Hoppy Friday! Hoppy Friday!

Preparations for Easter are in full swing at the Kalil house. The ham has been purchased. The eggs are waiting to be colored. And Shelby is super excited. Her preschool celebrated Easter yesterday, as it's closed today for Good Friday. The Easter Bunny stopped by and hid eggs for them a little early and Shelb had a a great time hunting for eggs and celebrating the season. If you ask her what Easter is all about, she'll tell you it's a holiday about Jesus dying. She can't quite grasp the idea of Resurrection yet, but that's a pretty big word for a three-year-old. We're hosting Easter dinner at our house, which means we get all the leftovers!

Here's a look at some other things going on with us, our friends, etc.

Congratulations to Corey and JoAnn Levitan (it rhymes!).They just got back from Hawaii where they tied the knot. Mike and I REALLY wanted to go to their wedding, but my work schedule would permit it. But, we're so happy for the newlyweds and wish them tons of love and happiness on their new journey.

Our wonderful friends David and Ashley Stroud welcomed a little one into their family. Their first child, Andrew Merritt Stroud was born on March 19th. He weighed in a 3 lbs., 10 oz., and is 15 inches tall. It's quite a miracle that he and his Mama are alive and well. Ashley was in a terrible car accident when she was 7-months pregnant and though she didn't sustain any major injuries, she been hospitalized ever since because of the trauma to her belly and such (no need for gory details!). So, she's been taking it easy and giving Andrew more time to grow. We've been keeping the entire Stroud family in our prayers, maybe all of you can do the same.

Some of our other great friends, Dave and Emily Schwartz, started their own blog. Now we get to see lots of pictures of their two adorable little ones, Delaney and Elliot. I miss not seeing them all the time, like we did when we were still in Vegas ... so this is the next best thing.

Another friend of ours, Doug Elfman has returned to work the Review-Journal. He spent a few years at the Chicago Sun-Times and now is back in Vegas for ... umm, the warmer weather of course. He'll be writing three columns a week and blogging regularly (his blog is called VegasLand). Check him out.

Shelby and I have been sick. Sinus infection for me. RSV for her. The doctor has her sleeping with a cold air humidifier, which she loves. I let her pick out the one she wanted and of course she went with Hello Kitty. We're both feeling a little better, but it's slow going. It's a wonder Mike isn't sick too.

Shelb's new favorite toy is Play-doh, thanks to Mama Shelley and the Eckhardt crew who gave her a big bucket of Play-doh goodies when we were in New Mexico. She loves making crazy shapes and can spend literally hours playing with it.

And finally, here's a silly picture of Shelby. She was curled up in a ball in my office chair, pretending to hide from me. She insisted I couldn't see her! See the purple watch she's wearing? It's shaped like a heart and says inside "Jesus is in my heart." She got it yesterday at her preschool Easter party and has been wearing it ever since. She even slept with it on.

This morning, she crawled into bed with us and while looking at her watch said, "Mom, do you know what time it is?" I answered, "No, why?" Shelby said," Mom, my watch says it's time for me to watch a movie downstairs." Okay then.