Happy Easter!

He is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!

It was a bit of an unusual Easter for us.  Instead of getting dressed up in our Easter best for church and helping coordinate the egg hunt at church, we were were off to serve breakfast to the homeless down at St. Paul's in Nashville.  Our church has the 1st Sunday of the month and of course for April, this fell on Easter.   Not surprising, a lot of the usual volunteers didn't want to serve on Easter.  Everyone has family in town, and let's be honest, Easter is probably the best church service of the year.   So my friend Christy and I decided our families would do the breakfast together.   We served up pancakes, sausage, cereal and fruit.  Plus, Christy scrambled up 18 dozen eggs which she brought down in crockpots! 

The numbers were down this month, which although means leftovers, also means that fewer people in the shelter.  Good news!  We packed it up and brought it over to one of the shelter kitchens who said they could use it.   We prayed with the pastor at St. Paul and left feeling the amazing spirit of Easter. 

This afternoon, we enjoyed a yummy lunch out with my parents.  It was the first time I've ever eaten out for Easter.   I missed some of our family tradition dishes, but no clean up and dishes?  That's alright!  It rained on and off earlier today, but when the showers cleared out, Bassam and Matt headed to the golf course.

Now it's nearing dinner-time and we need to start think about digging out our backpacks and looking at the week ahead.  Spring break is OVER!   Although the weather has been a little hit or miss, we crossed a lot off our to-do lists, relaxed, were hometown tourists, plus enjoyed a quick visit from my Uncle George and cousins Cathy and Theresa, and their kids who stopped in for the night on their way home from Alabama. 

Now the roller-coaster ride to summer begins.  Just 7 weeks to go!

Happy Easter!

Christ is Risen!

He is Risen indeed!  Alleluia!

Despite the day starting with a light rain and more in the forecast for the afternoon, I was pleased that the meteorologists got it wrong once again.   The church Easter Egg hunt went off without a hitch and I was able to serve Easter dinner for my parents, B's parents, brother and friends Ashley and Tammy on my back porch!  

I would love to show you pictures of these people.  Or the wonderful meal we served.  But, no actual pictures were taken, so you'll have to take my word for the fact that everyone looked great and the food was awesome, too.  Bassam volunteered to be in charge of pictures because he rightfully declared we haven't been very good at taking pictures lately of our larger family.   Good sentiment, but probably the wrong man for the job.  Should have made it Gracie, except she undoubtedly would have used some weird filter that would put dog noses and ears on all of us.

But since Bassam forgot altogether --and so did I -- maybe those filters wouldn't have been so bad.

So here are a few pictures I snapped on my phone. . . .

Took this one very early this morning when I woke up coughing my head off at 4 am and couldn't fall back asleep.   I took a shot of Mucinex (disgusting) and headed for the couch.  Word to the wise, the glitter eggs in Gracie's basket (right) *seemed* like a good idea, except now there is glitter all over my family room.  It's like Christmas all over again.  

Here are the kids in front of the cross at church this morning. I took about 6 and this is the only one with 2 kids with open eyes.  In their defense, it was very bright, but c'mon . . . mama needs one good picture!  I'll take the squints, I guess!

Here's when we realized we didn't get a nice family picture while we dressed up.  Like any resourceful family, we decided to snap a selfie.   Once again, way too bright . . . Matt is actually trying to hide in the shadow of my head!  It was so bright, Gracie decided it looked better in black and white.   #TweensKnowBest

Bassam snapped this one before everyone came over for dinner.  You know, when he was declaring his intentions to make sure this Easter was well documented. #LastPhotoOfTheDay

So we may not have those family pictures I was hoping for, but we did have a lot of fun.  It was great having all those special people around the table on this blessed Easter day! 

Happy Easter

Christ is risen! 

Spring break may be over, but you can't beat doing it on Easter Sunday!  Bassam and Matt rolled in from their Sweet 16/Elite 8 adventure around midnight.  By 8 am, they were up and at 'em and we were headed to church.  It was a beautiful service followed by volunteering for the Easter egg hunt. 

This afternoon, we hosted Easter dinner for my parents, B's parents, Wadih, Tammy and Ashley.  Everything was delicious and we were able to eat on the porch, which was awesome (plus my outside table comfortably seats 12, unlike my dining room!). 

