More than a Week

The last time I posted was Easter Sunday.  Here are some things, big and small, that have happened since then.

 Ben had his end of the year program with CC.  As a group, they sang Ephesians 6 and the Timeline song.  Ben is kind of hard to see.  He was on the third row behind a boy in a crown and red cape.

 Each child represented an event in the timeline.  Ben held a large wooden cross to represent "Jesus the Messiah."

 Each class presented information they had learned during the year.  Ben's group is showing the three types of consumers -- carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores.  They also sang a geography song about countries in Southeast Asia.

 Mama came to watch Ben's program and a baseball game.  She went with us to the pediatrician for Ben's 6-year-old checkup and Annie's 6 month.  Ben took this picture.

 Annie weighs 16.69 lbs and is 26 inches long.  Both are in the 50th percentile.

 Mollie is playing in the fort that she built.

 Ben has built, knocked down, and rebuilt this garage on the coffee table numerous times.

Thursday we went with a group from CC to visit the Institute of Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport.  Ben and Cal are trying to pet a sting ray (which was allowed).

 Ben took this picture of an albino catfish.

Another Ben pic -- a crawfish.

 Digging for shark teeth.

 The highlight of the day were the dolphin and sea lion shows.  Ben and his friend Leila took lots of video of the dolphins and used up all the memory on my camera so there are no pictures of the sea lions.

 Frag's stink finally became unbearable and he had to be buried in the backyard.

 Ben made this marker to cover Frag's underground home. It reads:  "Fragis House  Love Ben."

 On Saturday we went back to Gulfport for the Mississippi Truck Driving Championship.  Annie made her first trip to the beach.

 We found two hermit crabs in their shells.

 The water was shallow and I waded out with Annie in her carrier.

Making "sand angels."

 Ben snapped this pic of Annie yesterday.

 Ben and Mollie planned a special treat for John and me last night.  They made mouse salad and held a talent show.  I think they got the idea from 19 Kids and Counting.

Mouse Salad is another recipe that Ben found in Clubhouse Jr magazine.

 John eating his part of the Mouse Salad.

 Mollie sang two original songs.  One was about flowers and the other about fruits and vegetables.

Ben read us a book.

Easter Sunday

 Resurrection rolls for breakfast.  They were hollow on the inside.  We put marshmallows inside rolls and then brushed butter on the tops and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.  When we cut into the rolls, they were hollow on the inside where the marshmallow had melted.

 After church in their Easter outfits.  Last year I didn't manage to get a picture so this is major accomplishment.

 John hid eggs in our backyard for Ben and Mollie to hunt after nap.

Easter Meal Prep

After we returned home from the Bentons, we had lots of prep to do for Sunday breakfast and lunch.

 Ben had also seen a recipe for Resurrection Rolls in his Clubhouse Jr magazine.  Ben and Mollie are preparing those for breakfast.  Ben wanted them to be a special surprise for John.

 Ben and Mollie were great kitchen helpers.  I gave Ben a box of cake mix and told him to follow the directions.  He's a good reader and has been cracking eggs since he was three so other than needing help putting the beaters in the hand mixer he baked the cake himself.

 Mollie is helping me make the sweet potato casserole.

Our empty tomb cake.

Saturday

 Since Ben and Molie had dyed eggs with MV and Janey several weeks ago, I decided that we didn't have to do that again.  Instead they decorated plastic eggs with permanent markers and stickers.

 Ben got an idea from  Clubhouse Jr magazine to fill plastic eggs with snack mix. We bought a collection of snacks -- Chex Mix, Goldfish, M&Ms, Teddy Grahams -- to put in the eggs.  We left one egg empty to represent the empty tomb.  Other than the empty egg, I'm not sure what made it "resurrection" snack mix but I'm sure it was better than eating a ton of candy.

 Saturday was a beautiful day.  Ben and Mollie had fun playing outside while I worked inside.

 While I was cleaning the coffee table off, I discovered an invitation to the Benton's annual Easter Egg hunt stuck to the back of the Southern Living that had arrived earlier in the week.  Since we hadn't received an invitation, I assumed the Benton's had decided not to have an Easter Egg hunt this year.  Their youngest child is in the 2nd grade and their oldest is a senior so I thought they may have decided their kids had outgrown the Easter Egg hunt.  Anyway, it was 1:30 p.m. and the party began at 3.  We always love the Benton's egg hunt so I quickly got the kids dressed (John was on his way home from turkey hunting and wouldn't be home in time to go.) and off we hurried to hunt eggs.

 Mollie and Margaret hunting eggs.

A quick pic of all three once we got home.