Easter and beyond....

Sorry...I've been, ummm, exhausted. This horrid neon green haze, otherwise known as pollen, has been taking my family out one by one. Sophie, it appears, is a "seasonal allergy sufferer". :) Thick, icky goo pours out of nearly every orifice on her head. O.K., O.K., I exaggerate. But I can say with certainty that buying stock in the company that makes Puffs with Lotion might pay off for you.
As it turns out, Sophie is way more articulate than I've given her credit for. While I'm praising her saying "Yes!!! Sweetie!! Those ARE your ears!!!" (For the record, we have been working on "where are your ears?", lest you think I'm a total Britney-mom) She was actually saying "Hey Mommy-O...any idea why it sounds like I'm underwater? Or why I feel like my head is going to BURST??!!! Mom!!! Hello!!! THESE TWO EARS RIGHT HERE!!! Can we get them checked please?" Well, yeah, she was banging away on them, but she was laughing at the same time! So once she saw being a happy patient wouldn't get her the help she needed, she cried her head off for 2 hours and I realized right away something was amiss. :)
Diagnosis? A, and I quote, "raging double ear infection with lots of pressure...and a new tooth on it's way through...plenty to be ticked off about."
Goodness, I'm wordy. Most people would have just said "Sophie has an ear infection." Eh, but why tune into a blog that just says that right?
Anywho...Easter. It was pretty special. Especially with Sarah. This past Christmas and Easter were the first holidays we've "allowed" Santa and the Easter Bunny to come to our house. Not that Sarah ever knew we didn't allow them, but we finally gave in to the wonder of it all I guess you could say. The night before Easter morning Sarah crawled into bed with me and we started chatting about why the Easter Bunny was so excited about Easter and that led to us talking about one of my favorite Easter songs. "He's Alive" by Dolly Parton. Sarah has seen my absolute delight when the chorus rings out "He's alive! Yes, He's alive! He's alive and I'm forgiven, Heaven's gates are open wide!" for 3 yrs...she's seen it with this song. She asked about crucifixion, what a tomb is, what sin is, what it would feel like when it was time to ask Jesus to be her personal savior (she said "no. I don't think it's time yet.") and what Heaven would be like. We got onto the passage about His mansion in Heaven and the many many rooms...she wanted to know what he was going to have in her room that he needed to work on it her whole life. I told her "probably pictures of every special moment in your life, so you'll never forget all the ways he blessed you." That satisfied her.
The next morning we woke up and wished each other a happy resurrection day and I said "go see if the Easter bunny came". He did. She was pretty excited that he knew to bring the Maraposa Barbie for our celebration. And I asked her if she remembered why the E.b was so excited and she said "because He's alive..Jesus is alive". She paused and said "can I go see if He came?". I had no idea what she meant. "Jesus?" I asked. "yes, can I go see?". Ummm....panic hit me that somehow her faith was going to forever be squashed because what ever she was expecting wasn't going to be there. I said "ok, but remember, no one can see Jesus." And she ran off to her room. She returned in a few moments. "He didn't hang any pictures Mama." Whew!!!! Then I explained that "that" room is in Heaven. Which apparently I didn't do a good job of explaining...but sort of pleased that she thought she lived in the great mansion that God built. :)
Later, we loaded up and went to church. Sophie LOVED the music. She sat up straight and tall in her stroller and looked and let out her version of "amen" at all the appropriate moments and even tried to sing along in her own way. And I sat there staring at her and holding on to Sarah so thankful that they can worship Him without fear of persecution. So thankful that He told my heart 23 years ago that my daughters were in China. So thankful that He made a way for that to be true. And hopeful that maybe He'll make a way for Abby to come home too.

The day before Easter was the church Easter egg hunt. Sarah loves her church. And her church loves her. But this year she really loved the party!
Last year she wouldn't have much to do with the "Easter Bunny", but this year....



But Sophie....not so much on the excited end of things....


Nor did she think too much of that big, pink, scary "thing"....


And though Sophie's expression would never imply it...she adores her big sister. But let's face it...Sarah only has 8 lbs on Sophie, Sophie might be afraid she'll break big sister. :)


Sarah isn't afraid of any ole blue chick either...


Well, that's Easter...I better put "beyond" in a separate post. :)