Easter 2014

Before Easter, I was afraid we wouldn't get to all of the "standards" for around Easter.  You know - the egg hunts and egg dying and all that.  Clearly we focus on the main reason for the day, but having all of that is fun.  And we have never had a picture with the Easter Bunny - or really focused on that side of things at all.  We do Easter baskets, but we don't really stress the fact that the bunny comes.

 

The first day we were back from the beach, we went to a local egg hunt and festivities with friends after school!  The kids had a blast!  Katie and Annalane were so excited about the hunt!

They had a countdown to the beginning of the egg hunt - which also happened to be divided into quadrants depending on the ages of the kids. 

And once they gave the green light, the kids were off!  

Love this action shot of Katie - the eggs were basically thrown into the grass and the kids picked them up and put them in their baskets!

And this was Jack's first Easter egg hunt!  He had to have Mickey - and then he had his basket, of course.  Eventually he put Mickey in the basket and took off!

Here he is looking at his basket - he was definitely studying what everyone around him was doing.  So I think he decided Mickey needed to go into the basket so he had a free hand.

And he found it!  His one egg!  He was so thrilled! And after he found this one egg, he was done! He put it in the basket and was happy to run around and play and tote his basket with him!

And he loves to give his friends hugs.  He needed to give Cal a hug - they are best buddies...it is so fun to see the girls play and then the boys play!

And the girls with their loot!  They both made a haul with the eggs!

And a first for both kids!  I know, as much as I love pictures, I can't believe that we have never done a pic with the Easter bunny!  And this one was free - and it turned out so cute!

And then Annalane wanted a picture with Katie with the bunny - cutie girls!

And then the girls got their faces painted!  Katie chose a butterfly :)

So glad we were able to take care of an egg hunt AND a bunny visit at the same time - and the weather couldn't have been better!

 

And Saturday I was determined to color eggs with Katie!  I had to go to the store to have what I needed for Easter Sunday, so I made sure to buy some eggs and boil them right when I got home!  So when we got home from dinner, we took a few minutes to do the eggs! 

 

I had found the idea on Pinterest to use Koolaid instead of the dying kids.  All it takes is the water and packet of Koolaid - no vinegar or anything!  Katie was SO excited!

And it was definitely a learning experience.  After the fact, I read that using hot water makes the color more vivid.  I also didn't realize that I didn't have any flavors that were green or blue.  Oops :)

Here they are!  Katie was all about checking the eggs!

And Jack did end up wanting in on the fun.  So here is a picture of the three of us while the eggs were in the koolaid!

And a silly picture :) Please excuse my flabby arm in the way...one day I will be able to do Tae Bo again and get back in shape.  For now?  I am trying my best to enjoy the last weeks of pregnancy!

Katie looked at a book while the eggs soaked - and so did Jack! He is growing up way too quickly!

And then amazingly enough, the Easter Bunny really came! Here is what Katie's loot looked like!

And here is Jack's loot - so many characters!  Planes, Thomas, Elmo...ha!

And Sunday morning, we got up super early - as in we were out the door by 7:20 - and we went to early service at church!  We let the kids walk around outside since we got there super early - and of course I had taken my camera with me and I got a few pictures.  I loved Katie's outfit - that dress is so sweet (it is Shrimp & Grits).  And the necklace really made it :) I had gotten that for her but never gave it to her - it matched perfectly!

And of course this little man wouldn't cooperate for a picture and actually look at the camera - but look at Mr. Prepster!  Loving the pink polo and the Sperry's :)

And here is Katie with Hannah Jo - they got to be in the same Sunday School Class...and they were so excited!  Man - such cutie pies!

 When we got home, we used our neighbor's front porch for some pictures of the kiddos!  Jack is definitely a handful when taking pics, but Brad can get him to smile almost right away!

And this sweet girl.  Oh man.  My heart just explodes with love and pride and any other word you can imagine when I look at this picture.  She is such a tenderhearted, sweet, smart, beautiful girl - and will be FIVE next week! AH!

And I wanted to get a picture of the two together - and I was afraid this would be the best I could get.  Oh my.  Jack was not having it.  At all.

But then Brad had something on his phone that played the Elmo song.  And he was still.  And smiled.  And this picture.  Oh, this picture.  I almost can't handle it - these two cuties are all mine.  Through the good and the bad.  They are all mine.  Forever.  And I love them to the moon and back!

When we got inside, it was time to check out the goodies from the Easter bunny!

She was so excited!  Just look at that smile!

And Jack was digging through it all as quick as he could!

He was so excited about his bulldozer and Cars beach towel!

And just a quick picture of this one.  

I can't remember if this was a sweet interaction or if Jack was trying to take her goodies :)

And Jack was eventually trying to get Katie's goodies, so she tried to distract him and give him a place to sit and show him his new book. So cute!

He kept standing on his towel and pointing down at it and then looking up like he was so thrilled!

And clearly I couldn't get enough of the pictures of this sweet girl.  And she must have been having a cute day - she turned on the smiles each time!

And then they turned on Thomas while I went to cook the blueberry croissant bake that I was doing for Easter - they were all in the zone.  Even Sadie!  And Jack was still!  Whoa!

And we got a family picture so that Brad could change into comfortable clothes!  I love this picture!  Even though I felt like an Easter egg with the round belly and color of the dress :)

We had family over for Easter lunch with all breakfast-y kind of foods...and it was delicious!  It was great to visit and then let Jack nap and Katie have quiet time (lucky for us - it was a princess movie marathon)!  That evening, we ate dinner and then took Sadie to the dog park and then let the kids play on the playground before coming home and doing the bedtime routine.

 

And with Easter came goodies from the family too!  Jack absolutely loves his Thomas toy from Grandma!  And Katie has been saying that she wanted some more books - and Grandma got her a new Sofia book, along with some Doc McStuffins cards!  They love their loot!  And Brad's aunt and uncle brought chocolate bunnies for the kids - yummy!  My mom bought Katie a cross necklace when she was a teeny baby - and she finally gave it to her at Easter!  Here they are with Katie wearing her cross necklace too :)  It is such a sweet little necklace...and Katie thought it was very special!  And Jack got a carrot-bat with ball set that he loves!  And my grandmother got us all chocolate - you can never have too much of that! :)

Such a great Easter!  And this year, Katie really got into Jesus and dying on the cross and the tomb and the stone and Jesus' friends being sad and then him coming back.  She loved looking through her story of Easter book.  And she loved looking at her Bible for preschoolers - she would turn to the crucifixion page each and every time!  I love her passion for wanting to know more.  And she thanks God for his son Jesus.  And she says she loves God the most.  I hope I answered her questions in a good way - I certainly did the best I can!  We will be reading stories from her preschooler Bible for sure - actually, the other day, she also asked how God made the oceans and got the water in there.  I told her we would read the story of Creation - hopefully that helps answer her questions! :)

 

Such a great holiday! Fun activities, absolutely amazing music at church, springy clothes, and family time.  Doesn't get any better than that.  Hope you had a super Easter!