Easter 2013

Easter this year seemed to come and go so quickly. It kind of sneaks up on me every year. We did, however, have a nice one. Easter weekend was kicked off by a special delivery from one of our very good friends....her home made cinnamon rolls! They were awesome and completely gone by that night! Thanks to the Battreals!!

 

 As we always do we colored eggs for the Easter Bunny. We tried a couple new techniques this year that turned out pretty well. We used stickers and rubber bands to make cool designs on the eggs. It was so simple, I don't know why we never did this before. 

These were Lyle's creations. I was skeptical at first when he didn't follow the directions, but I have to admit they were my favorite! You can't really tell in the pictures, but they really sparkled. He was pretty proud of himself:)

Here is Ella showing off her "E" egg....sorry you can't really see it. We used an E sticker to monogram her egg.

This of course was Luke's favorite.....the dinosaur egg. 

I think we counted 3 eggs Luke busted that morning.....not the cooked ones either! He had a serious problem and couldn't stop dropping them!

This is our egg decorating station. Those glasses are only for egg dyeing. My mom and dad had the same ones when we were little and we always used them for coloring eggs. They were kept in the top of the cabinet and we only got them down for Easter. So, when all of us kids got older with kids of our own, my parents bought each of us a set of the same glasses so we could use them for our own traditions. We love them and the kids know exactly what they are for!

A couple of years ago, a friend of ours had an Easter egg dyeing party. She made these cute towels with their names on them to take home and use when we colored eggs. The idea is that over the years they will get more and more stains on them and remind us of all the Easters before. We have used them every year since and just love them!!

Easter morning was exciting! The kids woke up to a candy trail leading them to the Easter baskets where the Easter Bunny had left them lots of good surprises. See the placemats the baskets are on? Ella has made it her own tradition that every year she makes the name plates for the baskets so that the Easter bunny knows who's basket is who's. I don't think he really needs help here but she loves the tradition just the same!

The kids got umbrellas in their baskets this year along with books, flipflops and CANDY! And just for a reminder for later: our name eggs this year said: Dad- Good Job Coach, Ella - Jesus is proud of you, Luke - Way to play Soccer. We ended up not finding my name egg during the egg hunt outside so I can't say for sure what it said but if I had my guess I bet it said You are a good MOM!

After the egg hunt outside...it was time to get ready for church. I tried to get a good pic of the kids in their Easter outfits but it was IMPOSSIBLE! Here's the best I got!

I don't know what Luke's problem was but he couldn't make a normal smile for anything!!!

Never could his sister......being photogenic is not a quality anyone in our family got!

Lyle was able to meet us at church after he left the hospital. He unfortunately missed the morning activities, but was able to partake in the Easter brunch which included Luke's favorite banana muffins and our traditional breakfast casserole.