Kindergarten Roundup

Big day today! There were many things to celebrate in the Conklin home. First, Abby is a "get out of the bed and sit at the top of the stairs until we notice" kind of gal. We have tried almost everything to get her to stay in bed at nights, but nothing has worked. A few nights ago we tried something new. If Abby stayed in bed, she would get a tea party in the morning. The first night, she just couldn't do it, but still tried to sob her way into a party. Tough cookies, Abby. :) The next night, however, she did manage to stay in bed, so this morning we celebrated! Our "tea" was hot cocoa, but really it's all about the leftover princess cups.

Doesn't this look like such an awesome party? I will buy unlimited princess cups if it keeps the girly in bed. Night two is already working!

Boys are not too cool for tea parties.

The sleeping beauty herself.

Jonah wanted to get a pose with daddy.
On to the next celebration, off to school! Jonah was a little nervous walking in for Kindergarten Roundup, but mostly he was really excited. The principal met him in the lobby and walked him to the kindergarten rooms to start the morning.

Two hours later, here was our special guy! He had a blast and said "Now I know that Kindergarten isn't scary at all!" The teachers were super nice he said and they even made alligator hats, since that's the school mascot. He is so excited for next fall now he said. :) We are so excited for him.

The final celebration of the day was at the Lauritzen Gardens, where Brian and I reminisced about our wedding nearly seven years ago. The gardens had free entry today and we haven't been back to visit in at least five years and a few kids ago. Who knew what seven years would bring for us! The kids loved taking in the scenery with us and even posed for a few pictures!

Precious!

There was the COOLEST outdoor miniature train set. Actually, there were seven different sets on seven different tracks, all built to look like part of nature. The kids went crazy over them.

They even had miniature, nature replicas of buildings around town. They were gorgeous and detailed.

This guy is also impressive. Clapping and drinking from his sippy cup, finally!

Did I mention the bridges that drove the trains over your head? So fun!

"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

Resurrection Sunday

While we want to be in a state of thanksgiving of the death and resurrection of Christ our Savior everyday, not just during Easter season, it is fun to celebrate the traditions of Easter. I think it's been a few years since the last time I worked up the nerve to dye Easter eggs with the kids, but this year as I was looking through our storage I came across what must have been a clearance dye kit purchase from last year. So, on Good Friday, we dyed some eggs. And they were beautiful!

Look at this crew. Even daddy made it into the picture, in a freaky sort of way.

The finished eggs. Aren't they gorgeous?

I told Jonah he could draw whatever he wanted on the eggs and without our prompting, he drew this. I asked him who it was and he said it was Jesus "see his crown of thorns?" So precious!
Not too bad for writing on an egg!
What a blessing it is to raise our children in light of the Gospel and to the glory of God!