Easter and recitals and Fight Club, oh my!

The past couple of weeks have been about as hectic as hectic can be. I felt like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz when she and the scarecrow are walking on the yellow brick road chanting "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!" Just a wee bit frenzied. The week before Easter my dear sister Lauri flew in from New Jersey and recruited all willing family members to help get their home north of the cities ready to sell. Scraping ceilings, removing wall paper, LOTS of painting, a minor bathroom renovation, and some new light fixtures were on the agenda. And it all got done, barely! It was nice to see her, and I believe whatever debt I owed her is now paid. :) Then it was Easter, and we enjoyed celebrating with the kids and also a few singles from Antioch that were unable to be with family. We had been wavering a bit on whether or not to do an Easter egg hunt for the kids, and Ava sealed the deal on Saturday night when she said, "I wonder what kind of candy will be in my Easter eggs?!?!" Right as I was tucking her into bed. So off to the store we went, and Sunday after church we had an Easter egg hunt.

The week after Easter, Andy headed to Florida for a church planting conference, leaving me and and Coley (Antioch's administrative guru and friend extraordinaire) to plan Fight Club, a men's conference hosted by Antioch. Coley really is the mastermind behind all of the logistics and I handle the food and coffee. And this year, for some reason, I offered to make brownies and bars for the afternoon break. I blame my mother, she was always offering to make obscene amounts food for things when I was growing up. Once she made like 600 crescent rolls, from scratch, for a conference. I must have inherited that crazy gene. So I made 2 or 3 pans of something every night for a week. (I must add that mom came and stayed with me for a night and helped me make 3 pans of lemon bars, and then made 3 pans of rice krispy bars for me. I was very thankful!) And Coley and I decided Andy is not allowed to be gone the week before Fight Club ever again. But the conference was fantastic, and went really well, there were around 175 men that attended. A success, and a relief to have over.

Andy and I are also playing on a softball team for Antioch. And our first game was Sunday after Fight Club. We play a doubleheader every other Sunday. It was 37 degrees and very windy. We won one and lost one. It took me several hours to regain feeling in my fingers and toes. It was cold. Why spring softball in Minnesota? I have no idea...

And last but not least, Monday evening was Ava's piano recital. She has taken lessons since the fall and it is amazing how much she has learned. She was fabulous, and even curtsied at the end. She was told to bow, but informed me that since she was wearing a dress, it was more proper to curtsy. And she curtsied wonderfully.

So there you have it. A couple of weeks in the lives of the O'Rourkes. Whew.