The True Meaning of Easter

Here is a story my sweet daughter wrote, and I thought I would share it word for word in its authentic state.  I realize it is not 100% accurate on a few things, but I know she gets it. I just think it is refreshing to hear the Easter story from the mouth of a 9 year old girl.

The Bunny that Did Not Know

the True Meaning of Easter

By: Kevlie Ann Haas

Once there was this bunny who thought Easter was all about candy. So every year when Easter came his mom would ask him "Peter?, do you know the true meaning of Easter yet?"
Peter would always answer "NO!"


So the time of Easter came and Mrs. Cottontail couldn't take it anymore! She said "Peter, I have had it. Find out what Easter means!" So Peter set off to do so.


He was walking when he saw the old Baptist Church. He saw that Paster Owens had gotten older. He said "Paster Owens, do you remember me?" Paster Owens turned in astonishment "Of course Peter. Can I help you?" "Please...will you tell me the true meaning of Easter?" "Sure. Well it all happened when Jesus went into town riding on a donkey. People were laying there garmets down and shouting "Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest." Jesus went up to a mountain and wept for the people. He knew it was his last week. A couple nights later Jesus gathered all his deciples and had a supper with them he called it The Lord's Supper. He took the bread gave thanks and broke it. He said "Eat this in remembrence of me." The deciples did so. Then Jesus took a cup with wine in it and gave thanks and said drink this in remembrence of me. After the meal Jesus went and prayed out at Mount Olives. He told his deciples to keep watch wile he prayed. Just then Roman guards came and took him to different trials. The last trial was Pilate. People were shouting "Crucify him!" during the trial. So Pilate led Jesus to the Romans and there he got beat up. But that still did not satisfy the crowd. So Pilate lead Jesus away. He carried his own cross to a place called Gethsmane. Before they nailed him they offered him wine mixed with myrrh to help the pain. jesus did not exept. So he got piersed through the feet and wrist. They put a crown of thorns on his head and a sign over him that said: Here is Jesus. The King of the Jews.
There Jesus suffered with one men on either side and them both robbers. They asked Jesus things. In reply he said "Today you will be with me in paradice." On his final breath he cried out in pain to his father, bowed his head and died. Joseph asked for Jesus' body. Pilate said he could have it. He put him in his own new tomb witch he had cut out of rock. Pilate posted guards on the tomb. They guarded.


On the first day of the week Mary Magdaline and the other Mary went to the tomb. It was empty! They were frightened. There was an angel he said "Do not be afraid you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. HE IS NOT HERE. HE IS RISEN!"
They told the diciples. And he spent forty days with his deciples and went back to heaven. That's the true meaning."


"Thank you Paster Owens" and he ran home and told his mom. "Great." She said and he never forgot the true meaning of Easter.

The End

We just celebrated the most important holiday/event in our Christian faith. Kevlie Ann accepted Jesus in her heart at a very young age. She was baptized last May. She has a maturity beyond her years, and she really keeps me on my toes with all of her questions. Every day last week she would lament on how many days Jesus had to still live. She became more saddened as Thursday approached. She kept reminding me how that was his last day alive. It confuses her as to why the people would shout "Hosanna!" and praise him as he rode in on a donkey and less than a week later shout "Crucify Him!" This really breaks her heart. I love her passion and love for Jesus! I admire it greatly. It constantly reminds me to keep my faith fresh and to always put Him first. Easter eggs and candy are lots of fun, but I am so thankful that I am witnessing my daughter putting things in their proper place.  (Our previous pastor was Pastor Tim Owens.  I thought it was special that she remembered him.)

We celebrate Easter because of His resurrection. His blood was shed so that my sins are forgiven. I do not deserve it, but I need his forgiveness daily. I can live in peace and full of joy knowing that my Saviour loves me and forgives me no matter what. The only way to true peace and joy is through the Son!  I pray that Kevlie Ann's story touches your heart to help you remember the true meaning of Easter.

Only By God's Grace...
Callie Ann

Don't Cry over Spilled Oatmeal

Colton spilled his oatmeal on the floor while trying to look at the steam.  He did not spill whole bowls of oatmeal when he was two.  I am not sure why this happened, but it did...twice.

The first time he calls out and is sad that he has spilled his oatmeal.  My response in the old days would have been one of frustration and complete misunderstanding.  It probably would have resulted in hurt feelings and me apologizing.  After all, it was an accident.  I just told him that it would be okay and after I cleaned it up I would make him more.  In my mind, however, I was reeling.  I was not excited about the prospect of cleaning up spilled oatmeal from a bowl that was completely face down.  I remembered that it was not runny and not clumpy either.  I calmly went to pick it up paper towels in hand.  When I turned over the bowl, to my utter amazement, there was only one small dollop of oatmeal on the rug.  Immediately, I honestly felt extreme gratitude for this small blessing.  I really feel like I was rewarded for the way I handled the situation.  No crying, no yelling, no drama and no grumbling.

