Hippity-Hop

Easter has come and gone...Mother's Day has come and gone and Memorial Day is almost here. I seriously cannot let myself post a blog update on one holiday out of order. I have to do it in order. It's a weird quirk. 

So without further ado let's talk about our Easter albeit a few weeks late. 

I had already planned on taking part of Good Friday off and we invited their best little friends over for an Easter Egg Hunt. There are "the blondes"...

and "the brunettes"...

And of course Miss Ava. Cole loves him some Ava. Here they are all waiting for the hunt to start. 

I took 150 eggs and stuffed them with candy the night before while I was watching TV. That may seem like a lot but when you have 5 kids on the hunt, you want it to last longer than 2 minutes. I also made buckets with their names on them (thanks to the Dollar Store and a sharpie). They were seriously SO excited! As I was hiding the eggs (and before the Majures got there), Charlie and Cole followed me. It was their first true Easter Egg Hunt. Charlie was literally shivering with excitement and kept saying "this is the best day ever!!" Talk about a boost to a mom's ego! 

And off they went! 

I love this picture of Cole near a tree. It makes me want to scoop him up and give him a giant squeeze. 

I hid eggs all over in both front and back yards plus on the porch. It was a giant free for all and because there were so many to find, everyone felt like they were getting a lot. 

I did hide one special egg.  I told them that the special egg was a special reminder of why we celebrate Easter - Jesus. On the third day, the tomb was found empty so that's why the special egg is the empty egg (inside it said "He is risen!"). Cole and Christopher found the special egg up in the swing set. They were so proud! 

Charlie surprised me with how "in to" the Easter egg hunt he was - I mean he was all about getting as many eggs as he could. He is fiercely competitive and this was right up his alley. Check out his bucket...he found a pocket of eggs under the magnolia tree and was super focused. 

They all had a blast when the last eggs (or so we thought) were found and we headed back to divvy up the loot. Charlie could barely carry his bucket it was so full. 

When it was all said and done we shared all the eggs so everyone got the same amount. 

Once again, Charlie surprised me with his focus. He took all his eggs, emptied the candy out one by one in a pile and then put the candy back in his bucket. That's all he wanted to do. I mean just look at that happy smile! That expression is total happiness. 

Then there was Cole who opened each of his eggs and ate as fast as he opened. #opposites  Seriously, he had chocolate dripping off his chin and his mouth was stuffed. 

I was so thankful that the rain held off that day because it sure did pour the rest of the weekend. But no worries, I had already planned another fun activity for a rainy day - dying Easter eggs! Last year this was a huge hit for both boys so it was no surprise this was a hit again this year. 

I strategically planned it right after naps so they would wake up and it would instantly take the cranky's out. They each had their own station. This mama ain't stupid. The last thing I want is a flying cup of dye when they start to fight over the same color! 

Cole had a blast being able to "do it his self". I heard "LOOK MOM! It's blue!" or "LOOK MOM! It's pink!" He talked the entire time and loved it. 

Charlie was even more in to mixing colors and seeing what he could get. I just doing "arts and crafts" as we call them, with the boys. I want my boys to tap in to their creative sides and keep that imagination growing. As you can see, I don't really worry if their hands and fingers get in the dye. I put down Press N Seal all over the island so that if it spilled or dripped, it didn't matter. 

I think the eggs turned out beautiful and we ate a good majority of them the next day for part of our Easter Sunday lunch. Slightly colored deviled eggs make me smile. 

Here they are all dressed and ready for church on Sunday morning. They were super excited that we were going to ride the bus to church. That's how I tore them away from their Easter baskets to get dressed; the promise of riding a cool bus. Really it was us parking in a shopping center beside our church and riding the shuttle over to make room for all the visitors. But to them, it was a super fun adventure. I love that they love going to church on Sunday morning and as Charlie says "learning about Jesus". 

It was a super fun weekend filled with all kinds of activities. Of course I didn't even think to get a family picture that weekend. Go figure! But perhaps my best memory, aside from Charlie saying at each activity "this is the best ever, mom!" was when he told their sitter on Monday that we celebrated Easter that weekend because "Jesus died and rose from the dead!" I was proud he remembered the real reason and wasn't just caught up in the candy and eggs. Boy do they grow up fast!!

See mom! I did get pictures posted for you...just a few days weeks late.  

I think the Easter Egg Hunt will have to be an annual thing. It was just too fun to put together and watch not to. Anyone else have a favorite annual tradition for Easter?