Easter Blessings

It's the days that start with tantrums before 6am that always challenge my character the most and Easter was no exception. Tenley woke up around 5:30am and ran into our room demanding that we go look for her basket. Since we always wait until everyone is up, she huffed and puffed in our bed until everyone was up. Wes finally woke up around 7am and they all ran out to the living room and discovered their baskets and pool from the Easter Bunny:

Before it even hit 7:30am the pool was filled and by 8am the kids were losing their marbles because they couldn't wait for it to heat up. Fast forward to about 9:30am, and they had enough waiting. They decided the ice cold chill of the water was A-okay and they'd survive. Since we're 'Parents of The Year' we let them. Ev was the first to go under and her face looked like she just plopped out of a river that had been frozen all winter. It was priceless and she didn't care, purple lips and all. These kids are fearless and so stinking wild:

Once they were good and pruney, we wrapped everyone in warm towels, took a nice warm bubble bath and relaxed. I had been suffering from allergies all weekend so while the kids relaxed in their rooms I decided to take a quick nap. I woke up much worse and felt as if I were in a fog. I drank some coffee, got dressed and put some make-up on in hopes that it'd make me feel better and it did help a little bit. I managed to make the green bean casserole, help Ed with pierogies, then frosted the carrot cake with the girls: 

Between the kid's tantrums and how crappy I felt, I wanted to throw the towel in on this day, but couldn't muster up the courage to forfeit Easter AND I knew if anything the Rices would cheer everyone up. Sure enough, I was right! The kids perked up when they knocked on the door and all was right in their little world. We chowed down on some Easter grub before hiding the eggs for our Easter Hunt. I tried taking a pic of everyone in a line waiting to hear "Ready, set, go!", just like my family did my whole childhood, but these kids were too excited. They jetted out and started loading up their baskets:

Once all the eggs were found, they immediately started cracking them open to see their prizes. The first one Tenley opened was Bunny Big Ears and she was so proud of herself for winning the big prize:

After the Egg Hunt the kids wanted to sing 'Happy Birthday' to Isla's baby doll. They all thought it was the greatest thing ever:

After cake, we went out back to play. The kids were drawn to the pool like magnets and started off with just touching the water, then splashing, then almost falling in. It took everything in us to not just throw them in. Leave it to Ed to give Tenley a little nudge, then she said "ok, I'm going in then!" In a matter of seconds the kids were stripping down to their skivvies. It made for a lot of laughs (and shivering kids):

Although the tantrums throughout our day were touch and go in the beginning, our Easter sure was full of blessings. I've come to realize that Easter Blessings are like the eggs in an Easter Egg Hunt. Some can be found in plain sight or some can be hidden so well that you find it years later. Easter Blessings are all around me... our kids, my husband, our jobs, the food we eat, our beds, the roof over our heads-- these things are all obvious, but it's the truly hidden eggs that are the real gems. Like, our white egg filled with a star to show that you've won Bunny Big Ears or your family's love for each other no matter the miles in between, your kid's bond with each other, your kid's need to share their candy with their best friend, bonds with your friends that are so deep you are family, the love for your significant other that never seems to fade, the great love for your children that grows daily (no matter how bad they were that day). It's the most hidden eggs that I treasure the most because no matter what type of day we're having those gems always pull us through.

I hope you had an amazing Easter filled with lots of Easter Blessings, both seen and unseen! Happy Easter! :)