Easter Time, Easter Time

Dying Easter eggs is probably my very least favorite tradition of all the traditions.  

It's messy and complicated and requires much more skill than you'd think, or at least much more than the average child carries around. At first, the child is much too young to even realize what is going on and is much more interested in eating the crayons, or drinking the dye, or hearing the satisfying splat when a hard boiled egg hits the floor. Then they grow a bit and want to participate, but their little, fat hands certainly can't balance an egg on the end of a small, flimsy, wiry, egg holder, and they don't have the patience to slowly submerge their egg in the dye, so instead they plop it into the dye sending splashes of color across the table.

Soon, they begin to want multi-toned eggs, but their motor skills are not refined enough to hold an egg completely still to create the even lines they crave, so tears are shed and you are left to convince them that the overlap is actually better than a perfect line because, just look at that beautiful new color in the middle!

And then, finally, finally, they are able to largely navigate themselves - feeling proud and artistic and only lashing out occasionally to a sibling who has taken too much time in the color of choice.

There never seem to be quite enough eggs to keep everyone satisfied. Boiling a dozen eggs only gives each child three (if the adults take none) which, I suppose means we could just boil more, but I cringe a little at the thought of boiling more eggs than we can eat.

But we still come back to it year after year because, somehow, in the minds of the children all of that frustration and fighting and crying morphs into a memory of fun. 

Easter morning, however, is much better and watching my kids hunt for Easter eggs sits much more solidly in the 'Traditions I Like' category.

Here are my 5 coming down the stairs that Easter morning. Little Eliza is tucked up in Kenzie's arms and I didn't think it would be safe for Kenzie to hold her up and closer to the banister because... what if. So you can't see her precious little face very well. But she's there!

And here they are halfway down the stairs looking elated that I wanted another picture of them all together before they dashed off in search of candy.

The Easter bunny was clever this year and hid many of the eggs outside. Which was delightful because being outside on a beautiful spring morning is one of my favorite things. These roses are also some of my favorite things because I pruned these suckers like crazy in early February, so they feel a little like a present to me.

The hunt was successful and each kid came away with a basket full of eggs.

It took McKenzie most of the morning and a large chunk of Dad's help to find all of her eggs. The Easter Bunny hid them so well I bet he wouldn't have even remembered where he put them if he were asked.

Daddy was a great counter and helped Teek make sure he had found all of his colors.

Then it was time to get ready for church. The whole family got dressed and ready (except for me because, baby) and looked so beautiful that the camera came out again to try to capture them in all their sweetness.

Happy Easter, everyone!