Easter and a Birthday

I'm not usually a huge Easter celebrator. Growing up the Easter bunny was all about candy, which I thought was so cool. Now as a Mom, I'm not so keen on the sugar rush. So I really hadn't planned much. I did purchase 50 eggs and filled them with 1 jelly bean each. See sugar rush comment. Two days before Easter, we receieved a package from Grandma Ede. We opened it to find "Easter in a box". Had I realized what it was, I wouldn't have opened it in front of the kids. But, it was fun to watch their eyes pop out. The excitement for Easter skyrocketed. Honestly after seeing that, they couldn't figure out what the Easter bunny did. We celebrate the Easter bunny on Saturday so that we leave Sunday open to celebrate the Savior's atonement. Saturday morning they emptied their Easter bags thinking they were the luckiest kids, only to realize that they got to go on an Easter egg hunt. Honestly, the eggs should have contained gold with the squeals they were admitting. They didn't even bother to open them until we assured them, they had found them all.

Checking out the loot!!

Ode to grandma. If you can't tell what it says "Grandma, I love you" is written below.This year I actually bought Easter clothes for the kids. For honesty's sake, I should mention that it had more to do with both desperately needing summery church clothes, Easter was just an excuse. (Of course it was cold and rainy Easter, so they both had to wear sweaters - Oh well) I did like that it allowed us to mention Easter and church in the same breath and led us to talk about why we truely celebrate Easter. The Savior's atonement and resurrection is a tough concept for a kid to understand and I don't think their is much comprehension on Madde's part, but I did enjoy having to think about it enough to put it in 4 year-old terms. It gave me new insight.

Easter excitement only lasted til Monday, when Madde realized that there were a few days til her birthday. I wish everyone could experience the enthusiasm of Madde. I have never laughed so hard. She announced while opening up her presents "On my birthday I got lots of presents and Hunter got one, on Hunter's birthday he'll get lots of presents and I'll get one". Okay. Hunter did get a present (2 in fact). Getting dressed that day she announced that nothing she wore when she was 3 would possibly fit now that she was 4. We needed to get new clothes and shoes. What do you say to that?!?!? Then there was nap time. I'm not sure she sat still. I could hear her in her room pacing. She lasted about 30 minutes, before her little head poked out. We had a party for her that afternoon and I thought she was going to combust the 5 minutes before it started. Her friend was nice enough to be a few minutes early to save her from exploding. I have not enjoyed a birthday as much as I enjoyed Madde's since probably I was a kid.

We had plans on getting her a bike, but when she announced a few weeks ago that she was the only kid with out a "big girl" bike, it sealed the deal. She helped pick out the helmet a few days ago. I love that there was no suspicion as to why she was getting a helmet.

Grandma sent the scooters (Hunter got to open his early to avoid fighting). They love them. It took them about a day to really figure them out. Hunter wasn't so sure at first, but now he's pretty good.
Madde got a fairy costume that came with sunglasses. She would not wear them, but Hunter just thought they were the greatest things.

And finally, the "cat cake". I made it the night before her birthday and I achieved hero status for a few minutes when she saw it her birthday morning. I'm so glad that my childs standards are so low.