Now it's Sunday night and we are enjoying our Reese's Peanut Butter Egg buzz and getting backpacks together for the week ahead.  

Just 8 weeks until summer vacation! ☀️

Camping and Easter part deux . . .

What the weekend lacked in sleep, it made up for in fun!

Right after school, Gracie and I trekked up to Camp Holloway in Millersville, TN for our Brownie campout.   What should have been an hour drive ended up closer to 2 and 1/2 hours due to construction, accidents and Friday traffic. 

Needless to say, by the time we got there I was already exhausted. 

The evening was spent doing activities with some older Scouts from our area, which was awesome.   They had planned some great science demonstrations and games that our girls loved. 

Afterwards, we headed to the camp fire for songs and s'mores!

Of course getting the girls to go to sleep afterward was no easy task.   I'm not going to lie, at some point, I pulled out my earbuds, turned on some music and tuned them out.  

Saturday was busy.  After breakfast, clean up and the flag ceremony, we embarked on a day full of letterboxing, kickball, hiking, scavenger hunting and an obstacle course.  

When 3:30 rolled around, we were were a wonderful combination of dirty, tired and happy.   We hit the road and enjoyed a much faster trip home. 

Today after church we headed to B's folks house to celebrate Orthodox Easter.  As always, Bassam's mom cooked up a storm.   All of my favorite dishes were on the table and some of my favorite people were around it.  In addition to my in-laws and B's two uncles, Siham invited my parents and Tammy to share the holiday with them.  

Plus the kids managed to score more Easter candy in the form of a foot-tall chocolate bunny.  At this rate we'll be eating chocolate and jelly beans until the 4th of July.   But you won't catch my kids complaining!  

Happy Easter!

Christ is Risen!

He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

Although Bassam started the day at the hospital (he's on call this weekend --Boo!), the kids and I spent a beautiful morning at church. 

The kids and I arrived to early to stuff some last minute eggs, flowered the cross, went to worship and then with the help of some of my sweet high school girls at church, we hid 600 eggs that the kids at church scooped up in less than 5 minutes.  

Okay, less than 3 minutes. 

A good time was had by all!

After church, we rushed home to get things ready for a late Easter lunch.  My parents, Amy, Tammy and our friend Rundi joined us for a yummy dinner of ham, hash brown casserole, 2 kinds of salad, homemade bread and strawberry pie  It was nice enough to eat on the porch, which was awesome.   Tammy brought her puppy, Coco, who Charlie spent the afternoon ignorning.   He's so classy. 

By 4, everyone was gone.  Amy was heading back to the airport.  Bassam was back at the hospital and I enjoyed a bit a of peace and quiet while the kids played outside.    Of course, peace and quiet are always short lived.  Before I knew it, we were in the usual Sunday night frenzy of packing backpacks, picking out clothes, reviewing the calendar and making lists.   

Back to reality?   Perhaps.  But I'm holding on tightly to the joy of Easter!!  Christ is Risen!

5th grade blues . . .

So glad it is a short week!

Even thought I successfully passed the 5th grade (with my to-this-day favorite teacher of all time---Mrs Rees!) many, many years ago . . . it's been back to haunt me this entire week.   I don't know if the almost 2 weeks of snow days is playing a role, but Matt is getting SLAMMED with homework.   Add a little ADHD in to the mix and both 5th grader and parents are pulling their hair out.

And while I have hair to spare, the husband does not.

Add to the fact that I haven't gotten enough sleep or consistent work-outs in this week and may or may not have eaten my weight in Milk Duds and I'm feeling terribly sluggish.

However, the silver lining is Bassam and I had an awesome early-anniversary date night on Wednesday with dinner at Kayne Prime and tickets to see Jerry Seinfeld at TPAC.  I finally found, purchased and picked up (thanks to my awesome dad and his pick up truck) a new coffee table.   AND it is Easter this weekend, which is one of my favorite holidays! 

So ready to take out those ALLELUIAS (and finish up 5th grade).

And you thought it was just Holy Week . . .

How is it I am always the first one up in the morning but the last one ready?  

Hint:  It's not because I dawdle or take a long time to get ready.

This morning as I drove Matthew to Math Club I mentioned that I had a busy day on tap.  He nodded and said,  "I bet....with tomorrow being April Fools Day and Easter on Sunday."

