Today

Today has been ridiculously wonderful. It certainly wasn't free of squabbles and the usual drama but it has also been so lovely and full. When I took the kids to the park to ride their bikes, Bethany wore her very first pair of big girl tennis shoes and walked all over the place. She did a giant lap around the park and then chased her siblings on their bikes. By the end of it all, she was muddy, dirty, and very happy.

It felt so freeing to be outside! The days are becoming quite long and, even though the air is crisp and chilly, we are getting out in it as often as possible. The winter lasts seemingly forever here; even when spring shows signs of arrival as it is now, it almost seems too good to be true to imagine the summer will come and the days will be long and warm(ish).

Upon returning home, three of the children played at their friends' house while Noah played here in the house with the kid who lives next door. Then, we all had dinner which was a vegetarian version of the scrumptious Creamed Tuna and Peas I looove (this time made with kidney beans instead of tuna) on a bed of rice. All were happy.

We then proceeded to decorate eggs for Easter, starting with our Resurrection Eggs. Noah read about each one of them aloud to us, which he took very seriously. In case you've never seen these, they are a dozen plastic eggs, within which are symbols from the story of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. For instance, there is a donkey, some silver coins, a whip, a Passover cup.

Bethany got right in there by climbing onto the table to get a closer look. We don't usually let her do this but the sight of all those colorful eggs was irresistible, even for me. I love our Resurrection Eggs. The children take very good care of them because they know they only come out every once in awhile. Noah said the eggs were "pretty cool," which, coming from him, means that he had a great time. :)

Then we dyed Easter eggs! We boiled water to put the sleeves on them and added stickers. Zoya wanted to make a special bowl with her very best eggs so the Easter Bunny would be able to give them to people who don't have eggs. You see why I'm still bursting with love from this evening? Aaaahhhh...

Before bedtime, we watched a Berenstain Bears recording. Once again, my big strapping ten year old informed the others that he enjoyed watching these because they have "important life lessons." Then, he and his seven year old brother got into the top bunk for bedtime. I listened to the sounds of Wolfgang professing his undying love to his big brother. "You could never guess how much I love you, Noah. Even if you counted all the way to a billion trillion, by tens."

And Psalm informed me, "I can still hug you, Mom, even if you're 90."

"90?" I asked. "I thought I was 30."

"Oh yeah. 30."