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| Oh, this sweet face! |
Time to document our celebration of Easter this year. I love spring and all that Easter is! However, this year it still looks like winter around here with a pretty dusting of snow on Easter morning.
{Pardon my very limited understanding of how to make a blog look cute. I'm all for documenting, but aesthetics are secondary to this effort at this time for me. Wish I felt like expending time to learn more ins and outs.}
I bought two books for the children which came in handy on
an overwhelming Monday night for FHE this past month. I really loved how -----
brought the Easter story to my children in a way they could relate to.
We were deliberate in our effort to have a low key Easter
weekend, just us. We had spent a week trying to get the kids’ passports renewed which
ended in a trip up to the Frankfurt consulate during the week. Usually we can
do this here, but our passport office on post is navigating budget cutbacks on
staffing and services that coincided with our need for renewal. Fun times.
On Saturday, Ryan got all our grocery shopping, dinner, and hunt prep
done while I was able to knock out much of the Sunday breakfast prep and other details.
Having recently spent time with a dear friend who is a single mom of two young
kids, I am so especially grateful for Ryan. I love being married and am so happy Ryan puts up with me! My hat is off to single mothers doing their best!
Sunday morning, the kids woke us up eager for their egg
hunt! We had originally thought we would do it on Saturday, but the week had
just been to busy to pull this off. McKay checked outside and told us the
Easter Bunny hadn’t been by yet so we closed the roladen (brilliant roll down blinds) again, but not before
he left a note for our furry friend. Breakfast went in the oven and soon it was
time for our hunt!
Jake is eager anytime shoes and coats are being put on. He
just likes to go! And it’s so fun to document your child’s first egg hunt! He’s
such a cute little man! Morgan and McKay were scouting out all the eggs they
saw as the rolladen went up. Easton was just matter-of-fact ready to go and
get’r’done! Here they are!
Hurray! It's a miracle to get them all smiling and looking at the same time!
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Jake learning the way of the egg hunt!
I love the happiness found in traditions!
McKay's still in that perfect age to enjoy this one!
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| McKay reaching for an egg! Sneaky rabbit! |
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| Eggs-smeggs! Riding is what this kid is all about these days! Look at that happy face! |
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| There's candy in here?! Now this all makes sense! |
Once the hunt was over, we settled on the carpet to have the
kids sort out all the yellow eggs which had numbers on them. This is new for us, but I hope it becomes a tradition.
Once Each egg had a symbol and description of the Easter story of Jesus Christ. McKay is holding a bit of towel for Pilate and some scarlet fabric for the robe the soldiers put upon Christ. This was all pulled together at the last minute Saturday night although I'd intended to do it much earlier as a 12 day countdown to Easter.
We used pictures from the Gospel Art kit that related to the symbol.
Jake even got into the action holding the pictures real nice for a bit. Of course, that was until we tried to take a picture of him doing it. Then it was time for breakfast! The kids were pretty happy with their candy and I let them have free reign of it for the morning. I have some friends who have gone candy free. Some great ideas out there, but we're still pretty happy with our sugar holidays. The abundant sugar in her system may or may not have contributed to a certain little lady enthusiatically singing and dancing to "Gangnam Style" on a potty break at church with her primary class. I can only imagine what her teacher thinks about that episode. I got a gut laugh out of it and was so happy to share it with Ryan on the way home from church!
We had Paula Dean's bacon spinach (and Edamer/swiss cheese) quiche, my lame attempt at mom's caramel rolls, and fresh berries. There's no Rhodes Rolls here and these substitutes didn't quite turn out the same. I had visions of having a nice table setting for us to enjoy, but it fell to the wayside as life took over that week. Maybe someday I'll set the table like a lady. Maybe not.
Jake's sugar shock was actually pretty funny. He had his own little sugar shuffle dance and was just the happiest boisterous little boy all morning. Until church began and his sister took his spot on dad's lap. Game over.
I wanted to get a cute picture of the kids all dressed up for church but we hit a time crunch. McKay really wanted to take the eggs and show his class the Easter story. And so I had him call his teacher for permission. Ryan ended up using them in his Elders Quorum lesson too. Gathering them had not been on my get out the door countdown, so we were scrambling in the end.
I am glad I had done some contemplation of Easter on my own these past few weeks because church this time didn't fill my cup. 'Nuff said. However, Easton's class was in charge of doing Sharing Time. His teachers did a creative court room enactment of whether or not Jesus was resurrected. Easton played the judge. There was a bailiff and "evidence" in various sized ziplocks. Very creative and engaging. His favorite part was getting to glare at his teacher disdainfully. It was a fun activity for Senior Primary.
After church, Jake passed out in the van and by the time I got him to bed, Easton was already in his pjs as usual. Poor kid has outgrown all his church pants in the past week so he was extra eager to change out of his tight waisted, short pants. So here's Morgan and McKay making our Easter outfit showing.
I'm really liking green on Morgan lately. She stole my necklace during sacrament meeting and loved wearing it. Note to self for birthdays and Christmas! I love that McKay is caught her sweeping up basket filler.
While I write this, Morgan and McKay are busy picking up the living room together after having spent all morning building and playing/fighting together. I love seeing them together!
Our Easter Sabbath ended with a quick easy pasta dinner prepared by Ryan and then we settled in for a family movie, popcorn and Ryan's new cookie craze - chocolate chip coconut macadamia nut. Yum! Happy Easter!
