Beautiful Evening

We had such a nice weekend last weekend. It started warming up again and Sunday was just absolutely beautiful. Sunday evening we took the girls out for ice cream and then came home in time for them to ride their bikes outside for the very first time before heading off to bed. We let them stay up a little later than normal because it was so nice out and they were having a great time. Grandma and Grandpa Rader stopped by to enjoy the fun. Even the dogs had a good time. For those of you who don't know our dogs, we have two of them. The white one is Herby, our Jack Russel Terrier. He is one hyper dog but we love him. We've had him for almost 7 years now. The tri-colored one is Daisy. She is our newest purchase. We've had her for about a month now. We rescued her from the humane society. She's 4 months old and is part German Shepherd, part something else. She'll be a medium sized dog. She and Herby get along very well. The first few days were iffy, but now they're the best of friends.

Anyway, back to the girls riding their bikes. Emma and Lily just got their bikes this year. Lily got her tricycle in March for her birthday. She and Emma have ridden the bike around the kitchen so many times. Since Emma liked it so well, we decided it was time for her to have one, too. So, we headed down to Ft. Wayne, IN and purchased her first Specialized mountain bike, complete with training wheels and purple tassles! According to Marc, every little girls bike has to have tassles. Of course, we had to get the Specialized. That's Marc's favorite brand of bike and he figured she needed to start out right. She loves her bike and rides that around the kitchen as well. Maggie is just big enough now to start riding the little tricycle that Grandma Rader bought from a garage sale last year. She had fun but had more fun pushing all the buttons on the tricycle. It plays music and has a horn. She loved it! That night there were a few tumbles. Emma flipped right over the handle bars. She stood up crying but came away without any scratches. So, no blood. But she informed me that since she's going to be riding her bike outside, she's going to need more Sponge Bob bandaids. So, we put in a call to Mimi Winters to tell her to send bandaids. Of course, the injuries get played up when we talk to Mimi on the phone. I guess she had to get sympathy from someone. Mommy and daddy just tell her that there will be a lot more falls and this is just the first of many. So get up, brush off your knees, and get back on the bike. I know, I know....no sympathy, but we didn't want her to be afraid of getting back on her bike just because she might fall. And wouldn't you know it, she got right back on and started pedaling away.

It was such a beautiful night and we're looking forward to many more weeks of that kind of weather. If that happens, maybe Emma will be off the training wheels by the end of the summer. Who knows!!!!

Happy Easter

We love Easter in our household! We love getting all dressed up in special dresses and going to church. It is the highlight of our day. Pastor's message was awesome! The music was great! What made it even more awesome is that the night before I was sitting down flipping through the channels on the TV and saw that "The Passion" was on. Neither Marc nor I have ever seen the movie, so I settled in to see what it was all about. It was down to the last half hour and I could barely watch it. Not because it was scary, but it was down to the crucifixion. Now I know it was all Hollywood drama and makeup, but it was so real. Like one of my friends put it..."You only ever hear the Sunday School version of it.". After watching what I could, I couldn't believe that people could ever treat another human being like that. O.K., I know that they had beaten Him and nailed His hands and feet to the cross. But for some reason, my mind didn't comprehend how horrific it really was. They weren't gentle about it at all. They did whatever they could to afflict more pain. After the movie was over I couldn't help but think how we treat Christ so casually. We don't remember all He did for us. We don't consult Him about little things, let alone the big things. We don't spend our days with our minds continually on Him. Our quiet time alone with Him is short and is usually fit into our schedules. And if we don't get to it that day, well, we'll try again tomorrow. The pain and the suffering was necessary for us to spend eternity with Him. The very least we could do is give Him our time and attention. Thank you, Father, for sending your son to die for me.

Sunny Day

The girls enjoyed a beautiful day outside last week. Gone was the snow and all the dreariness of winter. The birds were chirping, there was a warm breeze and we felt that even though we were sick, we needed to be out in the warmth and fresh air. The girls enjoyed running around in shorts and flip-flops. They spent most of the time on their swingset that Uncle Brett and Aunt Em gave to them last year. Thank you Uncle Brett and Aunt Em! We love it!!!

