Easter 2014

So Easter happened about a month ago, and I want to record our memories of it.
We started our Easter celebrations on Saturday with an egg hunt at Calvary church Eastlake.
The eggs drop from a helicopter, so the kids thought that was the coolest.

We had two sweet surprises that day.

My brother, Peter, and his family joined us for the fun.

And then randomly one of the families that we had stayed with in Fort Myers was in our area for a few hours, and they joined us too to watch the kids grab eggs.

It was a fun day.

On actual Easter Sunday we got up, checked out some Easter baskets, and went to church in our color coordinated best.

I love to match my kids on Easter.

No real reason, I just like it.

When we got home we changed and cooked a mid-afternoon feast to celebrate the risen Savior.

Then we did another Easter egg hunt for the kids.

My aunt had given me this outfit for Lexi last Easter.

It was too cute, so we may have taken too many pictures of her in it.

Easter is such a special holiday, and I always want my kids to celebrate the true meaning.

I am so thankful that my Savior rose again to give me life.

Funny story I don't want to forget from Easter morning . . . 

George was talking with me in the bathroom while I was drying my hair.

He asked me if Easter was the most important holiday because it celebrates Jesus' resurrection.

I said that it was very important.

He then proceeds to tell me about other important holidays like Christmas and Independence Day and then asks if there is a day to celebrate the Civil War?

I couldn't think of one.

So he asks, "Mom, if the civil war never happened would we still have slaves and would you be one?"

I was cracking up.

I guess being the only one with dark skin in this family has confused my children.

And that about sums up the Bettelli Easter 2014.

Littles vs. Bigs

George is going to be seven years old in a little over two weeks.
I feel so unprepared to parent a seven year old.
George has always been our guinea pig (as the oldest), but each year seems to bring more and more depth to the parenting journey.
He is having a family bowling party, and we went to place the deposit and "practice" our skills last week.
It was just he and I.

 When Lexi and Ethan are around George and I don't get to have a lot of real conversation.

Most of our conversing goes something like this, "George get me Lexi's shoes . . . " 

Or, "George help Ethan get out of the car while I get Lexi."

Or, "Help me hold Lexi's hand to walk into the store."

He is a huge help to me with the day to day, but I don't want to forget that he has things he wants to say too.

On our bowling date we had a chance to really talk.

It was so nice to see him enjoying my attention all to himself.

He kept saying, "This is so fun, mom.  This is so fun."

(Please note the missing drawer front.  I will let you guess which child is responsible for that.)

I was walking with one of my friends last night, and she has two kids Ethan and Lexi's age.

She asked me if it gets easier as they get older, since they can do so many things for themselves.

For whatever reason that comment just started to resonate with me.

So many people focus on the "tough" times with littles.

There are a million books written on how to get through the young (under 5) years with our kids.

And I get it, believe me, it is totally physically exhausting to keep up with the demands of "littles."

But I think sometimes we feel like school-aged kids don't require as much attention.

And if we can just push through until our kids are older the parenting will become easier.

I am completely guilty of putting George's needs on the backburner because my other two's needs seem so much more dire or emergent.

I believe that is just not fair or right.

While George and most older children can get dressed by themselves, wipe their own butts, and clean up their own messes (for the most part), they still have hearts that need their mama's attention.

I actually think that can be more emotionally and spiritually exhausting than cutting up food and filling bottles all day long.

As our children grow, we need to be careful not to back off the parenting intensity because they are less physically needy.

Their hearts become more needy as they grow.

They need our love.

They need our conversation.

They need us to lead and direct.

They need us.

Music City

I love to travel to new places.
In November we took a trip to Orlando (which is not a new place . . . more like a second home) for my aunt's birthday.
You can read about that trip here.
While we were on that trip we decided to try to do more girl trips with the ladies in the family.
Although we don't live that far away, we don't get to see nearly enough of each other.
The next trip was planned for March in the city of Nashville.
This one was a celebration trip for my mom's birthday.
I have been told that I have been to Nashville before, but I didn't remember.
I was pumped to see Music city.
We left early (as in 6 am) on Thursday morning and flew into Chatanooga.
It was a 2 hour drive from there to the hotel, but we enjoyed the ride (trying not to fall asleep after getting up so early).
We stayed at the Sheraton Music City Hotel, and it was really nice.
The first day we pretty much just explored a little bit and ate a lot.
Rosie, one of my aunts, met us there later that night, and we ate a late dinner with her at The Tavern.