Less than a minute later, I heard the same thump.  He had spilled the oatmeal again.  I became more frustrated this time, but I quickly remembered how peaceful the previous encounter had been.  I gathered my composure, and I still did not yell, say hurtful things, or grumble (not out loud anyways).  I did not think my clean up would be as pleasant as the first; nevertheless, there was only two dollops to clean this time.  By Golly G, I think I got it.  I hope.  Because I am tired of learning lessons the hard way.

CoCo, Big Train, & the 15th Verse

Colton O'Neill Haas

& Big Train

Today is a very special day.  My silly monkey CoCo was born 4 years ago.  He was incredibly sweet from day 1 and has been the most laid back child.  He is a happy, loving boy and full of energy, but he is also very obedient and kind.  I am not exaggerating when I say he is my monkey.  Sometime before he turned two I found him on top of the kitchen table hanging from the chandelier.  A couple of days ago I looked out the back window and found him climbing on the outside of the slide (we have a spiral, enclosed slide) all the way over the top before he slid down.  This is at least 10 feet in the air.

Colton came 5 1/2 years after the twins so I was not sure how he would adjust to losing his "baby" position and welcoming in a baby sister.  I knew he always loved babies and would kiss up on them if given the chance.  I always thought he would be a great big brother; however, I was not sure he would have that opportunity.  But God decided otherwise, and Colton is an amazing big brother.  There never was an adjustment period.  He loves sweet Kylee so much!  He relinquished the baby role easier than I could have ever imagined, and he has never even been jealous of her.

Colton had his birthday party several weeks ago.  It was a train party, and he loved every minute of it.  I did not think any child could love trains more than Calvin, but I think Colton has surpassed it.  Big Train, as Colton affectionately named this Santa Fe train, is located at the Train Park in Temple, TX.  It is his most favorite place to go.  Along with the full size version that is available for kids to climb on and ring the bell, there is also an incredible park for the kids to play on. 

If you ask CoCo his birthday, he will tell you it is April 18th.  However, I must admit he was a little confused on the timing of things probably since it has been two weeks since his party.  I think it all soaked in when he got to blow out another candle and open a few more presents today.

I purposely was waiting to post our verse for April 15 until today.  Back in February I decided that it would be cool to memorize each of the children's bible verse prayed over them at their dedications during the time their birthday fell.  (Obviously, we will do that a little differently with the twins.)  I think this will make each child feel special and remember the specific things we pray for them as we memorize these.  I know when we introduced this one last Friday night that Colton's eyes lit up when he realized it was his verse.  We prayed for guidance in directing us to Colton's verse, and the following verse is the one God kept leading us back to:

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.  Do everything in love.

1 Corinthians 16:13-14

We celebrate you today and everyday Colton O'Neill!!  Happy 4th Birthday!  I love you!

Only By God's Grace...
Callie Ann



Thankful Thursday

I have a blogger friend from college that use to always have a Thankful Thursday post.  She did it again not long ago, and it reminded me of how much I loved the thought of reflecting back on the blessings of the past 7 days.  I love how she terms it her "manna" for the week. 

Here are some things I am thankful for this week:

- Kevin, or Tekton Renovations I should say, was able to help bless some friends.  He helped renovate a garage into a man cave.  (By the way, Lisa hates that term.)  It was a surprise for Toby, and it was fun to see him enjoy his surprise and new hang out.  I think they have been out there almost every night for a week now.  It is complete with a frig, tv, and ping pong table.  I think Lisa could beat Toby, but he just knows how to get into her head.  This reminds me of a Cosby Show episode we watched at dinner tonight on Netflix.  (I love Netflix!)  It was in the first season and Cliff always loses in chess to his father-in-law because he knows how to get into his head.

- Our adopted college student, Meredith, (I will give our story in another post) who is now married and moved away came to visit us.  She came and watched Kevlie Ann's soccer game and hung out with us all day Saturday.  Her husband was unable to make this trip; therefore, I went to a wedding with her Saturday night.  We had a great girls night out!  She spent the night and went to church with us on Sunday morning.  We are so blessed when she comes to visit us, and I love how much she loves our family.  We love her too!

- I love watching my kids play sports!  We watched KK play soccer on Saturday in high winds with blowing sand, and Calvin had a great baseball game on Monday night.

