A minimalist Easter celebration and why

This year for Easter, we decided to keep things simple.  As in years past, we went to church Sunday morning and had a simple dinner at home (maple glazed ham, mashed potatoes, and creamed spinach.)  We also opted to dye eggs on Easter Sunday too.  However, we did not do baskets for the dumplings.  We've never done anything outrageous or grand on Easter, but this year we decided to scale back on the candy and chocolate, gifts, and "stuff."  The girls each got a little chocolate bunny and two small chocolate squares.  Caleb got a bag of gummy bears and marshmallows.  They all split some peeps.  That's it.  And not a single one of them complained.  Well, Havi did when I first told her she needed to eat breakfast before she ate her chocolate squares.  But then I relented, and all was well in the world again.  

Earlier in the week, the girls did an egg hunt at Patrick's work while Caleb went to tennis practice.  And as such, we decided to skip the egg hunt at home.  Once we got home from church, we snapped a few photos of everyone outside.

The sequence on Havi's dress was so reflective that it shimmered on Caleb's shirt.  I didn't even see this until I uploaded the photos. And if you couldn't tell, that big boy of ours has decided he wants to grow out his hair.  Just how long he's going to let it grow, only time will tell.

So after photos, it was time to dye eggs.

After egg dyeing, we went swimming and watched the movie Home Alone 2.  I found it funny that we watched a Christmas movie at Easter.  lol

Anyway, the simplicity of our Easter celebration was the result of our desire to keep our focus on the true meaning of the holiday.  We wanted to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, not keep track of baskets, eggs, candy, and "stuff." 

One of our goals for 2015 has been to declutter our home and our lives.  We have donated a lot of stuff we no longer use in our home, and it feels great.  But we're not just ridding our home of unnecessary things; We are also "decluttering" our lives, in particular our food choices and screen time.  All three dumplings have been supportive of these changes as well.  It's been great seeing them spend more time doing things together as well as taking an interest in their health and well being.

While we still have a way to go with decluttering our home, we're happy about the direction we are going in.  We've realized the importance of living with just the things you need.  That was one thing my Bubby (gramma) taught me well.  But that was easy for her to do, as we had very little.  These three precious kiddos of ours, however, are growing up in a very different world than the one I grew up in.  Patrick and I have a greater opportunity to provide for them, making it more difficult to instill in them this same core value.  The world and its influence will also try to pull them in a different direction.  But our desire is for them to value togetherness over stuff.  And if that is our desire for them, we need to model it for them as well.  Now don't think we're going to go off the deep end and sell everything we own and live off the grid.  We're not going that extreme. But...we're embracing the minimalist approach to living and are already happy with how it's working for us.  

How she got there

So I finally managed to borrow Caleb's phone in order to shoot another video of Havi riding her pedal bike. But before I share it, I thought I would include a few photos I snapped of Havi last fall after she just received her balance bike.  I never got around to posting them because I was so busy sharing about our trip to Connecticut.  But I thought now would be a good time to sneak them in...also because (maybe) I haven't picked up my camera lately.  Shame on me.  But thankfully, that's changing soon because we have some special visitors coming next week to help us celebrate another little dumpling's birthday.

Anyway, she had been riding her balance bike about a month when we had this impromtu shoot in the cul-de-sac.  Isn't she just the cutest?

So I looked back on my computer to pull a video or two of her when she first got her balance bike (and thankfully found some.)  It's the Scoot by Ridgeback, and I'm so glad we got it for her.  It's built like a real bike in every way, except it's missing the pedals.  These videos were shot when she first hopped on it.

After riding her balance bike for five months, she was more than ready to move on to a pedal bike.  If I were to take a photo of the bikes side-by-side, you would see why she so easily transitioned to her pedal bike, which is the 12" Hotrock by Specialized.  They both have 12" wheels, highly adjustable seat heights, and wide handle bars with comfortable grips.  Unlike most big box store bikes, the Hotrock's pedals are further in front, allowing a child to easily push on the pedal to gain speed.  Not only that, the frame of the bike is wider and lower to the ground, offering the rider more control.

I have had several people tell me how amazed they are that Havi can ride a pedal bike at the age of 3.  Sure, she's a bright little girl and a fast learner.  But really, the right tools and some practice was all it took.

Still 'lil Hav, we're really proud of you, girl!

Go get 'em!

What she said

It's hard to believe our precious Havi has been in our arms fifteen months now.  And in just two short months, she will be turning three.  Where oh where has the time gone?  She's no longer that itty bitty 18 month old we held in China.  Nope.  I seriously tried to savor those younger months because Madeline and Caleb came home at much older ages, 28 months and 34 months respectively.  Yes, I tried savoring and appreciating diaper changes and tantrums because I knew those things would come to an end.  And when they did, I would be sad.  Call me crazy.

