Easter Party Day!

We didn't plan Easter on the right weekend this year. I was sick all week (better now, but it wiped out a lot of my prep time). Friday, Elijah got shots. He woke up this morning with the cold I just got over. And, with a strange combination of circumstances, Tim is trying to do a month's worth of filming and recording in 4 days, Friday to Monday.

Still, the kids have been counting down to their Easter Party Day for two weeks, so I couldn't just bump it to a different day.

But I was smart enough to spread it out.

So we colored boiled eggs on Friday this year. Rescheduling our easter candy party with friends to another day (waiting to see how the filming goes in order to pick a day).

And today, in one of Tim's breaks, we did the egg hunt.

After making sure each child had a dozen, color-coded plastic eggs, I opened a bunch of bags of candy and had the kids fill their own eggs. The rule is they can fill it as full as they want, but the egg has to close and stay closed by itself--no tape or rubber bands or anything. They filled their eggs happily with their favorite things.

Then they took turns hiding each other's eggs. Benji helped EVERYONE hide eggs, including his own, and then still had trouble finding his!

And then the hunt began!

Nathanael had no idea what was going on. He found one egg, opened it, and sat on the steps eating candy. The other kids raced around the yard finding eggs. Good thing we waited for afternoon--there was a lot of snow early this morning, but the afternoon was clear and dry enough for an egg hunt. They ended up helping each other find their eggs, and we found the last one when Tim and I were wandering the yard talking and he kicked a log out of the way, revealing that final stubborn green plastic egg.

Then we drifted inside to eat candy. While the kids were opening the eggs they'd just filled (you'd think it's less exciting because they know what's in the eggs, but no--they're just as delighted knowing as not knowing), Tim sat down to watch and found a pair of bongos by his feet (yes, this kind of thing happens around our house--there are bongos just lying around). So he drummed and improvised songs while the kids ate candy and danced and drummed and sang with him. It was really really delightfully fun.

We don't do Easter dresses/suits (which are just for showing off as far as I can tell--great way to celebrate the resurrection?). We don't do ANY presents or toys. We don't do the mystical egg-laying rabbit part (I never got that anyway--it's really dumb and lots of work for moms and dads that is unnecessary). We don't do easter baskets (this year, most of the kids used the same ice cream buckets they used for Halloween--they hang around the house being used for all kinds of things all year). We don't do that awful plastic grass that you can  never get rid of completely.

Then the kids settled down to eat candy and watch Kirby (their current favorite cartoon) online, Tim went back to filmmaking, and I made deviled eggs and am now rocking my napping, sickly baby.

Even with all we don't do, the kids are happily content. It's the candy they love.

Later, we'll make chocolate bunnies. (This is one I think everyone should try. It's SOOO much more fun to make your own chocolate bunnies and decorate them than it is to buy one in a box. And it's really really easy and cheap--and they taste better, with  more chocolate of the flavor you prefer and zero wax).

But for now? We rest.

And tomorrow, we celebrate the REAL Easter with the real reason for Easter--Jesus--not mixed with anything unhealthy, wild, worldly, competitive, or mystical. Phew. I like that.