Happy Easter

This past weekend was great.  It was Easter weekend and we spent it with our families.  My goal for next year is to really plan some lessons with Sam so he can start to understand what Easter is all about.  Our church gave us a great activity to do as a family and unfortunately we never found the time to do this with Sam.  It was a cooking lesson making resurrection rolls.  Basically you take Hot Rolls and have the kids put a marshmallow inside of it, and then dip it in butter and cinnamon and sugar.  You can give the kids a way to see that when we put them in the oven there was a marshmallow inside of it, but when they come out the marshmallow is no longer there because it has melted.  To try to get them to understand the concept that Jesus died and was buried, but that his tomb was empty.  So, because of time limits this week and also due to Sam still being a bit young for some fun Easter activities, we didn't get many lessons in at this time.  My goal for next year is to really change that.  He did get to church for Psalm Sunday and for Easter.  And we read the Easter story in his Bible to him many times this week.

On Saturday we went to my sisters house in Marshall, Illinois.  Her outside yard is perfect for Easter egg hunts.  We had four little kids and then my older niece and nephew in the hunt.  For the four young kids we had 48 eggs that were labeled 1 through 12.  Emma is the only one that knows her numbers so she had to find numbers 1 through 12.  We had my niece and nephew (Ben and Anna) find Ally's eggs numbered 1 through 12.  And then Sam and Luke got to grab whatever eggs they could find and we would divide theirs out inside.  Then Anna and Ben each had an egg that had a dollar in it for them that they could find.  Their eggs were not numbered and were hidden higher up where the kids couldn't find them.  Sam was really into the Easter Egg hunt this year. He knew what was going on and would pick up the eggs in his basket.  

   

 

 After the hunt we went inside to let the kids open the eggs, their Easter baskets from the grandparents, and have lunch.  Lunch was delicious and Sam actually ate ham!  It was a first for him and he ate several pieces.  Of course he dipped it in ranch.. but still, he ate it!  Ally just sat in her high chair people watching and playing with puffs.  Of course she didn't actually eat any...

Sam was very excited about opening the eggs.  My sister and mom got very creative with what could fit into an egg that wasn't all candy.  There were cars, hex bugs, play dough, and lots of other fun treats in the eggs!

After lunch we went outside and let the kids run around and play.  I didn't really get any photos of Luke, but he needed a nap and was asleep for most of the time we were there.  I also didn't really get many photos of Ally that day either.  But, Ally was getting lots of attention inside from some Aunts and Grandma's while we were outside with Sam.  Ben was great with Sam.  He let Sam follow him everywhere and even took him for a ride in Emma's play jeep.

Right after we got done playing outside we had to load the kids into the car to drive back home.  We had about 30 minutes at home to get Sam fed and then we were off to church.  Sam went into the Turtles class without too many tears.  We are trying to get him to associate church as his time to play in the Turtles classroom and to know that we always come back for him.  Because we have been so fortunate to have Mary watch Sam and Ally during the day, he never gets left alone with someone that isn't a family member that he knows really well.  Church has been a struggle for many reasons.  We kept Sam with us for a long time during service.  Then we got him use to being in the nursery.  Well... then we had Ally and it took us a long time to get him back in the hang of going to the nursery again after she was born.  We just got him into a routine and he switched classrooms.  The turtles room is always busy and it's a big adjustment for him.  We are working on it every week.  That's the main reason we go on Saturday nights.  It is less busy and it seems to be a better fit for him at this age.  Ally of course is perfectly content in the nursery. 

Sunday was Easter, and because we had already been to church we had a pretty relaxing morning.  We let the kids open up their Easter baskets and then made a big Easter breakfast.  We had pancakes, bacon, and eggs.  They actually let us sleep in as well and we didn't get up until around 8:00 that morning.  I might have gone a little overboard on the Easter baskets...  They each had two baskets and then a puzzle outside of the baskets.  Plus, Sam's Cars Legos came in on Thursday, so I figured I might as well through that into the mix as well.  Next year I will buy some nice baskets (I borrowed some from my mom since we don't have any yet) and they only get what will fit into the basket!

 

   

After breakfast we spent the day at home and enjoying the day together as a family.  I spent the kids nap time prepping for some meals for dinner this week since I go back to work tomorrow and I also made a meal for Dave and Denise.  We woke the kids up from nap to be over at Paul's parents house by 4:00.  We had our Easter with his family at 5:00 and we let Sam hunt for Easter eggs before dinner.  He really had the hang of hunting Easter eggs by that point.  As soon as he got one, he would open it up and they were filled with alphabet cereal, marshmallows, and a cookie so he was snacking on eggs as he hunted for the rest. 

 

 

 

 

After hunting eggs we tried to get a few photos of the kids together.  That did not go well!  Sam is in the stage where if you ask him to look at the camera he will look everywhere but the camera.  He will not smile and doesn't want to look at you as soon as he sees the camera out.  Then there is Ally who was much more interested in the grass then looking up at us.  So... we didn't get a great shot, but we got some cute ones of the two of them together.  Surprisingly we got a decent one of all 4 of us together as well! Here are the best two we could get...

                       

And the ones that didn't turn out so great... Oh... and of course an airplane flew over as we were trying to take these, so we lost all focus we could get as well.

 

After the first Easter Egg hunt we had dinner, opened Easter baskets, and then the kids did a second Easter egg hunt.  Dave, Denise, Kiersten, and Cameron weren't able to make it at 4:00 because of an Easter lunch with Dave's side.  So Paul took the eggs Sam found and put them back outside so Sam could join Kiersten in the hunt.  I also don't have any pictures of Cameron from Easter because he was inside since it was a little cold and was getting held most of the night!  He is I think 2.5 weeks old and still so tiny!  I wanted to hold him, but I didn't get a chance last night because there were several people there who hadn't had a chance to hold him yet and I live a few minutes from them and can stop by anytime.

 

 

 So it was a great Easter weekend spent with family.  And, just as a look back to end this post, here is a look back to Sammy at last year's Easter :)