Hardy's Baptism!

Last year in August Hardy accepted Jesus as his Savior and the past few months has been talking about baptism. We finally set the date for April 19th, and it was perfect because his grandma, grandpa, and uncles could come up and be there for the ceremony. I took this picture of him with his sisters on Sunday morning before church.  

The last week Hardy was nervous about the baptism. He left junior church class to get dressed and said, "Mama, can you pray for me to not be nervous?"

After I prayed with him, I took this picture of us. By this time, everyone was waiting for him to arrive outside.

This is  a picture of my family ready to watch the baptism. From the back left-my brother Jonathan, Dad, brother Stephen, then from the front-Selah, Mom, Tirzah, and Acarith. It was nice we could all be together as a family. My mom has been having health issues and my older brother has been flying out of state for job interviews, so it was amazing we could all be together for the baptism.

Tim had the privilege of baptizing Hardy. The water was nice and warm from the baptismal heater, and later Hardy said he wished he could have "gone swimming in it."

This was really exciting for Hardy. He later told Tim, "I had a wonderful day today!"

Hardy has really grown spiritually this last year; he has consistently wanted to be a missionary. Last week I heard him ask one of our teenager guys at church, "Do you want to be a missionary with me?" Then he asked another older boy the same question a few days later. Just last Saturday at a party he asked his friend LJ, "How about we be missionaries together when we grow up?" :) I love his sweet spirit towards the mission field and would be thrilled if he did become a missionary one day.

Making Culottes for the Girls

Last year at this time, I made Tirzah and Acarith some culottes. A friend of mine named Kristen drew out a simple pattern for me, and the girls have really enjoyed wearing them. Although most of the culottes have survived, they were getting small so I knew it was time to make another batch. The girls and I went to Wal-Mart and they had fun picking out material for their new culottes. I began the project Tuesday afternoon and by last Tuesday night, I had the three pairs in this picture made (the ones they are holding plus what Tirzah is wearing).

I like my sewing system. We have an entertainment center in the dining room, and instead of a TV in the big opening, I have all my sewing stuff in it. I even sew inside it, which is so convenient; I can set aside a project anytime and finish it later.

Here's my confession: I am NOT a sewer. I don't know very much, but thanks to youtube I have been able to learn. No joke-just this last week I had to watch a refresher on making a bobbin because it had been awhile since I sewed! 

By Thursday afternoon I finished the project--yay! I had made 12 pairs, with each one taking anywhere from 45 min. to an hour to make. Since Acarith's favorite color is purple, she loves her purple ones. Tirzah's favorite are the pink leopard ones.

Last year, I made a friend named Kristen. Her girls were wearing culottes, and, of course, Kristen and I talked all about making them; I made sure she understood I didn't know much about sewing! :) She said, "I have an easy pattern. I'll draw one up for you and I'm sure you'll be able to make them." I did need her to walk me through the process over the phone a couple times (thanks Kristen!), but eventually I did catch on and they really were easy to make. Now we're all ready for the warmer weather to come!  

Our Easter!

We have a tradition of doing our Easter egg hunt the Saturday evening before Easter Sunday. I love this tradition because we can really enjoy it without feeling rushed, and we have noticed the kids really focus on the resurrection of Jesus for church on Sunday. For this year's hunt, the kids got their baskets filled with stuffed animals and little toys and then headed to our front yard for their hunting. 

Acarith is so funny--she had on Friday night picked out this outfit to wear specifically for the hunt. She is definitely the fashionista of the family!

Hardy did NOT want his picture taken during the hunt. He said, "Mama, I'm hunting. I don't have time to stop for a picture!" :) He felt better when I assured him I would be taking pictures of the others as well!

I love this picture of Tim and the kids. It was taken right after the hunt.  They were so excited with their full baskets!

The kids were all smiles! We really had a good time. Afterwards they just enjoyed opening their eggs and eating their candies while Tim and I relaxed on our patio chairs. It was such a fun night!

Easter morning we got to church early to get pictures (and also prepare for the services), but then something horrible happened--my camera battery went dead! I was thankful that I at least got two pictures taken of the kids before that happened.

Yesterday I went to Wal-Mart to get Tirzah a dress and found nothing--and I mean nothing. In our town there is only one other option for dresses her age--JC Penneys. As I was heading there, I said out loud, "Lord, please let there be a dress for no more than $25 (last year the cheapest ones there were for $40 but we found one for her at WalMart for $15). I really was on a time crunch, and as I was pulling up to the parking lot I said, "Okay, Lord, I'll settle for $33." I ran in (literally) and discovered their dresses were 60% off, and found a cute dress in her (new) favorite color for--with tax included--$25.12. As I ran back to the van, I thanked the Lord for the dress and confessed my lack of faith! :) Seriously though, it's easy to get dresses for the little girls (theirs were both birthday presents by our friends), but it's getting harder to find modest, pretty dresses for Tirzah. One good thing--I'm inspired to pull my sewing machine out for making culottes and skirts this spring.

Ahhh...it's busy being a mother of four, but I love it!

I hope you all have enjoyed your Easter like our family did! Happy Resurrection Sunday!