Happy Easter!

Christ has risen! He has risen indeed!

Look at those four lovely children who only required an insane amount of bribery to sit still! And while I agree the fireplace is lovely, I cannot take credit for it; we took the picture at my in-laws house.

Easter was a bit different this year. Last year, we learned our lesson and held the Easter baskets back until after Mass. Yeah, it only took ten Easters to figure out that children do NOT like to be dragged away from their goodies to get ready for church and kids + candy + no proper breakfast does not equal good Mass behavior.

So! Last year I took Easter pictures after Mass while Adam set out the baskets. This year, I packed up the baskets and gave them to my mother-in-law so we could do baskets at her house! Joseph had to serve at early Mass and I knew that giving them presents and candy, dragging them off to 7:30 Mass and then dragging them away from the toys AGAIN for brunch.... ugh.

We put the kids to bed early Saturday night and woke up at six am Sunday morning. I was smart enough to prep the coffee the night before and got a few sips and a granola bar in before we had to leave. All the kids had a granola bar (or, in Cole's case, frozen corn- weirdo) for breakfast. Super early Mass was nice because it was crowded for 7:30 but no more crowded than our normal 9 am Mass. Getting out was hairy, as the nine am crowd was coming in and Cole decided that he wanted donuts and was going to lay prostrate on the floor and cry until he got one. Unfortunately for him,we don't have donut Sunday on Easter and I had to basically drag him out of the church crying. (A couple people asked if it was post-candy meltdown but he hadn't had any!) We did end up getting donuts because it is Easter and we suck as parents.

Brunch was at my in-laws and, again, it was more relaxed than in years before. I brought a birthday cake to celebrate Cole's fifth birthday on Tuesday and a huge fruit salad. With bagels, eggs and ham, I am now in a post- brunch coma.

Of course, Easter baskets:

I got organized and didn't over buy this year! Since I am never without a child during the day, it is super hard to go from store to store. I just ordered everything from Amazon. They received a toy (in Joe's case, a movie), book, Nerf darts, some Minecraft figures Joe found at a consignment store (six figures for 7 dollars- nice work kid!) and a chocolate bunny. In case anyone is looking for ideas:

almost 11 year old boy- The Giver movie and the second book in the Maze Runner
9 year old girl- hideaway pet bunny and Dog Diaries book
6 year old boy- stuffed Creeper and 2 Pet the Cat books
almost 5 year old- stuffed cardinal that makes REAL bird noises and a bird book

Cole's cake is proof my younger siblings "stole" all the art genes. I make great tasting cakes. I can do chocolate frosting. But the look? My father-in-law said it looked like someone took a bite from the side and it did! When Cole, George and I tried to put the frosting on it, it kept crumbling. In hindsight, my friends and sister said it was probably too warm, as I had taken it out of the fridge earlier in the day. The candies on it are those malt ball eggs. I was going to make a nest on top but... no. Hey, it tasted great!

My parents got him a hummingbird feeder, more bird food and a book about birds. My little bird boy!

In all, it was probably the best Easter we've had. Nice and relaxed with the right amount of candy and leftover. The house in a normal state of disarray and I didn't have to spend all day cooking AND cleaning. Couldn't ask for a better Easter miracle.