Easter: The Rest of the Day

Well, first let me remind us all that Easter morning was wonderful... 

But to be honest, Easter afternoon was a little different.  We came home from a nice day at church, and I was trying to finish making our Easter dinner and dessert, and Caleb was FUSSY because he missed his afternoon nap, and Isaac and Elise were just plain CRANKY.  It was a rough little bit (especially the dinner hour).  

For dinner we had an Orange Herbed Pot Roast, boiled red potatoes, steamed broccoli, and rolls. Carrot cake for dessert.  (We were all still bummed that we couldn't be with our family - the Johnstons - for dinner since Luke was sick.  We missed them terribly and the day just wasn't quite as holiday-ish without them).  

But, we made it through and right after eating we headed outside again and everything went somewhat better after that.  Really, we had a fun evening as a family - it was just a rough patch in the middle there.

Anyway, after dinner we enjoyed an outdoor Easter egg hunt.  The weather was BEAUTIFUL and we borrowed our neighbors backyard (ours doesn't have grass quite yet) and the kids hunted for EMPTY eggs.  Yep, they were empty.  :)  We just wanted an excuse to be outside and the kids were just as happy.

Near the end of the egg hunt Elise came up to me with THIS face and said "I'm done with Easter now mom."  Ha!

After our outdoor egg hunt we decided to go "Egg" some family and friends.  And that was a LOT of fun!  The kids were so excited to be sneaky and secretive and surprise others.  We went to the Johnstons first, but just as we pulled up they were pulling OUT of their garage!  We all ducked down in the car (which was just to amuse the kids - because in the cul-de-sac their was NO hiding).  The kids were in their car seats so they just covered their eyes.  The poor Johnstons were confused.  They tried to come out to say hi to us, but we had ducked down and covered our heads - so silly - there was a lot of laughing going on.  Finally, they just slowly drove by us and left. :)  So then we pulled into their drive way and "egged" them.  We let Elise and Isaac hide all of the eggs.  They LOVED it.  My favorite was watching Elise hide the eggs.  She hid them in twos.  So entertaining.  Then we headed to the home of a new family in our ward, to "egg" them as well.  They were outside playing in their backyard too.  But we were nervous that they would see us.  After a few moments of trying to figure out what to do, Jeremy just went and said hello to the parents and told them about our plan.  Then he came back and told us the "coast was clear" so we "egged" that house too.  SO FUN!  I loved seeing how excited the kids were about it all. 

Well, the evening went great... but on the ride home everyone was tired and CRANKY again.  Elise was really having a hard time and I thought we were going to have a screaming bedtime situation on our hands - when luckily "Mary Poppins" and "Bert" arrived.  Elise is obsessed with pretending Mary Poppins, so Jeremy and I just pretended right along with her and SOMEHOW (thank goodness!) we were able to distract and get her calmed down and everyone went to bed.  Phew!  A long, but overall wonderful day as a family.  Great memories made!  And a chance to spend time together, love those around us, and celebrate our Savior who gives strength and meaning to this all.  Happy Easter!!!

Easter: The Morning

We had a WONDERFUL Easter morning.  Relaxing, happy, and just plain wonderful.  I wanted to soak it all up and enjoy it forever.  The weather was beautiful, the kids were content, we weren't rushed or hurried... it was perfectly lovely. 

The morning started off with a video about our Savior Jesus Christ and a family prayer.  Then we headed out to the family room to check out the Easter baskets.  Caleb crawled out first (so cute), and Isaac and Elise followed.  The kids were all happy with their baskets.  The kids all got stickers and these fun little wind up chicks and bunnies.  Isaac got his OWN Bible (with his name on it).  He has been begging for a Bible, so he was very happy and it was a big hit.  Elise got a Book of Mormon (with her name on it as well).  She immediately sat down to "read" her Book of Mormon.  She also loved her "pet" bunny "Summer Elise".  So cute to watch her play with it.  Caleb got a a Bible Lift-a-Flap board book.  He really loves books - so the book was a hit.  And he played with the wind up toys a lot too.  He was really cute looking at them and touching them and following them (he was a little nervous about them at first - I think he may have thought they were real).

After the kids leisurely enjoyed their baskets, we ate a yummy breakfast of Orange Rolls, strawberries, and milk.  Then it was off to the basement for the infamous egg hunt.