Yes, all those darn April Fools Day errands take up a lot of time.
 

Christos Anesti!

Today we celebrated Orthodox Easter with B's family.   As usual, my mother-in-law cooked enough food for 50 people, even though there were only 12 of us around the table. 

My sister was in town this weekend and it was her first experience for a middle eastern holiday dinner.  They are loud, a bit chaotic and always delicious.  Today was no different.   Amy held her own, ate too much and was seemingly unphased when the conversations would abruptly switch from English to Arabic.

The only bummer about Orthodox Easter is there were no Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs. 

And then it would have been perfect!

Why do I have 5 cans of baked beans?

Despite gray skies and some showers in the morning and early afternoon, Easter was a lovely day.   Our small church was bursting at the seams, the egg hunt after worship (which I coordinated--and had to be set up inside at the last minute!) was a success, Matthew and Gracie were thrilled with the goodies left by the Easter Bunny at our house and Bassam got to resume eating chocolate and drinking Diet Coke, having given them both up for Lent.

Life is good.

Despite that, I was glad for Monday to come around (Wow!  Who says that?!?!).  My little "April Fools" were back at school and I was able to catch up on PTO work, get the church newsletter out, and make a trip to Sam's Club and Target.

Having just spent the better part of last week at Tammy's house, I found myself re-inspired to spend time organizing my house.   I understand this is an oft recurring theme in my life, but if you were to spend time at her place, you would feel it, too.   Tammy would argue she has no choice but to be organized with limited space in her condo and has no one else to pick up after, but I appreciate and admire her organization and wouldn't mind infusing a bit of it in to my house. 

 

After spotting a set of OXO POP Containers (airtight, stackable containers that keep your dry food fresh with a push button on the lid) like Tammy's at Sam's this morning, I decided my first task would be the pantry. 

 

I should probably be embarrassed to show you how untidy my pantry was, but here goes.  I did already have some bins for granola bars, oatmeal packets and the vast amounts of candy that found it's way in to our house on Easter, but still things were kind of messy.  There were also things like two opened boxes of graham crackers and enough rice and baked beans to feed everyone on our street for 3 days.  

So now  . . . for your viewing pleasure I present another slightly-blurry photo of the new-and-improved pantry!   Ta da!!!! 

 It's not perfect, but it looks so much better and I know all the open dry goods will stay fresh!  Thanks for the inspiration, Tammy!

Now . . . what should I do tomorrow?

Christ is risen!

 

He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

 

Easter blessings from our family to yours!

12 years and counting . . . .

I can't think of a better way to celebrate our 12th anniversary than enjoying a joyous Easter worship and eating massive amount of Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs.

Happy Anniversary to my sweet husband.

And Happy Easter to all.    He is Risen!

Easter wrap up

So here it is the day after Easter and coincidentally, my 29th birthday.  Okay, not really 29.   Tammy and I decided we were going to hold steady at 37, but it threw my kids over the edge.  Seriously, when I floated the idea on Saturday it unleashed 20 minutes of questions.   Oh well, I guess I'll have to carry on.   Besides, I love presents--and if you stop counting, do you stop getting presents?

Easter was fantastic.  My kids managed to rack up 4 . . . count 'em 4 . . . Easter egg hunts.  In addition to the Brentwood egg hunt last week, they had one at our house Easter morning, one at church and one that the Brown family put on for them after church (Seriously?  Do we have the best neighbors or what!??!).   We have so much candy in our house, I might fall in to a diabetic coma just looking at it. 

Mmmmm . . . . candy.   How I've missed you.!

The afternoon was spent at B's families house for a traditional big holiday meal.  We were thrilled that his great-grandma (Tata) came over.   She hasn't done it in quite some time (even though it's just down the street) and it made the day so extra special.   She was in a great mood and feeling good so I took advantage and snapped some pictures of her with the kiddos.    She is otherwise not a fan of having her picture taken --and since she is 97, I have to respect that.  But what a treasure seeing her beautiful smile with the great-grandkids was!

Bassam, David and Matthew went to the Predators playoff game last night, while Gracie and I picked up her friend Amelia who spent the night with us while her parents were out of town.   Desperately needed nail polish remover as I broke a brand new bottle on the bathroom floor (ugh!!), but alas, Target wasn't open (what!??!).   So after a quick stop at Walgreens I took the girls for dinner at Pie in the Sky.  Yes, pizza . . . on Easter.   Admittedly, I felt better about it after reading my pal Mindy over at Double Chocolate Thoughts ate at Subway.

