Easter 2013

Easter "week" started with Spring Break off of school for the kiddos.  Usually, that would be a wonderful thing.  Unfortunately, the plague (read: the virus from hell) hit our household and everyone OTHER than me was sick and house bound for the entire week.  A whole week with sick, grumpy kids stuck at home... not the ideal way to spend Spring Break.  BUT we did gather energy to partake in a few fun things, including egg dying.  Here's the kids with their favorite eggs.  Molly preferred the "wax crayon drawing and then dying" technique.  Paige preferred the "sticker encrusting" method.  And Garrett only wanted green eggs... no other color would do.

By Easter Eve, I had finally contracted the plague, however everyone else was feeling better.  Unfortunately, there is no downtime for a sick Mommy on Easter, so I pushed through it.  We got the Easter baskets assembled and eggs hid and went to bed.  Unfortunately for us, Molly was just a "little" excited about Easter and proceeded to wake up at 2:30 and 5:00 and 5:30, until Steve basically forbade her to come out of her room until at LEAST 6:30.  Here's their Easter baskets that Molly pre-labeled with their names so that the Easter Bunny would know whose baskets they were.

In the morning the kids ripped through their baskets and hunted for eggs, before I made a big breakfast for everyone.  It was fun to watch them hunt for eggs and to see Molly "help" Garrett and Paige get some too.  She was pointing eggs out for them which was so sweet!

We didn't have too much time to be leisurely because I was playing with the church band, so we had to leave the house by 9:00 a.m.  But church was SO much fun, and the kids enjoyed their class and yet another egg hunt!

I had a fabulous time playing with the band.  Three of the five guys are/were professional musicians and they are so ridiculously talented.  They make it so much FUN!  Here's a little video of the last song of the service celebrating that God will "take us there".

Then we went back home and had naps before heading to Aunt Nancy and Uncle Fred's for dinner.  The kids were so excited to see their cousins, and it's great that they have so much fun when they're together!  Take note of Garrett's bowtie... he actually asked me, "Mommy, can I please wear a bow tie for Easter?"  How could I say no?

One of the highlights for the kids (other than the ridiculous amount of treats) was when they found a frog in the pool.  Uncle Fred helped them "rescue" it (although I think it was probably happier in the pool) and they all took turns holding it before releasing it in the back swale. 

All in all, despite my ridiculous cough, it was a fabulous Easter.  I am so thankful for our real and church families that we could celebrate with.  He is Risen!