Dandelions, Egg Hunts, and Cousins

What a busy week!  Since I last wrote, we've had Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday, and Seth's birthday - an event every day!

Wednesday while I was driving Evie to school, she was telling me that two of her classmates don't believe in God.  She told me she'd told them that if God didn't exist, they wouldn't be here, but one of them had told her that God is a story for babies.  Evie was somewhat upset by this, and I told her to think about all the people who go to our church and think about how many of them are older adults and not babies - so obviously God is not a story for babies.  She felt better about that.  Then I told her that I think if she's tried to convince these two classmates about God more than once and they've still refused to believe, then it would be better for her to not try to convince them with words anymore, but to use her actions and her way of being to hope that they will see how joyful and happy she is and come to the conclusion that she's so happy and joyful because of her belief in God.  Her face lit up at this and I think she really liked making the connection that her joyful, happy spirit is a gift from God. 

Thursday, before I took her to ballet, Evie wanted a little time to stop and blow the seeds of the dandelions that are growing in our front yard.  That's the stuff of childhood, right there.

Friday was our Good Friday service, which is a little more somber, so I didn't take Evie with me to that.  Instead, she stayed home and ate dinner with Seth, and hung out with Siouxsie.

Saturday, we had an Egg Hunt at our church.  My brother and nephew Will drove in late Friday night, so I dropped Evie off at my parents' house where they were staying so she could play with Will while I set up for the Egg Hunt.  They both enjoyed hunting eggs and sharing their loot.

Saturday afternoon, we went to my parents' house and were joined by my mom's brothers and sisters and their families.  I think we had 26 people there, and all the little cousins enjoyed playing together while us big cousins (my generation) enjoyed catching up and remembering old times.

My sister-in-law and niece Addie flew in on Saturday night.  We decided to let Evie spend the night at Granna's to maximize her cousin time.

Sunday morning, I drove all 3 kids to Sunday School.  They enjoyed playing with some of the things they had gotten in their Easter baskets, though they didn't exactly cooperate for a backseat picture.  It's hard to get everyone looking the same way.

Will (nearly 7), Evie (6), Addie (nearly 10)

We had a potluck lunch after church, at which Evie had a choking incident that scared me to death.  I was sitting diagonally across the table from her and I had been talking to another church member when I heard my dad, who was sitting next to Evie, say, "Are you alright?"  I turned to look at her and she was bright red, tears streaming down her face, and had her mouth hanging open like she couldn't breathe.  In that instant I couldn't think how long she might have been like that and panic set in.  I called for my brother (the ER physician), thinking he was on that side of the table, though actually he was farther away than I was.  Aimee, who is a pediatric ER physician, was much closer and told me calmly, "She's still breathing, it's okay," and went to stand behind Evie, ready to do whatever needed to be done.  Evie was able to cough up whatever it was she'd choked on and everything was fine, but I was so shaken.  I sat down away from everybody for a minute just to calm my nerves, and this sweet lady who sometimes teaches Evie's Sunday School class came up to me and gave me a big hug.  She said, "She's okay, she's okay.  God's not gonna let that happen to our girl.  Not our girl."  I don't think I'll ever forget that because I am so grateful every week how Evie is given the love and adoration of so many church members; having Ms. Anna call her "our girl" just reinforced how much I appreciate the love we are shown at our church.

We had an uneventful rest of our lunch and then another Egg Hunt.  Evie and her cousins did quite well.

We went back to my parents' house where my cousin Daniel and his family, including 3 girls who are around Evie's age, came over, along with my aunt Kristy and her family, including Lydia who is 8.  We celebrated Addie and Will's birthdays which happen later this month.  Addie and Will had to roll out around 6 pm, and Evie was very sad to see them go.  In fact, she was trying to get in the car to go with them.  I had to hold her and tell her she couldn't.  She asked me why she can't go to Florida and I told her she had to stay here and finish kindergarten, but she assured me they have kindergarten in Florida too (she has a point...).  Finally I convinced her to stop crying and I asked her if she wanted me to put her down so she could hug Addie, and she said yes, and then once her feet hit the ground she looked at me incredulously and said, "Every day!" and then she ran off to give Addie a hug.

We went back to our house and got ready for bed.  I hadn't reminded Evie that the next day was Seth's birthday, but as she was getting ready for bed she said, "Daddy, let me give you a birthday hug, just in case I don't see you in the morning."  She's amazing.

So yesterday Evie and I took Seth out to a Japanese restaurant he wanted to go to for his birthday.  The food was so good, and Evie impressed us both with her ability to use chopsticks.  Seth got a cold noodle dish and Evie loved it; in fact, she tried several new things at dinner last night, and was very well behaved the whole meal.  She's just such a delight.

Sharing "mermaid salad" and edamame

Helping Daddy with his birthday red bean ice cream and tempura bananas