As for the  birthday -- no big plans.   I think we're going out for dinner tonight, but beyond that I don't know.   B got me an iPhone for my birthday this weekend!   I was pretty set on getting a "regular phone" and needed one badly since my was shutting off 3 to 10 times a day, but he was convinced I would be sorry within 6 months.   I'll never know--but right now it seems like a bit too much technology for my life.    If it keeps me out of the Verizon store for the foreseeable future, I'll be happy!!!

Bunnies and dogs . . .

Today was the annual "Running of the Children" . . . a.k.a. the City of Brentwood Easter Egg hunt.   One large open field, hundreds of kids and thousands and thousands of plastic eggs and wrapped candies -- it's truly a sight to behold. 

 After scooping up our share (and then some) of some of the most disgusting candy to be had, we had our picture taken with the Easter Bunny.   So glad to be past the age where my kids scream in terror at these photo ops (especially after waiting in a long line), but equally happy that we haven't reached the age where they think they're too cool to do it. 

On a much sadder note, we heard that our dear friend Tammy lost a much loved member of her family tonight -- Memphis.    Memphis was one of the sweetest and happiest dogs I have ever known.   She had a long life--and was spoiled rotten every minute of it.  

I told the kids about Memphis on the way home tonight.   Both were sad and after the obligatory questions about when they (and everyone they  know) are going to die, Gracie reminded us that now Jesus could take Memphis for her walks and wasn't that lucky!?!

For four years old, she's awfully smart. 

Easter Part Deux

While it was a bittersweet day at our own church this morning as it was our last Sunday before Pastor John moves on to his new call in Tampa, it was a glorious Sunday in the Greek Orthodox church. Today is Orthodox Easter. We celebrated in true Helou-fashion -- lots of people and lots of food! The kids even managed to score some more Easter treats from Tata!

Christ is Risen--again/still!!!

50-70% off . . .

The kids were back at school today (HOORAY!!), so after drop off and a couple quick errands, including a trip to the post office (IRS--it's on the way!!), I came home and worked like crazy to get some of those long-ignored things done around the house.

After school, the kids and I headed to Target and Toys R Us to take advantage of some post-Easter sales. By this time, things were kind of picked over. Still, Gracie managed to score an Easter basket that looks like her beloved Baa-baa and Matthew found a Spiderman basket. A few other odds and ends finished out our loot. All a great deal. However, considering I haven't completely packed away the Valentine's stuff (it's sitting in a box on the floor of the craft/random storage room) I tried to keep our shopping to a minimum. However, you hate to pass up things you know you'll need next year--and have to pay twice as much for. Bassam would tell you that the hassle of storing it has it's own cost that needs to be figured in. But 70% off!??! I think it's worth the hassle.

Christ has Risen!

He has Risen, indeed!!

Alleluia!!!

Happy Easter from the Helou Family! With egg hunts #4 and 5 under our belt this morning, we were able to enjoy the true blessing of Easter!! As Matthew announced at church this morning, "Jesus has rised, what a great day!!"

.

We'll work on "rised" vs. "risen" later. At least he got the sentiment right!

Not so exciting Saturday

For as action-packed as our week has been, today was rather anti-climactic.

Bassam is on call this weekend. So while he headed to the hospital this morning, I took the kids to the Y. At some point between the elliptical and some weights, I got a MASSIVE sinus headache. Trying to ease the pain, Bassam and the kids to lunch at Swanky's. While they were gone I laid on the couch and watched a rerun of the Beverly Hills 90210 finale. Real productive, huh? Bassam picked up Bennett on the way home so Matthew and he could play in the yard (and to help Bill and Beth who were trying to get their mulch in). Meanwhile, because "Matthew and Bennett were being mean," Gracie and I took a walk with Leigh Ann.

Somewhere in there, Bassam went and picked up some new sinus medication for me, but I must say, it's unimpressive to say the least.

Despite the blahs of today, I'm so looking forward to tomorrow. I love Easter. It's my favorite church service of the year and I know the kids will love getting their baskets and hunting for eggs (again!).

