easter highlights

* overhearing isla playing her ukelele in her room and singing, "christ the lord is risen today, alleluia!"

* reading in church for the first time in nine years of going to st. paul's.  the reading was my favorite passage from the easter vigil service: isaiah's valley of dry bones prophesy!

* isla entering the sanctuary before the alleluia at the easter vigil, wearing her purse full of bells--walking so slowly, trying not to let her purse and her bells jangle until the right time.  and then, at the right time, jangling like mad mad with her little friend sophia!

* mailing lots of easter cards (in time!) with some fun translucent window egg crafts tucked inside.

* finally hanging the "alleluia" banner i've been "working" on for two years.  i started this project two lents ago with the intention of finishing it for last easter.  i intended to blanket stitch a pretty lime green embroidery floss around each triangle... but i only finished one and a half.  then, on a bike ride up to carrie's house last year the whole project fell out of my bike basket and into the mud.  i finally did my best to clean off the mud, but it still shows a bit.  and i resigned myself that this year, i would hang the banner whether it was finished or not, so i just strung the letters together and hung it on easter.  someday i may finish the blanket stitching, but i think it is pretty despite its muddy half-finished state.

* a fun early morning egg hunt in our yard, as is our tradition, but with some untraditional egg-hiding spots.

* an unseasonably warm easter sunday, which we spent outside the entire day at john and jess's eating delicious food and having fun with the family.  we did not sunblock adequately, though, and poor isla's cheeks were super red the next day!

* all the kids looking lovely on sunday morning in their new easter clothes.  of course, i forgot to get a good picture of all three together.  of course, ezzie did his best to get grass stains all over the new linen easter pants i made for him.  but this does mean he was doing some happy crawling in warm grass, so that is a good thing.