Best. Sweet. Potato. Fries. Ever.

On Friday we got up and had brunch at Pancake Pantry.

I thought is was delicious, but the rest of the group didn't feel the same.

After our brunch we drove to the city of Franklin and walked around the downtown area.

It was really cute.

We had frozen yogurt in a really cute little shop.

We had tickets to the Grand Ole Opry that night, so we grabbed a quick dinner at a Mexican restuarant called Chuy's.

It was not my favorite.

Then we were off to the Opry.

It was a really fun show.

They play it live on the radio, so the commercials run in between the performers.

The highlights of the night were the two sisters from the show Nashville, Scotty McCreery, Pam Tillis, and Lorrie Morgan.

After the show we tried to get into The Bluebird Cafe, which is famous from the show Nashville.

It was full, so we couldn't get in.

But it was fun to see.

It is literally the smallest, hole in the wall bar ever.

And we found out later that they use a set in the show anyway.

On Saturday we didn't get up very early again, so we did an early lunch at Jack's BBQ.

It was pretty good.

Then we decided to do the trolley ride around the city.

It ended up being more of a bus tour, but it was interesting to hear a little history behind the city.

 We had dinner reservations at 7:30, so we decided to go get a little snack beforehand.

We ended up at this little cupcake shop.

It was literally the most delicious thing I have ever eaten in my life.

Please, do yourself a favor, and go here if you ever find yourself in Music City.

We ate dinner that night at a place called Capitol Grille (not the chain that we have one of at International Mall).

It was inside a nice, old hotel.

It was delicious.

And very expensive.

But it was a birthday celebration and well worth it.

After we left the restaurant we had to drive back to Chatanooga to catch our entirely too early flight the next morning.

Rosie was flying out of Nashville, so we dropped her off to meet some friends who were in the city too.

She sent us this picture shorty after.

And we about died.

This is Will from the TV show Nashville.

We just missed him.

Dang it.

All in all it was a great trip.

Filled with lots of fun and even more food (it always is with us).

I love that I get to have these times with the women in my family.

It is such a treat to have true girl time with my favorite girls.

And an extra special "happy birthday" to my mama.

She doesn't look a day over 29.  Literally.  It isn't fair.  I hope I inherit those genes.

Work Hard, Play Hard

At the end of February we got to take a 10 day work trip with Tim.

He had to be in the Fort Lauderdale area to visit schools and exhibit at a conference at a church down there. Taking these trips is definitely one of the very sweet parts of homeschooling. I can take the classroom wherever we go. We stayed at Tim's parents house the entire time we were down there. They watched the kids for us the first few days, so I could attend the conference with Tim. It was called Liberate, and it is held every year at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. I would highly, highly, highly recommend it to anyone and everyone who already loves Jesus or is searching for Jesus.

Matt Chandler was one of the speakers.

He is my pastor crush (as in I love his pastoring, not him).

If you haven't listened to him, you should.

We also got to spend some time with good friends that we haven't seen in a while.

And we both were kidless, which is a rare treat.

Tim and I also got to share a date lunch at a sushi place he found last time he was there.

After the weekend conference was over Tim spent the next week visiting schools in the area, while I schooled George and enjoyed cable at Mima and Pipa's house.

We did a couple dinners out.

A couple dinners in

We got to have dinner with my aunt and cousins, since they only live about 20 minutes away.

We tried to go to the community pool in my in-laws' neighborhood, but it was closed:(

We played at the park and went to Target too.

We basically did what we do here.

But it is always fun to do "nothing" in a new place.

On our way home Tim had to stop at the old school he worked in while in Fort Myers.

It was a bittersweet stop for me.

We got to spend a little time with dear friends, but at the same time that year was such a blur that I almost hate bringing back some of the memories.

If that even makes sense.

Sometimes I can convince myself we were never there, but I know God had a purpose in it all.

I choose to live in that place (most of the time).

All in all it was a great time spent together as a family, and I am thankful for this time.

It may not always look like this, so I want to always enjoy and savor each moment of our beautiful lives.