and my spirit is soaring. I can conquer the world.

Easter 2010

*Before you begin reading, please accept my apologies for the random order of the pictures. Actually, I think they might be backwards? Hmm, I'm still learning how this all works. And, one little note of interest...The dress L is wearing was mine when I was young gal in Panama. There's a pic of me wearing it on Facebook.

I love Easter. I love the promise it offers. Normally, I try to do a lot more things that deal with the meaning of the day, but this year it just didn't happen. I've ogled other people's blogs that showcase beautiful and meaningful crafts, meals, prayers etc. Yes, they've even posted all their pictures already. So, in order to make myself feel better, I've decided to adopt the same mantra I chant at work..."I do the best I can with what I am given. I do the best I can with what I am given...." So, that's my excuse. I truly did the best I could this year. Yet, in the midst of my chanting I remember to stop and send out a prayer that my kids will learn to focus on the promise that the sacrifice of Jesus offers and not on Easter eggs and candy. It is in this spirit, that the Easter Bunny added devotion books to their basket loot. Of course, those were hardly looked at on the big day. The Star Wars, Dragons and Dog drawing books received all the attention. However, I quietly stashed those devotion/activity books in a bag kept in the car. When mass gets boring for my three oldest (every week) and they start to complain, I will pull their Easter gifts out of my bag of tricks and then I will be the oh-so-wonderful mom. I figure all will be well if I can keep them somewhat focused on God during their weekly trips to mass. I'm not too concerned about how they focus. Don't know how Catholic this is, but I'm not Catholic! Hopefully my Catholic family won't think I'm a "bad" influence. :-)

Good Friday was spent in Rochester with cousins. We actually did a very beautiful Catholic thing that day. We went to Stations of the cross. But, we did it a bit differently. My sister-in-law, Mary, had picked up booklets written for kids. So as a family of four adults and eight little monkeys, we stopped at each station. The kids took turns reading and then we'd talk about what they read. The kids were involved and (I think) even enjoyed the process a little bit. It was very touching to see all eight children in prayer after reading about each station.

Saturday we dyed eggs. Oh, and the Easter Bunny left four baskets.

Sunday morning they found their baskets and hunted for eggs. Then they made Easter buns. These are so healthy...not! Take a crescent roll square and flatten it out. Then, dip a large marshmallow in butter and roll it in cinnamon sugar. Wrap this marshmallow in the crescent roll dough. The marshmallow melts away, leaving an empty bun. Get it? Empty bun = empty tomb! We made resurrection cookies last year - with egg whites and almonds. It's a great way to involve kids in the passion story. Except no one in our house liked the cookies and I ended up throwing them out. It felt wrong to throw out the resurrection cookies! So this year, I opted for the gooey sugary mess that disappeared in minutes.

Next was mass at the Basilica of St. Mary. WOW! This was Easter like I had never celebrated it before. No one can beat the Catholics when it comes to pomp. The brass was playing, the banners were waving, the bells were ringing, the incense was everywhere and my three oldest were singing in the choir. No, I'm not Catholic, but this was a beautifully perfect celebration.

After mass we joined the Rochester Ruffs and the 3/5 of the Ruff Smith family at Grandma's house. Can I say delish? Grandma cooked up a feast for us and topped it off with her homemade pie. We enjoyed dessert and coffee on the deck, (the weather was perfect) while listening to Pat and Ryan play guitar and sing, as we watched the kidlets running around below. Bliss. It was bliss. The day ended all to soon and it was back to the real world on Monday. But, back to the real world with the promise of hope in each one of our lives. If that is what I am given, I think my best can be pretty darn good. Not a bad deal.