Passover 2014

I feel like I'm a pretty relaxed mom about most things, but I've always been obsessed about my kids' sleep and keeping them on a schedule.  I'm a little less anal with Maya, but still would rather her get 3-4 hours of nap time each day, and one good nap at minimum, even if we destroy her morning nap with activities or church.  

On Saturday after our church egg hunt, Cas, Coady and the kids headed home for lunch while Alex stayed with me to clean-up the church.  Maya fell asleep in the car, but when they got her out 20 minutes later, she wouldn't go back down for a nap.  After lunch, Cas, Collin, Coady and Alex went to the park - my boys on their scooters, the young couple jogging, and then returned home to swim.  In that nearly two hour period I tried everything to get Maya down for a nap but to no avail.  Of course on her way to Passover she caught a 4 minute snooze in the car, but headed in to family photos, Passover Seder, and dinner with less than thirty minutes of napping on top of her bad cold.  

It was a recipe for disaster, but my resilient little girl hung in there, happily snacking away and banging on the table during the Seder, and even offering a few smiles during photos as long as she was in my arms.  Oh this beautiful, happy girl - we are so grateful she's in our family!

My youngest cousin Jackson is INCREDIBLE with Collin!  The only way we got Collin inside for Seder, leaving the new shooting rocket that Uncle Larry gave him, was to promise him that he could sit by Jackson at dinner!

Matching Brownie and Collin -

Typical reaction to photos.  You can kind of see his "Jesus is Risen" temporary tattoo from our church egg hunt on his arm for our Jewish Passover Seder!

Our family in our yellow -

Our family plus Alex and Coady -

I don't know why we don't start with the group pictures - by the time we add in my parents, my kids are done (and apparently so was Cas and my dad!)

The family at Passover 2014 -

Oh this boy, I am so thankful I get to be his mom!  He recited the first of the four questions at Passover.  And then he flipped through super-hero books while we read through the rest of the service, telling the story of God's deliverance.  I say it every year, but I love, love, love Passover and its rich symbolism for my Christian faith!

My naughty boy - with my hand coming in to grab him.  The cake was another bribe to get him to sit quietly through the dinner.

Collin found the afikomen, Maya fell asleep in the pack and play, and Cas and I got to have a few adult dinner conversations before heading home.  Another great Passover!