No More Egg Hunts - Pleeeeease

How many Easter Egg hunts can you cram into one Easter??  This year the kids had FOUR.  Yep... that's a lot of plastic eggs and a whole lot of candy.  Reese acted like each hunt was her first, running and cramming as many eggs in her basket as she could.  Tucker started off that way... but was completely over the whole thing by the last hunt at my parents house on Sunday.  It didn't matter that the little eggs were filled with money... he just wanted to go swimming. 

Brian and Jen started them off with a surprise hunt in their backyard last weekend.  So thoughtful... and the kids loved all their treats! 

On Saturday, we took the kids to our Church's annual Pancake Breakfast and Easter Egg Hunt.  It shouldn't really be called a hunt, because there are literally thousands of eggs just thrown all over the yard, football field, etc.  The kids had no problems filling their baskets and didn't need the pep talk that Chris gave them on the way to the hunt: Okay guys, you have to work together now.  Tucker, be sure you set screens for Reese. Can you imagine how pre-game talks will go? 

They both hit the jackpot... not sure what we'll do with all the candy.  We still have some left from Halloween. 

Caden and Emma anxiously awaited their hunt.  They are pros by now and both found "prize eggs."  They'll have to teach Reese and Tucker their strategy for next year. 

We wrapped up our egg hunting this year at Grandma and Grandpa's on Sunday.  More eggs... more candy... more treats from everyone. 

This is where the boycott began.  We were cheering him on, encouraging him to go get more eggs and he just collapsed on the ground.  No tears or anything... just a silent protest that made it clear to us that he was officially over the whole egg hunting thing. 

He perked up when he found a package of jelly beans on the ground. That's what we should do next year... forget the eggs and just throw candy all over the yard. 

Reese was on a mission and enjoyed every minute of every egg hunt they went on.  As you can see in this picture... her basket is full while Tucker's is pretty much empty. 

I think we're all officially eggxausted.  And Reese is 6 dollars richer thanks to the dollar bills neatly stashed in some of her eggs.  That had Grandpa written all over it.



I'm happy to report that when we ask Reese and Tucker what Easter is all about, they reply "Jesus... he died on the cross and rosed up the grave."  See... we're not doing a completely terrible job of parenting. 

A Mess of Fun

I'm pretty sure there's no meaningful reason behind the tradition of dyeing Easter eggs.  I grew up before the plastic egg craze so we dyed eggs every year. I remember tie-dye eggs, glittery eggs, eggs with faces on them, eggs with wrappers that clung to them when you dropped them into the colored dye, etc. etc. etc.  After creating our egg art each year, the Easter Bunny hid them in the house along with our Easter baskets full of chocolate, marshmallowy goodies and we had a blast searching for them on Easter morning.  I look back at some of my family traditions now and they seem crazy... crazy fun.  Sometimes it's good to do things that don't really make sense just for FUN, isn't it?

Friday night we colored eggs with Reese & Tucker for the first time at Grandma's house (because it's always good to do the messy projects at someone else's house). 

You'll see that most of the pictures are of Reese.  Tucker painted this one egg and said, "I'm done mommy. I want to get down."  And off he went to play and do more manly things.  Not at all surprising. 

Reese LOVED it though and had a blast dipping the eggs and watching them change color.  She didn't share her mom's OCDness though... the eggs must be vibrant and spend the same amount of time on all sides to even out the pantone.  She wasn't at all concerned about that... one dip and she was ready to do another. Relax Angi - let her do it her way.  Am I the only mom that struggles with this?? 

I highly recommend the whisk concept... makes it way easier for little ones to participate without making a huge disaster.  Stole that idea from some super mom's blog. 

Tucker made it back in time to do one last egg... filling his quota of two Easter eggs this year.  I'm telling you, he has the attention span of a gnat.  I'm dreading homework with this boy. 

It was fun to include Grandma, Amber and Easton in our first egg-dying experience. Reese is totally in love with this boy... I love the way she's looking at him!

