Maura LOVED Easter! I spent all week talking to her about what makes Easter special, and by the end of the week, she was able to tell me that Easter is special because, "Jesus rolled the stone away and raised from the dead." I wanted her to know that it was more than just bunnies and chicks and ducks!! She was so cute giving us her little theology lesson. We still did the dyeing of the eggs and the Easter bunny, but I hope she understood that there was a little more to it than just a basket full of candy.
The three of us at church. My in-laws go to a church that's starting up in a school. Had I known that this was the best family picture we would get for the day, I would have chosen a little nicer backdrop. We didn't get to take any pictures before church because Maura woke up late and Brent was teaching Sunday School, so we had to rely on pictures at and after church. Maura looked beautiful in her little dress.
Alright, this is actually a flashback to the night before when she set out her Easter Basket for the Easter Bunny. This is not a tradition that I had as a child, but apparently Brent's family has always done this. I think it's sweet! Maura took her little basket and set it out so the Easter Bunny could find it easily.
She's fully expecting to have it full by morning! She's wearing a little Bunny outfit that my mom bought for her last year. She actually wore it last Easter when it was about three inches too long. This year, it was a little tight but I thought we could get away with it for one night. My cute little bunny! I'll have to look for pictures of her wearing it last year.
Fast forward to morning!! When Maura woke up, we immediately started talking about the Easter Bunny having visited during the night! She was so excited and couldn't wait to see what was in her basket.
STICKERS!! The "Easter bunny" tried to go a little easy on the candy knowing how much she was probably going to get later in the day. She loved the stickers, bubble stuff and stuffed rabbit that she did get. She also got jelly beans and malted milk eggs which she accidentally ate together and then promptly spit out because she didn't expect the chocolate taste. What a priss!
Nan showed her the Easter/birthday cake that we were going to eat later. Notice my hands waiting in the background in case she decided to take a chunk to test out! She loved the cake.
Maura sitting with Poppa at church. She actually did better sitting with him than she had with us. She was still squirmy, but she stayed on the bench. This girl LOVES her poppa.
Visiting with Nan at church. Nan and Poppa didn't get to see her all dressed up until we were at church, so it was fun to go and show off once we got there.
Attempt #1 at a family photo. Since it was frigid, we decided to do photos indoors. Maura was crabby from not being allowed to jump up the steps in her Easter finery, so she required her blanket to pacify her. I allowed it for the first photo, then tried to remove it for subsequent photos.
No dice. She burst into hurt tears and we decided that the one photo we had would have to suffice.
Photo attempt#3. Blurred and not a great photo anyway. I gave up on family pictures at this point!
Maura played a lot with her cousin Joslyn, who loved playing with her because she was easily bossed around! Brent was making sure she didn't fly off the back on the rocking horse--it wasn't designed for two.
Happy Easter Nan and Poppa! We sure had fun at your house!
All of the kiddos getting ready for an Easter egg hunt up at historic Cragfont, a historic home right up the road from my in-laws house. We had the older cousins hide the eggs in the garden, then let the kids go. Notice all of us all bundled up. It was chilly!!
Maura with probably the only egg she legitimately found on her own. She had LOTS of help in the egg hunt! She wasn't really into it at first, just content with the one or two she found, until she opened an egg and realized there was money in it. She said, "Money in the egg!!" and immediately kicked it into high gear egg searching mode!
Grandmother Chambers helping a LOT on the egg hunt. She was searching for eggs, then tossing them in front of Maura to "find." It got really funny after awhile. Lets just say that Maura did quite well on the hunt!
All the kids frantically searching for those elusive eggs. They all seemed to have a ball and it even warmed up when the sun came out for a few minutes. It is such a pretty setting up there--it's the garden where Brent's brother got married just a few months ago.
After we came in from the hunt, it was time to celebrate March and April birthdays. Everyone got to blow out candles--Maura's favorite activity!
Between the two of them, Joslyn and Maura got those candles all blown out! Yay girls!! We got on the road home soon after and my exhausted child finally got a nap! It was a fun and exhausting trip--the last one before the baby is born. Kind of hard to believe that the next time we visit, we'll have an infant in tow!
2 comments:
Looks like you all had fun...well, except for trying to take a family photo that is. We had a little difficulty in that area too, but oh well. Our life is pretty perfect even if our pictures aren't! :-) Can't wait to meet the newest member of the Allen fam. And by the way, what do you mean you didn't set out our basket for the bunny to fill??? That is the craziest "non tradition" I've ever heard of...how else was the bunny to bring you treats if you didn't set out your basket??? I'm glad you have Brent to keep you in line! :-)
We set our baskets out at the end of our beds. Love the outdoor Easter egg hunt. Ours was moved indoors because the ground was determined to be "mushy" outside... bunch of pansies! Maura looks beautiful in her dress!
Post a Comment