Easter

Finally, some Easter pictures! It used to bother me when I didn't post promptly about holidays or major events, but I'm slowly learning to just let it go. We've been much too busy celebrating the season to blog about it, and that's really the way I'd prefer it, anyway!

Easter was so fun this year because my older brother's family decided to come down for a visit! His two children were born within months of Caitlyn and Meghan, and they all get along so well together. I am so happy the cousins were able to celebrate together! We colored eggs on Saturday (both hard boiled and confetti filled shells) and it was so cute to watch their creativity! My younger brother joined us around lunch time, and we all spent the rest of that afternoon playing games at home, then all went out to dinner together! It was such an awesome day.

Easter morning dawned bright and early, and the children were so thrilled to find that the Easter Bunny had brought them a new Veggie Tales Pirates Who Don't Do Anything play ship! (One of their Lenten sacrifices had been to watch no regular TV programming, choosing instead from religious themed videos or DVDs, and a large part of our collection includes Veggie Tales!) Kristen was so cute; we set her right in the middle of the dining room table and she was so happy to discover the bunny and soft book in her basket! She was only six days old last Easter, and being baptized in the NICU, so to celebrate this Easter with her was such a special joy! My brothers had attended an early Mass, and came over after for brunch with us. We were attending a later Mass, the one we usually go to because we so enjoy the parishioners, and then we all met at my dad's house for a delicious lunch.

It had gotten pretty cold and windy by the afternoon, but we were still able to hunt for the Easter eggs that Darren and my brother had hidden throughout our backyard. We do the cascarones every year (confetti filled egg shells that we break over each other's heads) and Dylan thought Caitlyn was cheating because she insisted on wearing the hood of her jacket. I thought she was pretty clever, myself. :)

Recognizing that Easter is, after all, a season and not just a day, we've been slowly transitioning to a new spring routine with regards to chores and school. Lent was pretty intense for us as a family this year, and we are all so filled with joy to have arrived at Easter. There are some projects and school work that I want to finish up before summer, trips I want to plan and curricula I want to peruse, garden work I dream of accomplishing this spring, but I don't really feel anxious or rushed, which is unusual for me. I am very much enjoying this time in my life right now!