Running in place

I feel fortunate that we live in a small town with a small school that still has "Easter parties".

In fact, there are several fun little things the kids get to do in the week leading up to Easter; one of which is the egg drop.  L has participated for the last two years and we think we have found what works.  We packed our eggs in our 7x7x7 box, surrounded by bubble wrap and crumpled up Wal-Mart sacks. 

(How's that for recycling?)

The principal of the elementary then climbed to the roof top to drop the eggs to the concrete below. 

The kids waited anxiously for their box, or sack, or parachute, to drop, and upon it's landing they all enthusiastically gauged whether the egg had "survived" based on the sound it made upon impact.  Those who felt the egg had indeed "survived" gave loud "whoops!" and cheers, and those they thought were "scrambled" received moans and laughter.  The kids, of course, wouldn't know for sure until they opened the container housing their egg upon returning to their classroom.

L felt pretty certain hers had survived.  This wasn't her 1st egg drop.

B also was betting that his made it, although he was a little more nervous about the outcome.  He had never done this before and didn't want to have a scrambled egg.
Luckily, both kids' eggs "survived".

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The next day they were out of school and went to work with daddy.  They were excited to spend the day with him and even earned $5 for all their work.  They took down an old board fence and danced on the hood of the truck.

True story.

He even told me that he let them drive the skid steer.

Yes...they are 5 and 8.  Please don't call child services.

I think they even finished the day with a new found appreciation for each other.

I had a new found appreciation for Tide.

By Easter Sunday I had finally managed to scrub them clean.

Although the Easter bunny hid the eggs inside, and only a few on the porch, the kids did get to hunt eggs outside after church.  Although, I definitely don't mean "hunt" in the literal sense. 

When the eggs are lying on top of the grass in plain sight, there isn't much hunting  to be done.

We were able to squeeze in two successful outdoor egg hunts on Easter Sunday in between rain showers.  One at church.....

and the other and MiMi and PaPa's.

Although there are several grandkids on that side of the family, some were unable to make it to Easter dinner, and some were still too young to hunt.

Like Elsie.

 

L felt especially big holding her little cousin and L had quite the motherly instinct.  Her cousin Elsie actually ended up falling asleep......as did L's arm.

On the way home Easter evening, I found myself thinking back to when L was Elsie's age.  It seemed like it wasn't so long ago.  It hit me really hard when I realized that when Elsie is L's age.....L will be 16.

That physically hurts me to think about how quickly time is passing.

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And as if I needed further proof of how big my girl really is, we celebrated L's 1st communion on Sunday.

Being a life-long Catholic, I think that many of the faith's religious customs become second nature.  And although there is some good in that, there is also the very real threat of finding yourself just "going through the motions" and not really thinking about the very faith I practice.

On Sunday, I had an awakening.  As I sat there thinking about this child of mine getting ready to further her relationship with God, and her faith, I couldn't help but think about how great God is....and how great my responsibility is as a parent to show my children the way to Him.

Although it is my responsibility to show them.... most often I think they show me.

As the first child in L's Sunday School class went forward to receive their 1st communion, I found myself swallowing hard and blinking away the tears in my eyes.

The gravity of the moment, and God's presence, had most definitely been made known to me.  I felt it all around me, and I felt it stir inside me, as Steven and I placed our hands on L's shoulders when it was her turn to receive the body and blood of Christ for her first time.

After church was dismissed the kids went outside and sent their letters to God via a helium filled balloon.

When the kids filtered back inside to have their pictures made, I hugged L and told her how proud I was of her.  She spoke softly and told me that at one point she had tears in her eyes.

Considering how L is so strong and rarely shows any weakness, or loss of emotional control, I knew this was big.

Steven and I both told her that was more than OK, and completely understandable.  It was a big moment.

I then shared that I, too, had tears in my eyes.

I hope that somewhere in L's letter to God she might have mentioned for Him watch over her momma and never let her lose sight of what really matters.

After all, life IS really busy and time DOES move really fast.

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."