Easter

When church starts at 9 am we call it a success if we make it in time for the Sacrament. Today was a little easier because figuring out wardrobe was done, and Bails didn't have an argument with it because it was new and she got to be twins with Hazel.

After church and lunch the eggs were hidden and the little people were unleashed into the backyard. They required almost zero coaching as they ran around collecting the eggs/eating the candy if the egg actually popped open.

 I asked Sam to ask the Easter Bunny what the master count on the hidden eggs was, and of course he forgot so we had to rely on Sam's stellar memory for the placement of all the 'hard' ones. This means I expect to be finding Easter eggs in the backyard for the next few months.

 I am still unsure how she managed to carry that basket around the yard since it is basically her size and weight. I guess if you sprinkle a little sugar on your determination you can do anything.

 This egg wound up in the tree. Good thing our children were tall enough to get it...

 oh wait...they weren't.

 The gasps of excitement after spotting each egg never got old from either of them. 

 And I am pretty sure this was Sam's proudest moment of the whole day. Hazel looked under the frisbee all by herself and was rewarded handsomely...

 Especially because the egg had popped open so she was also able to sneak a jellybean. A nerd jellybean to be exact. And whoever invented those needs to be awarded a medal.

 Sam was also extremely proud of Bails for venturing into the woods to find the egg off of buzz lightyear.

 Then it was time to sit down and eat their entire loot. One jellybean or marshmallow stuffed into each egg means...

 A sugar high for everyone...

 And then we ended the hunt with a good old fashioned sister hug...

 And we would also like to send out a special thank you to Uncle Robby for teaching Bailey to make this face. Especially because she walks around the house quite often making it. And when Hazel tries to copy her it almost always ends with her poking herself in the eye. 

Happy Easter!

Easter Egg Hunt

Like usual, the neighborhood shopping center put on a fun little holiday extravaganza for the kids. This year it was a hunt from store to store to collect some paper eggs and then to turn them all in for a bag of treats. Bailey caught on super fast and was happy to enter a store, ask for an egg, and then run off for the next one which impressed/surprised us since she is usually so shy.

She was so adventurous it was hard to keep tabs on her.

Hazel too started off adventurous and running alongside Bails. And then she caught sight of the scariest Easter Bunny roaming the mall, handing out treats. She was terrified and refused to walk after the encounter.

Bails was scared, but happy to accept some chocolate, and then she was off to get the next egg like nothing had happened.

Hazel on the other hand kept one eye out for the next sighting of the Easter Bunny. This made a lasting impression on Bails who frequently talks about the scary Easter bunny who made Hazel cry. She also is quick to inform me how she didn't cry at all because she is a big girl. She will, however, admit that he was extremely scary.

And in her defense, the thing scared even me so it is kind of hard to blame her.

She did accept his candy, but only if I grabbed it for her. Even chocolate was not enticing enough for her to venture her chubby little hand over to him.

The little girls turned in all of their eggs and each got to pick out a special toy and a bag of chocolate candy. A win win for us. Little girls got a toy and Sam and I each got a bag of candy.

One last time to color an Easter picture...

And then it was back home for lunch and afternoon naps. 

Easter Eggs

The Easter egg dying came as a last minute sort of scramble this year. We decided it was warm enough (not warm, just not deathly cold) to strip down to our underwear and head outside so we ventured to Wal Mart for all of our supplies.

 Bailey is most definitely in the "But I want to help" stage which basically means she demands to do everything or she will throw a fit. 

 Hazel is in the 'I must do everything that Bails does' stage which means she also likes to have a turn or she will throw a fit.

 This basically means that I implement a ton of patience into my life and attempt to shrug off all of the messes. It also means that I let out big sighs quite often, which is now what Bailey does every time something doesn't go her way...

 Hazel enjoys playing innocent and acting surprised when she terrorizes the house. She can say "uh oh," tap her mouth while saying "hhhmmmm" like she is trying to think of what happened, or just simply shrug her shoulders and play dumb; all of which get her off the hook because it usually makes me laugh.

 These two can also be the best of friends, and the worst of enemies (which is pretty much the definition of a sister in the dictionary, right). It is all fine and dandy until there is only one of something that they both need.

 

And then of course somebody must die/scream bloody murder/retaliate until amends are made. And then it immediately goes back to life before anything ever happened. Oh brother.

 The important thing is that the girls had a blast. The eggs got colored. Sam didn't even get the least bit sticky because he watched everything happen from afar and most of the eggs got cracked, but not smashed to smithereens like last year. Hurrah! 

 We won't dwell on the fact that most of our bodies were also blue/pink/red/green/purple for a few days...

 Hazel can splash dye three feet into the air when she plops an egg into a cup...

 And Bailey is definitely the boss...

 Note to self for next year: putting stickers on eggs is almost more fun than actually dying the eggs...

And yet all of the squeals and announcements of what color the egg is now after it has come out of the cup of dye, makes everything so worth it. 

Cookie Monster

This year we controlled ourselves and just order two boxes...one for him and one for her. 

Only problem is his disappeared super fast while she savored hers. And then a late night of studying (aka eating thousands of calories while you sit on your butt in front of a computer for hours on end) apparently turned him into a thief. Note to self: hide my box better next year.

Asleep

I assume this means I dropped the ball on bedtime tonight.

We wont even acknowledge the fact that she was playing with a computer chord. Too many late night study sessions will do this to us all.