Another

We had another awesome experience in the Rader household last week.  It's something that Marc and I have prayed for for each of our children before they were even born.  The last few weeks Maggie has been asking a lot of questions about Jesus.  This all started when we started reading the Easter story a few weeks back.  Maggie, even though she is my most ornery child, is my most loving child.  She is the one that's most concerned with other people's feelings and if they're o.k. or not.  Last Thursday we were heading to Walmart and she again started asking about Jesus and heaven.  She wanted to be able to see Jesus when she got to heaven.  I gently told her that the only way she would ever get to see Jesus was if she asked Jesus into her heart.  If she didn't, then she didn't get to go to heaven.  Now, you're probably wondering if we talked to her about hell.  The answer to that is no.  Marc and I have talked together and decided that we didn't want to scare our children into accepting Christ.  Anyway, back to my story.  She kept asking questions about Jesus - going back to the Easter story.  We finally made it to Walmart and in my heart I was praying for this precious little girl's heart.  We did our grocery shopping and while we were in the checkout line, Maggie said, "Mommy, I want to ask Jesus into my heart.".  Well, I would have loved to have been able to pray with  her right then and there.  But there was a line and I quietly asked her if she could wait until we got out to the van.  "O.K. Mommy.".  We got out to the van and she didn't say anything about it, so I figured that she wasn't ready.  I went over to get gas for the van and she asked again.  "Um, honey, there's a long line of cars behind us.  Can you wait until we get home?".  Again, "O.K, Mommy.".  I decided to call my mom on the way home.  I hadn't talked to her in awhile and just wanted to chat.  I got home and was still talking to her 1/2 hour later.  As soon as I hung up, Maggie walks up to me and says, "Mom, we need to talk.".  O.K.  So we went in her room and I asked her what she wanted.  "I want to talk about what we talked about in the van".  "Well, Maggie, what did we talk about in the van?".  I wanted to see if she would remember.  "About asking Jesus into my heart.".  So, we talked, and prayed, and as soon as we were finished, she jumped up into my arms and was so excited!  So was I.  She immediately wanted to give Jesus a present.  I asked her what she wanted to give Him and she walked over to her closet and pulled out a book.  "Mom, I don't read this book anymore.  We can give it to Jesus.".  "Um, sweetie, I really don't think this book is going to make it to heaven.".  Then she asked the best questions.  "Mom, when I get to heaven, can I give Jesus a hug?".  "Well, Mags, I don't think He would turn that down at all!".

So, there it is.  Maggie's whole story.  I know it's a little wordy, but I didn't want to leave anything out.  For those of you wondering, yes, Maggie is young.  She'll be 4 at the beginning of July.  But I feel that she was very sincere.  We will keep an eye on her and if we see that maybe it wasn't genuine, well, we'll talk to her about it.  But for now, I'm going to take it as it is.  That another one of my children found Christ!  And I couldn't be any more excited!!!

Happy Easter

We love Easter around our house.  Not just because I get to dress the girls up in pretty dresses.  Not just for the yummy meal and the Easter egg hunt.  But because of what Easter really means - the resurection of Christ!  What a price he had to pay for me.  We really went over and over the Easter story with the girls this year.  We've gone over it in years past, but we're to the point where Maggie is really starting to understand things.  She's starting to think things through logically and understand the feelings of others.  She was very disturbed when we told her some of the things that happened to Christ just before He was hung on the cross.  And then she started asking questions that we didn't really know how to answer - mostly because they weren't talked about in the Bible.  But things that made us really wonder.  And Emma sat down almost every day and read the Easter story to both of her sisters out of her Bible.  It was very sweet to listen to their conversation...

Maggie - "Emma, what are thorns?"

Emma - "Those are the picky things that you see on roses."

Lily - "Oh, so they put roses on Jesus' head?"

Emma - "No, just the picky things."

Maggie - "Oh, that's gotta hurt."

It was fun hearing them talk things through and try to understand things in their own little minds.  Every day we've been reading through the Easter story.  I'm starting to get a little tired of reading the same thing over and over, but how important it is for my children to know exactly what Christ did for them and me.  And so, I'll continue to read.  Praying as I go along that my younger two will accept Christ soon.  

Here are a few pictures taken on Sunday.  Mimi (my mom) found these dresses while she was doing some shopping in NY.  I loved them the minute I saw them.  And so did the girls.  So, here you are.

I love this picture of the girls and me.  We don't have too many of them taken together.

And now on to the Easter egg hunt.  The girls had so much fun looking for them.  It was a little cooler than what we would have liked, but they had fun nontheless.  I think they made out pretty well.

 

Maggie following daddy.  He was trying to help her find some that she had missed.  But I thought the picture was cute.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Nesting Still

Well, the nesting continues.  My poor husband.  His "honey, please do" list (I'm trying to be polite about it) seems to be getting longer and longer.  But we've crossed two things off the list.  The first thing to get done was the girls bathroom.  If you've ever been in our house, the girls bathroom was still the same white that it was when the house was built.  I had painted so much during our first year living here, that I had had enough.  We were going to do their bathroom in pink polka-dots, but when we found out that we were having a boy, we knew that that wasn't an option anymore.  So, we decided on this.  I thought it was fun and very gender friendly.  Especially since my girls like all the different colors in it.  

They each picked out their own towels.  They matched great with everything.  And, I had to throw in some orange - my favorite color.  Their bathroom is really bright now.  We love it!

The second project to be crossed off the list was Emma and Lily's bedroom.  I started their room last year - even though I've had the paint for their room since 2006.  I painted three of the walls a light purple - the easiest of the phases.  Then, I kind of lost interest and stopped working on their room.  Well, again, the nesting kicked into high gear and I talked Marc into helping me finish the rest.  I taped and painted and he drew on all the lines.  The squares couldn't get anymore perfect.  He did a great job!  But this took longer than I expected.  I thought that it was something that I could do in about 2 days.  Nope.  It took about 5 1/2 days to get this part done.  But once it was finished, I loved it.  The hard work paid off.  The girls love it, too.  But, I've decided...this room is going to stay this way for forever (I'm not painting it again!  =)).  Or, if they want something different when they're older, they can paint it themselves.  We put their beds back into bunkbeds to have some extra room.  They love that part.  Especially the climbing up and jumping off.  Hopefully we won't have any broken arms or legs from that.  

I only have two more projects on my "Honey, please do" list.  We would like to have two bedrooms built in the basement before the little guy arrives.  This way Emma would have her own room, Maggie could share a room with Lily, and the baby could have his own room.  And then, when we have friends and family visit, Emma's room or the other room could be used as a guest room as well.  And I would also like to have a deck built off the back of the house.  I know, I know....that project doesn't NEED to be done before the baby arrives, but it would be so nice to sit outside and grill on the deck when the weather starts turning nice.  Hopefully that will happen before he arrives!

Fresh Air

A few weeks ago the girls were able to go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather.  It was in the 60's, warm breezes, and just an all-around gorgeous day!  They were so excited when I said, "Girls, go put on t-shirts and shorts.  We're going out to play!".  And then I got the question, "Mom, can we wear flip-flops, too?".  That is always a highlight for them.  They were and are still tired of getting all bundled up in jeans, sweatshirts, socks, sneakers and yes - the heavy jackets.  Since this day a few weeks ago, we have had to get bundled up again.  But the days seem to be getting a little warmer.  Not as warm as we would like it to be, but it's getting there.  Hopefully soon.