Our Easter!

Wow we had a great Easter weekend! Lots of together time, attending church together, with Greg and then heading to brunch with the Fanello family. Here is a picture of Jameson almost wearing the cute little tie we had for him. He decided at the last minute not to wear it out of the truck. I also posted some other pictures from our day (see the post below). Aunt Tam had an egg hunt for the kids. Boy did Jameson have fun with that, he couldn't decide if he was more excited about the candy or the quarters. Notice in the picture below that the pups even wanted in on the egg opening process!

I love the feeling of new-ness that comes with spring. Celebrating the resurrection of Jesus yesterday seems to fit so well with all the blooms that are on the trees (I'm sure He planned it that way). Sometime last week, after it has rained, there were blossoms all over the road from one of the trees. Jameson likes to call them spring trees - love it!

Friday with James off of work we spent a great day hanging out at home. Some of our part-time neighbors invited us over for dinner. Just as we were heading to their house, the rain that had been coming down on and off all all day seemed to pick up. Quickly we realized that there was a tornado watch. And in about 20 minutes the power was out, lucky for all of us the meal was already done. So we enjoyed a great meal, with friends...in the dark with the winds blowing outside. As the evening moved along we found out that there a tree had fallen on the power lines just up the road. We headed back to our house to go to sleep for the night. On a typical night Jameson watched a tv show before he goes to bed. He did not understand why we wouldn't turn on the tv for him. We tried a few times to explain to him that it was electric and since the power was OUT we couldn't turn it on. Then James realized that we could let him watch a dvd program on one of the laptops. So the boy got to watch a little kid tv before drifting off to dream land. (I posted a picture but for some reason it moved to a new post and I'm not willing to take the time to reload it here - look below).

One more picture, lately this boy has become almost obsessed with golf. Here he is actually hitting off the greens on one of the holes closest to our house. He played two holes...hit a little, run to where the ball landed...hit again, run again...you get the picture. We did have to have a little chat with him about the attire he was wearing for golf - this boy loves his white shirts and comfy shorts, so silly!

Easter pictures...

Here are the pictures that moved from the other post...does this 'little' boy look old or what? It is amazing to think he is going to be 4 in less then a month.

The picture of our family in the bed was taken during the power outage with the boy watching a dvd on the laptop.

The Cross!

"God put on him the wrong who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God" (2 Cor. 5:21 MSG)

It is truly amazing to think of what Jesus went through for each and every one of us. It putting me in a state of awe to truly think about it. I am so grateful that He died for our sins, because each and every one of us are sinners yet he forgives us and loves us all. I pray that I am able to keep the true meaning of Easter present not only this weekend but always. God sacrificed so much for me and you.

Photo taken in 2003 at the Disciples of Christ church in Medina, Ohio. This picture speaks to me not only because it is a cross on a hill but because of the way the trees are bending in the background, it reminds me of the thorns that are protrayed in many images of Jesus.

Video!

We've been enjoying some good family time today since James is off of work with a long weekend!

I thought I would share this great inspirational video on how to cut fabric using the cricut! Check it out here. The last few baby gifts I've made have been iron-on transfer using digital elements, next I'm going to be trying this fun option with fabric!

I'm recovering from a short bought of major allergy suffering. I went to the doctor yesterday and am on an antibiotic and allergy meds. I suppose I need to face the fact that I now have seasonal allergies and must take the medication this time of year and in the fall if I don't want to get sick!

Recording the everday moments...

Today it seemed like there were a ton of simple everyday things going on all around us. The odd part was that I had the urge to freeze time. I don't typically have that feeling as I'm excited to live in the moment with the thought that the future holds so much to be excited about. So today some of the moments I wanted to freeze:

• While we were working on Jameson's hat for crazy hat day tomorrow we were painting. We had the hat done and he wanted to continue painting. So I turned around to the scrapbook table and started working on my own project. He ran to the bathroom and when he returned he held his hands in the air and said "Ummm, now where was I?" It was so funny and dramatic. The page here is the project I was working on while the little artist was at play!

