Easter festivities... one for the books

Literally, this one is for the books. As in I am writing it down so that it is properly documented. So much documenting...

Easter was a lot of fun this year. I didn't bring the girls to any big egg hunt and we didn't have the Easter bunny come to our house, although we did hide baskets full of goodies that was assumed to be from Mom and Dad. 

We did do our traditional Easter egg dying with the Deyle's (I really want to just always call them the Smiley Deyle's but my husband does not agree with this nickname). Amelia was not interested at all. She was working on her walking skills (her first steps were the next day, so that makes sense now looking back). Josie and Audrey are old pro's at this and got to work right away. To keep it entertaining, my niece, Clara, who is just four months older than Amelia, did her job by throwing the eggs in as hard as she can while also climbing on the table when nobody was looking and probably eating some of the dye when she got the chance. Kids are fun, especially when they aren't yours and you can just sit back and laugh. 

See that blurry leg? Always moving, this one. Also, she lost her pants due to a super wet diaper and then later lost her shirt, shoes, and socks due to other precarious situations. Twas a rough night for her wardrobe.

Lately, Audrey's posed smiles are a little painful. She was grinning and laughing right up until I put the camera (my phone) in her face. I don't know what she's thinking here.

Waiting for the eggs to be ready can be so very hard. 

The business that hubby works with also did a candy hunt (they skipped the eggs and just put candy everywhere in their showroom) for the employees' families. There were just our kids and another group of two, so we came home with way too much candy. They loved it though!

As per usual, I decided to make something I've never made before that didn't have a good chance at succeeding on Easter morning. I'd heard of using hashbrowns as a nest and an egg as... an egg... for a great Spring themed breakfast, so that's what I did. You can't really see the hashbrowns because the eggs grew and overwhelmed them, but other than that it was a hit. I'll be making this again soon. With more hashbrowns.

The last few years, we've tried to stay home over Easter weekend since we are always traveling for the other holidays. It's really something special for us to go to our church on Resurrection Sunday. I helped out with the kids' program this year and got to see almost every single little kiddo in their Easter best. Precious, I tell you.

Our girls' outfits were thrown together that morning without much forethought. It worked out well if I do say so myself! In my effort to rid us of over-bright clothes, the girls' wardrobes have all taken on muted shades of blue, soft pink, whites, grays, and creams. It was simple matching their dresses to each other's. When we got to church, we noticed several other girls with similar colors. Maybe I'm not the only mom sick of the bright colors and excessive pink?

We had my family here for Easter, and the day was just about perfect. We all chipped in for food so nobody was overwhelmed. They also don't judge when my house isn't perfectly clean, so there was no stress there either. We got to spend some time outside (never a guarantee this time of year) and talked, drank tea, sang songs, and played all afternoon.

We are so thankful that we get to celebrate that Jesus is Risen. It's a gift. It really is. I hope and pray that my girls can appreciate it each year renewed.

The rest of these pictures were taken with my Canon Rebel. I'm working on having it readily available and using it more. These were on Easter while the weatherw as beautiful in the afternoon.

Charming, isn't he?

My parents. This one should be framed.

Every time she did anything at all with the hoola hoop, she'd ask whoever was closest, "Wasn't that ah-maz-in??" Not lacking in confidence, this one.