Easter Weekend

How do I describe a perfectly perfect weekend? The excitement in the air was palpable this weekend, and I have overheard many whispered conversations between the short people. The Easter Bunny was coming, and there was much to do to get ready! Dude, this is serious business.

Saturday morning started with three anxious little people climbing into "Mommadaddy's bed," snuggling and putting cold hands against us under the covers, and ticking off the day's agenda like professional Easter Coordinators. This morning management meeting is not what Lee and I had expected at 6:00 in the morning on a Saturday, but it felt just right.

Good morning you little smiley sunshine sprite...what are we doing today?





Shall we start the day with some of daddy's homemade bagels? The bagels were starting to develop some wrinkles because they were made the day before (although if you ask any thirty-something year old, wrinkles are called character,) and our bagels had lots of character...





Next task, coloring eggs. Nevermind those PAAS kits with little dye tarts that get everywhere, we'll do it the old fashioned way and use food color! (By the way, if you use food color, 10 drops of red and 10 drops of blue do NOT make purple, the eggs come out some sort of unfortunate shade of baby poop brown.)







Candy necklaces before lunch (bad momma)





And then, Easter Sunday dawned...wait, I take that back. And then, the short people dawned at some unGodly hour on this very Godly day and insisted on going outside "RIGHT NOW." The Easter Bunny was in deep dookie for not leaving eggs and their baskets inside the house, they had already conducted a recon mission and assessed the situation. Therefore, there had better be some stuff outside. I stumbled around, trying to find bathrobes and slippers for the kids (one slipper in a drawer, one in the closet under the stairs, one in the toy box, two upstairs, and one where it was supposed to be.)





That clever albeit sadistic bunny left the baskets high up in the swing set fort, hidden from sight, except from the KIDS because they could see them out a bedroom window before they ever went outside to search for them, (Ummm...HELLO!)















I hope everyone has had a weekend filled with dyeing eggs, Easter egg hunts, baskets with chocolate bunnies, blue skies and mild weather, and braided Easter bread for breakfast. I hope your soul is happy and content today.

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Tree Houses & Easter

The beginning of April has brought us uncharacteristic 70 degree weather, and we embrace it after a long wet winter indoors! The grays and muted colors of winter are just barely starting to give way to clear blue skies and baby buds on the trees. Today was a perfect day to get outside, greet the beloved “tree house” in the backyard (it's really just a swing set with a fort,) and get dirty!



The tree house has weathered the past four New England winters, and now the look of old wood against bright green makes for a charming contrast. The kids look at it every spring with new eyes, like it's the first time they have ever played with it.

Hello old friend. Wanna play?







Every year they're just a little bigger, just a little braver, and just a little stronger.









Nope, no autism in these pictures!



And speaking of dear old friends, the oak tree on the front lawn is full of tiny buds, ready to spend another year shading the house and dropping acorns with caps that can be made into whistles, or used as tiny caps for little action figures. This tree is very dear to me, it was planted by my father when I was just a baby. I can remember when the trunk was just the width of my forearm, this tree is part of my life story and a familiar symbol of home. (Even though Lee wants to chop it down because the roots keep tapping into the sewer lines. Tough dookie, it's my tree. Deal.)

So, hello old friend.



I love days like this, when people are emerging from their homes to enjoy the first warm days of the year. The sounds of children playing are a cacophony throughout the neighborhood, the delicious aroma of the neighbor's first grilled dinner of the year teases our noses and makes us hungry for dinner.

We have a busy weekend ahead with lots of ambitious plans, and we plan to enjoy every minute of it! After a long week, it's wonderful to be thinking of coloring eggs and baking Easter bread. We will be planting seeds and making candy necklaces. When Sunday morning arrives, the little people in the house will have to search and find where that crafty Easter bunny has left their baskets and eggs full of treasures.

We're so excited about celebrating Easter this weekend, and welcoming all the color back into our lives.



Happy Easter!

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