Happy Easter!

I love Easter. It's such a great holiday. When I was young, my mom would always make me a new dress for Easter. We loved coloring and hunting for eggs. I'll never forget the year we didn't find one of our boiled eggs for several months. It was in my brother's dump truck. 

Before I was married, I used to fly to Utah or Las Vegas to decorate eggs with my nieces and nephews. Easter is even more fun now that I can celebrate it with my children. Our Easter celebration started a week ago with a Primary party at church.

There was a blindfolded egg hunt.

Cookie decorating.

Pin the tail on the bunny.

And the hokey pokey. It was a lot of fun.

Yesterday we colored our eggs. Due to a scientific experiment by my nephew Cameron, we learned that egg dye actually does the best job of coloring, so we used that method.

We loved that it was such a beautiful day, we could decorate outside.

We were surprised to see that several of our eggs came out of the dye with a ring on them. We have no idea how that happened, but it looked really cool.

Jalen was inspired by Picasso's blue period and colored all his eggs in shades of that color.

Later he recolored all his eggs until they were varying shades of brown due to being dunked in several different shades of color.

Baylie emulated her daddy and tried to make her eggs fancy.

David takes great pride in his egg decorating skills. 

In fact, the rest of us had colored all our eggs, played with the baking soda (see below) and eaten lunch before David was finished coloring his eggs.

David's eggs.

Other eggs (guess which one is actually David's).

Last year we discovered a fun activity to do with the leftover dye. You use eye droppers to drop egg dye into a pan of baking soda. It bubbles up and makes great designs. The kids love to do it.

Later in the day, we joined forces with our awesome neighbors the Houle's for our egg hunt. I forgot to take a single picture of the hunt. Mom fail! But here are some pictures of happy kids with their baskets.

I know I'm her mom, but could she be any more beautiful??

I don't make my kids their Easter outfits, but I do try and dress them up special. Thanks to Halo Heaven, Jalen and Baylie were adorable today. (Jalen liked his hat much more than Baylie liked hers.)

While I'd rather go to my mom's house and let her do all the cooking, I'm grateful that she has taught me how to cook a special dinner. I was really tempted to use instant potatoes and sweet potatoes along with frozen rolls, but thanks to my mom, I just couldn't do it.

Easter dinner with David's friend and classmate Bill.

And while it's not the focus of this particular blog post, I do want to testify that the reason we celebrate this special day is to remember the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My testimony of Him and His atonement is strong and unwaivering. There are many things that cause me frustration, but Christ is the one thing that always keeps me centered. We have spent a lot of time this holiday trying to help our children learn why we really celebrate Easter. (If you read the funnies at right, you'll see that Baylie seems to be grasping it a little better than Jalen.)

When the Light at the End of the Tunnel Grows Dim

Wednesday was a hard day at the Batchelor Pad. David had his oral exam for his doctorate degree - and he did not pass. I have to confess that I never imagined he wouldn't. He's so smart and talented that I just took it for granted that he would pass.

David's been studying for his orals since last summer, intensifying his efforts this semester by staying late at school (meaning until 1:00 in the morning) almost every day. For his oral exam, he had selected three composers and four works from each. He had studied 10 of these works backwards and forwards until he knew them completely, including three operas. The final two pieces he had studied, but not as thoroughly, since he ran out of time. For his exam, the instructors selected four of the pieces at random. As luck, or fate, or whatever would have it, they chose the two he was weakest on among the four.

My initial reaction was anger - anger at the professors who gave him the exam and, I hate to confess, anger at God. Why couldn't they have asked him about the pieces he knew? Why couldn't they have selected at least one of the operas? Do they realize that he did actually prepare and he does know what he's talking about? Why does everything in my life take longer than planned and have to be so difficult to achieve (marriage, kids, school)? Why does it seem like things come so much easier for some people?

We have been married for almost 11 years, all of them in school. I will be 45 in less than a month and we still don't have a place to settle down and call our own. Sometimes I feel like my entire life has been spent in transition. (I moved a lot as a kid too.)

Then, to top it off, minutes later I got a text from our renters in Houston saying that our gas heater had gone out. Seriously!? Could I not just catch a break? Basically, I went on a major pity party.

After some time passed, I realized that I was being pretty self-centered and unrealistic. There are so many people in this world who would love to have any education and I'm upset about it taking an extra semester to get a doctorate degree. I have wonderful parents that offer unconditional love and support. I have a husband that is good to me and kids that are awesome in every way. We have food on our table, a roof over our heads, our kids are safe in their beds at night. I am blessed, and to think otherwise is naive and selfish.

