Easter Morning

Easter was a *very* busy day. It started out at 5:45am when Kelton bounded into our room and yelled "Happy Easter!". We tried to get him to stay in bed a while longer so he crawled in with Dakota and I went in with Kaylen, who was still sleeping....for about 10 more minutes. Once her eyes where open I said "Happy Easter!" and that was it - we were off and running.

I kept the kids in the back of the house until Dakota fed the dog and turned on the (much needed) coffee. Once that was done, Dakota handed me one camera and she took the other and we let the kids loose.

They ran right for their baskets and examined the contents (sorry Kelton....no Ferrari parts this year. Maybe next!). Before too long Kelton spied one of the plastic eggs filled with candy that the bunny hides in the living and dining rooms. Before long, both kids were tracking down the 38 eggs that the bunny had left.

We had a fun-filled few hours and really enjoyed our special family time (with a delicious Easter breakfast cooked by Dakota). Before long it was time to ready the house for guests because at 1pm the extended family from Dakota's side arrived for Kelton's birthday party and the Easter meal (was in lunch? Was it dinner? I don't really know.).

This year we celebrated Bailey's (our great niece) 8th birthday at the same time. Sandwiched between presents and cake was the Easter meal.

Crazy but fun day. By the time it was over all four of us were exhausted. Pictures from the birthday party to come but here are some from Easter morning.

What a Weekend!

I'm not sure we could have packed more into the weekend - we were so very b.u.s.y!

Saturday started out with Dakota studying while the kids and I cleaned the house. This was the first time they "officially" cleaned with me and it went well. I had them dusting, washing windows, putting things away, vacuuming.....all the good stuff for kids to help with. After putting in a good two hours they were both tired so I let them off the hook and set them up with a TV show while I finished up.

Dakota was done around 2pm and then she got to work cleaning the bathrooms (which is just something else I love about her - always willing to do that part). After that it was finally time to do what the kids had been begging and pleading to do all day - dye Easter eggs!

I had hard boiled the eggs the day before (and didn't lose a single one to cracks, thankyouverymuch. :) ) and the kids couldn't wait to get to work.

Yeah yeah - maybe next year we'll trust him to wear a shirt. Let's just say that they child is not all that careful about staying clean. Ever.

The kits we found for this year weren't the best but they worked. They had tiny stickers for the kids to decorate with but they were hard to adhere. I'm thinking a rubber stamp would have been easier. :)

But - the kids were happy and that is all that matters.

After we cleaned up we decided to go out and about for a while but what the kids didn't know was we were taking them to Chuck E Cheese for some pre-birthday celebration for Kelton. They had been really wanting to go and when I turned the car onto the street that would take us there we could hear Kaylen whisper to Kelton "Kelton - this is the way to Chuck E Cheese!" and Kelton said back "Really? Let me see." And then he started naming off the places we were passing and then he said "It IS the way!" When I got closer to the shopping area Dakota and I started talking about "a new store that sells home stuff..hope the kids won't be too bored..." to try to throw them off the track....and it did confuse them until I whipped the car into the parking lot.

Oh good heavens! The whoops and hollering from the back seat almost deafened us. :)

When we went in the check-in person asked if we were celebrating anything special and Kelton said "My birthday!" followed quickly by "But not with a party in your party room." That made no difference to the girl. She pulled out a Birthday Star sticker and wrote his name and age on it. He proudly wore that sticker for the rest of the evening. :)








After we finished spending all 120 coins, we turned in our tickets, collected our prizes and bid farewell to the Big Cheese. It was past dinner time so we decided to head to Azteca for some food.




We headed over to the grocery store next so we could pick up Kelton's birthday cupcakes, ice cream and a few other grocery items. From there we went home and got the kids to bed so that the bunny could do his job to prepare for morning.

Just as we were getting settled we remembered we forgot to get birthday candles! That would never do so Dakota raced out and picked up the number 7 for Kelton and the number 8 for his cousin Bailey, who would be sharing his party with him Sunday afternoon.

The bunny finally got everything done and even though it was after 10, we decided to watch one episode of West Wing (we're almost at the end of the second season). We headed to bed after and were woken at 5:45am when a little boy came bounding into our room and yelled "Happy Easter!!"

But Easter is a whole other post. :) Stay tuned! :)

Good Friday

"Our office will be closed on Friday, April 10th in Observance of Good Friday. Please feel free to leave messages if you have problems or concerns, and we will reply as soon as possible when we are back in the office on Monday."

I've been receiving messages like this all over the place today and
I find this both nice and not so much but let me tell you why; I have never, ever, ever been given Good Friday off of work or school.

Why? It seems like in the Midwest and South this is an automatic day off with pay. While I am happy for them - I'm wondering why the Pacific NW (the only area I can really speak to) doesn't observe it. I would love to have Kelton and Dakota home today. It seems to me that Easter is just squished in and it would be nice to have a little more time. (But then, I think that about Christmas as well. And the 4th of July. And New Years Day. Apparently, I just want more days off. Paid, of course.)

A friend of mine who lives in North Carolina wrote the other day to ask if we had plans for today. Ummm...yes. Work and school for some. Playgroup and errands for others. I actually have a twinge of jealousy and it makes me think about looking into Wilmington NC real estate.

I'm just saying. :)

But speaking of Easter.....it's going to be a busy one at our house. First we will have a visit from the Easter bunny. Then we will rush out to the store to pick up birthday cake 1pm family arrives and we will have Kelton's 7th birthday and cousin Bailey's 8th birthday party. Around 2 we will settle the kids in to an activity while grown ups prepare for the Easter meal. Then we eat (and good luck with everyone finding a chair. I hear the floor is comfy.) and after we clean up the meal we will have birthday cake and ice cream.

And since the festivities are here Sunday it means tomorrow will be consumed with cleaning. Joy. I know you are all beyond jealous and since I hate for friends to be jealous of anything I have or do I am just going to invite ALL of you over to help.

Might nice of me, don't you think? :)

Happy Good Friday to everyone who observes it!

Happy Easter!!

What time did Easter morning start at your house? It came waaaay too early here - Kaylen jumped out of bed at 5:30, Kelton was awake around 5. Thankfully, Dakota kept them entertained for a good 40 minutes to allow me to get a little more sleep. By 6:10 we were all up and headed out to see what the big bunny had left for the kids.

Here are a few photos from this morning.

Happy Easter to everyone!