Easter Weekend to Ourselves

The boys being here for all of March kept us too busy to be ready for anything holiday related.  So we didn't make it to a single Easter Egg hunt.  And, partly, we are over those anyway.  Stressful, hassle, been there done that a million times.  BUT, Josh did orchestrate a simple one in the backyard for Noah and Anna.  And by simple, I really mean challenging.  They had to work hard for those eggs this year.  I consider it a decent upgrade on the egg hunt scene.  :) 

At the end of the hunt, there was a hidden surprise.  In five eggs throughout the yard, there were clues to help them discover its location.
  

Some had Chuck-E-Cheese tokens.  Others had candy or coins.

It was funny to us how excited they were to see what was in each egg.  They were the ones who helped Josh pack them that morning!  Simple pleasures. 

Josh even made them search in his shed.

I enjoyed how Noah and Anna hunted together, taking it all on as a team.

Decoding another clue.

What's an egg hunt without a brother outrunning you to an egg you both spotted at the same time.  "
"Noooooo fair!"  Ha!

Still hunting.  These were hidden WELL.

The prize at the end was hidden back inside in the Scrabble Junior box in the playroom - tickets to Lego KidsFest coming to Nashville later this month.  This is actually an awesome prize, but the kids apparently had something else in mind and were disappointed at first.  HA!  The term "ungrateful brats" came to mind as I rolled my eyes at their underwhelming response.  Memo to us ... hunts need instant gratification rewards at the end of them.  No worries, they will be pumped when the event gets here and they see the awesomeness of this reward in due time.

Good Friday was rainy, so we escaped to a movie - Home.  It was cute and funny.  We are already quoting our favorite lines from it. "What is the purpose of your face?" and "Every day is bestdayever!" Confession - I cried twice before the movie ended.  It had heart!! It is also possible I am emotionally and physically exhausted after the boys still.  This was only 24 hours after they left.  Still in a detox-of-sorts, I guess. 

We had egg dye left over from last year, so we figured what the heck.  Josh made this happen as well.  I was, apparently, not back in the swing of things yet.  But I did at least still have enough oomph to take the pic.

We took ourselves out to eat that night despite some wild weather in our area.  During our meal they had everyone take cover in an inner hallway for a tornado warning. Our table backed up to the hallway and the line of people being herded there so we just stayed put after all.  Then we headed over to church for their Good Friday service.

We love this fellowship and group of believers. We love our times of worship there.

 

Saturday, we started turning the classroom more into Noah's permanent room.  It's a big job, but we have time to get it done a little bit at a time.  The library of books and his desk will remain in his room, but all my stuff and lesson supplies will be relocated to the dining room- turned playroom - now part-time classroom.

By midday, Noah had a birthday party to attend and then baseball practice straightaway from there.  

The party was at a cool spot called JumpStreet.

Noah wore himself out.  And he has some sore legs to show for it today.

He loved the open room, but his favorite was the part for dodge ball jumping which I somehow never got a picture of.

Anna asked about the Easter Bunny being real.  I asked what she thought.  She didn't flinch and said she thought he was real.  Her brother was quick to jump in and agree.  But then she made this note last night to leave out for the character in question.  And apparently she told Josh at bedtime that she didn't want us to write an answer.  She wanted to see if he was real.  After a few heart palpitations at the idea of actually coming clean on the whole Easter Bunny/Tooth Fairy/Santa tradition, Josh bought us some time by suggesting we wait until she loses her first tooth and gets an official Tooth Fairy visit of her own.  I bought that line of reasoning hook, line, and sinker. Phew. Close call!

We settled for nibbling the corner bunny-style instead of any written answer and that delighted Anna's heart in the morning. She was much amused and Noah decided they should have left a carrot instead, just like we leave a snack for Santa. 

With our new extended timeline waiting on the Tooth Fairy, wouldn't you know Anna had a heart attack today at lunch ... because she felt her "tooth bend!" Yep, you guessed it. She has her first official loose tooth and she is wiggling it like a crazy woman.  Apparently, there is some Lost Tooth  chart at school that she HAS to get her name on. Too funny!  At any rate, it looks like 2015 might be the year for us to come clean.  And that is OK, too. Just not today.  Ha!