The church bells are ringing...

I was walking to work yesterday morning when it hit me... I forgot to take pictures of my kids on Easter! How could this have happened?! How sad.

But that isn't even the worst part.

We also forgot to have an Easter egg hunt. Are you kidding?! HOW did that happen?

While everyone else was busy hiding eggs and snapping photos we must have been doing who knows what. If I had to guess, I would venture to say that we were probably just trying to get from one activity to the next and just. missed. out.

I always love Easter but this year, despite our busy schedules, it was extra special for me. Maybe it was because we had extended family in town. Maybe it was because it was Ryan's first Easter. Maybe it was because I attended an uplifting Good Friday service.

Or, maybe it was because Rachel got her first opportunity to ring bells during the Easter service.

She has been looking forward to playing bells since forever and when the Primary Sunday School department practiced a few weeks ago she was over the moon with excitement. Each child gets a colored bell, is given instructions on how to properly hold it, and then told to watch for their color to show up on the director's cards as they pass.

All of Rachel's grandparents were present in church on Easter Sunday (super special, by the way) so they could watch her big performance. It was really sweet of them to all come but I tried to keep their expectations low since I wasn't convinced that she was actually going to make it to the front of the church, let alone follow her teachers' directions.

I am trying to not play the part of the "helicopter parent" but I really didn't want Rachel to miss out on this opportunity so I escorted her to the stage and promised to sit in the front row while she performed.

Not surprisingly, the first two songs, which the children sang, were a bit of a disaster for her. She made it through the opening of the first song before she ended up on my lap. But then, as soon as she saw the other kids head for the bell table to get their bells for the last two songs she was ready to get back on stage.

And, I had the best seat in the house.

She had two green bells and a big smile and I could tell whenever her color came up because she would grin from ear to ear as she did a full body bell ring. It was such a blessing to see her up there, having so much fun and enjoying the music.

When it was over she was super excited and quite proud of herself. And as we headed back to our seats, she shouted (in a full church), "Mommy, I did it! Did you see me mommy? I did it! Aren't you proud of me?!" I couldn't help but smile because yes, I was very proud of her. And when we turned into our row to sit down she shouted down to grandpa (who was on the other end of the row), "Grandpa, did you see me! I did it!"

I LOVE that little girl.

I just wish I had a picture of her and her handsome brother in their Easter outfits.
Sigh...