Easter Was Here

I would have done this yesterday, but April Fool's Day and I do not get along.  I had to face the ultimate Mother Dilemma - whether or not to ground my child during Spring Break.  Because I'm really punishing myself with grounding...  

Bridget showing Ruby the Tinkerbell camera.  "I like Ruby.  She's not as rough as the boys.  Where can we get a little sister?"

But!  That is not what this post is about.  We did it!  We celebrated Easter like it was going out of style.  I enjoyed almost every moment, too (which was the goal, after all).  My only mistake was not reading the directions on the Costco ham (a last minute replacement for the more expensive Honeybaked Ham).  It needs to cook for two hours.  I secretly needed two ovens.  I'm putting it behind me, though. 

We welcomed Makenzie, David, Gabriel, Claire, and Ruby on Friday afternoon and marked their return to Utah with a trip to In-n-Out for dinner.  We decorated cookies and dyed eggs (two things I've never found time to do for Easter.)  Mom and Dad sneaked in later that night.  Saturday morning Mom, Claire Sr (Rob's wife), and I "hid" eggs in the backyard.  There were very few places to actually hide anything.  Which is a good thing, since we had four kids who are two years old or younger.

I'd staked balloons into the lawn with plastic forks.  Emil fought to the death with two of them before we could stop him.  (Colin set at least three free.  "Fly away, Stanley!"  What does that say about their personalities?)

Bridget and Gabriel had a pretty big advantage.  Claire Jr. wanted to stop a while and eat stuff rather than hunt more eggs down.

Colin did this.  He's got a mouth full of candy and he's re-hiding the eggs.

Look at Gabriel's basket!  Colin is in the middle of pulling that balloon out of the ground.

Grandma, Lori, Aaron, and David.  Spectating.

Emil B. finally discovering why we were making him look for eggs.

Gabriel was declared the winner.

I had to hand over the camera so we could start some games.

Egg on the spoon.  (Colin was game!)

Pillow Case Race.

Poor Sportsmanship Award Winner.

Since Ian's birthday is close (and whoknew, also Lori's!), Claire Sr. brought cupcakes for dessert and we sang The Crippled Children Happy Birthday Song to Ian.

That song is a little strange.  Look how well these in-laws endure it.

Ohhhh!  Fire.

Aaron and Lori

We should really just give them a bowl of frosting and a spoon.

After all that action, everyone needed a nap.  Including the adults.  Except Brian and David - they went to the driving range to hit a bucket of balls.  I woke up before the boys and made the coconut cake while Dad and I talked.  I really love cooking and baking.  It's nice to have time to do it and not be in a huge rush.  Mom and Dad went off to their double date and the rest of us played croquet before eating some more.  (Always eating.)

It was a pretty cutthroat game.

This is the face Brian gets from me when he turns the camera my way.  (Candy bracelet.)

The girls sat back and ate Doritos and their jewelry while they watched us.

Sunday morning began with baskets, Rhodes cinnamon rolls, and eating colored eggs.  

Emil has been studying those books ever since.

Happy Bridget

The Attempt at the Classic Shot of Kids in their Easter Sunday Best:

That's as close as I got.

We went to church (I love having so much family at church with me).  I sang in the choir, Bridget sang with the Primary.  I came home a little early to get the boys in bed and frost the cake before the house was full of people again.  When Brian and Bridget got home, we made the discovery about the ham and I thought all was ruined.  Why didn't I read the directions!!  People were very patient (could have something to do with all the other beautiful food that was ready in time).  Brian saved my bacon (ha!) as always, and we got all the food on the table.  One of my favorite things about dinner was the Stewart's Sodas I bought.  So colorful and delicious.

Paper dinner plates with coordinating Easter salad plates, plastic forks, fun casserole dishes from Tai Pan (cheap cheap cheap), green table cloth that I hemmed and ironed on Thursday.  Yay!

You guys.  I've never made that cake better than I did this time.  I have eaten it for breakfast for two days now.  No guilt.  It is the best.

Control yourselves, ladies.  That's my husband doing all the dishes.  True love.