- I had a Mommy first this week!!  I have realized now that this is a Baby Mommy First because I know there are so many other firsts that we will experience!

- I was able to go on a Girls Night on Sunday night.  This ended up being 2 nights in a row, but I had not been to dinner and movie with these girls since Kylee was born.  I am so grateful that I have a husband who loves me and knows I need my girls nights.  On Sunday night he gathered them all from church, fed them dinner, and got them all peacefully to bed.  Two nights in a row that is.  I think they watched the Cosby Show that night as well because they all had stories to tell me the next day.  They just do not make family tv like the old days.

- Kevlie Ann was home sick on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I enjoyed her being here.  On Wednesday afternoon she was feeling better, and she worked on putting dreads in my hair.  It takes a long time to do all of those tiny braids.  She only completed the front part of my head.  I still had lots of hair left undone.  I even went grocery shopping in my dreads!  I was not sure I was going to be able to get them all out, but they actually came out a lot faster than it took her to put them in.  It resulted in a major frizzy, wavy mess.

- I am grateful that I have a new dryer.  I must say that after settling in with it for several days now that my buyer's remorse is quickly fading.  It dries so much faster than ol' dryer did, and that must be saving a lot of energy thus lowering the utility bill.  It has already successfully done many loads, but I am not completely caught up yet.  I also love the extra space it has created in the laundry room.  I am still trying to organize and get things all put back in to place.  I know it seems like this should be done, but it is really hard with a mobile, wanting to play all the time, 9 month old.

- I am thankful that this Thursday was peaceful.  I thought my youngest ones were getting sick.  Colton definitely is not, but Kylee had quite the snotty nose and was a little more cranky than usual.  I do not think this is teething since the girl already has 6 teeth!  She may have a complete mouthful by her 1 year old birthday!  While Kylee napped this afternoon we were able to play ball outside with the other kiddos.  I am trying to soak in this weather because I know it will be miserable soon, and I will not want to be outside.

- I love this weather!

- I am thankful for how God's Word is being weaved into our hearts and becoming practical in our daily lives!

I think this "manna" is really supposed to be in the form of "Today I am thankful for:" followed by brief statements of gratitude.  With my first attempt at this, I realize that mine really became more of a synopsis of my week.  I thought I was attempting to be brief, but I failed.   I understand there is no right and wrong, but I will try to do better next week.  Nevertheless, it was fun thinking about my week in synopsis.  It was a good week! 

What are you thankful for this week?

I love being reminded of all of the blessings we have and focusing on the good every week.  Thank you Erica for your inspiration!  You are a blessing and treasure to so many.

Only By God's Grace...
Callie Ann

A Mommy First

I have 4 children.  I thought I would have already experienced pretty much all of the Mommy firsts that are out there, but I was wrong.  I had a Mommy first last Saturday.

After Kevlie Ann's whirlwind, literally, of a soccer game, we were all hungry.  It was 2:30pm.  We had a late breakfast, but we had not had lunch before the game.  I had 3 free kids meal coupons for Jason's Deli so off we went.  Lunch was great.  Kylee enjoyed lots of crackers.  Funny thing is that in our rush to get out of the house that morning, I made the comment to Kevin as we were driving down our street that somehow I had left the wipes in the living room recliner.  I am not sure why they were not put back in the diaper bag, but they were not.  I made the decision that we should be fine and to go on to the game.  I was really wishing for the wipes after all of the crackers.

I wanted to run into World Market really quickly to look for something specific.  I found a couple of things and checked out.  As we were walking out the door, I felt something wet dripping off of my arm.  To my shock and amazement, there was a copious amount of poo (the really runny kind) running down my arm and even all over the bag of purchased items.  This is not my Mommy first moment because we have had many a blow-out.  Just wait for it because it gets better.

Now I was really wishing for the wipes.  I almost wanted to walk around the store in search of another Mommy who might be in possession of some, but I could not because this was what you might call an emergency.  I held sweet Kylee out in the air, legs dangling and made a bee-line for the restroom.  Kylee was all smiles.  I think she thought this was quite a ride.  I will spare too many details, but let me just say that it was so bad that this is when my Mommy first occurred.

For the first time ever in my 9 years and 3 months of Mommyhood with 4 infants, I gave my daughter a bath in the restroom sink.  I know for a fact that had this been my first baby I would have melted into a puddle of tears filled with embarassment, exasperation, and failure.  On this day, even though it was a first, it is not my first rodeo.  I was able to laugh the whole time and kind of enjoy the moment even though it was filled with poo and lots of it.

I tend to have reflection moments as I type these blogs.  I do not know if anyone else cares about these reflections or lessons learned, but I know it is good for me.  This one is kind of corny and many may roll their eyes, but it works for me.  Sometimes our lives are filled with a lot of poo.  I know mine has been off and on lately.  However, I have a choice.  I can melt down into tears filled with embarassment, exasperation, and failure.  Or I can choose to laugh.  Laughter really is the best medicine.  I am always telling the family, "You might as well laugh as cry."  It is a lot more fun and less stressful that way.

Copper and the Laundry Marathon

I think CoCo loves a clean Copper almost as much as I love fresh, clean sheets on my bed.  Let me introduce you to Copper, Colton's (affectionately known as CoCo) blanket.  He is my Linus, and I love it.  I am not sure how this particular blanket became his favorite because we had so many similar ones.  These are really soft blankets that are breathable.  When I had the twins, my one fear was putting them into the crib with a blanket.  I feared them getting smothered.  This fear seams so silly compared to all of the other potential dangers that lurk out there for our little ones.  Our doctor finally told me very frankly that they were fine to have a blanket probably because it was winter and she felt sorry for them.  They were two.  I came up with a brilliant plan for Colton.  My friend Molly introduced me to some really soft blankets that were "holey" and breathable.  Before I would buy them I would cover my mouth and nose to make sure that I could breathe through them.  Everytime I found one, I would buy it.  We ended up with a lot of holey blankets, and CoCo was allowed to have them since birth.  CoCo's favorite one is the smallest one and it is aqua colored.  I have wondered if this became his favorite because that was the color of his walls in his nursery, and it is still his preferred shade of blue if given the opportunity to choose.  For a long time he could not say the word "aqua" correctly when we would be looking for it.  He pronounced "aqua", copper; therefore, the blanket became named Copper.  I realize that sometime soon we will have to wean him from Copper, but it will have to be baby steps.  I think as long as we inforce Copper to stay in the bed I may let it stay around longer.  Today when I took Copper out of the dryer, the new dryer I might add, he giddily exclaimed, "mmm...mmm...mmm..I love you!"  It is really too bad that this typewritten quote does not have the same emotion and inflection of his sweet voice to accurately portray his gratitude and excitement.

If I had a full-time maid my sheets would be washed every day.  That may not be very "green" of me, but that is one thing that I absolutely love.  They do not need to be warm, just fresh and clean smelling.  This alone can really make my day.  Too bad I do not have the time to clean them daily.  I have a hard enough time keeping up with the laundry for a family of six.  Laundry is the one thing that I did not take into account when we became a family of five.  I greatly underestimated the amount of laundry increase by just adding one more member of the family.  It was by far the hardest adjustment when Colton came along.  I was a little more prepared when Kylee came around; however, I must honestly say that just knowing that there will be more laundry does not magically make it easier.  If I do not do a load a day, then I am in for a laundry marathon.  I completely understand why the Duggers have a laundromat built in their house.  (If you do not know who the Duggars are, they are the family on the TLC show 19 kids and counting.  They are a really cool story, and they are raising amazing kids.)  An important piece of time-saving technology breaking down even makes the marathon more daunting.

I made a little mention earlier about a new dryer because the ol' dryer finally gave out 5 days ago.  I am happy to have a new dryer, but I am still having buyer's remorse just because the money spent on it took away from another important fund.  I guess I should be grateful that we at least had our tax refund to help us with this or else I would have been putting the clothes out on a clothesline.  Our ol' dryer will be dearly missed, and it had been with us our entire married life of almost 13 years.  I know that this one will probably not last that long.  They just don't make things like they used to.  My grandparents had purchased the ol' washer and ol' dryer for us.  We lost the ol' washer a couple of years ago, but we still had the ol' dryer.  Now, I think the other part of my buyer's remorse is that I have to say goodbye to my ol' dryer.  I know that is so silly, but it was really special to me that my grandparents had purchased these for us.  I can remember my grandfather, Duke, going shopping and picking it out in Tyler.  He then called and said that he had purchased it, and they had it in College Station.  My Duke and Lou have long since gone to be with the Father.  Duke did not get to meet my sweet children, but Lou did have a precious short time with Kevlie Ann and Calvin. 

The buyer's remorse sting is a little less because we happened upon a really great deal.  Our new addition  was delivered today.  Since I have a sick girl at home, we have been having a laundry marathon since about noon today.  I am afraid the marathon is going to last the rest of the week. 

