Happy Easter!

We hope you all had a Happy Easter! We certainly did...although there wasn't a dull moment the entire day. It's another one of those holidays where we have so much fun....and are so wiped out after it's over! Even the family picture took more effort than I had energy for! I wish you could see how many "takes" it took just to get an 'average' picture like this one, that's still not exactly a framer:

So, after a fun Easter weekend, here are a few things I am changing for next year:

1) The Easter Bunny is no longer invited to our house on Easter Sunday. On Sunday morning, before church, when we're already rushed, is NOT the time to let them open baskets full of surprises and then try to hurry out the door. Don't ask me why I didn't think of this before now. But, it hit me halfway through the baskets. Why am I trying to do this right now?! So, next year, the easter bunny will be coming some other day...Maybe Saturday morning? But, at least the bunny was allowed indoors this year, as opposed to last year, when we had to hunt for his treats outside due to a certain scared oldest child at our house. :)

2) Decorating eggs might be off the list too. No one eats them, they usually don't turn the bright pretty colors you expect them to, and this year my kids didn't even miss doing it! I bought the kit weeks ago, and never got to it. They didn't remember anything about it, so it worked out great! So, I think I might be able to get away with forgetting it again next year too!

3) Easter lunch may have to be simpler next year. Don't get me wrong---this year was DELICIOUS and so much fun, because we had our entire family over for a "potluck" style lunch. Even though it was incredibly yummy, we could have fed half the neighborhood with the amount of food we had! And, it made for a crazy kitchen and more effort on everyone's parts than was probably needed. So, next year, the menu might be simple and sweet...how does pizza sound? Then again, I love getting to try everyone's "specialties" and having such a variety of foods. Even the crazy kitchen is kind of fun when it's all your family! There's just something funny about a full house like that where everyone is on top of each other trying to butter the bread, cut the meat, open the oven, warm up the beans, chase the kids, and find a place for the deviled eggs (also known as rotten eggs at our house...) So, I guess #3 is a "maybe" on the changes list. It might be too good to change after all. :)

And, a few things I want to continue:

1) Resurrection Eggs for the girls. This year, Kendyll's bible class teacher sent them home and it was amazing to see how great they were for remembering the details about the story of Jesus' death and resurrection. The funniest (and somewhat alarming) part was to see how little Kendyll understood what really happened the day Jesus was crucified. For example, I realized she kind of missed the entire crux of the story when she told me the disciples gave Jesus the crown of thorns and the 30 pieces of silver. Oops....little details that make a big difference in this story. :) So, as you can tell, we better continue the resurrection eggs next year.

2) Reading to the family. Kendyll read the entire book called "The Best Thing About Easter" every night this week to Mark, Carlie, and me. So, on Easter Sunday, we asked her to read it to the rest of the family. It was cute to watch her read with such expression! I'm sure my family is glad to hear that we'll be continuing that tradition....maybe it won't last an hour next year. And, we won't make the guys listen to her while the Masters is on in the background. :)

3) Having our family over to our house. Even though many thought we were crazy to have a house full of people with a newborn and two busy girls, it is always so fun to host our sweet family. First, Kendyll LOVES decorating the house (who are we kidding? I LOVE decorating the house) for holidays, and we had all of our favorites colors everywhere! Pink, purple, green, blue, yellow...it was beautiful. And, such fun times with my big girl, as we set the tables, and got ready for everyone to arrive. I pray I am making her into a gracious little hostess someday when she's grown up. She sure does a good job of it right now!

4) Our Cousin Easter Egg Hunt. Even in the cold weather, we had our first easter egg hunt with the cousins. Kendyll made sure everyone had a full basket of eggs and shared with her baby cousins so well. Sophie and Braden got the hang of egg-hunting really quickly. And, were pretty proud of themselves when they found them! Carlie was a little cold...but got over it when she realized she could make pit-stops for candy during the hunt.

Funny Braden---He found the first egg and had a very triumphant moment, with his new-found egg raised high in the air. He also posed with his basket so cutely for me too.

Sweet Sophie loved the eggs, but didn't understand why we couldn't just share baskets. Here she is exploring Carlie's stash. Carlie quickly took off with her basket, not feeling generous at all with her eggs. And, here is Sophie as her daddy tried to convince her that her basket was good too. Look at that face! Maybe next year you can run as fast as Carlie, Sophie, and take her basket back!

We had a great Easter weekend, and enjoyed our time with family, as well as celebrating our Risen Savior. Kendyll woke up Easter morning and said "WOO HOOO!! Jesus is alive!! Jesus has risen!" It was so cute. And, reminded me of how joyful I should be everyday for this Good News!