How I Spent My Mother's Day

I probably had my best Mother's Day ever this year! Here's how I celebrated...

First, Mom and Dad came for a visit the weekend before Mother's Day, staying Friday and Saturday. We took Mom to her favorite restaurant (and mine!) on Friday evening, Carraba's Italian Grill. Then on Saturday morning, I cooked everyone a big Mother's Day breakfast: scrambled eggs, whole wheat toast, mango, cantalope, pancakes, bacon, sausage, and grits.

Once we were plenty full, Mom and I headed to our favorite store to shop... Dillard's! I had the pleasure of buying Mom a MD gift there. And I snapped her picture, in which she was thrilled, as you can tell. (Sarcasm.)

Then, on the Friday before Mother's Day, my family took me to my favorite Chinese restaurant, the Hibachi Grill. And guess what? I tried SUSHI!!!! It was absolute DISGUSTING. I have no idea how people stand that stuff - ick! I didn't even get to the raw fish: the green seaweed stuff on the outside was too inedible for me. John tried it with me, too. He concurred that it was gross.

On the Saturday of Mother's Day, my kids helped me plant my flowers and bushes for the year.

On Sunday, Mother's Day, my children showered me with wonderful crafts and flowers from church, and gave me a beautiful corsage to wear to church.

It's good to be queen!

In Memory of Grover Beaver (or was it Mr. Hopper???)

We unfortunately recently lost one of the boys' pets, which are two aquatic frogs. I thought you would enjoy a good laugh... Each of the boys was given a frog in the fall, and the frogs were named "Grover Beaver" and "Mr. Hopper." One of them died, but they looked so much alike that we don't know whose frog it was that passed away. Christopher immediately claimed that it was John's frog that died, while John claimed it was Christopher's. Nonetheless, we had a small burial service in our backyard, pictured above. Note that John wore his F.R.O.G. (Fully Relying on God) shirt in honor of the occassion. Note also that Tim chose to use my good Pampered Chef glass prep bowl for a coffin (uuggghh!), and that he is holding a Bible on his hand for the funeral sermon that he couldn't help but preach. The Trustees at Clough have no idea that we've turned the field behind the parsonage into a pet cemetary, where our dog Lacy, a dead bird we found in the driveway, and now Mr. Hopper (or is it Grover Beaver?) rest peacefully.

Our fears that the boys would be upset by the passing of their beloved frog were put to rest when Christopher blurted-out at the end of the froggy funeral, "Can we get a dog now???"

Good times.

Kara

Baby Chicks

Each spring, our very good friend (and very good deacon) Larry Harrell invites our kids to come to his home in nearby Williamsburg to partake of his adorably fluffy baby chicks that have just hatched. Larry, in his ever-accomodating way, makes sure the baby chicks hatch right around Easter, making the event especially heart-warming. This was the first year Anna was old enough - and responsible enough - to hold a chick herself.
Awwwww....

Since we came to Cincinnati, we have rarely bought eggs: Larry brings us a dozen or two of his fresh eggs almost every Sunday. Tim jokes that Larry's eggs are so fresh that they're still warm! Tim is so spoiled by Larry's fresh eggs that I can't get him to eat store-bought eggs any miore.

Thank you Larry!!!!

Easter Sunday at Clough

It was an exciting Easter Sunday at Clough Pike Baptist: we had our first early service, which was at 8 AM. Then we had Sunday School, and then our regular worship service. Tim joked that we would end-up with about 12 people in the early service, but to his surprise we had 74! Praise the Lord!

For those of you counting pictures at home, YES, there are more pictures of Anna than of John or Christopher. NO, it is not because we love her more, nor because she looked cuter on Easter Sunday than the boys. It is for the mere fact that Anna loves to have pictures taken, and the boys hate it!

 Anna greatly enjoys greeting people beside Daddy.

Betty Howard (right) and her sister-in-law.

Kay Gilliland, Patti Maschmeier, and Stephanie Bishop made sure no one had to worship with an empty stomach or with a caffeine depravation.

Bob and Wanda Field.

Amanda and Rachel Harrison.

Haylee and Valeria Bisig.

The extended Connor Family.

Tim preaching one of his alliterating outlines. I joke with Tim that he dreams in 4-point alliterating outlines!

Aaron did a great job leading the music for the Easter services.

Daryl Gilliland (a.k.a. "Ringo) on the drums. Fantastic!

How many churches can claim a deacon chairman who's also their drummer???

Tim Cherry on the piano. Awesome. Someday when I get good enough, I'll be able to play as well as Tim does.

Brad Bishop, Amelia High School Senior Extraordinaire, manned the powerpoint.

Scott Harrison did the sound. Scott's sound is always flawless.

All Boy

Each spring when the weather gets warm, we always receive new pets, of sorts. Right outside our front door is a large hole under the brick, which makes a nice summer home for toads. They stay until late August, and then hop away until they're replaced again in the spring by new toads. We call our hole "Toad Hole," which is a play on the Wind in the Willows book, which talks about "Toad Hall." (Is that too geeky of a literary reference???) Anyway, John, who LOVES animals, always starts searching for the new toads on the first warm days of the year. Sure enough, he found a couple the other day, and chased them around until he caught one. He was so proud of himself!