Michelle in Real Life

Today, linking up to Ann Voskamp's, One Thousand Gifts, my gratitude list continues and these two are on my mind...

77. a treasured REAL life
78. the bumps that make the good stuff so much sweeter




I remember before Elizabeth Edwards passed away she quoted, there is a crack in everything...that's how the light gets in."  Here is a little more from Anthem by Leonard Cohen.  

The birds they sang
at the break of day
Start again
I heard them say
Don't dwell on what
has passed away
or what is yet to be...

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

We've had our share of cracks, and it is how His light has gotten in, broken, bruised, He is there covering us with His goodness and light, all the time.  Within just the past 5 years, some of the big ones...

a son is born after years of infertility
he is diagnosed with cancer
a home is purchased, a fresh start
medical bills have piled up, the real estate market plummets
a pregnancy after years of struggling again
fears and realities of a quadruplet pregnancy
a husband and father has work every day
his company goes through major layoffs including his position during the pregnancy
yes, again this past winter
a time together to reflect before adding 4 more to our family
a husband and father is in a car accident on the way to the hospital 
our babies are born healthy at 33 weeks
another son is diagnosed, this time with a life-threatening heart defect
our focus is on our family and adjusting to our new life, guardian angels step in
outer relationships are strained


And through it all we are here, we are standing, and we are humbled by Him seeing us through it all, the darkest deepest moments of despair, fear, anxiety.  We have no idea what is to come and we know many have endured so much more...yet this is us.  Does it define us?  No, but the light that has seeped in has done some changing, rearranging, faith-building.

Another look...
a son is cancer free
financially it works...somehow...by the grace of God
time with no work, turns into time taking care of our son 
a husband gives it to God the second time around, a job just happens to be found so quickly, a better job
a son is given time before making any decisions about his heart and he thrives meanwhile
a life is thrown out of balance and then righted again with new perspective and faith rooted even deeper


We have been taken care of and none of it has been by our own doing, other than turning it over to Him.  All glory is His.

While this is of course about my family, I make no qualms about this...it's easy to have faith when things are going well.  When I just found out I was pregnant with our quadruplets, someone had told me she needed to give me some tough love, I just needed to have more faith.  It made my belief in this even deeper...We are not here to question someone else's degree of faith, especially if in our own life we have had little to challenge our faith.  (And tough love is never a good idea for those who are tough enough on themselves).  All of our stories are different.  I take comfort and growth in those who share the REAL, and am thankful for all those in my life who do.  

Red Flyer Gang Strikes Again

I have told you all how much the boys love these Radio Flyer Scoot n' Zooms.  This is how we start out our morning before bringing E to school.  They now have perfected the art of drifting, and love big bro chasing them.  All would not be complete without a little dance from Liam.

Enjoy ;)

Griffin is awesome on his scooter too but our little techie (mini-Matt) was much more interested in how the video camera works...why I don't get video too often!

Easter Celebration

We host Easter and I am so happy that this year is probably the smoothest it has gone despite being caught in a hailstorm and a last minute trip to urgent care Friday for E's asthma.  We're a pretty awesome team.  While it was a ton of work, it was so worth it just to see the look on these five little faces.  We enjoyed time with family, especially great-grandparents, who so enjoyed time with the kids.  And yes we did make it through church with a bit of help you know who you are thank you!  We did a lot of prep, we don't have a cry room or nursery, after a little snafu heading in, not so thrilled with all the people, they quickly overcame it and stayed in the pew for over an hour and did beautifully, so proud of them!!!!  Alleluia!  Grandma Marion says her prayers that morning helped and I sure agree!  This pic is of half the car, if I took the other half, we definitely would have been late ;)

Easter morning sweetness, my favorite part of the day

Aiden loving his new pillow pet (these are smaller versions from Cloud B so cute)

Griffin and all the dump trucks (they are from Green Toys-we have an eco-conscious Easter Bunny)

Daddy and E makin' the punch

E's loot

yes everyone is smiling and good except mommy, darn closed eyes again!

more loot

a very sweet pic of Griffin and his sweet cheeks by Daddy

champagne punch so yummy

homemade, from-scratch cinnamon rolls, should have taken a picture of the kitchen b/c then you would have believed me :)

more yummy food (donut muffins)

quiches, asparagus parmesan, scalloped au gratin potatoes, muffin frittatas, 

waldorf chicken salad, dilled egg salad, hashbrown casserole

Our Egg Hunt, the boys so loved it this year!

