Easter Thoughts, and some pictures.

I must say, this Easter was one of our best years ever! We had a wonderful weekend, with plenty of great memories from time spent with our family. I think one of the things that made it so wonderful was the fact that we were so "free" this year. I don't want this to come across the wrong way, but this was the first year that we were not committed to something Church-oriented & it was wonderful! We actually enjoyed Easter for once - imagine that.

For me, it really was a time of reflection on what Christ did for me. Now for my guilty confession...we didn't even go to Church Easter morning (faint.....gasp...I know, I know...). We did take some time as a family to read about the resurrection & we shared the Lord's supper with my family on Easter day (with our meal...the way it used to be done). It was a refreshing change to the days of old when were stressed out to the max on Easter morning because we had to be at Church to fulfill some duty or obligation. I don't know if I can ever do that to myself again. Now, I'm not saying we will never go to Church on Easter Sunday again (not at all!). However, I will be careful about filling my calendar on resurrection Sunday with a bunch of things that don't matter. I liked having time to focus on what does matter.......the risen savior! Can I get an AMEN? :-)



Anyway....enough about that. Here are a few pictures from Easter Sunday.

Maya with her Easter Sunday breakfast :-).

My sweet McKenna. It's kinda hard to see her cute little dress under that sweater. It was a little chilly this year for the sleeveless look.

"Mooky-Girl's" little dress. (She's not really into looking at the camera these days).

Chandler got some cool shades in his Easter basket.

My annual attempt at a "3 Little Whites" Easter Sunday picture. Sigh....one day it will happen...one day....
(How about that giant marshmallow egg in Chandler's cheek? Gotta Love that!)

My dentist LOVES me...

Because people like me make her very, very rich! Every time I pull into the office parking lot and see her shiny green Porsche Cayenne, I shake my head and wonder how much of that car is "mine"- HA!

I've been told over the years that I have "perfect" gums & that I obviously take very good care of my teeth....but it really doesn't mean crap in the long run! It's so bad that my dentist & her entire staff know me on a first name basis. When I call the office I'm all "Hey, Kelly - It's Amber...yep me again". It's like that! We're even so comfortable with each other (me and the receptionist) that we talk about the kids, where we get our hair cut, what we are making for dinner, and stuff like that :-). When I come in for an appt I don't even have to sign in on that clipboard thing because they already know me.

I'm the urban legend that dentists hear about in school, but they never believe there really is a person out there with a mouth like that!
When there is a "best case/worst case" scenario...I'm ALWAYS the worst case! Yep, that's me! I'm the person who uses up her entire insurance allowance 2 months into the year & get to pay everything else out of pocket for the remaining 10 months of the year. Do you see where this post is going?

Anyway....I've had this funny little "bump" on my gums & I figured it was something bad, but what's new? So, I let it go for a month or so to see if it might miraculously go away on it's own...it didn't. So, today we were at the park (right across the street from my dentist office) and McKenna had to go to the bathroom so we went to the dentists office to use their potty (because it's WAY cleaner then the nasty porta-potty's at the park). While McKenna was using the facilities I tell the receptionist I need to have this "bump" checked out because I think it's a problem I'm having with an old root canal. About that time the dentist comes out & was like "hey Amber...what's up?" (first name basis...gotta love it). When I told her what was going on she got me right back to look at it (no appt necessary for me!). Sure enough, it's a bad root canal! Who has that? Seriously...who? ME...that's who!

So, guess what? I've got a really bad infection that needs to be treated & a root canal that needs to be re-done...through the gum line (oh, joy!) They don't want to take the crown off and go through the tooth because apparently that's more risky. The best part of all of this is that I get to pay for most of this (which is very expensive)out-of-pocket. I also get to look forward to an extremely painful oral surgery that I can't be put out for, or take any "good" pain killers for, because I'm pregnant :-). Anyone wanna trade shoes with me...anyone?

I'm gonna go cry now............. I hate teeth!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Well, it was a rainy, yucky day today so I did what I love to do most on rainy days and I cooked ALL day long! I usually serve green pancakes and eggs for breakfast on St. Patty's day, but the kids didn't want to wait for a "festive" breakfast this morning, so I just let that one go (easy to do when you feel queasy in the mornings anyway...). I was actually more excited about my dinner plans!

This year I wanted to do something special for St. Patrick's Day because: 1) the kids were home on Spring break, and 2) This is probably the only stress-free holiday we get to spend together as a family. Sometimes I really hate that my kids never get to enjoy just being at their home for holidays. I decided that I want to make St. Patrick's day a fun-filled day where we don't have to worry about running around to see all the grandparents, missing naps, stressing out about helping cook a big meal, or worrying about keeping the kids clean in their matching outfits so that every relative under the sun can take 14928923 pictures of them before they roll around in the dirt!! I just wanted to do something special with my family for once!

