Easter, Spring, Sunshine . . .

Well, I have TONS of pictures from Easter weekend.  It was such a sunny, and perfectly spring-y couple of days, I just had to take pictures of it all.  And it's not every year that you can have outdoor Easter egg hunts . . . unless you want to wear winter gear, and look for the eggs in the snow.  So, this year was just perfect! 

A couple of our friends planned an Easter egg hunt for a handful of families.  It was a lot of fun for everyone.  When we got there, the dads hid the eggs (and there were hundreds of eggs!), and the kids played and decorated their Easter baskets with stickers, ribbon, flowers, pipe cleaners, etc.  And the mommas helped get the snacks ready.  It was a great yard to have a hunt in - lots of woods.  They even had a pinata after!  Good friends, good fun, good food, good Saturday morning activity . . . but I feel like this raised the kids expectations for next year.  hehe.

 

We colored Easter eggs after I finally remembered to get vinegar from the store.  Always a hit with the kiddos.  We traditionally save them for the Easter Sunday dinner.  It makes for a pretty center piece . . . and a yummy part of the meal (if you like hard boiled eggs). 

This year the Easter bunny left a note on Saturday (this is when we do baskets . . . Sunday morning is too busy!  And we try to focus Sunday just on the resurrection of the Savior, and not all the other stuff.  Three hours of church always helps with that focus :).  The note said the Easter bunny hid the kid's baskets in the back yard.  The bunny usually leaves a handful of clues, but since Benjamin had just had the pirate party/treasure hunt the weekend before, the Easter bunny probably knew to keep it simple.  I've been trying to do less candy in their baskets, but still want to make them special.  The last few years, I put in some pj's (matching for the boys, awww), and did that again this year.  I also put in a sheet of Easter stickers, and some bubbles I found three for a dollar.  The bubbles were a big hit.  Anna and Benjamin love it, and Caleb just laughs and laughs at the funny things floating through the air.   

The traditional Easter Sunday pictures!  I kind of lucked out this year, as far as buying the kids Easter outfits.  Or not buying them outfits really.  When I was talking to Anna about an Easter dress, she asked if she could wear this fancy one she LOVEs that her Auntie Meghan got her last year.  Since Anna hadn't wore it all winter, it felt new and exciting to her.  So, didn't need to buy a thing for Anna's Easter attire.  Caleb wore a pair of Ben-Ben's old pants, a white shirt GramMelissa got him at Christmas, and I bought him the tie.  Benjamin wore the white shirt and khaki pants GramMelissa got him for Ashley's wedding, and I bought him a matching tie.  So, really a $4 dollar tie is a bit of a splurge (to me), but when you're not buying anything else, it seems like a great deal!  And hello, matching little ties on your two little men - ADORABLENESS! 

I think Anna looks just beautiful in all these pictures.  She just looks like she's full of sweetness and goodness to me.  And it's true.  And I wish I took the time to curl her hair more . . . it only takes a few minutes!  (Her hair is pretty straight/flat otherwise.)  I don't know if it's because the kids are all dressed up, but these pictures are really reminding me how fast they are all growing up.  Especially Anna.  She just seems so grown up all of the sudden.  Oh my.....   

Okay, the final pictures are of our Easter dinner dessert.  We ate at Grampa Chuck's house (but GrammaM and KC were still out of town), and we had my parent's come over too.  My momma did ham and cheesy potatoes and a fruit salad.  We did green salad and rolls.  Chuck was in charge of dessert, and above is the deliciousness that he ordered from the Marquette Baking Co.  The kids LOVED it . . . until Anna requested the head for her piece, and then it just seemed a little sad.  hehe. 

A fun, sunshine-y, happy Easter! 

(PS.  Notice some construction in a few of the backyard pics . . . more on that project soon!)