Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! What a wonderful holiday. The older I get, the more I enjoy Easter. And no, it's still not the baskets. It's the beautiful reminder of the Savior's over-arching love for us and the example of love He set for us. And the safety I feel in His Atonement for me.

Of course, we did have some fun. On Saturday the YWCA in town held an egg hunt for kids starting at 3 years--or almost 3, in Finn's case. They had a different hunt for each age and lots of crafts and games to keep waiting kids occupied. 

Madie is in the pink dress with her hands primly in front of her--a princess if there ever was one.

Mike and I saw children's baseball mitts and balls at Marden's for like $7! We bought one for each of the kids and a big chocolate bunny and called it good. We don't usually do gifts at Easter--in the past we've just stuck to the typical candy baskets--but I'd much rather have something active like this! And they love playing with them. It's been too chilly to be outside tossing a ball with a kid who can't catch one yet, so we've been playing Grounders in the living room. Sometimes Mike does take them downstairs and they toss gently back and forth in the basement, but they like Grounders and Madie, especially, is getting pretty good at it.

Playing Grounders with Dad. And Elvis.

On Sunday we went to "Uncle" Seth's house. I love being there. Seth is just the nicest guy, despite his teasing. He reminds me a lot of my dad. And there's always music and people singing or playing, and of course, food. And I always look forward to catching up with Ashley, his wife, and Ashleigh, my cousin--and my other cousins and my Aunt Rinda and Gram when they all make it. But I can always count on a good chat with the Ash's, or Ashleiygh, as I've decided to name them. It makes me feel like being at my parents' house. 

When we left Madie and Finn both said it was fun. Finn was really disappointed when we had to leave. When we were saying goodbye and Finn was slow to come put on his boots, Seth teased, "Why don't you just stay here, Finn? You wanna live with me?" For the first time as a parent I watched one of my children seriously consider the offer. I told him his cousin Pip was going to leave soon, too. He still wasn't convinced. Finally I said, "Finn, we need to go home." Reluctantly he came into the mudroom and said goodbye. The whole way down the road he kept asking if we could come back tomorrow. 

Madie helped decorate the carrot cakes I made for Seth's.

And today we're back to the regular routine. Madie went to school, and brought home the cutest project: they grew grass in baskets and made felted wool eggs with little chicks inside them. I guess her teacher was getting sick of waiting for spring. I picked Madie up from school since we had to go shopping and we were finally ready that late in the day. Normally I go much earlier and use a cart with a carseat carrier and Finn sits down below on the rack underneath--his own discovery and one I am always impressed with and thankful for. Today the carseat carts were all being used so Petya sat down in the basket and Finn AND Madie sat down below.

Exhibit A

Mike says, "See, don't you just want one of those cars [like Target has]?" I still say absolutely not. This method gets them out of the way and the cart isn't disproportionately long or wide, so I can still maneuver it through the aisles. Not to mention, this was my kid's idea, so it's a good exercise in problem-solving. Trophies all around.