I thought the dryer was going to give out about a year ago, but it miraculously came back to life.  I am so thankful for that, and rightly gave God the glory for that little miracle.  I remember several friends at the time suggesting to hang our clothes out on the line.  I honestly shudder at the thought not because I am becoming Miss Susie Homemaker in my own right, but more because that is all I would be doing.  I can just imagine hanging all of our stuff and the amount of stuff we are talking about.  It is just mind-boggling to me.  Maybe if I lived out in the country where I would not have neighbors spying on my unmentionables.  Or worse, what if they blew into their yard?  I have no doubt they would be extra fresh smelling...maybe I should line dry my sheets.  I know that I could live without a dryer, but I am spoiled and already struggling at fulfilling my daily homemaker duties.  I will add that something practical did come out of getting the new dryer.  It is stacked on top of my washer, and it opened up my laundry room.  I feel like I have a mini-laundromat at my home.  They both have circle openings you can see through and they are stacked on top of each other.   The kids think this is so cool.  The only thing missing is the coin slot or card swipe nowadays.  Instead we get it on credit and receive a paper slip in the mail to remind me to pay the bill online every month.  I should cancel the paper slip, which would be the more "green" thing to do.  I hardly ever even open the thing and it goes straight to the trash.  Why ruin a perfectly good afternoon by checking out the utility bill?  I wait and ruin one afternoon instead of many when I log on to pay many bills at one time.  At least the new dryer was bought with cash.  No more credit in the Haas household.  I will say that choice alone takes away a lot of stress, temptations, and fewer bills.  Enough about bills.  The awesome thing is that I can now fit a freezer in the mini-laundromat...that is if the freezer ever makes it up the priority expenditure list.

The Whole Truth

It has been so incredibly busy at my house that I am finding it hard to post daily or even a couple of times per week.  I am diligently trying to go to bed earlier so that I can be a better Mommy, and sometimes that is at the expense of one of my favorite things...Blogging.

Because of our busyness, we honestly did not start our Bible Verse for April 1st until tonight.  I had been meaning to, but it just had not happened.  I had a few that I thought I would do, but the Lord instructed me otherwise tonight.  The boys happened to get in a screaming match between the living room and bedroom all while I was in my bedroom.  All I heard was, "YES YOU DID!" and "NO I DIDN'T!" over and over again.  It made for an immediate family meeting to discuss what had occurred.  Mommy was mad for several reasons.  First of all, Kylee had not had a proper nap today and was finally, peacefully resting (how she slept through the screaming I am not sure).  I did not want her to wake.  Secondly, a screaming match is totally unacceptable.

Our discussion included those points, but it turned into so much more.  It frustrates me why we choose to hurt the people we love most, and it starts in early childhood.  I know that arguments are commonplace with siblings, but many times it continues into adulthood.  Most of the time they are silly and preventable.  Many times it just takes a little more communication and some humble pie to either prevent or easily fix the disagreement or hurt that ensued.  I am diligently trying to reinforce with my children that we do not want to intentionally hurt those we love most.

The boys had been taking a bath, and Calvin had told Colton that it was time to get out.  Obviously, like any other 3 or 4 year old, he did not want to get out.  This resulted in Colton slapping Calvin on the face, but more importantly, on the side of the face where he has a huge scrape by his eye.  I know Calvin probably initially resisted, but after several slaps he could no longer hold back.  Calvin fought back with some slaps of his own.  We have been working on this for a while now.  Calvin understands that he is the older brother who Colton looks up to and copies at every turn.  I reminded Calvin yet again that if he hits Colton, he is sending the message that it is okay to hit each other.  Kevin and I also always use the football reference of who always gets caught...the person who retaliates.

I learned the whole story after the entire interview process, but here is where God stepped in.  I was asking Colton his part of the story first, and I knew he was not telling me the whole truth.  That is when the Holy Spirit triggered the Bible verse in my head, and I used it for good.  I immediately knew this would be the verse for 4.1.11.

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.

Hebrews 4:13a

This incident became the perfect opportunity to teach a great truth.  We talked about what "all creation" meant.  I then explained that sometimes Mommy and Daddy do not witness what happens, but God sees all of it.  None of it is hidden from Him.  I also explained that sometimes God allows Mommy and Daddy to figure out a lot of things without always seeing them.  I was able to reinforce how important the truth is.  Thank you Lord for sending this verse this evening.  After explaining and reciting this verse several times with all of the children, Colton told me that he had not told me the truth.  It was a beautiful moment.  I do not always grasp hold of these teaching moments, but I am so glad that I did tonight.  Parenting is more fun this way, and I stay in control instead of stooping down to the screaming match like the children.  I used to get into the screaming match (aka raising my voice and yelling at them) way too often, but those are becoming fewer and far between only by God's grace.  Colton proceeded to tell me the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help him God because nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.

Only By God's Grace...
Callie Ann