Easter 2013

On Friday we had our annual Easter Egg Hunt at the neighborhood park with friends.  Brynn is finally learning how to be competitive.

 

 And just like last year, Bryce was very picky about which eggs to pick up.  It's not a matter of quantity, but of quality for him.

 We had our new-to-AZ cousins come, and the kids were so cute together. 

You can't really see Gabe in the stroller.  I bravely took on bringing six kids to the park for this event (a friend had a dr. appointment and I watched her kids).  It went just about as I expected it to.  They were all very good kids, but it was busy, busy, busy, and when we got home I was DONE.  I shouldn't admit to this, but I kept forgetting about Gabe and finding him at the very top of the playground equipment!  So I got the stroller out of the car, and there he sat for almost an hour and a half!  Not fussing or squirming.  Just sipping water and munching on snacks here and there and taking it all in.  He's an observer.  He loves to be in the action, but doesn't have to be part of the action. 

Here's an "after" picture of the Easter baskets on Sunday morning.  It seems like more and more holidays are starting to resemble Christmas.  I usually try to cut down on candy by filling eggs with berries, but I didn't do that this year.  There were several things that all my kids needed, and the Easter bunny brought those.  New sandals, water bottles, books, and flashlights (on Friday nights they can stay up with flashlights reading as late as they want, but we've been missing the flashlights for a while).  So yes, I probably spoiled them, but at least there was little enough candy that it was all gone by the next day!  Does anyone else feel like you JUST get over one candy holiday and another one comes up? 

 

After the Easter egg hunt, Gabe new exactly what to do with those "balls."  At first, he kept signing "ball" every time he saw an Easter egg, and then he'd throw it.  But at the egg hunt he realized there was GOOD stuff inside those balls.  He started opening his right away...

 

And here he is looking very happy with a mouth full of candy! 

  WHO, Gabe?  WHO do you look like?  I can't put my finger on it!

I always wait until right before we leave for church to put on Bryce's Sunday clothes.  Here's why:

TEN minutes before we are supposed to leave (and I need to be there early to play organ and get everything set up for our choir numbers), he drops his entire full glass of green smoothie all over himself!  I'm sorry Buddy, but the camera was right there and I just had to snap a picture!  I ran him to the bath trying desperately not to get it on MY church clothes.  And it also explains this next picture:

 I wanted to try to get a really nice picture of our family before heading out to church but ALL I had time for was tossing the camera up on the entertainment center, setting the timer, taking one single picture, and running out the door without even checking to see if all of us were in it!  The exposure is terrible, Gabe's not looking, Buddy is ticked about something, and I look like I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off (pregnant).  Right now I'm disappointed, but someday I'll laugh. 

And we got to have the cousins and Grandma Johnson over for Easter dinner and it was so fun and yummy!

Overall the day was good, but by the end of the night all I wanted to do was go to bed and wake up when
a) there were no more holidays (that whole, "holidays are GREAT with kids!" really caught up to me)
b) the AC was working (it broke that day and with all the cooking we did the house REALLY heated up - plus I have my own built-in heater right now)
c) I could have a fresh start on a whole new slew of mis-haps (won't take the time to record everything that didn't go according to plan on that Sunday, but it was enough to keep me running and very very sore with about a bazillion contractions)
OR
d) when I am no longer pregnant :) 

I was feeling a little bad about not doing all the spiritual things I had intended for that day.  Especially because I remember feeling the exact same way last Easter.  But we've been singing Easter songs in our devotionals for a couple of weeks and reading about the Atonement and Resurrection (I'm reading the New Testament with the kids this year and it's just where we happened to be), plus we did our FHE scripture egg activity and watched The Testaments.  And the thing I'm happy about is what an impression it all seemed to have on Bryce.  Brynn has always gravitated toward that stuff so naturally, but with Bryce it's hard to tell what he is going to resist (mostly in the name of needing to burn off extra energy) or what he is going to take to heart completely.  In the case of our Easter prep, he was all in and asking questions and random times of the day and sitting reverently when we talked about the crucifixion.  The last three days he has requested to watch The Testaments.  I love seeing that side of him.