Easter fun

Early last week, the kids and I colored eggs. Since no one in our family is partial to hard-boiled eggs, we just color them uncooked and use them for breakfast, baking...whatever. Our family eats a lot of eggs, so we go through them fairly quickly.

Using uncooked eggs does add an additional element of potential mess, but they were very careful, and not a single egg was dropped or broken.

Some of their favorites.

Breakfast has been very festive around here this week!

Happy Easter everyone!

Our resident musicians

We have several aspiring pianists in our home. Here is a sampling of what our home sounds like on any given day...



Of course, after several times of trying to play it perfectly, the time he gets it is also when his little sister decided to ramp a matchbox car of the edge of the piano. Oh well.











And last, but not least:



What she lacks in technique, she more than makes up for in charm!

Happy Birthday, Mackenzie!!

Mackenzie turned ten in February. It was a pretty big deal, because other than being in double digits, in the Krabel household, girls may have their ears pierced for their 10th birthday. That is something she's been wanting for a long time.

Here we are at Starbucks after getting her ears done. She was a little nervous, but said it wasn't as bad as she was afraid it would be. We had a really nice day hanging out at the mall. It's not very often that we get to spend time together with just the two of us.

A couple of weeks later, we had her party with family and friends. She wanted a horse theme (no surprise). I found a horseshoe shaped cake pan, so we had one chocolate horseshoe and one lemon. She got lots of horse-themed gifts for her room, too. She was a happy girl.

Georgia Aquarium

On our way back from Ft. Benning, we stopped in Atlanta for a couple of nights and stayed with one of my cousins who lives there with her family. It was wonderful to see them, and we thoroughly enjoyed their hospitality.

While we were there, we took a trip to the Georgia Aquarium, which was amazing. Elijah was particularly excited because he is absolutely crazy about sea life and especially sharks. I think I enjoyed watching him almost as much as I enjoyed the exhibits!

Here is Elijah, all ready to see the aquarium with his shark sunglasses, shark T-shirt and shark backpack, filled with every book he owns about sharks (just in case he needs to do a little research while he's there, I guess!)

Looking up in the Ocean Voyager exhibit- a large clear tunnel surrounded by water. It feels like you're waling along the ocean floor. Very neat.

Shark and ray touch tank. It was harder to touch them than you might think, but he managed to brush a small hammerhead.

Uchee Creek

When we were at Ft. Benning, we stayed at the nicest resort area on the backside of the base. It is called Uchee Creek, and it is part of the Army MRW (morale, recreation & welfare, I think) program. We had a lake cabin with two bedrooms downstairs and a loft with two sets of bunkbeds, a full kitchen and living room area with cable TV, a huge deck with a swing, and a gorgeous view of the Chatahoochee River. I could have lived there!

The view from our deck. I could look at this every morning.

There were only two downsides. First, we were so busy doing things with Michael that we really didn't have time to enjoy it. Secondly, there was this sign just before the driveway to our cabin...

Excuse me? Alligators?

From my valentine...

Peach roses are my favorite.
I am married to the most wonderful man.
Happy Valentine's Day!

Ft. Benning, Georgia

In January, our family traveled to Ft. Benning, Georgia for Michael's graduation from basic training. Our first day there, we watched what is called the "Turning Blue" ceremony, which is when a soldier officially becomes part of the infantry.



Michael's blue infantry cord came from my brother, Ethan. I didn't know this before, but it is a tradition that if a soldier has a family member who is also an infantryman, then they can pass down their cord. Ethan is a captain stationed at Ft. Drum, New York, and he mailed his cord to Michael. I know it meant a lot to Michael.

Doesn't he look handsome?

The next day was graduation. Before the soldiers marched out, there was a neat demonstration with tanks, colored gas, and gunfire. It was loud and impressive (although Eleanor will tell you she was terrified).

Here are the kids freezing their tails off on the metal bleachers before graduation.
It was so cold!

Then the soldiers from three different companies marched out onto the field. It was a very nice ceremony. We were all so proud of Michael and how hard he as worked.

That's him, on the far right, second row from the rear.

Michael with the rest of our kids after graduation.

He's at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky now, and will probably be deploying to Iraq within a couple of weeks. We knew when he enlisted back in September that there was no question that he would be going. Still, as I looked at him with the friends he made in his platoon, I was struck by the fact that these are just kids. Eighteen years old and off to war. I know he is in God's hands, as are we all, but it is hard not to worry. Pray, pray, pray.