Easter 2022.

Easter 2020.

 Easter this year was different. As most things seem to be this year. We have no family here in Texas but Ty's sister and hubby were going to come here for Easter this year. We were going to go to The La Cantera resort and lay around by the infinity pool and sip on cocktails while the kids splashed around.... It was cancelled since Corona took over. But life goes on with or without the plans intended. We have to make the decision to sulk about it or make the best of it. Turns out Easter this year was a fun weekend afterall. The kids woke up and did their annual Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt. They were so sweet and wanted Vera to open her goodies first. Vera got some hand rattles and the sweetest hedgehog that sings. Her favorite toy. 
Then they opened their goodies and spent the morning playing with them. Ty and I moved onto brunch while the baby napped. I muddled mint and blackberries for our mimosas while Ty prepped the disgustingly delicious stuffed french toast. On special occasions we ditch all the rules and indulge in whatever we want. The smell of the spinach and goat cheese frittata filled the air as it cooled on the cooktop. I believe that good music is essential for setting the mood. So I put on some old school Nina Simone, The Temptations and all those feel good tunes.  We did little happy dances in the kitchen as we made food together. I have to say....I thought that all this time together would make us get along less. But for Ty and I, it's brought us together more. He bought me some tie dye (so trendy) roses just because. Attached was the sweetest note that he appreciates me and all that I do. He has been so helpful with the kids. There have been a lot of downs to this isolation. But also a lot of positives that we would never have gotten the chance to discover if this had never happened. After we cheered with our mimosas and OJ's and ate our delicious brunch, we headed out for a walk. Then we bathed all the babes and watched a movie...or 2....or 3. We squeezed in some family selfies just to say we did it. It was certainly a lazy day. But it was a damn good day. I guess there is something to be said about being intentional. We were intentional because it was Easter, but I think if we are intentional on any day, it can be just as good.

Easter Eggs at La Cantera

I intended to post this 2 weeks ago but then my computer had a teensy "liquid accident"....aka I spilled a whole glass of water on it. Sigh. So here I am posting this now. