Easter

Easter.
I like Easter.
To me it signifies the beginning of things.
The atonement provides an opportunity to start anew anytime we seek forgiveness.
It is sweet, calm, and bright.
And it was also the only half day in the last 8 months that it hasn't rained here in Olympia, so that's noteworthy.
I mean, really and truly, it rains every darn day in this city.
I don't generally mind the weather in the Pacific Northwest, but enough is enough.
Anyway, we had company for the holiday which was good because I am not very good about celebrating holidays with any kind of fervor and the kids would have missed out on egg-dying had it not been for Grammy Heather.
I despise egg-dying (and pumpkin carving for that matter) so there you go.
It is fun to be my kids.
But despite my complacency, I did deck out a basket for each of them (as did my folks) so the kids weren't totally deprived.
We still have stale peeps and all the gross-flavored jellybeans in a bowl on top of the fridge. Barf.
So, as I was saying, my Dad and Heather came to visit, which we love.
And we had a very fun and productive weekend.
We did haircuts, cabinetry, thrifting, Easter things, and Heather and I wept our way through Les Miserables.
Okay, Heather held it together, while I sobbed like an infant.
Even though I have already seen it. Twice.
Anyway, now I am going to show you 3 million grainy pictures.
Starting with a baby in a cabinet.
Hahaha.

Don't worry, he was fine.
Moving on.
Ryan and Ezra did most of the egg dying. With their fingers.
They have on their "art smocks" which I also make them wear when eating dinner.

 Everything was going really well until Ezra dropped one of his eggs on the ground.

 It was upsetting.

And yes that tacky man, with a see-through shirt and black bra is me.
Pretty.

The kids were very excited to find their baskets Sunday morning.
Especially Micah.
See below.

Then we headed outside for an egg hunt.
The older kids were super sweet and let Micah "find" a lot of the eggs.
And there wasn't any fighting or tears over the amount of loot each kid collected, which as any parent knows, is a Christmas Easter miracle.

So happy. Obviously.

And last, but not least, a picture completely unrelated to any of the previous ones.
This is the face Micah makes when he has done something naughty.
I believe it is a defense mechanism.
As soon as he knows he's in trouble, which is hourly, from doing any number of things, like, I don't know, jamming my nails files into the dvd player, filling the toilet with an entire box of tampons, pushing the whole pot of soup off the counter and onto the floor, smearing the syrupy contents of three ant traps all over the walls, or perhaps unraveling at least a dozen spools of Christmas ribbon, he flashes this grin, showing all of his teeth.
And no, he is not being neglected. And usually has proper supervision.
This usually happens when I am using the facilities. Ahem.
Anyway, this smile makes is much more difficult to reach the right level of anger when dealing with his shenanigans.

We've started calling him Turd Ferguson.

xo
-B