I love to watch the seasons change, especially from winter to spring. The cold is gone and even though I love the snow, I look forward to hearing the birds and getting back outside on a regular basis. The buds on the trees are starting to open and the grass is starting to turn green again. It's amazing to see and watch God's creation. What an awesome God we have!

Sisters

EMMA

Emma is the oldest of the three girls. It's hard to believe that she's 4 1/2 now. It seems like only yesterday that I kissed her little cheek for the first time. Emma has been a joy to Marc and I. She has so many good qualities in her personality. She has a very sweet and tender heart. Every morning when she wakes up, I thank God for her. She reminds me so much of Mimi (Mom Winters). She looks just like Mimi and has also inherited some of Mimi's qualities. The biggest one is Emma's perfectionism. There is a place for everything and she lets me know if I've put something where it doesn't belong. I don't appreciate that quality so much when I'm having a messy day. But she's right. There's something to be said for people who are neat and clean.

Emma loves music. Whenever she was fussy as a baby (which wasn't too often), I would either sing or play piano for her. She would calm right down and listen quietly. We have music playing most of the day. She likes mom's music but is into Veggie Tales right now. I can hear her playing in her bedroom singing some of the songs to her dolls. Emma also loves books. We read quite a few a day. She gets very excited when daddy gets home because she can tell him all about the stories she heard earlier in the day. We've read through the Narnia book (which is her favorite) and a few of the Ramona Quimby books. Now she's wanting to learn how to write. It's a slow process but I know she'll catch on soon.


LILY

Lily is the middle of the three girls and she fills that roll well. As a 3 year old, she tortures both her older and younger sisters. She is very stubborn (inherited a little bit of that trait from her mom). We have her will to mold and shape. It has proven to be a little difficult at the beginning, but it will definitely pay off in the end. Even though she is stubborn, she has a sweet side to her, too. She can be very caring and loving. She also has a great sense of humor. When she was about 10 months old she took one of Emma's toys that she was playing with and hid it behind the chair. Then continued to play on her own as if nothing happened. She loves to run around and rough house on the floor with dad.

Lily has a few interests of her own. She also loves music. Not to the extent that Emma does, but we will hear her humming and singing to herself around the house. Lily loves to draw and paint and do anything artsy. Give her a piece of paper and some crayons and she'll sit for hours and color. She is also starting to get into books. It took a little while, but now she'll sit still and listen to the different stories. Her favorite thing to do is point out every picture and color on the page and tell me all about them. What was a short book to start with usually turns into a 10 minute discussion on the red and blue house that has the square building and the triangle roof. She is a good girl and we're so thankful that God has given her to us.


MAGGIE

And then there's Maggie, the youngest of the three girls. At 20 months she has already proven that she can keep up with the other two. She loves to snuggle and give hugs and kisses. But she's also very determined. There are times where that quality isn't bad, but there are other times where we have to use those situations as teachable moments. Maggie is our climber. As soon as she started walking, she started climbing. She can now climb out of her crib during nap time and start playing instead of sleeping. There have been times when she's come right out of her room just to say "Hi Mom!". And then back in she runs, climbs into her crib and hides under her blankets to see if mom is going to come in or not. She keeps us on our toes. We love her dearly and couldn't imagine our family without her.

Maggie doesn't have too many interests yet other than trying to keep up with her sisters. She likes to pick and tease (as most younger siblings do) and see how far she can get with her sisters before they get frustrated with her. She enjoys books and will sit for awhile before she gets bored and has to get up and run around. She loves her daddy so much. She asks "Daddy go?" every morning when she wakes up and then about 10 more times during the day until he gets home. Then as soon as he gets home, opens the door and walks in, it's into his arms she runs. That, of course, makes Marc's day!