Happy Easter!

There is something about Easter that makes me get so excited. Of course, celebrating our Lord and his promise to us is most important but it's also the newness of the season, the welcoming of spring and sun and all things tradition. I love traditions and creating these memories for my kids that they will (hopefully) cherish when they get older.

One of our traditions is to go down to Grandma and Grandpa Vance's house the day before Easter for an egg hunt and to color Easter eggs. We learned pretty early on that public large event type egg hunts are not for us. To spend 30 minutes holding back your child who so desperately wants to grab an egg and then shout, "go! go! go!" at them as a stampede of small children and pushy parents knock them down and go home with 2 eggs just isn't our idea of a fun time. Our kids like to take their time hunting, open up each egg and celebrate what's inside. So, an at home egg hunt is perfect for us. Plus, we color code the eggs so each kid knows what to hunt for and fill them with little treasures like money and trail mix!

 This big pink egg has M&Ms inside. Let's just say she was more than a little excited to see some candy. I think the entire city of Edgewood heard her scream!

 Simon was content with his loot of Cheerios in his special eggs. Simply boy.....at least this year.

 Next we went inside to hunt for their Easter bags. This was a new tradition to me when I joined the Vance family. Matt's mom hides a small gift in the house for the kids to find. Uncle Adam brought gifts too so the kids had lots of fun new things to play with!

 Simon's wasn't really hiding but he did have to work to go get it! This boy is now crawling so fast!

 Then the egg dyeing. I can remember a few years ago where we could only do this outside because it would turn into a colored liquid mess and only last a few minutes. This year the kids sat at the table for over an hour while Lucy kept experimenting with her eggs and changing the colors over and over again. So fun!

 And Simon worked on standing. He's not close to walking quite yet but he sure loves to be up on his feet and see the world from another view. He's also obsessed with Grandpa Tom and gets a big grin on his face whenever he's around.

 We drove home that night and the Easter bunny got to work to leave out baskets for the kids for Easter morning. I don't really make a big deal about the Easter bunny but I guess the kids have been chatting with friends at school because they kept asking how the bunny would know where to put baskets and eggs. So, I had to remember to play along and not just tell them where I bought their books! Oops!

 These 2 brothers are just amazing. I love their bond and love for one another. Carter is just a good big brother to Simon and watches over him all the time.

 But, big brother hugs only last so long. It was time to find his basket. He was pretty darn excited to see the table downstairs.

 A new book, a new watch, gardening gloves, sidewalk chalk and a chocolate bunny!

 Simon got a new car, a new hat (which stayed on for about 3.5 seconds) and eggs filled with fruit!

 And Lucy got a new book, sidewalk chalk, gardening gloves, pink sunglasses and a chocolate bunny. Fun and simple!

 All dressed up for church!

 Could they be any cuter?! The kids have learned now that I require a certain number of pictures on special holidays and just smile to get it over with. But really, they are so cute!

 After church we came home and got ready for Uncle Matt and Aunt Joy to come over for Easter lunch and another egg hunt. Because the weather was rainy and cold we had to do it inside, but the kids still had fun.

And now the candy holidays are over until Halloween (thank the Lord!). It was a great weekend celebrating family and tradition and truly remembering what a gift God has given us. Happy Easter!