Pix of The Fambly Visit and Easter

The Fambly Visit:
Goodness I'm tired. I stayed up late with Lil Sis Mom and her hubby almost every night they were here. I am totally amazed that we had 3 adults, 5 kids and a 3 month old baby all under one roof and had a great time. It was controlled chaos. The kind that would surely drive certain people insane. I loved it. My boys loved it. Seemingly, all of Lil Sis Mom's family loved it. A good time was had by all. And there was much rejoicing.

I'll share some pix with you. I'd love to put way more on here but I think it would be over kill. So I tried to give everyone some face time here. And now the hard part: coming up with non-identifying clever little tags for everyone. I'll do my best.

This one...I love this one. This is a shot of the 4 oldest kids. My boys and Lil Sis Mom's two oldest girls. My 13 yr old niece is the only one I could get to take a normal picture. If you only knew my birth-father and my sister, this picture would prove nature over nurture.


Oh my goodness. This is my tiniest niece. She's 3 months old. She has 2 middle names - the 2nd of which is my name. I love that. Especially given that I have 10 siblings and this is the first time anyone dared saddle their child with any part of my name. But seriously, is this not one of the cutest babies you've ever seen? She's an amazing kid. My mom said she looks very much like I did at her age. Big ol' melon head and all. Lucky girl.


This is Lil Sis Mom and me. It's blurry but the best shot of the two of us where we weren't making stupid faces. I wikkid luv huh!


I love this shot of my sis and her oldest girl. My birth father used to call her Little Czechoslovakia - a joke that got very old because her name is actually a different country. I don't think he ever tired of that joke. He was sadly alone in that. HA!


Here is a collage of Pokemon Boy and my 9 yr old niece. They got on wonderfully. She tossed a few sighs around when he wouldn't stop talking about Pokemon or wouldn't give her some space. But over all, they really clicked. And as you can see, the goofy gene is strong in both of them.


Here is my 3 yr old niece and Lil' Bro. Seriously, she is all sorts of cute and full of attitude. I have a huge soft spot for her because A) she gives amazing hugs, B) she constantly tells you "Ah lahk yeeoo!" and C) she thinks I'm hysterical. Truth be told, she had me at C. I was pretty impressed at how well Lil' Bro and Lil' Miss Attitude got along. Sharing was at a maximum with very few melt downs. Very cute. I mean, way too stinkin' cute!


Here's another one that I threw in because their faces were just too adorable. That's Lil' Miss Attitude, Pokemon Boy and Lil' Bro.


Here's the obligatory "Parents Adoring Small Baby" shot. I kept getting the oddest shots of these two. One would look great and the other would look half in the bag or what not. So I said, "OK, just look at the baby like you like her or something," and I got this shot. That's my new brother-in-law. He rocks. I'm always happy to meet Christian men who think marriage is serious business and wives aren't disposable.



Easter:
Today was Easter and my mom's birthday. Future ex accompanied the boys and me to church. It's still such an awkward thing for him. Between the shame he feels and the protective feelings some people have for me, it's not exactly a giant open love fest. But there are always people in my church who still like the good parts in future ex that they know still exist. My pastor just loves him. Genuinely. So does his wife. The music director's wife, too. It really is hard. Yah, they're Christians, but they're human. It's hard to step off the line of people who want to woop that boy some sense, you know? Yah. I know you do.

The sermon was really cool. I'm having trouble getting my brain to function. But the pastor was going through all the places in the bible where Jesus claimed to be God. Of course, the English translations don't have the words, "I am God." But he gave the background on terms like Son of Man (read the prophecy of Daniel) and "Lord" (ie - "I Am" or Yahweh or Jehovah). Then he pointed out places where Jesus referred to himself in these terms. Also, there are places where certain translations have Jesus answering "I am he" but the actual translation shows him saying, "I Am." Oh there is way more to it than I'm blundering through here. But it was really cool. I was glad future ex got to hear it. If nothing else, he can now understand why I think Jesus is so important. He may not agree but now he might see why I draw the line at certain humor where I do. Or why certain irreverent flippant statements by unthinking people can make me shake my head or actually get really mad.

Anyway, church rocked. The worship team seemed tuned in to God. It was the first time I sang with future ex there where I wasn't self conscious. I said, hey man, this is the day that is most profound for my beliefs. I'm worshipping!!! One of my friends also joined on backing vocals. She wasn't sure about doing it but I said, just stand up here with me and worship. And sing whatever you want to. No one will care. She has a fantastic voice and it went great! When she knew a song, I'd hang back and just supplement her vocals. When I knew it more, I'd let 'er rip, as usual. And two of the songs we both knew well so we were able to harmonize (which I love!). It was good worship!

Anyway, after church, we dropped future ex home and headed up to my parents' house. Big Sis and Tall Guy were there with my extremely handsome nephew Sid.


I had crock potted a brisket and mom made the rest. And what a "the rest" it was! Rolls, green beans w/ almonds, baked potatoes, salad, corn, peach cobbler...seriously, I'm still in the elastic waisted pants.

My mom gave the boys Easter gift bags. Here are two shots of them using their giant bubble wands.



And here's a cute blurry shot of me and Lil' Bro.