Best. Easter. EVER.

It will be hard for there to be an Easter happier than this one.

We went about our day, business as usual - Easter Bunny, church, lunch with my family, dinner with Jeremy's - and were putting the boys to bed. I was on Freddie Duty, Jeremy on Jones. The Bear and I were talking about nothing in particular - and certainly not salvation! - when we walked into Jeremy's bathroom to brush Freddie's teeth.

Apropos of nothing, he joyfully blurted out, "I wanna ask Jesus in my heart." Almost immediately, he added, "But I've already asked Him in my heart at my old school." For the last year or so, Freddie's told me he asked Jesus in his heart while singing "Into my Heart" in chapel with Mrs. Shana's class at Clyde First Baptist last year. I had no reason to not believe him, so I never really pushed him on it, waiting instead for things to happen organically - if, in fact, anything else needed to happen.

But I decided to lean in to tonite's random explosion. "Why do you need Jesus in your heart," I asked, eventually getting around to "to save me from my sins" and listing some of his sins, which included not being kind to Jojo, telling on Jojo, and "when you (meaning ME) yell at me (meaning him)," which is an indicator that he has disobeyed or been disrespectful.

From there, we went into his room, where he repeated a prayer after me. In it, we thanked Jesus for dying on the Cross. We praised Him for being strong enough to conquer death. We asked forgiveness for Freddie's sins, and listed the ones mentioned above, and we prayed that God would send the Holy Spirit to help Freddie be the boy He'd have him to be.

As soon as we'd said "Amen," he jumped out of my lap and said, "I'm gonna go tell Daddy." He ran into Jones's room and made his profession to Jeremy. We then when back into Freddie's room, where I sat in the rocking chair, and Freddie stood on his bed, eventually jumping into my lap, saying, "I'm gonna live for Jesus forever!"

That made me erupt into the only song that came to mind:

Living for Jesus, a life that is true.
Striving to please Him in all that I do.
Yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free.
This is the pathway of blessing for me.

Oh, Jesus, Lord and Savior. 
I give myself to Thee,
for Thou, in Thine atonement,
didst give Thyself for me.
I owe no other Master.
My heart shall be Thy throne.
My life I give henceforth to live,
oh, Christ, to Thee Alone.

I'll be singing that to Freddie a lot now, hoping it'll always be a marker for him of the nite he decided to "live for Jesus forever." As soon as I'd finished tonite's rendition, Freddie asked, "Have YOU asked Jesus in YOUR heart?" When I said YES! he ran to Jones's room and asked Jeremy the same, promising to share his big news at school tomorrow.

I told Freddie he's now not just my son but also my brother in Christ, and then I thought of all of the songs that go with salvation - favorites, like, "There's a New Name Written Down in Glory" and "When He Reached Down His Hand for MEEEEEE!" and then I wept tears of gratitude that God had reached down His hand not only for ME but also for my Freddie Bear.

Best.Easter.EVER.

(pre-) Easter Pictures

With the boys being in school full time, I knew it'd be hard to do
my traditional, spur-of-the-moment, the-light-is-right, pre-Easter photo shoot at the little white chapel in Clyde this year. I was committed to getting it done, though, so this morning, when we woke up to no rain (for the first time in what seems like a long-time), I hurried the boys to get dressed and get in the car, so we could, hopefully, capture a little bit of this morning's Golden Hour.

We didn't.

By the time we got to the Chapel (just before 9 a.m.), it was all backlit and shadows. Thankfully, though, we found a few shady spots at Lake Junaluska, so all was not lost.

The purpose of these "pre-shoots" is to take the stress out of Easter morning. With pictures already taken, I can relax and enjoy the morning without turning into Attila the Hun, who's insisting everyone be dressed and ready early enough to get a good shot before heading to church.

It's worked like a charm.

This year, the boys really, REALLY tried to cooperate. Bless their hearts. Pictures are just HARD for little people. I ended our makeshift "shoot" with another renewed appreciation for what my friend Brooke does day in and day out and at the highest of levels.

