See You Later, Alligator! After Awhile, Crocodile!

My Granny Pat turned 91 last weekend!  Wow!  I am thankful for her life and the many ways she has served her family and others over her lifetime.  She was a mother and a nurse and worked late, long hours to meet the needs of her children and her patients.  If I had to guess, I would say her primary way of showing love is performing acts of service.  Of course, at 91 that gets a bit more difficult but I still see it happening.  She lives in a adorable little barn house behind my parents.  This past year while we have been in Gatesville, she has been loving me with encouragement.  Each time I see her, she reminds me that she is proud of me and my little family.  I see love shining from her eyes when she looks at me, my husband or my boys. 

We celebrated her birthday this past weekend with a family gathering at Hay Valley Baptist Church.  This is the little country church that my mom grew up in…although the outhouses are gone, it still has an outdoor tabernacle!  It also now boasts a really fun playground and large kitchen/gathering area, making it an ideal place for a large family get together. 

We had a birthday/thanksgiving/going away party which equaled lots of delicious food, homemade from scratch cakes baked by my Uncle Doug, and lots of family! 

I am thankful for a large family of faith that will rally around us and cover us in prayer and encouragement.  I am also thankful that when my family prays, I know that voices and hearts of all ages (toddlers, children, teens, adults, elderly) will be joining in.  What a sweet legacy my Grandmothers carry.

Here is an overview:

Good-bye, I’ll See You Later! Cash Family Gathering.

We spent last weekend with Jody’s side of the family for a “Goodbye, see you later-Autumn-Thanksgiving-Christmas” celebration before our move to Haiti.  My highlights of the weekend were:

~Seeing Sarah & Jerod’s new house.  We love it and feel blessed that they invited all of us over when they only moved in the weekend before.  There wasn’t a box in the house.  They had pictures on the wall.  Just nuts. =)

~Fantastic autumn weather.  Perfect for walks around the adorable downtown square of Van Alstyne.

~Noise of six cousins having a blast.  They didn’t stop moving all day and spent hour upon hour jumping and wrestling on the trampoline.  No naps. Chaos.  It was pure joy for them.  I loved watching it.  My heart longs for my boys to grow up near cousins and family…never mind we are moving to another country. 

~Eating Mexican food for Thanksgiving while listening to Christmas music…the weekend before Halloween.  In this family, just about anything goes!

~Hearing Jody & his dad discuss Baylor football with the game blaring on the radio in the background.  Static and all. (They were TRYING to hear it over all the noise of the kids…anyways, there probably hasn’t been a quiet Cash family gathering in all history!)

~Dressing up the boys as Mario and Luigi and Little Batman (really, REALLY homemade, no sew costumes using things we already had around the house…they are little.  I can still get away with that!)

~Walking around the square with the whole gang collecting treats from the shops and vendors set up.  It was small town goodness.

~Having the whole family gather around us before we headed home and cover us in blessings and prayers.  I felt loved. 

It really couldn’t have been a much better day.  Thankful.

Trick Or Treat VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Resurrection Rolls

I want to be a mom who lets my boys explore, learn and do things themselves...it doesn't come natural to me. I am having to be intentional to bring them into things instead of always doing everything myself. Does this cause more messes for me to clean up? You betcha! But I am daily learning to relax and just enjoy and I see the boys thrive when that happens. They are boys, BUT they love to be creative and do crafts, make art, and cook with me.
We made resurrection rolls at Easter last year, too, but this year I let the boys do most of the "baking". They did a great job despite uncontrollable finger licking!

The "Jesus" marshmellow annointed in oils and spices (aka butter, cinammon and sugar) then wrapped in linen (cresent rolls) and put in the oven tomb. After 10 minutes(3 days) the Jesus marshmellow is risen and only the linen is left!

Enjoying the fruits of their labor.

Easter Joy

Our Easter Joy started 12 days before Easter Sunday with an idea I got from Pintrest (ofcourse.)! Each day the boys took turns picking the next egg in our 12 day count down to Easter. Inside was a "clue" and scripture that explained how this clue was part of the Easter story. We really enjoyed this and will include it as part of our Easter traditions because it brought light to some of the small details of Jesus' death and resurrection. I tried to be as detailed (and age appropriate) as possible on what Jesus endured out of His love for us and His Father. Lucas would regularly interrupt with, "that's so sad!". Which is true, but God regularly turns mourning into dancing and His power is perfected in times of weakness. Thank you, Lord.

The boys with our 12 day countdown to Easter eggs.

Josiah with our "Jesus" that was wrapped in white linen (strip of paper towel)...one of the last clues.

Lucas wrapping up Lego Jesus in white linen.

Then the boys put Jesus in the tomb that Lucas made at Highland and put the stone in front. Jesus had risen on Easter morning!

Josiah & Lucas helped boil and dye Easter eggs this year and wanted to stay and watch while the eggs were cooking...I told them it would take a while and to go play. It is true that a watched pot never boils!

The finished products!