You have to stop taking pictures and read when your adorable little boy "asks" you to read him a book so sweetly, right? :)

Happy kids hunting for Easter eggs!  Isaac and Elise did a great job finding the eggs - I was totally impressed (future reference - we did a total of 33 eggs and that worked out perfectly).  Caleb even found a couple of eggs!  But he wasn't nearly as interested in finding the eggs, as he was interested in figuring out how to get his egg OPEN so that he could have what was inside of it. 

Back upstairs we opened up and sorted out all of the Easter egg candy and the kids each got to eat 5 jelly beans, a starbust, and a mini chocolate.  Caleb even got to eat a jellybean or 2 (Jeremy tore them apart into pieces for him).  As we were sitting there, Jeremy happened to yawn.  Elise and Isaac asked him why he was tired.  Then Elise said something along the lines of "you can nap right now if you want to."  So he jokingly laid his head on the table and soon I had a table full of "sleeping" people.  Even Caleb joined in.  Cute.

After the Easter Egg candy adventures Caleb took a real nap, and I got out a "new" dress and "new" shoes for Elise to wear as her "Easter" dress (just hand-me-downs from her grow-in box that she hadn't seen yet) and she was absolutely TICKLED about those!  She LOVED the dress and shoes and just twirled and smiled and LOVED dressing up like that. I even busted out the curling iron and curled her hair (which went flat before I could even get a photo - darn it!).  But it was adorable none-the-less and she was happy about it all. (By the way - on Saturday Elise started asking me about her "Easter" dress and wanting one.  So random - I'm not sure where she even heard about it, but I was so happy to have something on hand that she was overjoyed about.)  

The goal was to take a few kid and family photos before church, but we ended up letting Caleb sleep until the VERY LAST moment and we were also running late.  Oh well...  off to church!

Easter Prep

We did a few little activities to gear up for Easter this last week.  Admittedly, we didn't do as many festivities as I would have liked... but since the move and all of the sickness - and the extra work of Jeremy's upcoming job transition - I feel like we are still stuck a bit in survival mode... so we are just doing the best we can. :)

Monday the kids and I got out the Easter baskets and eggs.  We matched up all of the eggs and then I took 26 of the eggs and wrote the letters of the alphabet on them (capital letter on one side of the egg and lower case on the other side).  And we practiced matching those up and lining them up.  Here they are showing off the whole alphabet lined up on the couch (where Caleb couldn't reach them.... hehe).  Later that afternoon we also went to Feldman's (local farm supply store) to look at the baby chicks and ducks that they have for sale there.  We even got to touch one. 

On Tuesday the kids and I made an assembly line (and had a great time doing it!) to fill the Easter eggs to take to our playgroup Easter party.  As we filled the eggs we sang and laughed and played.  "We are the Johnstons, the mighty - mighty Johnstons..."  Later in the week I had the kids help me fill the rest of the Easter eggs for our Easter festivities - and they loved it! (Definitely recruiting their help again next year!)

Tuesday Isaac went to preschool and did some fun Easter activities there.  It was my turn to host Elise's playschool group.  We read books about spring (even though there was SNOW on the ground) and made these whiskers - they are supposed to be bunny whiskers.  Then we sang "Little Bunny Foo-Foo" (stupidest song ever - but the kids love it) and "5 Little Bunnies Jumping on the Bed" (and they jumped on the blanket on the floor and then took turns "falling" off.

Wednesday we went to our playgroup Easter Egg Hunt activity at Michelle's house.  Always a good time. (Also, Elise and Caleb went to the doctor in the afternoon and Elise was diagnosed with Strep - AGAIN - and Caleb was diagnosed with a double ear infection and given a referral for tubes).

Thursday the kids were sick and I didn't feel well, so I can't recall much that happened. :) 

Friday the weather was BEAUTIFUL and we were able to meet our cousins and friends for a picnic at the park, go on a walk, and ride our bikes outside.  It felt like spring!!!

Saturday we dyed our Easter Eggs!

(We had planned an Easter Egg roll and outdoor egg hunt with the Johnstons Saturday afternoon - but it was raining and Luke had croup - so we had to cancel.  I'm still bummed about it!)

 

Other March Photos

Here are a few moments from daily life in March.  Just playing together - learning - enjoying our new home - looking cute - eating snow - getting into mischief - exploring - playing with Brent & Michelle's kittens - you know... the usual stuff.