I could have stayed single. I was making a good living, I was traveling around the world. I probably would have received a couple of raises over the past five years, but that was not the life I wanted. I wanted to be a wife and a mother - and that is the life I have.

So with things in better perspective, here is our current reality:

• David can't take the test again until the end of fall semester and can't start his dissertation until after he passes the oral exam.
• Our earliest graduation date will be May 2014. We won't be ABD - all but dissertation - until late 2013, meaning we can't apply for university jobs until Winter 2014 semester.
• David has finished all his coursework and since he won't be working on his dissertation, he won't have any credit hours. That means we don't qualify for school loans or graduate assistant teaching jobs.
• Since he won't be in school, our school loans will start coming due for payment. We may be able to get a deferment.
• The grant we were planning on using to survive over the summer is intended for students working on their dissertations, so we no longer qualify for it.
• We can't continue to pay for repairs on our house in Houston.

And with the information we have so far, here are our options:

• Get a job at a junior college (or somewhere else) that only requires a Masters Degree and provides insurance.
• Find a job that enables us to pay our bills without disqualifying us for Medicaid. A tricky combination.
• One thing I do know, I would rather stay in this awesome house with it's awesome yard and have Medicaid, even if it means more loans, rather than move somewhere, live in an apartment and lose insurance.
• We need to sell our house.

With a new day comes new perspective. Plus, since I teach seminary, I had to get myself spiritually straightened out quickly. I still don't understand why things happen the way they do, but I know that everything will work out. It always has before.

Note: Although we fasted and prayed for a different outcome, apparently some of our friends were praying that we would stay. Maybe their faith is stronger than ours. (You know who you are MM!)

Day at the Dentist

Yesterday, both the kids had to get some dental work done. We go to a great dental office just for kids. They are really good and make the experience a positive one. Both the kids came home with fat lips.

After the visit, the kids get to put a coin in a candy dispenser and pick a prize. For some reason, Jalen chose the stick on mustache. He loved it!

Unfortunately, Jalen chewed on his lip while it was numb and it ended up swollen and raw. We're having a really hard time getting him to stop.

Poor guy! Next time I'll have the kids take naps right after so the numbing is gone by the time they wake up.

All About Baylie

Today was Baylie's fifth birthday. She has been waiting FOREVER to turn five (or at least for 4 1/2 years). She has been talking about this day ever since her last birthday. I put her presents out a week ago so that she had to look at them and live with the anticipation. (This may sound cruel, but my mom did it to me, so I do it to my kids.)

Jalen woke up at 5:00 a.m. (as usual) and found Baylie's new kitchen. (Thanks to the Mousers for the hand me down.) He was so excited to play with it, but I wouldn't let him until Baylie had seen it. So, he woke her up! They had a blast playing with it all day long. We had plastic food everywhere.

Next we headed to Music Makers where Baylie danced, 

and danced (with ribbons),

and danced (with instruments).

And Jalen played the xylophone.

She had a great time with many of her closest friends.

She shared cupcakes with them.

Photo by Baylie.

Sprinkles by Baylie.

Our next stop was dance class. Baylie LOVES her dance class. She is a great little dancer. Today was especially fun because her daddy left school early so he could watch. She kept looking for him and was so excited when he made it. 

She shared cupcakes with her dance friends too. (Jalen smashed a bunch of them for some inexplicable reason.)

Next we went home and she FINALLY got to open her presents.

I should note that she totally posed for this photo. She is always aware of the photo opportunities around her.

Jalen was overcome by the generosity and gifts bestowed upon his sister.

Daddy and Baylie played with her new Polly Pockets. 

Baylie requested pizza for her birthday dinner. She did not want homemade pizza. She wanted "somebody else to make it."

Her cake. I thought it would be the easiest cake ever. It probably is, but I am not historically known for my cooking prowess. She like it, and that's all that really matters.

We added a Tinkerbell candle.

Jalen recovered enough to join us for the cake and ice cream.

Baylie is truly a joy to have in our home. She is bright and witty. She is a hard worker and a good sister. She tries so hard to make good choices. I often catch myself looking at her and feeling amazed that she is my child.

I will never forget standing in line at Kohl's and sobbing as I read the text that said, "Congratulations, it's a girl." I know that's not how most moms learn about their daughters, but it was heaven on Earth for me.

Note: Baylie was given the choice of having a real birthday party or going to visit her cousins in Las Vegas. She chose Las Vegas, so we're going there in April.