So.....this year I got brave and cooked my first ever "traditional" Irish feast! I had so much fun doing research on Irish meals & finding new recipes. In the end I settled on Guinness Corn Beef, Colcannon, Irish Soda Bread, and of course we had roasted carrots and parsnips too! Oh, and in my family one kind of bread just isn't enough, so we had to have regular raised rolls as well. :-)

It was really fun & I think this may just become a new family tradition. McKenna was our brave one & she tried a little bit of everything! She even said she LOVED dinner! WooHoo! Chandler and Maya were not so easily convinced...but they both settled on Irish Soda Bread for their dinner. Hey, at least they tried something new. At our house we call that a VICTORY!


McKenna and Chandler checking things out.

Irish Soda Bread

Guinness Corned Beef, Colcannon, and Roasted Carrots/Parsnips.


That's Chandler letting me know he had no intention of trying the carrots and parsnips! (sigh)

Random pictures and info...

OK....I never mentioned anything about Valentine's day this year because it wasn't a very eventful "holiday" around here. We did...nothing! It was just one of those years. Some years I care & other years I'm just too busy to get my panties all twisted if I don't get something "romantic". Such is life when Valentines day falls 2 weeks after your anniversary. Now, if we are talking about my birthday... THEN I care.

So as not to give up completely on this made up holiday (created to fill the dead space between Christmas and Easter), I ALWAYS make valentine cookies for my kids (I guess it's my attempt to show I care about this "special" day-he he!) . This year was no exception. So...here are a few pictures of our valentine cookies this year....enjoy!

Mmmm.... cream wafers!

And sugar cookies with way too much frosting....

I think I enjoy photographing food too much.

The small plate that was left after we gave cookies to all the teachers :-)


********************
Because I spent way too much time complaining on my blog about how sick we all were, I thought I'd share a few funny/sad pictures from our 3 weeks of never ending sickness.

Poor Channy was so worn out that he fell asleep all curled up on this dining room chair.


Can you tell Maya was feeling just a little miserable (that's a lip injury from doing a face plant at the park few days before)...

That didn't stop her from trying to steal my favorite blanket right out from under me. Sneaky little baby!

*Jodi-thanks again for this beautiful blanket. Every time I curl up with it it makes me smile :-).
**********************

Do you know what a "ticker" is? Check out mine............
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

If you are still confused maybe this will clear things up for you...



Hmmmm.... now what am I going to call my blog? I guess I have until October to figure that out. :-)

*Oh, and here are my answers to your two most common questions...

-It's none of your business :-)
-Yes...we are thrilled!

Ready for something new....

So am I! It's been kinda slow and boring around here, so I'm sorry I don't have any fresh thoughts to share right now.

Well, that's not exactly true...I will have a "book report" to share in the following weeks (don't hold your breath though...I'm a slow reader). I'm sure I'll have all sorts of thoughts to share when I'm done with this read. I'm reading a book called "Pagan Christianity" and it's rocking my world! I cried when I read the introduction because I couldn't believe I had finally found something that affirmed everything I've been feeling in my spirit over the last couple of years. I guess you could say I'm having an epiphany of sorts.

If you are curious, you can check out the authors my space site :

http://www.myspace.com/frankaviola

Just a warning though...this is not going to be for everyone! We are all on a journey, and this is my journey. I don't expect this book will be a hit with many Christians, as many Churches have tried to ban this book from even being sold! Maybe that's what made me want to read it so much....I had to know what was so "scandalous". What I found was a quote that made my "outside of the box" disposition smile a little on the inside....

"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as self-evident."
[-Arthur Schopenhauer, Nineteenth-Century German Philosopher]

Flu Bug's, Pneumonia, Bronchitis...OH MY!

It's been one LONG couple of week at the White manor. Starting on the 21st of February everyone (except McKenna) came down with a horrid "bug" that spread like wildfire and caused the worst flu-epidemic known in White family history! In the end the worst casualties were Jonathan and Chandler. Jonathan got bronchitis & Channy ended up with pneumonia :-(. Folks...it was ugly around here!

At one point we had to call in reinforcements (known as "Me-Maw & Pa-Paw"). My parents had to make a midnight run to the grocery store for food and medicine, because we were all so weak and sick that no one was able to move...let alone go to the store! We are slowly (ever so slowly) returning to normal & I hope that by the weekend we will all have our strength back.

Did I mention that I hate winter? Because I do!