Hoedown Throwdown Momma!

Easter was really good for my family this year. We were excited to have Laurie and Micah here to enjoy it with us, along with all of my other family. I am so blessed that my in-laws and my parents share holidays together. They were friends before Lance and I were ever married so we have been spending holidays with the ENTIRE family since the beginning. What a blessing!

And of course, it is a blessing for Mackenzie too. She absolutely loves having her whole family together. We had Easter dinner at our house, and everyone came bearing Easter gifts for Mackenzie. At first I worried about this because I wanted to make sure that she knew that holidays like Easter and Christmas are first and foremost about Jesus Christ and not about presents, but I think that she understands the true meanings now.

On Saturday morning we made Resurrection Rolls with her. Very cool! If you have not heard of them, you take a large marshmallow and explain that it is like Jesus, white, pure, sinless. You dip the marshmallow in melted butter and cinnamon suger like Joseph of Arimathea and Jesus' followers annointed his body after the cross. Then you wrap the marshmallow in a crescent roll, sealing it tightly, to represent the linen cloths. You cook the rolls for 10 to 12 minutes in the oven, and you can explain that the oven is like the tomb. And when the rolls are done, the marshmallow is no longer there, instead you have a sweet puffed up roll. Mackenzie had a lot of fun with it and seemed to understand the symbolism.

For Easter, Jenna got her a fish in a fish bowl and the new Hannah Montana CD. This of course overshadowed anything that Lance and I put in her Easter basket. The fish is named Schnoney (don't know where she came up with that?), and I am pretty sure it is going to have a short life span, as she is obsessed with feeding it, and I have found her on more than one occassion with her hands in the fish bowl. At least goldfish are easy to replace, right :)

As far as the Hannah Montana CD, we have listened to the Hoedown Throwdown song about 5 million times since Sunday, and Mackenzie wants me to dance with her each and every time. I got tired of bouncing around so I went to the Hannah Montana tutorial on youtube and actually learned the dance. Mackenzie and Jenna thought that was totally cool so I earned some good mom brownie points for that one. The only problem is that Mackenzie wants me to show everyone the cool Hannah Montana dance, which can create some embarrassing moments. Of course I refuse, but nevertheless I am glad she is proud of me.

The Last Month

Well, things have finally slowed down for the Howell bunch. Praise the Lord! We had a very eventful month last month. NuNu passed away, Mackenzie spent a week in the hospital, we had an estate sale for NuNu's stuff, Laurie and Micah moved back to town, and the list goes on.

I am grateful that things are relatively calm now, and we are enjoying some spring cleaning and some family time. Of course, Lance is still busy with school, but that will be over soon too, yea!!! He is building a wind turbine for his Senior Engineering Project. It is actually a windmill that is hooked up to a generator and the wind produces electricity. Pretty amazing! He is so smart, and I admire his brains and his determination. I can't wait to congratulate my graduate next month :)

One of the coolest things that I have gotten to do recently was bring Kiley and Kozmo to visit Mackenzie's Mother's Day Out class. I'm sure you are wondering who Kiley and Kozmo are. They are Jenna's baby goats. Yes Jenna has goats in her backyard. We call her Ellie Mae for a reason. Above are a few pictures of Jenna and Mackenzie showing off the baby goats to the three year olds at Holy Cross MDO.

The kids and her teacher loved the goats. And it was a lot of fun to share them. Mackenzie told Jenna that after that day she was the coolest girl in school :)

In conclusion, I am looking forward to this summer and some fun camps and vacations, and I am so thankful for everything the Lord has brought us through in the last several weeks. He is always faithful and always good. Happy Ressurrection Week!