E and I found these massive eggs, Liam was hysterical with his!

Griffin and his Elmo egg, they loved these too

Beckham, more Elmo love

no matter what, boys will always find the mud

sneaking chocolate

so funny he didn't eat it just wanted to unwrap it 

Aiden was more ready for a round of golf
and the tongue is sticking out again ;)

and still more Elmo love

Griffin so dapper

E and his cousin Mikayla

Beck and his buddy Grandpa Jack

Mommy and Aiden, my little helper

not sure if Griffin is believing what Grandpa Jack is telling him 

Liam loved the bunny

cheesy Aiden stepping right in front of the camera

Liam just had to show Grandma Marion something outside

Beck lovin' on his teddy bear

an attempted picture of all 5...church, no nap...yeah right!  

stay tuned for a better shot ;)

thanks to our guests for bringing dessert, 

make your own sundaes

a sweet moment Grandma Marion and her Godchild

Yes Beck put this on his own head...Grand Poohba!  

E "teaching" them his new game YamSlam

he says to Grandma Farinella, 

"you could try that OR you really could go for the flush"

yep 5 and giving tips on playing poker

E going through the Resurrection Eggs

awww

And after all of our guests left and the over-sugared exhausted little guys were put to bed it
was time for a special Nighttime Egghunt for E with glow in the dark eggs I bought on
clearance after last Easter and E couldn't wait to do :)

Finally before bedtime were talking about what to do with all the candy.  Matt says, "I think we'll just file it" to which E replies, "IN MY STOMACH!"  He just keeps getting funnier ;)

 We hope your Easter was beautiful and joy-filled too!

A Few of Our Easter Faves

Here are a few Easter favorites for our boys...

Resurrection Eggs - for years we made our own but I couldn't find all the pieces this year, so I purchased a set from Hobby Lobby 1/2 off and we always go through them before Easter brunch with our family and our guests.  They go through the story of Easter in a very kid-friendly format.

Books - The Story of Easter, What is Easter, and our absolute favorite, maybe my favorite book ever, The Tale of Three Trees.  It is absolutely beautiful.  Ethan reads the story too sometime during our Easter gathering here.  If you haven't read it, you will probably shed a few tears when you do, it's just so meaningful.  Three trees, plain ol' ordinary trees dreamed of what they wanted to be and their dreams are fulfilled in the most amazing way...greater than they could ever have imagined for themselves.  I love giving this book as a gift, and you bet I will buy one for every single grandchild of mine too.  It encompasses everything about God's plan for us, it's just divine.  

Ethan was also gifted some mass books that he enjoys learning about different parts of mass and their meanings.  

DVD - while we love our Veggie Tales DVDs (E at the moment, and I am sure the little boys will too), I think the best explanation of Easter in DVD format is the Read and Share Bible DVD: EASTER.  It is in a way that is appropriate and just on for explaining Easter to kids.  It is so hard for us all, especially kids, to think of Jesus' suffering, and I like how this DVD puts it and the focus on his resurrection and our joy.

My Good Eggs

Phew, I feel like it should be 8pm!  We had such a fun artsy crafty morning (while fully aware though of the meaning of today being Good Friday).  E is off school and we decided to enjoy it in slow mode in our morning in pjs showing the boys our Easter egg traditions.

our colorful dot paint Easter egg playroom decorations

 E still loves the dot paints and I love they don't make such a mess

and are fun to use.  He made his all on his own, it says, "We Love You Juesus (Jesus)!"

E enjoying be the Art Teacher ;) 

The boys were saying dot, dot, dot, dot, so cute!

Dot paints are non-toxic, washable (awesome!) and scented although the little guys didn't get that yet and I wasn't too keen on them shoving the paint up their noses, maybe next time ;)  There are so many projects you can do with these paints.  I purchased them individually at our local Chalkboard store but you can buy a set a Jo-Ann, Hobby Lobby, probably any crafting store.  

And then it was time to dye Easter eggs!  

E reading the instructions and trying to figure out the tablet color, we try every year and I think have gotten it completely right once, tricky little things ;)

close!  

E wanted to help his brothers drop the eggs in..what a sweet big bro.

They loved it!  Can't wait for next year when they can be even more involved!  

aren't they beautiful?!!  

E did a little experiment, these were with vinegar, we're fans of dark bold colors, but we did some with lemon juice too for lighter springy colors.