Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday began the night before for Jesse and I. We kept Easter baskets very simple this year with one divider plate, one toy, and one chocolate. The actual baskets are the same ones from last year. Each of the trio received a Mr. (or Mrs.) Potato Head. Jackson's toy was a beginners baseball and glove that velcro together.

My mother began the tradition of hiding candy filled eggs all around the house on Easter morning. As soon as we woke up and were given permission, my siblings and I collected the eggs. Some of the eggs were so well hidden we didn't find them until several weeks later. My siblings and I have carried on this same tradition with our own children. Jesse and I stuffed our eggs with Goldfish and Teddy Grahams. The girls never made it beyond their room because they immediately opened the eggs and ate the treats.

Both of the boys were eager to accumulate eggs.

The contents of the baskets were mostly overlooked. Jackson asked if he could trade his baseball for one of the Mr. Potato Heads. He played with them while the trio hoarded Teddy Grahams as if their lives depended on it.

We had to be at church by 10 to help set up for the egg hunt. I recently became the coordinator of the CE committee that oversees all children's events (and adult Sunday School classes). I've spent six weeks delegating tasks to make sure we would have refreshments, story time, crafts, stuffed eggs, tables set up, publicity, etc. It was a surprising amount of work for only 30 minutes of time. The turnout was disappointingly low and I found myself conflicted trying to balance my role as mom and coordinator.

I was only able to take a handful of pictures in between running around. I was able to capture a sweet moment when both girls sat on Jesse's lap. Unfortunately, when Amelia got up Jesse was covered in her poop! He had to take care of an emergency diaper blowout.

Amelia continued to rock her outfit and shades once she was cleaned up. She is so full of herself already!

A big milestone for Jackson was that he received Communion for the first time. It was more accidental than intentional. Rather than going up for intinction, the elders passed the plates up and down the pews. Jackson took a wafer before we really talked about it. As we pass the elements, we always say, "This is the body of Christ, broken for you." Jackson took a bite of the bread, threw the other half down, and said, "I don't like the body." At least he drank all the juice and did not confuse it for literal blood this time.

My CE team bailed on me when it came to cleaning up. Thankfully two other church members assisted, though this delayed our family quite a bit in meeting my side of the family for Easter lunch. The kids fell asleep in the van, so none were in especially playful moods when we first arrived at my sister's house. Thankfully, they perked up with some outdoor play. The fun included: blowing bubbles, writing with sidewalk chalk, playing badminton, walking through the neighborhood, relay races, and an egg toss. Oh, how I love having a big family!

I tried desperately today to take a family photo. For the first time in two years, I bought matching dresses for Amelia and Maddie to wear. All of the boys were dressed sharply as well so I thought we'd be able to take a decent picture together. Most of the photos were some variant of this:

Here was the best photo of the dozens that were taken.

It was 5 pm before we arrived home. We walked into the chaos from Easter morning, with smashed Goldfish, opened eggs, dirty dishes, and candy scattered throughout the downstairs. Four overly tired children, one very messy house, a 3 year old fighting eye drops, a husband returning to work, and a growing to-do list all resulted in a rather frazzled mom!

Easter Eve

Okay, I know Easter Eve isn't really a thing, but I do love the alliteration. We kept the kids inside all morning with very little stimulation because we knew the rest of their day was going to be nonstop interactions with family. I spent the morning baking rice krispy treats, pound cake, and carrot cake cupcakes. To spruce up the cupcakes, I dyed the cream cheese icing brown, swirled the icing on with a star tip, and placed three candy eggs inside the little bird nests. They weren't quite as exciting as the Peeps cupcakes, but still easy and cute.

After lunch we drove to Gastonia to attend the family egg hunt. My aunt and uncle own several acres of land and do an amazing job hosting our annual fall festival as well as the egg hunt.

We were running late, which prevented my nieces and nephews from being allowed off the deck. Oops! My uncle loves giving the directions (aka long winded speeches) about the egg hunt. Once he finished, the kids were off!

