Teenager Alert!

We have our first teenager!  Luke's 13th birthday was filled with his favorite things: sleep, food, music, presents, and chocolate.  In fact, he ate an entire full-sized pepperoni pizza for lunch, and so far is perfectly living up to the bottomless pit/growing teen boy stereotype.  Luke measured 6 feet tall at his 13-year well check, and is hungry all the time.  Mark assures me that it's all normal, and the pediatrician told me that Luke's nowhere near done growing yet, so here we are... me, reminiscing about my tiny, NICU preemie baby, while this man-child gets taller and taller:

We booby-trapped Luke's door the night before his birthday, and Millie was so confused:

She stood in the hall for most of the evening just trying to figure out what was happening.  Finally she plopped down, staring at her brother's decorated doorway:

The next morning, Luke's devoted fluffy sister patiently waited for him to come downstairs to open presents:

Luke's most eagerly anticipated birthday gift was an electric bass guitar.  We took lots of pictures, because there's only one day in your life that you receive your first guitar!

Leah gave Luke two guitar books with sheet music, which were a hit:

Amp from Grandpa

And just for the record, this kid still loves Legos.  He's just more selective in his sets/collections now:

Luke also asked to re-do his room to become less little boy/more teen-friendly.  Down came the adorable wall art, out went the beloved Pottery Barn Kids chair and quilt, and the stuffed animals were shoved into the closet this spring ("because I'm not quite ready to get rid of them yet, Mom...").  Replacing it was new teen-approved decor, including this cool print from Beanie: 

Perfect for our Tuba Dude. 

Luke chose a Death By Chocolate ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery for his birthday dessert: 

Happy, happy birthday to our special boy.  We love watching you grow, and each stage brings new adventures.  On this milestone birthday, we hope you know how much you are adored and treasured.  Daddy and I insist that we are not old enough to be parents of a teenager, but somehow, you turned 13 in the blink of an eye.  We love you so much, Bubbie!   

Happy Easter!

 

"He is Risen!"

These three words were the first things that Leah said when she woke up on Easter morning.  We heard her footsteps coming down the stairs, and then her sweet little voice exclaimed the happiest truth of all:

"He is Risen!"

We promptly replied, "He is Risen Indeed!  Alleluia!"

Peanut kept repeating her line all day, announcing, "I LOVE this part of Easter!".   

Out of the mouths of babes, right?!

We had the most beautiful, joy-filled Easter.  Our church resumed outdoor services on Easter Sunday, and it was the first time that we worshipped in person with our church family in months.  The lawn was full, the sun was shining, and we had absolutely perfect weather to celebrate Resurrection Sunday!

The kids in the congregation decorated the church sidewalk this weekend in preparation for Sunday's outdoor service, and Leah had so much fun helping with this special project:

The Easter Bunny came to our house, too, and filled the kids' baskets with goodies:

This girl rocks some serious bed head!

Luke kept all the mythical creatures busy, as he lost his last tooth on Saturday right before bed.  We tried to tell him that it's against the law for the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy to work on the same night, but he just rolled his eyes at us.  Tooth #20 came out just two weeks before this guy becomes a teenager, and I'd like to take a quick trip down memory lane to remember him losing Tooth #1 as a kindergartener:

How is this the same kid?  

$$$ since it's the last tooth! 

We may have even spotted the Easter Bunny at our house this weekend:

Of course, any time there's a puppy photo shoot around here, we have many outtakes:

Someone did not love her bunny ears.

Oops- the leash is still attached!

"Mom, please, enough already!"

Behind the scenes...

On Easter afternoon, our Life Group had a picnic outside at the park.  All 8 adults are now vaccinated (Hooray!), and warmer temperatures means that we are able to gather outdoors together again.  The kids in these 4 families love being together, and we've missed our dear friends:

Later on Sunday afternoon, L&L did their annual Easter egg hunt in our yard.  For the second year in a row, Millie "helped", and she made us laugh, as she nosed several of the eggs into more difficult spots.  One of Luke's eggs was in the opening of a downspout, and Millie repeatedly nudged it higher up so it wasn't visible.  Thank you to Mimi for mailing all of the coins and dollars for the egg hunt.  The kids love this tradition each Easter!

This morning, Leah, Millie and I walked to the farm on our road that has pick-your-own tulips each spring.  I absolutely love this time of year in our little corner of our world.  The fields of gorgeous, colorful flowers are signs of renewal and promise, and make me so, so happy.  Leah is an expert at picking tulips by now and we brought home many bright bouquets to share & enjoy:

Happy Easter weekend to all our family and friends!

He is RISEN!