Easter Weekend

This has been a FAB-U-LOUS weekend! It started Thursday afternoon on a not-so-great note: the school nurse called because Will had a headache all day, so I went to get him. His headache turned to fever as the day went on, and I spent a bunch of time praying he wouldn't be sick for the weekend. Thankfully, a few rounds of Tylenol helped the fever and headache.

Friday was a holiday for Allen and Will -- okay, a holiday for all of us since it was Good Friday, but they got to stay home with us. Maddie and I went out that morning to get a few more garden supplies to plant some herbs. When we got home, Allen started working on the lawn, and I did my best to stay patient with all four kids who were helping me move all the herbs into pots. It went well for the most part, but I stepped backward off the porch, fell into one of the holes when they are trying to find China, and flew backwards landing dangerously close to a pile of dog turds. The fall knocked the wind out of me, and with that came all the words that stay back when I bite my tongue. Oops #1 (after I started counting, anyway.) After the oops, we got a bunch planted -- strawberry plants, chamomile, lavender, peppermint, sage, lemon balm, cilantro, basil seeds (to add to our current crop,) and a couple of thyme (I told Will we never seemed to have enough "time" and he laughed with me. That's my boy with a similar sense of humor, and its fun that he dishes it out, too.) We spent the rest of the day getting ready for the weekend -- making chili and soup, making icing for the cake, and boiling eggs (....or attempting to.)

Saturday, Allen's parents came. That morning I ironed -- A LOT! -- but the kids asked what that tall table was... and what is that thing you are moving on the clothes? "Children, this is an ironing board and an iron. I use it to get wrinkles out of clothes. Haven't you ever seen one?" The answer was "no." Oops #2.

We all went to the grocery store for a tasty taco or sandwich lunch. There was a costumed Easter Bunny greeting kids at the store, and the kids kept calling him SuperBunny. He comvinced them that they needed to leave some carrots out for him, but Will was skeptical because, as he put it, "If I looked deep into the bunny's eyes, I am pretty sure I could see man-eyes in there." That afternoon, we dyed eggs with the kids for the first time. The kids were old enough that I wasn't afraid of the colorful chaos, plus we had grandparents to help. It went well, once the kids understood they couldn't drop the eggs into the bowls or squeeze the eggs to get them to cooperate.

Several eggs were broken, but it wasn't till one of Will's hit the floor that we realized, that some were soft-boiled instead of hard-boiled. Oops #3. That night we celebrated Nana's birthday a week early with hand-made cards and carrot cake. All four kids had fun with the cake and the egg colors, but I think they all loved the flash light Easter egg hunt with all the neighborhood kids. They got to stay up late, play with flashlights, run and play with other kids, AND eat candy.

Sunday, we woke up and headed for church. When I started searching for Easter outfits a few weeks ago, the boys asked for ties, so they were all really excited to get to wear a tie to church. In all my ironing and clothing-prep, I forgot to make sure that the new clothes actually fit the kids -- Will had to change out of his suit pants because they were way too big around the waist and kept falling off. Ben's 4Ts are too big now that he's in underpants instead of a pull-up so we were pulling his up often, too. Oops #4 and #5. Maddie was thrilled that I curled her hair, and we actually got out the door on time to get to Sunday school at 8:15. The kids all went to Sunday school, then we got all of them to take to "big church." Usually, Will comes with Allen and me to the regular service, but this time we wanted to bring the little ones, too. Partly because I enjoy having them there with me even though it can be distracting, partly because I got an email asking for volunteers in the preschool building. The church was expecting 500 more preschoolers than normal and wanted help. I thought my best way to help would be to take my kids out as the crowds arrived. I just don't have it in me to be a preschool teacher or helper at this stage of life. We were home around 11:30 and the Easter Bunny had come while we were gone. The kids excitedly found eggs in our yard, then we had a tasty lunch. Nana and Papa headed out that afternoon, and we didn't do much the rest of the day.

It was a wonderful weekend full of happy family time and good food. I still haven't found much in my life that beats the joy of having all my kids with me in church as we worship together, and that was definitely my favorite part of the weekend. Maddie's favorite part was the flashlight egg hunt. Jon enjoyed hearing the Easter story -- the most-repeated part being "the bad soldiers played a game. Whoever won the game got to keep Jesus's clothes after he died." Ben enjoyed the candy. When I asked Will what his favorite part of the weekend was, he put on the charm trying to earn some extra jellybeans, "Mama, your hugs were the best part of the whole weekend!" What a great way to wrap up the weekend. :)