Easter '09

We had such a sweet Easter celebration this year.  We sent the kids to bed the night before with strict instructions to come straight to our room in the morning with no peeking on the way.  All 6 of us were piled into our bed while we talked about the meaning of Easter and about how amazing it must have been for those first followers of Jesus to realize that he was alive.  We prayed.  We even sang a little song.  

And then all patience was lost, and it was time to go hunting for goodies.  Here are the kids just moments before we released them for their search:

This was the first Easter that Thomas could really participate in.  His first response upon finding an easter egg hidden in the coffee table drawer?  Pick it up.  Hold it in hand.  Turn it over a few times to try and figure out what it is.  Decide, 'IT'S A BALL!'.  Throw it as hard as possible against nearest wall!  That was a first for me.  I think this kid has sports in his future - he has a great arm!

After digging through the baskets, eating lots of chocolate (gotta love those robin's eggs!), and setting some new puzzles...it was time to get dressed and head to the kids' cousins' house for more celebrating.  Before we left I tried to get some sweet pictures of the kids in front of that beautiful magnolia tree/bush.  I'll tell ya what...trying to take pictures of my own kids is enough to make me want to sell the camera.  They're the toughest subjects!

And then, a group shot please?  Um, yeah right!

I'm not sure who's idea it was to have the three older kids gang up on Thomas and hold him down, but it was fun to watch ;)

Then we were off to my sister's house.  The meal was delicious (served up on my Grandma's beautiful apple dishes that almost made me cry), and the company was wonderful.  We even had a GIANT egg hunt.  There were 9 kids there, and I think about 200 eggs.

The dads had fun hiding the eggs, while the moms sequestered the kids in a room and made sure they didn't peek out the windows (the moms who didn't sneak out for pictures, that is).

I was impressed with how creative the guys were in hiding the eggs.  In the flowers, under toys, on TOP of the swing set, and in trees.  There was even one in someone's tailpipe.

Of their car.

C'mon.  Get your mind out of the gutter.

Then the hunt was on!  We let the 3 year old kids (and younger) get a head start.  It was so fun!!

Thomas was a classic toddler egg hunter.  Pick up egg.  Place it in basket.  See another egg.  Bend over to pick it up while spilling previous egg out of basket.  Place new egg in basket.  Turn around and see newly dropped egg.  Bend over to pick it up while spilling...

Repeat.

Again.

And again.

Hey look!  He managed to get both eggs in the basket at the same time!  

It was about this time that he realized "hey, there's something IN there!"  He squatted down to pry open one of his eggs with those beautiful, sweet, grubby little fingers.  Then all the jellybeans went into his mouth in one big scoop.

Thomas doesn't like jellybeans.  

I could tell by the half-chewed glob of jellybeans that he spit back into his poor little basket and carried around for the rest of the afternoon.  Except when he was playing in the sandbox.  It was his first time in the sandbox, so of course he had to take a big scoop of sand and see how it tasted too.

He likes sand less than jellybeans.

And he REALLY hates it when his mommy holds him upside down over the sink and sprays water in his mouth, pries open his mouth, and digs little rocks out of his molars.  

See?  Creative :)


Well, there you have it...our Easter.

My day was made complete by talking with my oldest about his favorite parts of the day.  His favorites were egg hunting and setting a puzzle with me.  He informed me, "Mommy, some day when I die and go to Heaven?  I'm going to set puzzles with you."

Yet another reason to be thankful for the promise of Heaven.  This is the life...