The Easter Bunny Was Here

[Apr 19 2014]





As usual, the Easter Bunny left treats to discover when the kids woke up on Saturday morning. A trail of little treats led the way to a basket of toys and books. It is good to see that the Easter Bunny is on the same page as Mommy, who really would prefer to keep candy to a minimum.

Good Friday, Hold the Cheese

[Apr 18 2014]



We hosted all the cousins at our house on Good Friday for pizza, watermelon and colouring eggs. I ordered the pizza with a smartphone app, which was pretty cool, especially because we could get a gluten-free pizza for R as well. The app was so sophisticated, I could pick what toppings I wanted on each side of the pizza. I created a nice half/half meatlovers/deluxe pizza, but I somehow managed to delete cheese as one of the toppings. Oops.



Days like this are the reason we moved back to Calgary from Ottawa. It's so fantastic to have so many family members so close.

Family Photos - Easter Sunday

When we came home from church on Easter Sunday the sun was streaming in the windows and we were all dressed up and nobody had been rubbing their hair on the carpet and everyone was in a decent mood so we just --



Grabbed the tripod and snapped a few photos.





The kids always like to do a silly one.

Hunting Easter Eggs

Every day for a week leading up to Easter Saturday, Scott said, "I can't wait for Easter -- it's only __ days away!"

Consistent with previous years, the Easter Bunny visited our house a day earlier than most, giving the kids all of Saturday morning to search for eggs, leaving Sunday morning free to focus on attending church and observing the more spiritual side of the holiday.

Friday night they left their baskets out on the kitchen floor to be easily accessible for the Easter Bunny (do they not recall that this same bunny has left candies hidden on top of picture frames in the past?) and dashed off to bed. In the morning, they were so engrossed by the loot waiting in their baskets that they could hardly stay focused on hunting for the hidden treats.



Scott stubbed his toe pretty hard while trying to get to a jelly bean before Katie. I picked him up and helped wipe his tears. He said he was sad that he got hurt AND Katie still got to the jelly bean first. Katie said, "No, Scotty, I put the candy in your basket for you." She is such a little sweetheart.





With a little prodding from me they managed to find the rest of the candies. Apparently, my memory for this sort of thing improved since that previous incident.

Beware the Bass Pro Bunny

On Good Friday we took a trip to the Cross Iron Mills Mall to take part in the Easter Egg hunt at the Bass Pro store, to get a photo with the Easter Bunny and to take in a Thomas the Tank Engine show that was there, since we were in the neighbourhood.



Jenny sent her kids in to pose with the Easter Bunny, with Alli holding little baby Elijah. The Easter Bunny held out his hands to take the baby and Alli handed him over without question. The combination of the shimmering-white bunny, the tiny little babe, and the shrieking of little Adalia made for quite a scene. We decided to jam our kids into the tableau to take the drama up a notch. I strategically placed Katie as far from the Bunny as possible and told her to hold Hayden's hand to minimize the chance of a panic attack.

Good Friday at Grandma's

With no school or work to get in our way, we gathered together at Grandma & Grandpa's house to colour eggs. Grandma had hard-boiled enough eggs for each child to colour 9 eggs, and there were 5 kids there, so you do the math on that.



Scott likes to eat hard-boiled eggs, and he was quite pleased to have exclusive claim of ownership over so many. He kept them in the fridge and made his way through them gradually over the course of the following week. He mourned over each one just a little bit as he had to crack the decorated shells, but as long as he felt he had control over his eggs, he was even willing to contribute a few to making tuna salad sandwiches.



Katie also loved colouring her eggs, spending the most time with the cup of pinkish-purple dye. She thought they were all so pretty, even though her decorating scheme was pretty simple -- dunk egg in dye, remove.



After decorating the eggs and eating what was probably mouthful of shell, her trusty side-kick Adalia joined her in the backyard to blow bubbles -- 30 minutes of dumping cold soapy bubble-water all over their hands. I simply cannot understand how little children can let their hands get so cold without noticing or complaining.



We capped it off with roasting marshmallows and making smores. It was a very good day.

Quotes from Easter Weekend

Following an emotional episode-
D: See, Scott? Asking nicely is always better than crying.
S: ... And better than punching.
D: Uh, right.
S: 'Cause punching is always bad.

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On the subject of bedtime prayers-
S: [whispering] I said thank you for our bodies. Last night I said thank you for the Earth.

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At the dinner table-
S: [hands out to each side in questioning manner, palms facing up] Is the Easter Bunny even Real?
D: What do you mean?
S: Is he really alive?
D: Are you asking if the Easter Bunny is dead?
S: No. I mean, is he real -- like can you see him?
R: I've never seen the Easter Bunny, but I know there is always a basket and candy on Easter Morning.
S: Okay.