Interestingly, two of our favorite redheads (besides Gracie, of course) are celebrating birthdays--Raegan Finkeldei and Matthew's "girlfriend," Katie. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Spring Break: Day 4

This was the scene in Brentwood, TN at 4:00 p.m. today. Hundreds of children running around a grassy field filled with the worst of Easter candy and hordes of parents following them with cameras.

And we were right there in the thick of it!

Today's big adventure was the Brentwood Easter Egg Hunt. The day started out kind of normal--a trip to the YMCA, Gracie's class at My Gym. It ended, however, in a frenzy of sugar-crazed children. Of course, WE LOVED IT!! We also got another visit with the Easter Bunny while we were there and got to hook up with friends Bennett and Renn.

Matthew and Gracie scooped up LOADS of eggs. As soon as I finish typing this blog, I intend to rid their baskets of those awful sugar eggs, Laffy Taffy and anything else that says, "I can pull out fillings!" Yeah, yeah . . . .Killjoy Mom! Given this is their 3rd egg hunt (with two more to go), I don't think they'll miss it.

I really think for my kids--the fun is in hunt!

Easter preview continues . . .

This was a surprisingly busy day. I still feel kind of crappy--but decided to just ignore it. Having said that, it is 8:10 pm and I full expect to go to bed soon after I finish typing this blog.

Matthew had OT this morning at 8:15. While he was in class, Gracie and I hiked around Crockett park. For a girl who ran 10 miles last week, it was quite pathetic that I was huffing and puffing up the hill. Of course, that whole not being able to breathe thing probably had something to do with it.

After preschool drop off (and going back home to pick up Matthew's "mystery egg" and returning to school a second time), I headed over to Kohl's. It was one of their typical "biggest sale of the season's." Was hoping to find something to wear for Easter (although they carry very few dresses--not sure what I was expecting), I left only with 2 necklaces for myself. My kids, however, fared much better. Matthew got some new clothes, socks and shoes for Gracie and some fun stuff for the Easter baskets, including some nifty vinyl placemats (character ones, of course--Dora, Diego, Tinkerbell, Cars, etc) that were marked down to 39 cents, plus an additional 15% off with my Kohl's card. I also bought some board games for my nephew's birthday which is coming up in June.

I made a quick trip to Walmart for the rest of the Easter goodies where I ran into my friend Stephanie. Walmart sucks, but YAY for seeing friends! Since it was Wednesday, Bassam came home early and we were back at school for Matthew's class Easter Egg hunt. This was actually a bit of a crisis this morning because Gracie's hunt isn't until Friday. You can imagine how grumpy she was that Matthew got to have his first. Alas, a good time was had by all. Matthew shared his treats and Gracie forgot about being jealous. Thank goodness.

After school, the kids and I made a trip to the mall to see the Easter Bunny. I must say, this is a pretty anti-climactic experience. I think it's mostly because the Easter Bunny doesn't talk. Having said that, my kids climbed up on his lap, smiled and even gave him a hug. And I did my part, shelling out $19.99 for the dumb pictures. Whatever.

Bassam headed off with his friend Bill for the Trinidad v. US National Soccer Team match at LP field this evening. Oh, and they also managed to sneak in 9 holes of golf this afternoon. As for me, I went over to Tata's and then Bassam's folks for dinner. Lina and the boys are headed back to Florida tomorrow, so it was nice to get to spend a little more time with them. And of course, not having to cook is always a plus in my world! :)

Keeping with my goal to hit the sack early, I'm going to whip off some paperwork for Matthew's speech therapist (due tomorrow, of course), pick up few toys and get some Zzzzzs. Here's to better health tomorrow!

Playdate!

Due to the large, dark cloud looming over Nashvegas today, Lina and I abandoned our trip to the Zoo this morning. Instead she and the kids, as well as my friend Beth and her two kids all came over to our house. We held an impromptu Easter egg hunt and the kids played. Thankfully, I had a large stash of chicken nuggets in my freezer, so I was able to whip up a lunch of chicken, carrots, Cheez-its, strawberries and carrots.

My nephew Cole has the best appetite. Seriously. He is 14 months and I think he put away 5 chicken nuggets. Gracie maybe ate 3 (of course, she had a couple Easter eggs full of M&Ms and jelly beans already in her tummy).

Not our original plan for the day, but a good time was had by all!