Anyway, the other night I was putting Havi to bed.  She likes to bring a toy to bed, mostly to play with to delay sleep.  Well, this particular night she grabbed her China baby album.  It's the album we actually had sent her with photos of us, but her foster family switched a few photos out with some of her and one with Havi and both her foster parents.  Despite the room being lit by just a night light, I asked her who the people were in the photos.  She pointed to herself and said, "Me."  Then I pointed to her foster parents and she said, "Mama, Baba."  I couldn't believe it.  It's been probably six months or more since she has looked at those photos.  Yet, she still identifies with her foster parents.  It was a reminder of just how strong their bond was, how much they loved her and she them.  It reminded me (and Patrick when I told him) of the hurt she expressed in Taiyuan.  Her heart was so broken....her precious little heart, crushed.  While that time was difficult for her, I'm so thankful she was so deeply loved at such a young age.  To see her today freely hugging and kissing her brother and sister just melts my heart.  It's a testimony to that first love.

Well, I thought I would include a few photos of Havi that I snapped the other night while she played in the front yard when Baba was trying to fix her hand brake on her bike. They eventually went on a little bike ride, but when Havi realized they were going around the block faster than she could keep up, she sobbed hysterically for her Baba.  It was precious and heart breaking all at once.

A double celebration

As I mentioned in my last post, we spent the morning of my birthday on the water.  Just like we did two years ago, we rented a pontoon boat for half the day.  We cruised up and down a bit, looking at some nice homes on the water and then dropped anchor at one of the small islands that dot this part of the river.

Havi had actually been fighting a fever for the last two days, and we were unsure if we were even going to get out on the water.  Her fever finally broke, but she still wasn't quite herself.

Patrick set up one of the sun shades for us to relax under while the dumplings splashed in the water.

Although not the same islands as last time, we still managed to find two islands connected by a sandbar.  The dumplings had so much fun walking through the brush and exploring, in addition to splashing in the water.  (You can actually see our pontoon boat anchored near the sandbar, just above and to the right of Caleb's head in the shot below.)

After lunch, I snapped a few shots of Caleb and Madeline, and then we attempted a few photos of me with the dumplings.  And just so you know that I'm keeping it real, you can see all that extra sunscreen reapplied and totally NOT rubbed in.  Oh well.

Then it was off to explore the second island.  What Patrick didn't tell any of us was that he had actually spied this rope swing as we went by in the water, which was his reason for selecting this location to drop anchor.  Caleb and Madeline were initially unsure about it, but once they were on, we couldn't get them off!  Even Havi had a turn.

And yes, Caleb is giving his sister bunny ears in the shot above.  

And this is what three tired dumplings look like after four hours of boating.  

And that was pretty much the end of the birthday festivities that day.  Havi's fever came back, and we were unable to go out to dinner that night.  We were unsure if she and Patrick were even going to go with us to watch Caleb play tennis in my sister's neck of the woods.   Thankfully, though, her fever did finally break for good.  And on Saturday afternoon, we all headed out to watch Caleb play.  My sister came out with my niece Leah because my nephew Josh was home napping.  Caleb played up in the 12s division and took second place!  He came so close to forcing a tiebreaker against the boy he played against in the first place playoff.  It was such fun tennis to watch.  We are so proud of him.

Then it was time to head back to my sister's place and get ready for dinner.  We snapped a few photos in the front yard.  And for kicks we tried to replicate the cheerleading photo in the last post, but we were laughing too hard to make a good effort.  Yeah, dress and skinny jeans....probably not the best wardrobe choice for doing cheerleading stunts when you're well past your cheerleading prime. (By the way, I'm in the printed dress.)

After our shenanigans, we all hopped in the car and headed to dinner.  Andy's parents came with us as we were not only celebrating our birthdays but also Mother's Day.  We ate at a cozy little Italian spot.  The food was fantastic, and we all had a great time.

We gave my sister her very own ice cream maker.  So now all the special people in her neck of the woods can enjoy fresh, homemade ice cream without having to make the trek to my house.  To say they're excited would be an understatement.

To celebrate me, Deb and Andy gave me some good old fashioned 35mm film!  Yep, you read that right.  As if two cameras and a smart phone aren't enough, I have decided that I want to give shooting film a try.  And my sis and BIL graciously bought me my first rolls of professional film for my new-to-me 35mm film SLR, which should be on my doorstep some time today.  I'm so excited.  And not only did my amazing hubby treat me to a new film SLR for Mother's Day, but he also bought me a new 80-200mm f/2.8 lens.  After six serious years of shooting digital, I finally have a prime telephoto lens to go with the rest of my fixed prime lenses!  I can't wait to use this at Madeline's dance recital and Caleb's tennis matches (and portraits too!)  Oh, and I cannot forget to mention that my precious dumplings bought me my very own tennis racquet for my birthday!  Now I don't have to keep using Caleb's second racquet when he asks me to hit with him. lol

Anyway, it was quite the action packed weekend.  Lots of love being shared and good ole memory making at its best.  I am so blessed with a wonderful husband and dear children.  And I'm so thankful that my sister and I live within driving distance so we can still celebrate our birthday and Mother's Day together.  With our mother and gramma deceased, it means so much to celebrate these times together.  I love being a twin, and I love her like crazycakes.

Happy Birthday and Mother's Day, Deb.
And a belated Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there in the blogosphere!