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Bedtime-
S: You can close the door because I have my own light in here.
D: Okay.
S: ... And it's brighter than that light [points to ceiling]. It's glowing like Jesus.

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On the subject of getting a computer for his room (which previously I said will not likely happen, since we are more likely to put any new computers in the main room)-
S: If all the rooms in the house except mine were filled all the way up with computers, where would you put another computer?
D: Probably in your room.
S: Right. [obviously pleased]

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Getting ready for church-
S: Look at my backpack, Dad.
D: Cool. It has a pin on it that says, "I am a Child of God."
S: Now good guys can see that and they will know that I'm a child of God and a good guy and they won't try to hurt me... because bad guys don't have that pin... because bad guys don't go to church, unless it's a bad guy church. Right?

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Sitting in church, listening to the speaker, who mentions the name "Jesus"-
K: [in a very loud voice] Jesus?! Jesus Christ!!

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At Grandma & Grandpa's house, after soaking his socks by playing outside-
S: I need my shoes! My feet are colder than snow in your mouth!
D: Snow in your mouth?
S: Colder than your whole body in snow!

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Bedtime-
S: Dad, wouldn't you love it if you could play every day and not have to go to work to get money?
D: Yes, that would be great.
S: And if the policeman came and gave you money, you wouldn't have to work and you could play the whole entire day with your whole entire kids!

Easter Weekend at the Zoo

Since I got to go to the ski hill hill all day on Friday, R got the day off on Saturday while I went to the zoo with the kids for the Easter Eggstravaganza... which was sponsored by the Nestle chocolate company. Basically, you lined up at various little tents for free candy as you made your way through the zoo. After watching Scott pound back several large Aero Eggs I decided to skip the rest of the tents and go see the hippos and elephants... and geese.





When it started to snow on us we took refuge in the sweltering heat of the butterfly sanctuary. Once things improved, we ventured back outside and Scott won a bubble-blower with some impressive bean-bag tossing. The bubbles turned out to be the highlight of the visit, and Katie ran her heart out chasing them across the field.

Good Friday at Grandma's

The dads went away with Grandpa to the ski hill for the day, and the moms gathered the kids at Grandma's for an Easter egg hunt, colouring eggs and other fun activities. Apparently, once Katie found her first foil-wrapped chocolate she was less interested in searching and more interested in eating. Fortunately for her, there was a profit-sharing arrangement in place, where each grandchild was allocated a fair share of the spoils. I believe they all got the same amount, so on a candy-to-body-weight basis, Katie scored quite high.

Candy Residue Possibly Due to Bunny

The Easter Bunny presents a bit of a moral dilemma.

Last year at Easter, I noted my discomfort at telling Scott that a magical bunny was coming into our house with candy. This year, we made few minor changes to our approach to the holiday:



1. When discussing the Easter Bunny, R phrased it as follows, "Some people say that the Easter Bunny comes in at night and hides candy in the house." I thought this was a better approach than the outright lie, although the difference will be lost on Scott, I'm sure.



2. We recorded a made-for-TV animated special with an Easter message, told through a young boy and his dog. It was made in the 1970s and the soundtrack was quite a compilation of inexpensively-produced funk music. Scott thought it was just OK.

3. We did a Twelve-Days-of-Easter-ish advent calendar, where each day Scott got to open one of a dozen plastic eggs with a note and little items to represent events in the chronology of the Easter story. The last egg was empty, to symbolize the empty tomb.

4. As is the tradition, we decorated eggs this year, but this time we bought the NASCAR-themed decorating set. I believe that was Scott's personal choice, and does not do much to emphasize the true meaning of Easter (unless, of course, there is a tenuous connection somewhere between the true meaning of Easter and stock car racing).






It was fun to see Katie enter the Easter scene this year, clutching her little basket and toddling around after the big plastic eggs that Scott would point out for her -- he got the little candies and she got the 12 large plastic eggs. It was funny that she didn't recognize the candies inside the eggs for what they were, and was more than pleased to simply play with the plastic cases they came in.





Once again, the highlight of our Easter celebration was the fantastic musical program at church that R organized. This year she conducted all the congregational hymns (with piano & organ accompaniment) and the choir number (in which I participated). She spends most of her free time organizing the music for church, and the effort makes for wonderful results.



Easter this year was one of the few sunny days we have had, and it was wonderful to enjoy the evening together with R's parents out on the back patio of their home. The alleged bunny's visit was only part of a wonderful day for our family, filled with meaning. As they say in Russia:

Иисус воскрес!
Bоистину воскрес!