Well, all the kids except James. Admittedly, we were late because we had to interrupt their nap, which resulted in three tired toddlers. James stood in place with his basket while everyone around him gathered eggs.

The girls stayed together. While this was their third egg hunt this week, it was the first one with baskets. With some direction from their aunts and uncles, they got the hang of putting eggs in their baskets.

Of course, Jackson knew what to do. Though he still walked past several better hidden eggs.

After the hunt, the kids emptied their eggs and ate too many sweet treats. Every time I turned around someone else had given Jackson yet another cookie or cupcake! The stubborn trio bit through the wrappers and ate several pieces of candy before it was taken away.

My most recent family yearbook arrived in the mail yesterday, which means I am caught up since the kids were born. Of course I take pride in our family, as well as the amazing print quality of MyPublisher books. I was more than happy that other family members were willing to look through the yearbook.

At one point, my oldest sister convinced us to walk/jog laps with her. The perimeter of my aunt and uncle's backyard is a quarter mile, so we completed 6+ laps together. Maddie walked an entire lap!

After our exercise, we continued to play, relax, and chat. Here are four of my favorite girls:

Jesse and I barely even saw Jackson. He played with his cousin most of the afternoon.

After several hours of fun, we loaded into the van and drove an hour to spend the evening with Jesse's side of the family. We gathered together to enjoy a traditional dinner (ham, deviled eggs, green beans, mac-n-cheese, potato salad). The trio each ate a roll and nibbled on a few bits of food. Jackson's appetite was ruined by the desserts he consumed earlier.

Unfortunately, the photo below was taken about thirty minutes before baby Davis began projectile vomiting.

After the sweet boy was settled, Jesse's mom brought out Easter baskets for all the kids.  MiMi and Aunt Robin outdid themselves once again with the lavish gifts for the kids. Things were a little chaotic so I didn't get any good pictures of the kids going through their baskets.

The girls received sunglasses and bracelets. Amelia reclaimed her nickname as the Diva. She is apparently an accessories girl. Amelia was much more focused on keeping her bracelets on her arm than hunting for eggs.

Once again, James was apathetic about the eggs. He was more interested in climbing the play equipment. Sweet boy!

The kids are so lucky to have so many cousins on both sides of the family to play with. All of my cousins are at least a decade older than me, so I did not have the same bond growing up with my cousins. I love that our kids are all so close in age and love playing together!

We stayed past the trio's bedtime. It felt a bit like Christmas trying to pack in all the gifts and containers of food into the van. Surprisingly, none of the kids fell asleep on the way home, though it didn't take long for everyone to get settled in their beds.

Now Jesse and I just need to finish a few preparations (i.e. stuff eggs with Teddy Grahams and Goldfish and leave a trail of eggs throughout the house) before we can go to bed.

Not Such a Good Friday

What we had thought were bad allergies proved to be much worse for Jackson Lee. He started screaming early this morning saying he couldn't open his eyes. Sure enough, they were completely matted shut. Multiple attempts at scrubbing his eyes with a wet washcloth still provided no relief.

Our pediatrician's office opens at 8 a.m. I called first thing and they were able to see him at 8:30. Jesse carried Jackson to the car. Jack's eyes were still closed and he was wearing his pajamas.

Eventually, they were able to open his eyes. He was given drops for pink eye (in both eyes) as well as antibiotics for a sinus infection.

We had planned to host a morning play date with one of Jackson's old classmates. Of course, we had to cancel. I had also wanted to end spring break with a family hike at the Whitewater Center, then have a picnic lunch at the Airport Overlook. Again, plans canceled.

As soon as the trio went down for a nap, I left to go grocery shopping. I had several lists to follow (Easter baskets, two different Easter meals, desserts for egg hunt, and meals for next week). When I was finally driving home, I witnessed a wreck while waiting at a stoplight. No one was injured, but another car completely swerved and t-boned the car in front of me. I stayed to write a witness statement.

