Hunting for Easter

Yes, you read that correctly. Easter Hunting. That's what Grand Duchess has been calling it for the past week. "Mom, we went Easter hunting there, remember?" She's so cute.

Friday was the beginning of Easter break (the schools here completely by-passed spring break - but whatever). So the Assisted Living home down the street hosted an easter egg hunt for kids up to 2nd grade. Mr. Fantastic and Optimus Prime had to miss out on that one. But they helped the younger ones gather some goodies and were good sports about it. Afterward, cookies and punch were handed out to EVERYONE (so they at least got some of that action). They were yummy. Yes, I had some too.

On Saturday we drove up to Chadron to do their Easter egg hunt there. They were held at the ball fields and unbeknownst to me, the age cutoff was 10. Mr. Fantastic feigned ignorance and participated anyway (against my counsel, I should note). He scored a $20 gift card to a gas station(thanks for paying for gas, Buddy) and loads of candy. He also got a coupon from the vision center for $5 off. Convenient because Popeye needs to go buy some contacts. Ha! See where disobedience gets you? I took Thor to his field and he was so cold that he went pretty slow. He got enough to make him happy, though. Popeye had Grand Duchess and he reported that when the siren from the police car sounded (to signal the "GO"), she stopped dead in her tracks and held her ears. She didn't get very much.
But that's okay because then we went down to our town and participated there. It was wonderful! Almost every single egg had a piece of paper in it with a number on it. You take that number to the gazebo and get your prize. Princess Monkey Eyes scored the best with about 15 prizes ranging from sidewalk chalk and pinwheels to coloring books and puzzles. Some of the eggs even had 50 cent pieces in it. Optimus Prime came home with an extra $4!!! (And Thor really realized what was happening and had no problem moving a little faster that time around.)
All the kids were super happy about that day. Some of them got free ice cream cones while others got free bowling games. Unfortunately, Mr. Fantastic missed out on THAT fun, too, because of his age. (I think it's lame, personally. I think if they're in elementary school, they should be able to participate. But whatever.) His siblings shared with him (with some coersion from me) and he was reminded of our own hunt that would be happening.

Sunday the kids woke up to filled Easter buckets and new church clothes. I made ties for the boys from a tutorial I pinned (found here). The ties came out great! I used coordinating fabrics from the girl's dresses, my skirt and another fabric to link us all together. This tutorial is for a little boys' tie. I should have really looked more closely at the words in the title "Little Boys Tie" because it really is for a littler boy. My older boys had really short tails in the back to keep them the length they needed to be. It was funny trying to tie them. I also made a tie for Popeye. (pinned here). This father's day tie was deceiving as well. It was WAY too short on Popeye. So, for future reference, I'll use the fathers day tie for the older boys and just buy Popeye's ties from now on. He wore an orange one he had that somewhat coordinated with the rest of us. :)
After church, Popeye took the kids for a drive while I hid prizes and eggs around the back yard. The Easter Bunny doesn't come to our house, the kids know it's me. And I'm fine with that. :) I texted Popeye to come home and then Grand Duchess got to start first. About 20 seconds later Thor took off and then the older kids after him. Princess Monkey Eyes saw some in the tree and managed to get one but spent so much time jumping and crying that she missed out on so many more. I finally realized what was going on and grabbed the other two for her. But the damage had been done, the older brothers had cleaned up the yard. :) I found a few more for her and she ended up finding a watch for her that helped lessen the blow.
The kids had a fun Easter. I should note - they weren't allowed to participate unless they could tell me why we really celebrate Easter in a private conversation. So they know. I wanted to do all of it on Saturday so we could focus on the true meaning on Sunday, but Popeye insisted that we needed to have some sort of leverage for good behavior during church. ah well...

Anyway. Easter was wonderful. I taught the lesson in Relief Society on the immortality of the spirit. I was able to touch base on our Savior's resurrection during it. I love the feeling I get when I think of the Savior and His love.
It was a wonderful weekend. The kids went back to school yesterday and now I'm just recovering by picking up hidden candy wrappers and broken plastic eggs and vacuuming up the pieces of grass.
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well.