Easter 2014

April was a busy month around here!! I feel like I'm barely staying afloat on this blog :) Easter was the week after Jordan's birthday and the fourth weekend in a row we had something major going on! Since we're us and we like to draw everything out as long as possible to squeeze out every drop of fun, Easter was a four-day affair (notice the pattern with the week-long birthday festivities for Jordan) beginning on Thursday. I thought about doing separate posts for each event, but I just want to get the month finished so instead it's one long post with a million pictures :)

On Thursday, Madison had an Easter egg hunt at her preschool, which she loved! I didn't get any pictures, but she said she had a lot of fun finding the eggs and came home with about three times as many as she took!! Let the candy-crazed madness begin! On Friday, we went to another Easter Egg Hunt sponsored by the library in a little park adjacent to the library. I seriously love the library here and all the fun things they do for kids! I hope Mesa's is as good! There were so many eggs, they didn't even bother to hide them, just threw them all out onto the grass in sections divided by age. So McKinley got to do her hunt first in one part of the park and then Madison hunted in a different part. There was seriously one egg per square foot! We capped the girls at 15 eggs each in an effort to limit the amount of candy coming in, but I heard that the winner in McKinley's age group picked up over 30 eggs and the winner in Madison's "found" 42. Crazy! After the hunt, the Easter Bunny came for a visit and took pictures with the kids. McKinley wanted nothing to do with that, but Madison was pretty excited and enjoyed getting her picture taken!

We've decided to start a tradition in our home of having the Easter Bunny come on Saturday morning so we can keep Sunday more focused on the real reason for Easter, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So the girls woke up Saturday morning to Easter baskets on the couch and eggs in the backyard! Both girls got pink Peeps, princess crowns, water wings, coloring books and bubble wands; McKinley also got a box of dry erase crayons for her church coloring books and Madison got a set of nine pairs of heart-shaped earrings in different colors. They were both very excited about the baskets! We did the egg hunt in the backyard, which was fun! Last year was our first with a yard but it was raining so we still had to do the egg hunt inside. Each girl got 10 more candy-filled eggs. We're crazy! (As a side note, we're not an egg-dying family ... I don't like hard-boiled eggs and as picky as my girls are, I don't think they would eat them either. And Jordan loves them but has a weird hang-up about eating them after they've been colored. So I figure why waste a dozen eggs?!) Both girls went at it as soon as they got outside, but McKinley quickly discovered there was candy inside the eggs and abandoned the hunt in favor of eating. She just plopped down in her camping chair and chowed down! Madison was a little more diligent and found most of the rest of the eggs. McKinley joined in again at the end after she had eaten all the candy in the first egg she found and needed to find more :) Then they both sat down on the back step and enjoyed the fruits of their labors! We decided to skip our ward Easter party and egg hunt that afternoon since we were going to the baseball game that night (still celebrating Jordan's birthday!) and wanted McKinley to get a good nap. And at that point, we really didn't need anymore candy :)

On Sunday, the girls got to wear their new Easter dresses, which is always fun for me ;) Buying matching Christmas and Easter dresses is a splurge I just can't resist! I love the dresses they have this year, and I made them matching bows. We weren't able to get a family shot, unfortunately, but we did manage to get a picture with me and the girls and dad and the girls. After church, we did our Resurrection eggs, which is a tradition we started last year that helps teach about the Savior's death and resurrection. We do it for FHE the Monday before Easter and then again on Sunday. I cheated this year and also did it with my Sunbeam class on Easter Sunday so Madison got to do it three times. Then we worked on making Easter dinner! The girls helped me make Resurrection rolls, which was a new thing we did this year, and Bunny cake, which has long been a tradition on my house. Jordan also made mashed potatoes for dinner. We had the Kings and Widdisons over to eat and enjoyed spending time together and planning our upcoming trip to Gulf Shores!!! It was a wonderful day!

I'm really glad we decided to do the Easter Bunny/egg stuff on Saturday this year. I enjoyed being able to focus more on the Resurrection on Sunday and really make sure Madison especially understood that it's not the Easter Bunny that makes Easter special! I'm so grateful for my Savior and all he has done for me personally and for my family. I know that everything I have and everything I look forward to enjoying for eternity is because of Him.

Library Egg Hunt

This is Madison and her friend Emily getting ready for their turn to hunt!

Since there were so many eggs, she was pretty picky about only picking up the pink ones :)

Our best attempt at both girls together

Heading out with their loot!

 

 The Easter Bunny Came!

McKinley woke up first and got to enjoy her spoils!

Both girls loved their peeps! I'm not sure how they fell so far from the genetic tree because Jordan and I hate peeps!!

 This picture cracks me up because she has her tongue out while she's coloring, just like Jordan and Madison so when they're concentrating on something! Not another one ;)

Madison's turn

Ready, set, hunt!

This was the Easter Bunny's best hiding spot - attached to the tomato stake! (and no, we still hadn't cleared out last year's dead plants ...)

Enjoying the fruits of their labors

Chocolate mess!

I love her leg crossed and the chocolate dripping down her chin :)

Playing with their bubble wands

 

 Easter Sunday

Two cute girls :)

Madison did all the decorating on the bunny cake completely by herself

You can't really tell in this picture, but the cake even had eyebrows and eyelashes :)

Happy Easter!!