Easter

Easter is such a special holiday to me, but for the last two years it's been super low key because of our various family circumstances (usually involving moving, packing, unpacking, etc.).

We're starting the process of packing for another move, and in many ways this year was still low-key, but it felt extra special now that the kiddos are old enough to understand the real reason behind Easter.  

The Easter bunny went a little crazy and we had eggs hidden all over the living room and the kids; room when they woke up this morning!  TJ woke up at 7 sharp in our room (he's been coming to our bed since Tyler's started working 12-hour days) and we made him wait about 10 minutes before we went and woke Eli up.  

The had so much fun finding eggs and Eli kept saying "What the heck?"  It was so funny.  

 They got a great haul, plus a few other fun treats and toys in their Easter buckets.  (Maybe next year will be the year I finally buy some nice Easter baskets instead of whatever is the cheapest option at Walmart).

 For breakfast, we made resurrection rolls.  We never seem to seal them quite tight enough so the marshmallows leak everywhere, but they were still good and a great object lesson for the boys!

 We spent the morning reading about the resurrection, and watched some bible videos about Christ's life, crucifixion, and resurrection.  I don't know how much the boys understood, but at least they both know that we celebrate Easter because Jesus Christ is alive!

 Today at church, I gave a talk and played for a special musical number.  I went a little early to practice, so Tyler had to get the boys ready alone.  This is par for the course, since usually I leave early to play organ.  But when they walked in today, I was so happy he'd managed to get them looking so nice in their matching Easter outfits!

 After church, we snapped some photos.  We went home and changed and spent some time outside.  The weather is just perfect right now.

Side note - I'm 30 weeks pregnant this weekend and oh. my. gosh.  I am feeling it!  I've had terrible back pain all week, so I'm already doing the super-pregnant penguin waddle.  This outfit hides it pretty well but I've gotten really huge really fast, and I have the worst stretch marks I've ever had.  I do not know how I am going to do this for ten more weeks!  

The baby has been way more active, and it's fun because I've noticed that he responds to the lullaby's I sing to the boys each night.  He's also responsive to their laughter.  When both the boys are sitting close to me and laughing, the baby goes crazy!  I'm so excited to have another boy in our crazy pack.

 Anyway, back to our Easter day.

 The boys dug up worms and caught garter snakes with Dad. TJ's pretty good at finding these snakes but he hasn't caught them before - he had to have dad show him how it's done.  These guys are teeny tiny babies, so they don't bite.  Perfect for snake catching practice.

 Eli is usually creeped out by critters, but tonight he decided they were fine and was totally happy catching worms.  He even held a few snakes.

 When I came out, he came over and handed me something.  Thinking it was a rock, I opened my hand, but he dropped in a big juicy worm!  I did not like it and thankfully TJ saved me by taking it away.  Eli kept saying "You no be scared!  He's nice worm.  He won't bite your hand."  It was cute, and I love that my boys find creepy crawlies, but I still did not want to hold them.

This particular worm was Eli's very good friend.  He kept telling me how much he loved him and how nice he was.  They went on to catch a whole bunch of worms, so they filled the jar with dirt and brought them in the house.  (I'll let you guess how long they got to stay in the house)

After our outside adventures, we had a yummy Easter feast.  We should have invited someone over to share - I bought a half a ham, which is so much for our family!  It was delish, and I'm so excited to make some ham and potato soup tomorrow.

The last thing we did is dye eggs.  In his five years of life, I have never done that with TJ!  The kids thought it was lots of fun but they told me I should have provided them more eggs.

It was just a great day.  Sundays can be really hard with kids, but this sabbath was a delight and I am so grateful for it.  Happy Easter!