Not too shabby for our first attempt.  And we didn't even ruin any clothes... now that's a miracle.  I hope we're starting traditions that will leave lasting memories for Reese and Tucker.  Even if the traditions make no sense at all!

No Girls Allowed

Chris and Tucker set out on their first camping trip last weekend.  I used to camp... in a tent and everything.  But now it just seems like a whole lot of work... so I was super excited when Chris suggested that he take Tucker camping while I went and enjoyed a pedicure.  LOVE IT! 

They packed up the truck and headed to the land for some tent-buildin', soccer ball-kickin', four wheeler-ridin', baseball hittin', kite-flying fun....

 

As you can tell from the pictures, Tucker was totally in his element.  This boy loves all things outdoors and had a blast on their camp out.  He came back stinky and totally wiped out. 

My boys made some great memories and did some major male bonding on this trip!

Manly Mowing

The kids argued for five minutes in the car yesterday about whether or not Tucker was BIG.  Tucker of course said he was big, but Reese would not stop telling him that they were both little.  How do you explain to toddlers that size is relative? 

Just to prove how BIG is really is, Tucker helped daddy "mow" the yard.  So cute... seeing him out there pushing the mower like his dad.  I wonder if he'll be this excited to help when he's 12? 

Unfortunately, Chris is teaching Tucker other "manly" things as well... as evidenced by the synchronized scratching. 

And yes, Tucker is mowing the yard in his underwear. So embarrassing.  I guess I should just be glad that Chris has shorts on. 

Scoot Over Girl

I usually go check on the kids before I go to bed... just to make sure everyone's snuggled in tight so their little toes don't get cold in the middle of the night. 
I wasn't at all surprised when I found this tonight...

Tucker usually gets in big trouble when he gets out of his bed.  But how can you get mad when he shows you how much he loves his sister?  Sometimes its simply not enough to just be in the same room with her. 

First Catch - Sort Of

Laundry needed to be folded and toilets needed to be cleaned but I didn't think twice when Chris suggested a picnic and an evening of fishing.  And I don't even like to fish.  Today was about family. About together.  About putting aside the things that don't really matter and putting first things first. 

I ditched housework this morning to take the kids to watch cousin Caden's baseball game, and then again tonight to spend some QT with the people I love most.  And now, it feels good to just relax and talk about it... regardless of the stinky toilets and piles of laundry waiting for me.  They'll be there tomorrow. 

The kids were super excited when we packed up and headed to the pond around the corner.  Reese immediately announced that she was going to catch a pink fish and I didn't have the heart to crush her dream.  After our picnic, Chris showed them the ropes while I relaxed in my camping chair and captured it all on camera.  He's a great dad! 

Who'd have thought that a plastic, Cars fishing pole could catch such an impressive fish...

Reese and Tucker were both excited about their "first catch".  Let's be honest... we all know that dad caught this fish.  This kids were right there "helping" though... and anxious to touch the slimy sucker. 

I don't think Tucker would have been any more excited had he caught the tiny crappie all by himself!

What a perfect night... cool breeze, beautiful sunset, and just the four of us doing what matters most... being together. 

Free at Last

Tucker has been in a toddler bed for probably a year now... remember how that monkey used to climb out of his crib??  Reese, being our tentative, cautious child has never even thought about scaling the walls of her wooden cage.  So... she's almost 3 and still sleeping in her baby bed.  She doesn't mind though and believe me, neither do we.  That's just one less kid that's able to come tip-toeing into my room at three in the morning. 

Well... everything changed today.  The kids called for us at their normal Sunday morning time today but what we found when we got to their room was far from normal...

Seriously?  We don't have to worry about Reese climbing out, but we do have to worry about Tucker climbing in??  They were having a party and Tucker was so excited to tell us that he climbed in all by himself. 

It happened again at nap time this afternoon, so Reese officially moved into her big girl bed tonight. 

Hopefully she won't follow in her brother's footsteps (literally) and come calling on me at three o'clock like he used to.  It's official... they aren't babies anymore.  Guess this needed to happen to get read for chicken nugget to arrive.