Also, just before we left Junaluska, Jones ran over to me with a pair of dandelions he'd picked for me. The boys bring me these on the regular - and man, will I miss it when they outgrow this phase. The photos of him with the impromptu "boutonniere" are some of my favorites. He will definitely be wearing one of those come Resurrection Sunday!

Palm Sunday Celebrations

For as shocking as it is after two snow days last week, it's Palm Sunday.

On the way to church this morning, we read the account of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey as the people laid palm branches at His feet and said, "Hosanna!" We then sang Sandy Patti's "Hosanna" as many times as would fit into our 30 minute trip, because it quickly became Jones's new musical obsession.

It laid a great framework, though, for what the boys learned in Sunday school and then what they got to do in church. As the Arden kids do every year, they carried palm leaves around the sanctuary. Last year, Jones and Freddie did it, but I walked with them. This year, they walked on their own, though the idea of it made Jones ... shall we say ... uncomfortable. Still, he did it without whining or crying or clinging to me, and I stood in the back of the sanctuary, taking pictures and praising God (again) for the growth in my big boy. In fact, on this video, if you listen closely, you can hear me saying to my friend Elaine, "He's doing it! He's doing it! He's not waving anything, but he's doing it!"



After the "palm parade," we tried to keep Freddie in "big church" with us. That lasted through most of a single verse of "All Glory, Laud, and Honor" before I realized keeping him in there would be at the cost of my sanctification; back to the nursery he went.

Freddie picked Culver's for a quick lunch after church. As we ate, I showed them the video of what they'd done. Freddie said, "My favorite part is REAGAN." Then, as we left, a couple told the boys that they looked so handsome. Both boys said, "Thank you," and then Freddie embellished his appreciation with a very deep, very dramatic bow, which, of course, made the crowd seated around us go wild.

From there, we went to the Shriner's Circus at Furman - I will try to write about this in a separate post, but to be honest, there wasn't much to it, so we left at Intermission and took a few photos of the boys in their cute suits at "Mama's cah-wedge."

Happy Easter!

We didn't invite Boogie to be in the picture;
he just showed up, but if you ask me, he makes the shot.
Also, this is one of my top five favorite pictures in history.

Unless you count the fit that Jones pitched before church or the fact that both Daddy and I thought Freddie wasn't breathing just before lunch, Easter was a spectacularly happy day for the Pressley family!

We got up and enjoyed our goodies and made it to church in time for the annual Balloon Launch. Neither of the boys were very sure of what to expect from this, but I absolutely loved it. The boys then stayed in "big church" with us for about six minutes before I took them down to Mr. John's class. I love having them on the pew with me, but I'll be honest: I don't get much out of the service when they are.

When we got to Mom and Daddy's for lunch, Freddie had fallen asleep. He was SO asleep that he didn't even wake up when we stopped the car. Daddy came out to carry him in. Even when Daddy got him out of his carseat, Freddie didn't wake up. "Should I take him upstairs (to bed)?" "I guess," I answered.

Then Daddy said the thing that signaled me that something was wrong: "Come up with me," he said. I immediately walked over to where he stood, holding my limp little boy over his shoulder. I put my hand on Freddie's back. There was no rise and fall. I took him and tried to rouse him, but even that took a few seconds. It was terrifying. And sure enough, I'd read Daddy's signal right. He couldn't feel Freddie breathing, either.

Thankfully - obviously - he was completely fine, just sleeping more soundly than I think he ever has before. Still, for the rest of the day, I couldn't shake that feeling of fear.

We had a wonderful lunch - followed by a family photo session. The boys played with Boogie, and Jeremy finally got to see what I'm talking about when I say, "We have GOT to get these guys a dog." After that, there was an Easter Egg Hunt and then a return to Canton where we got to do it all over again with the Pressleys'.

It was a wonderful day - and, for the record, I will probably never again love a pair of Easter suits as much as I loved the boys from this year.

a CATBOY book!

I know; I know.
I need lipstick and mascara. 

After finding an egg in one bush,
Jones proceeded to check every.
other.bush on my parents property.

Freck thinks Boogie is his best buddy.
Also, he was HILARIOUS in "training"
him. "I said STAY!"