Happy Easter!

First of all, let me say how impressed I am with everyone on blogs, Facebook, etc. who already have all of their Easter pictures up. I didn't even GET any good Easter pictures, much less would I have had them off the camera and onto the Interwebs within a day of the holiday. (My dad may have some reasonably cute ones that I can share at some point.) The children are at a point where getting good pictures of them is futile--and I'm not talking about achieving a perfect family photo; even pictures of each of them alone are difficult. Julia is too busy and doesn't stop long enough for you to snap a picture; she also seems wary of the camera most of the time. Will can take good pictures--if it suits his mood. On Sunday, he was just more interested in being silly.

Oh well. Despite the lack of photos, we had a nice Easter weekend, with the exception of the sickness that felled Mama on Saturday and Daddy on Sunday. Melanie and Bob were in town all last week (until Friday morning), which was such a nice treat. I took the day off on Thursday so that Mel and I could have some sister time. Friday, the kids were off of school and Zach was mostly off of work. Will had swimming lessons, we met some friends for a somewhat disasterous playdate (Will threw up when we got there--hopefully just from too much pool water--Julia was in full force, was not good at sharing, and got reealllly jealous when I held my friend's new baby), then the kids got Wendy's for dinner as a special treat before Mama and Daddy went out with friends. Will's comment about Wendy's: "Wendy's isn't healthy food, Mama....but I LIKE it!!"

Saturday was a bit of a bummer with the rain and the sickness, but it was partially redeemed by a marathon snuggle session with Will while we watched Alvin and the Chipmunks. Yes, I will watch Alvin and the Chipmunks if it involves snuggling with my favorite boy.

And then came Sunday! For once, we had glorious weather for Easter...it was almost hot. And, bonus was that the kids didn't have to freeze in their (completely adorable) Easter outfits. In case I never get any pictures up (highly likely), Julia wore a pink bishop with ecru smocking and ecru lace. Will wore white pincord shorts and button-in-the-back shirt, with his monogram in ecru. And, he even wanted to wear the knee socks--I wasn't going to press it, but he CHOSE to wear them like that. The children were thrilled with their Easter baskets and the one Easter present that we had gotten each of them (what can I say...I was tired of the Easter bunny getting all the credit, especially for something as cool as a Batman motorcycle with a sidecar.) When Will saw a bunny Pez dispenser in his Easter basket, he exclaimed, "How did the Easter bunny know that this was the only thing I wanted?!" They also hunted eggs--both inside and out--but only plastic ones filled with candy and money. We never got around to dying eggs, which is probably for the best for everyone involved. We discovered that Julia really likes--no, I mean REALLY likes--candy in general, but specifically jelly beans. She caught on very quickly about opening the plastic eggs to see what was inside. If she found jelly beans, she would try to shove as many as she could into her mouth before we noticed and stopped her.

Despite the massive candy intake and a few "issues" about getting dressed, we actually made it to church on time. Julia, as usual, screamed her head off when Zach left her in the nursery. I made Zach take her because I knew there was a good chance I would chicken out if I had to leave her there. And Will...I am so proud of Will. He didn't want to go to the nursery, but instead wanted to come to church with us. I was skeptical, but he made it almost all the way through the service and was SO GOOD. He made it through the sermon, and then he and Zach headed out when the last anthem began. I felt we were pushing our luck to ask him to be quiet through the prayers of the people. But, I was amazed. He's even starting to get the idea of the meaning of Easter...well, sort of. In order to try to put it in language he could understand, I told him that bad guys killed Jesus and then a few days later, God brought him back to life. I explained that this is called resurrection and it's why we celebrate Easter. Later, I hear him telling Hulie, "...and then Jesus came back to life and it was magic!"

Well, close enough. Easter is magic in a way, and we had a great day celebrating. We enjoyed lunch at my parents' house after church, naps for some, and then a nice trip to the Botanical Gardens. Of course, I feel like I've been behind on life ever since the weekend, but I think it was worth it.