This year we began celebrating Easter a week early and used the book "A Christ Centered Easter" to help usher in the season. The first day we made little Tombs out of Hostess Snowballs. Inside the Tomb it was empty.
Annika laying a foundation of Chocolate "dirt" for her grass.
Joe Cool eating his dinner.
Applying the "grass."
Hollowing out the "tomb."
Annika's finished tomb.
Jesus isn't here! He has risen!
One night we dressed up like Bible times. Annika said she was Mary. We ate food that Jesus would have perhaps eaten: Lamb, boiled eggs, salad, berries, olives, unleavened bread, & baklava in place of honeycomb.
The night before Easter morning we made Easter Cookies that would be ready the next day. Annika beat the nuts to represent the lashings Christ took for us. You read scriptures that go along with Easter as you make this recipe.
Annika sealed the Tome (the oven) with tape before going to bed.
Easter cookies the next morning.
The "tomb" is empty! Christ is risen.
Brayden looks good in orange. Enjoying his mobile on Easter while we eat cookies for breakfast.
Annika loved her cookies.
Making resurrection rolls with Daddy. Yum! These marshmallows are awesome!
Resurrection rolls. They are empty too! Great repetition throughout the week learning about the resurrection.
We did the story that went along with the resurrection eggs.
Coloring our eggs.
Creating a masterpiece takes such concentration!
Time to try one!
I'm not convinced she got all the peel off before she started eating the egg, but she loved it!
At the end of the day after a week of learning about the real meaning of Easter we broke down and gave her an Easter basket. Hopefully the basket didn't upstage all the work we did leading up to it.
Such an exciting day! And so much sugar running through my veins.
Happenings for the rest of April.Annika determined to blow up a punching balloon.
This is hard! I'm out of breath!
Tasty arm!
One determined child! Annika found a way to bring even more toys upstairs at a time. Just pile them all in the shopping cart and drag them up one step at a time. She yelled out for my help when she got to this step.
Such fashion sense. It's impossible for her to look anything but adorable no matter what she wears.
All tuckered out!
Cutie Pie!!!!!
Our vacuum is always close at hand. When Brayden starts getting fussy, Annika turns on the vacuum and the noise calms him down. She had just gotten out of the bath when she heard him cry and ran over to turn on the vac to settle him down. Such a good big sister.
Don't ask which one, but one of those bright spots is the space station and space shuttle flying overhead. We got up early one morning to watch it pass by. It was pretty neat! I'm happy Joe got an email about it from someone at his work.
He really does smile!
I love how much Annika loves her little brother. You can see the love she has for Brayden just by watching how she looks at him.
Brother & Sister! Our Angles!
Best friends!
Mommy's little champ! Brayden is definitely a momma's boy. He can't stand for me to be out of his sight.
"Little Man, Brayden"
Annika's taken more interest in reading lately. I really should take advantage more of this interest and read to her more. It's just hard to find the time. Here she is looking at one of my "Wimpy Kid" books.
Annika reading while hanging out with Brayden!
We decided one day to take advantage of the nice weather and get out of the house. We bundled up Brayden and took the kids for an afternoon in Annapolis.
The Capitol building in the background.
Daddy got some mint and chip ice cream to share with Annika. What a gorgeous day! Annika sometimes tells me she likes to get ice cream with daddy. They have regular dates getting ice cream from McDonald's and eating them while they watch the airplanes land at airport park.
This is the way to see the bay!
Brayden rooting for his paci!
Annika by the daffodils at church. This spot in the shade was about the only spot left where the daffodils hadn't wilted away from all the sudden hot heat we got out here.
Annika and her Easter dress. General conference fell on the same day as Easter, so this is really a week later.
Such innocence.
Picking dandelion flowers. So sweet!
With only the best intentions Joe got a double running stroller to take the kids jogging with him. They made it about 5 minutes before coming back home with Brayden full on screaming. Hopefully he'll enjoy it more in a few months.
Annika taking Shakespeare for a walk in the backyard. Love your hat little girl!
Call me lucky!!!! Annika and I stumbled across a patch of four leaf clovers in the backyard while playing.
Brayden is getting bigger!
Annika had some friends over for lunch. Looks like she's a little leery of them.
Joe was the Scout Master for the boys at church. We had a mystery dinner for our Blue and Gold night. We had games, songs, a little skit, and friendly competition. The night turned out really nice! 
Yeah! We survived the Blue and Gold dinner!
So cute I had to capture it! Annika loves this dress.
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