Every holiday can't be perfect

Every holiday can't be perfect...but looking back it can be pretty close in it's own non-perfect way. 

 The day before Easter the little kids went to the annual Easter Egg Hunt at the Weatherstons.  They put it on every year.  This year the group was especially small...and we had a great time!  At first we had to kind of coax Sophie to get the eggs. 

This one knew what she was doing...

 Joshua helped.  Michael ran off to find the "big kid" eggs.  Luke stayed home.  He never did his chores.  I thought it would be a big "lesson" missing the Easter Egg Hunt and all.  

Apparently not. 

All Saturday I patiently tried to get the kids to complete their chores.  That night Annie's room still looked like this...(she did get some help from Sophie and the neighbors.)

I tucked the kids in bed Saturday night and quickly felt overwhelmed that I still had 

-to finish Sharing Time for Church

-I hadn't ironed Church Clothes

-We had several rooms that looked like the one above

-I hadn't made the dessert for dinner at my moms

-Forget the Easter "brunch" I had dreamed up for the morning

-And I still had to prepare for the Easter Bunny to arrive.  

I surveyed the house and found that MANY chores were left undone by the kids.  I wrote out the following letter and yes, it made me feel much better. 

So, yes, the kids all woke up exited to see what Easter Adventures lay ahead for them that day...and then they discovered "THE NOTE".  The could not believe that there would be no Chocolate Eggs, no little treats, no baskets, nothing for them.  

I told them they still didn't have it too bad.  Nana had sent them treats.  They were have a big hunt later in the afternoon at Grandma's house.  They had new ties and whatnot for church.  Not too shabby.  And also, PS, in case you still haven't got the memo kids...Easter is not about Candy and Bunnies.  I wanted them to try and focus on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

We never quite got to that brunch that morning...but we did make it out the door for Church looking as best as we could at the moment.  Sophie was not about to put down those pretzels for the picture. 

She was willing to smile in this one a little...

My girls...

My boys...

After Church the Pollards stopped by, they all looked so "Springtimey" and fresh in their cute new Easter Attire...

After that the girls were ready to get moving on that Easter Egg Hunt!  Those eggs had been waiting since morning, and someone could not wait one more minute. 

 The boys were pretty good sports...(Michael was petsitting again over the break.)

I love how it looks like Sophie is taking off flying in this picture.  She was pretty excited....at first that is. 

Here she is peeking underneath to see if there is any eggs hiding. 

More Hello Kitty underwear!  Yahoo! 

This is where it gets funny.  Maybe it is just me...you just have to laugh.  She is like, "Where did the egg go?"  

She kept walking around like this like she was looking for an egg she misplaced. 

When she found what she was looking for, we realized it was one of Annie's.  We made her give it to Annie and this is what ensued...the crying begins.  

And this is the "I have officially lost it...I am tired and I need a nap" picture.  It cracks me up, because more than looking sad, she looked so wronged by humanity, and more specifically the Easter Bunny.

"Well, at least I found a necklace, maybe not all is lost." 

Wow, these hidden treats merited some serious excitement. 

Well, that is the end of Easter Part I.  We later headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner and another hunt.  Overall, we had a great holiday.  As usual...I felt like we didn't get to do some of the more "Spiritual" traditions I would like.  Just never enough time to fit everything in.  We had a few holiday melt downs.  And of course I felt bad about the boys not having a hunt. However, I didn't feel too bad.  The Easter Bunny still has all of their things in a secure location and I have some good ideas up my sleeve about how to go about them retrieving the goodies.  I will have to let you know how it goes.  And did it improve their behavior and cooperation? So far I have not seen any quantifiable results.

Some advice my mother once gave me....DO NOT start any traditions that you don't plan to keep up every year and that will be almost impossible to do with more and more children.  My boys still tell me, "Man, remember that one year when the Easter Bunny did this, or this...too bad he doesn't still do that."  I say...keep it simple from day one and they will expect A LOT less.  I am like, give them sticks and real eggs.  Then when they get candy someday they will be like, "Wow, this is amazing." Just kidding, well, sort of.  As of right now, my kids won't even go anywhere NEAR real hard boiled eggs.  When I told them that those are what you are supposed to hide, they looked at me like, "You are kidding, right?!"  Sheesh, kids these days.