Easter 2013

For Madison, the day started out early - but egg-citing!  You can see above the basket that greeted her when she came down into the kitchen.  It had a "Brave" theme - what else?  You can see the swimsuit, the Pez and a three books.  Oh, and even that bag back there too - that's from the Disney Store.  Of course, there's the Minnie Mouse rabbit (which is currently upstairs sleeping with Madison right now).  She was very excited about all of this - inside that bag is a magic wand from the show "Super Why."  Madison exclaimed, "The Easter Bunny knew I liked Super Why!"  Also in the bag:  "The Rise of the Guardians," which comes with wind-up eggs that hop across the floor on tiny feet.  Some of this stuff we've had since August, sort of stockpiling it here and there.

Daddy was off to church pretty early this morning, but Mommy and Madison attended the 9:00 am service, which was great.  We even had a visit from the Easter Bunny!

Madison knows it isn't the Easter Bunny - she was fooling around with Ricke, our good friend from church that was dressed up in that costume.  She wanted him to put on the head and pose with him for this picture you see above.  And for some reason, she wanted to cover his mouth?  She was having a fun time with him regardless - the start of a really fun day.  Service was meaningful, as we learned the real meaning of Easter - Madison's teacher Ms. Halston had a special message prepared, and of course we had a larger message for the older kids as well.  We definitely can't do Easter without the cross or the resurrection, and with both groups of kids, we managed to communicate the reason why this day is so incredibly special.

As a side note, there was a family that had to move out of their apartment yesterday - it was an emergency situation involving a neighbor and some very toxic fumes.  They actually had to take a lot of their items to the dump - and didn't get to bless their son with an Easter basket.  This morning, Mommy and Madison put one together:  and Madison took some of her chocolate pieces, donating them to the cause.  She was very giving, willing to share - it was very sweet of her.  The family was blessed!

After church, it was time to head over to Nana and Ye-Ye's house for the traditional meal, and another egg hunt!

Doesn't Madison look beautiful in this photo?  Mommy dressed her up very nicely - she's seen here just beginning her egg hunt, looking in Nana and Ye-Ye's back yard.  Eggs were everywhere - lots and lots of eggs.  They were all filled with candy too.  Madison found so many eggs, but so did her cousins.  She filled that basket, and when she got back inside, there were more baskets to be had:

Here she is holding a "Wreck-it Ralph" basket she got from her cousins.  It obviously has the movie in it, plus some themed eggs.  But it also has a "Wreck-it Ralph" book as well.  This book was for younger readers, and Madison promptly started reading it out loud.  It was such a blessing to see her read so well - she was reading Daddy a story for a change!

We gave a mustache-themed basket to the boys, and a Monster High basket for Hannah.  There were lots of baskets all about!  Lots of candy too!

Dinner was delicious as always.  We gathered together at the table, where Ye-Ye said the blessing.  We ate a marvelous Easter Dinner, made special by the appearance of Madison's great-grandmother.  The table was decorated nicely with flowers and the food was absolutely delicious.  We had communion a little later together, with Ye-Ye "officiating," and talked about the day, how important it was and why.  It's good to keep reminding the kids, certainly with all the chocolate and eggs about.

We celebrated a few birthdays today - Jonathan, David Austen and Aunt Shain's.  They're all somewhere over the next thirty days or so (in fact, today was Jonathan's birthday).  So we gave them movies and videos games and presents as well, piling on more stuff to bless them on a great day.  Yes, there was cake afterwards, one with way too many candles on it!  But they lit it anyway, and I'm surprised the smoke alarms didn't go off.  I am not exaggerating!

Anyway, it was a pretty full day obviously.  And, as it started out early, Daddy is pretty wiped out pretty early.  Tomorrow promises to be a big day as well, so he's heading upstairs to sleep.  Mommy is still doing packing as we speak - this week should be a fun one!