BOY OR GIRL???

 Last Wednesday, Jesse and I found out the gender of our second child!  Here is a fun video for you to enjoy!

We had a little party after our softball game.  We made everyone pick boy or girl and write it on a name tag!

 Breann, myself and Carly are all pregnant!!!  

 Belly shots! (not sure if my bump is so big because of the cookie in my hand or the baby)

 Chelsey, Tyler and Jeremy

 Cherie and Chelsey's vote...

 The Bell ladies and Jedidiah

 My decorations trying to keep people guessing!

 Watching the video...

 And the reaction!

(you may want to fast forward on the reaction until the very end... it is the same video as above)

Exploring!

 This weekend we spent time in Carmel with our great friends the Cadieuxs!  Even though we planned last minute, it turned out to be a relaxing weekend with lots of fun activities for the little ones.  We went into Monterey for some clam chowder... yummy!  The seals were out in full force, the sun was shining and the kids were loving the freedom to explore!  The kids loved playing together (we practiced to sharing and nicely play with each other)!

Breann, Kris and Emry (who is 1 month older then Jed)

 The seals were swimming around... doing who knows what...???

 Jed and Emry loved running around a stairwell (that was closed for the record), and found themselves playing a game of chase!  So fun!

 Even though it looks like Jed is licking the post, he isn't!

 Checking out the seals in the water.

 We walked down the way to the other pier where there are a ton of birds and seals.  Jed looked and looked and looked at the seals and birds! 

 According to the sign, the birds nest on the pier.

 We had an escape plan for the potential tsunami!

The dirty kids needed a bath!

 We took a walk the next morning and went exploring more!  We found a little park area in downtown Carmel where the Jed and Emry climbed the benches and watched the water fountain.

 Sweet Emry.

 Jeds exploring hands.

 Learning together.

Easter Crafts

Jed and I joined all of the Penner cousins for the second annual Easter craft day... where we learn all about Jesus, what he did on the cross and how He is RISEN!  It is so much fun because we have essentially two age groups: the 3-4 year olds and the 1-2 year olds.  We had a ton planned for the afternoon!

We started out with texture eggs for the 1-2 year olds.  (This had very little to do with Christ...)  I filled eggs with things of different textures for the kids to open up.  I color coded them so they each got the same things.  I used silk ribbons, raffia, mesh, cork board... things they couldn't eat (although I think everything made into their mouth).  

Next, we had an easter egg hunt for all of the little ones.  As you can see, the eggs were in plain sight.  It was so cute because I had filled the eggs with gold fish (a treat for all 3).  All three kids would find one, shake it, open it, sit down and eat it... then proceed to the next one...!  

 Jed decided to take his over to the chair each time.

 We managed to get a pic of all three kids... 1. sitting 2. not crying 3. looking in the same direction!!!  Could it be the goldfish???

 Arris found a great craft online called Empty Easter Tomb.  It is a great tangible example to the kids of Jesus in the tomb.  You take a large marshmallow (Jesus, white and pure, without sin), dip it in melted butter (representing the oils on his body), roll it in cinnamon/sugar (representing the spices used to prepare his body for burial), place the marshmallow in the middle of the crescent roll (representing the cloth they wrapped His body in), you put the roll into the oven (representing the tomb).  When the roll is removed from the tomb, the center of the crescent roll is empty (the marshmallow has melted), and the kids see that Jesus rose from the dead!  (just google empty Easter tomb for more instructions)

While the rolls were baking, we decorated eggs.

 Aubrey Rose drew a cross on her egg.

 The last craft was a hand print with words on each finger representing what Christ gave us.  The kids loved painting and did a great job!  

This is definitely a tradition we will continue to do in the future!