• After the painting adventures this morning we had delayed our showering until this afternoon. I was straightening up downstairs and Jameson had gone up without me. When I got up to our bathroom, the boy was laying on the rug, snuggling under a towel. He said "you know it is cooooold up here without clothes on" (with the lowered temps today we didn't turn on the heat upstairs since it is going to warm up soon)

• After we were all cleaned up we were walking down the steps to come back downstairs. Suddenly Jameson tripped (another proven point that he is my son) and stumbled a bit. I was holding a cup and as I reached to stop him from falling even more I spilt a bit of the coffee on him. He was so upset that his clean shirt had gotten messed up. He is so funny about his shirts and white tees while at home (this new shirt would have been his third for the day since he got paint on the first one). So the real reason I'm telling you my son has trouble with steps was what he said once we were sitting down on the couch. He was telling me that Jesus doesn't always walk down the steps either. He likes to slide down on his belly. It is so neat that this boy has daily conversations that involve God and Jesus. It so warms my heart.

Week prior to Easter...

Here we are the week prior to Easter. This time of year the excitement is in the air, especially at FCC. They are anticipating nearly double the normal attendance. We're doing our part by going to the early service and we're taking Greg along! I can't wait to hear the message. If you're in the area and want to join us, let me know!

In preparation for Easter I just read that Rachel Olsen is exploring the readings that Jesus did the week prior to the cross. Sounds like a very interesting study of the bible. Want to join me in this reading?

I also thought I would share another CT project that I did a few weeks ago. The kit hadn't been released yet so I couldn't post it earlier. It is such a simple little thing that I just printed out on the printer here at home and slipped into a plastic frame (the kind with the magnet on the back). It is fun to have fresh pictures on the lockers while I create in the office.

Later this week we will officially be in on spring break at our house. Jameson has one more day of school, which will consist of crazy hat day and an egg hunt. We're excited to have some extra time together. I'm planning to come up with some special activities here at the house and possibly some day trips. Does anyone have any suggestions for fun things to do with a wild almost 4 year old boy that loves car. The only thought I've come up with is to create a cool road one night after he goes to bed so he wakes up to it. If the weather cooperate we may do some day trips or something. Tomorrow it is supposed to possibly snow here. Is it really April? Okay I'm off to have dinner with some friends!

ABCs...

Okay I thought I would post over here instead of just on Facebook...

1. A is for age: 33
2. B is for butter of choice: country crock
3. C is for career right now: SAHM!
4. D is for your dog's name: Deacon
5. E is for essential item you use everyday: toothpaste and powder
6. F is for favorite TV show at the moment: Grey's is back at the top
7. G is for favorite game: Memory
8. H is for Home town: Akron, Ohio
9. I is for instruments you play: Piano & flute
10. J is for favorite juice: orange
11. K is for whose butt you'd like to kick: none
12. L is for last place you ate: home
13. M is for marriage: 10 years this September
14. N is for your full name: Jill Lynn Jarvis
15. O is for overnight hospital stays: nearly 4 years ago...Jameson's birth
16. P is for people you were with today: Jameson, James & Cade Ratliff
17. Q is for quote: I'm going to go with a recent verse that is sticking with me..."If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross each day and follow me" Luke 9:23
18. R is for Biggest Regret: no regrets
19. S is for status: relaxed
20. T is for time you woke up today: 6:54 a.m.
21. U is for underwear you have on now: black
22. V is for vegetable you love: all of them! (or at least that I've tried and aren't mixed with too many other things)
23. W is for worst habit: spending too much time online, even though I bump back and forth between doing productive things
24. X is for x-rays you've had: hands (I've broken almost all of my fingers at one point in my life)
25. Y is for yummy food you ate today: I should say the stuffed pizza I made for dinner but it honestly wasn't that great so I'll go with the salad I had for lunch!
26. Z is for zodiac sign: Scorpio

And what would a post be without a picture or two. I've added the most recent digital layout that I finished (mix of pictures from the past week), a shot of James & Jameson blowing out candles last weekend and the picture of me with Maria & Jenna...the boy took that one. He was laughing at himself and having such a good time! We've had lots of yummy treats around these parts! I have lots of other pictures to share, eventually!