Easter 2014

I had been so excited for Easter this year.  I started prepping for it months in advance, buying supplies and gifts and things here and there.  Given that Evan was old enough to partake in more of the Easter traditions this year, and the fact that I had been handed down some beautiful dresses that I wanted Emma to wear one for Easter, there were a lot of things to look forward to.

First thing was to make homemade dyed eggs, which Evan and I did the day before Easter.  They turned out alright, but were very faint in color.  It was either because we weren't using real (hard boiled) eggs or I messed up making the dyes themselves.  I bought some fake eggs that I saw at the store so I didn't have to bother with eating hard boiled eggs for days after the holiday.  Perhaps they don't take on color as easily as real eggs.  But I also read the directions on the dyes and it said they could be made with water only or a mixture of water and vinegar.  I figured it'd be safer if I just used water since who knows what Evan might do with the dye, however the dye capsules didn't dissolve in just water.  So then I poured out some the water (that did have some dye in it I suppose) and added some vinegar which easily helped the capsules dissolve (all fizzy like too).  When I would see the dye drop on the paper towel, it was pretty full color so I think it may have been the fake eggs.  Either way, we dyed them all and Evan helped pretty good.  However, toward then end he was playing with the egg dipper thing and broke it, splattering blue dye that was on it all over his face.  Yes, vinegar in the eyes will sting. :(  I had to rush him into the bathroom and wash his face and drop some fresh water in his eye.  See, I wish I had just done plain water!  Despite that, Evan had a lot of fun dying the eggs and was obsessed with his eggs since.  He kept calling them "the Easter egg hunt", rather than just Easter eggs, and played with them quite a bit on Saturday evening (similar to playing with balls...throwing/dropping them, etc).

The finished (faintly dyed) product

Then, on Easter morning, as I headed into the kitchen to put the yummy gooey homemade cinnamon rolls I'd prepared the night before in the oven, I noticed that Evan's colored eggs were missing from their carton!  I alerted Evan to this fact and he raced down from our bedroom (where he had been playing on John's phone while we lazed in bed a few more minutes) to find them.  He started by looking at the empty carton on the kitchen counter and asked "are they in the kitchen?" to which he quickly answered himself by saying "nooooo".  Then we encouraged him to look in the living room.  He quickly found some on the TV stand.  Then he found some more there.  For each one he would gasp when he found it and then put it in his bilibo "seat" (I had his basket upstairs awaiting later festivities).  Then when he found all the ones on the TV stand (including those that his bunnies were "holding"), John helped direct his eyes wider and higher to the others (some on top of the lamp and some in the votive sconces).  He was so amazed with the whole thing...I loved it.  Kids bring out the magic in holidays! :)

Then we all feasted on those gooey (and super sweet) cinnamon rolls and some scrambled eggs, got ourselves showered and dressed, and John headed off to work.  Just before he left, we were wondering where Evan had gone (the rest of us were in our bathroom getting ready).  John then found Evan upstairs in his bathroom on the potty...going poo.  All by himself! :)  What a proud parenting moment!  After John left for work, there was just enough time for me to take the kids on a walk to the park.  When we arrived at the neighborhood park there were about 5 dads placing eggs around for their kids to find.  I was nervous Evan would find them and want to open them all and eat the candies inside.  Surprisingly, when he found one he told me he saw an egg and didn't seem to be bothered when I told him that they were not ours to pick up.  He just kept playing.  Whew!  It was pretty crazy when all those families' kids came running to the park to find the eggs.  What a fun time though.

When we got back home we had a quick lunch and I put the kids down for their nap.  Then the Easter bunny got busy!  Chocolate eggs were hidden around the inside of the house, Easter baskets and gifts were placed on the couch, and plastic eggs (many filled with candies) were hidden around the backyard.  I also baked our pie, set the dinner rolls out to rise, and started roasting our lamb.  The kids slept for a good long nap, so that John was home from work by the time they woke up.

Evan's spread

Emma's spread

Even Mommy and Daddy got a basket from the Easter bunny

Evan got up and we told him that the Easter bunny had come.  He made his way downstairs and started saying "look at that!".  I thought he was referring to the gifts on the couch, but alas, he had already spotted a chocolate egg on top of the lamp by the stair rail!  So first things first, John and Evan hunted for all of the chocolate eggs.  Then Evan saw his gifts and immediately wanted to play "trains" (due to his new Thomas engine and the wooden track set he got), however we encouraged him to look out the back door first.  He got pretty excited when he saw the bench on the deck littered with plastic colored eggs!  He cleaned up that part of the deck quickly, and then made his way down to the patio and grass to hunt for more eggs.  I was surprised at how well he found them on his own.  Next year there will need to be trickier hiding spots for sure!  He quickly filled his bucket and so we had to give him Emma's bucket to hold the rest of the eggs that were out there.


 Evan immediately drawn to his trains:

Emma exploring her Easter basket/bucket:

She loves to make a mess by taking apart the squeaky eggs and the stacking cups

Evan being a pro at finding Easter eggs:

When we got back inside with full buckets of eggs, he started opening them to find, and eat, the candies.  I think hey may have eaten at least 3-4 candies before we snagged his bucket from him and redirected him to something else.  He of course wanted to play trains now, which John obliged.  They both set up tracks in a variety of ways and watched the trains go "round and round" while I finished cooking the last of the roast dinner.

I didn't manage to get any full family photos, but I did get some of me with Emma and some of the two kids together.

Of course you can't get both kids to look at the camera and smile at the same time, so here's a sequence of shots I got of them.  The one of Emma grabbing Evan's eyes makes me laugh.  

What a precious baby girl in her Easter dress!

Since Easter was Emma's 7-month birthday, I also got some photos of her with her koala.  I took so many and they all were cute, but here is a sample of the best ones:

 Showing some leg...hehe