I don't foresee the evening turning around, since we have leftovers for dinner and the kids are super cranky. It's not quite the end to our week of adventure that I had hoped for, but I'm thankful that Jackson will be on the mends quickly and I was not part of a wreck today!

Easter Egg Hunts (1 and 2)

Yesterday was the egg hunt and picnic lunch at Jackson's school. Since Jesse teaches in a different county where Jackson goes to school, their spring breaks did not happen to be the same week. It was nice to be able to attend the egg hunt as a family. I was especially thankful I had Jesse to help with the trio since I was in charge of the desserts.

Jackson's teacher lined the class up and reminded them to only collect twelve eggs.

Jackson put 15 eggs in his basket in under a minute. We had to make him count the eggs and put some back.

I brought spare eggs to hide for the trio to find. All of the kids sat with Jesse and emptied their eggs.

Then we enjoyed our picnic lunch. James grew increasingly fussy after he ate. We were one of the first families to leave because James was so exhausted and kept crying

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Fast Forward a Day - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Our adventure for the day was to attend the "Eggnormous Twilight Easter Scramble". A friend of a friend compared the event last year to the Hunger Games. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. We rushed through dinner so we could arrive at the park by 6 pm. The traffic was so congested, we should have realized then how crowded the event would be. We had to park a block away.

The egg "scramble" was chaotic and organized at the same time. There were several rounds for each age range. Ages two and under got to go first. As soon as the announcer said "go" it was like unleashing the bloodhounds. The toddlers were sweet, but the parents were running around, shoving eggs in their kids' baskets. James, Amelia, and Maddie each got two eggs before we walked off the field.

They were especially excited to discover the smarties inside the eggs.

It took less than two minutes for the toddlers (*parents*) to clear the field. The volunteers distributed another several thousand eggs. After several minutes, the countdown began for the 3-4 year old egg hunt. The trio were less than thrilled that they had to stay behind while Jackson and Jesse charged the field.

Jackson collected several eggs, then returned with Jesse off the field.

The event advertised free inflatables, face painting, cotton candy, temporary tattoos, visits with the Easter bunny, and over 25,000 prize eggs. It did not disappoint. 

This was the first year Jackson was excited to see the Easter bunny. 

The girls, on the other hand, were terrified at the mere sight of him.

James was straight faced as usual. 

Everything required waiting in lines, but time was the only price we had to pay. Jackson enjoyed the bounce house.

I told Jackson he was not allowed to eat all of the cotton candy. A few minutes later, he had devoured the entire thing. Oh well.

The only thing that cost money was kettle corn. We could not resist. 

By the time we hiked back to the van, it was nearly 8 pm. We returned home to a mess of a house with four exhausted kids. It didn't take long for us to settle down for the evening.

Our fun evening is just a warm up for Round 3 of Easter festivities on Saturday.

Cute Easter Cupcakes

Jackson's room mom (and friend of mine) asked me to make a "special Easter dessert" for their class egg hunt and party. I searched Pinterest and found lots of cute ideas, but some of them required more work than I was willing to put in for for a dozen 3 year olds. I decided to play around with candy toppings. Here was the end result I served at the school picnic:

And here's how I made them:

I made four dozen cupcakes (half chocolate/half vanilla) and a double batch of green buttercream icing. The toppings are bunny shaped Peeps and chocolate candy eggs.

I didn't have a grass tip, so I just piped on stars (using 1M tip) with green icing. This was tedious, but gave the illusion of grass.

I chopped off the bottom of the Peeps so they would be flat and sticky, making them adhere to the icing well.

Then I topped each cupcake with a Peep and 2-3 candy eggs.

Easy and adorable!

There ended up being plenty of extra cupcakes, so Jackson and I dropped a dozen off at his old school. His teacher had emailed me yesterday to let me know they still had Jackson's emergency change of clothes, alphabet book, and Valentines. It was fun to be able to surprise his old class and share a special treat.

The cupcakes were so well received by all the kids and adults from both schools.