Easter

Easter weekend was a pretty good one around these parts, even if we missed a crucial member of the family team.  Can't wait for tax season to be over and for David to be able to rejoin our lives.  First order of business was the dying of eggs for the first time ever.

We kept things simple with only three colors, three eggs and using lemon juice instead of vinegar with the water.  With the last egg I let Josh dunk it for as long as he was interested, which turned out to be about 20 minutes of dipping it back and forth.  And the whisk idea is genius I tell you.

 I think Josh's super-dyed egg turned out the best of the bunch!

Holiday decor was a little on the random side.  I made the egg garland to go over the door like this but the super windy weather dictated that unless I wanted to chase it into the neighbor's yard, it had to stay inside.  So it's a bit overkill on the mirror, but I found it bright and cheery in this dismal weather we've been having.

 We lucked out on the actual weekend of Easter to get decent weather.  My pretty flowers are blooming, or getting ready.  Until today's hailstorm, that is.  The poor dears were beaten practically to death.

 A friend invited us over to her house for an egg hunt and potluck lunch.  I didn't know if Josh would get it, but was pleasantly surprised when he really got into it and had a blast hunting for eggs.

 

 Ben was decidedly less enthusiastic.  He didn't like walking on the uneven ground.

Picking up spilled jelly beans.  That kid knows that no candy is ever left behind.

Sharing lunch with a chipmunk cheeked brother.  And apparently there was a boys and girls picnic blanket.

I had planned on taking the boys to another community egg hunt later that day, but after seeing the huge line of cars waiting to get into the parking lot and the hordes amassed for free candy, I just drove on by and went back home.  To appease the disappointed three year old, I hid eggs all over our yard.

Most pictures turned out like this because he was way to excited to do anything but run from egg to egg.

And in a move to make Poppa B proud, Josh decided that a basket wasn't good enough to put his eggs in, he needed a TRUCK for such serious hauling.

On Easter morning, because we have afternoon church, we hid eggs in the living room so that David could partake in the joy that is watching a super-excited kid race around the house like a madman searching for plastic flotsam. 

 

Again Josh was too fast to get any good pictures until he had gotten all the loot and was munching on jelly beans at 7am.  There was only about five beans total hidden in the eggs.  Because I'm not that crazy to sugar up a kid before afternoon church. 

Once again, Ben could have lived without the festivities.

And then it was time.  Easter outfits picture time.  Perhaps you remember past photographic holiday occasions?  If you want a refresher, click on the sidebar tag link for 'failed photo shoots.'  Or I think you can click here for the link.

There was plenty of pictures like this:

Blurry AND screaming.  Nice.

And many like this:

Will it kill my children to smile now and then?

But out of the whole batch, I actually got one halfway decent.  Nice job boys.

 And that, my friends, is the photographic evidence of our holiday weekend.  We ended with a nice meal at my parents' home and an early bedtime for all, despite the copious amounts of sugar.