Catching Up: Easter

This year I prepped a "Countdown to Easter" for the girlies. I used an 18-sectioned egg carton because that's all I had but next year we'll definitely just do a dozen. I had painstakingly put all the activities in order, taking note of days that Liz had more homework and extracurricular activities and so on. However, I did not number the eggs. After maybe a week, Ellie dumped out the carton and after that I didn't bother with the countdown anymore (we were already behind a few activities anyway). In the end, we didn't even get around to egg dying, but the girls didn't seem to notice too much. On Easter's eve we participated in a barbeque and egg hunt with some families on our street. Alaina had just gone to a playgroup egg hunt a week or so earlier so she knew what to do. Ugh, the fake smile. Once, Liz looked at some pictures of herself with her fake smile and said, "uh, I look kind of crazy." I said, yes! You do! And then tried to explain about fake smiles and real smiles and so on and I thought she got it, but I apparently not because I still get shots like this ALL THE TIME. The local kiddos: We enjoyed having Drew's brother in town for Easter. Sadly, this is the only shot I managed to get of the guys together. As with any holiday the girls got up much earlier than we wanted them to--not that we were up late the night before prepping baskets (I filled them weeks earlier with goodies I found while unpacking the house). We were up late playing Scrabble with Dan. It's so much more fun using an iPad, iPhones, and iPod Touch.

As Liz raised downstairs to peek at the Easter baskets I called after her to not-open-them-until-mommy-and-daddy-come-down-so-we-can-take-pictures. Lizzie ran back upstairs with the baskets in hand before I had even managed to get out of bed (and long before I could retrieve my camera from the basement, oh well). Lizzie announced that every year the Easter Bunny gives her something that she's not very excited about and this year it was underwear. Also in Lizzie's basket: swimsuit, jump rope, My Little Pony toy, small chocolate bunny, and package of Whoppers (and the only things I had to buy were the candies, the rest I found in my forgotten "holiday stash").Lainey's basket: My Little Pony toy, swimsuit, summer pajamas, small chocolate bunny, and box of Reeses Pieces candies.

Ellie's basket: ball, summer pajamas, small chocolate bunny, and a box of Dots candy for Mom and Dad to share.The kids played with their holiday loot while Andrew & I made breakfast (and Uncle Dan managed to sleep despite all the noise from sugar-crazed kids). Then we all ate bunny-shaped pancakes. Alaina was a little confused. She thought the bunny's ears were actually legs. These are the only shots of the girls in their Easter dresses and I didn't even get one of Ellie whose striped dress I fell in love with in the first place. The older girls only have these dresses because they coordinated with Ellie's dress. Andrew got to use his new grill to barbecue our holiday dinner. It was delicious! My favorites were definitely the shish kabobs and grilled pineapple. Yeah, we need deck furniture.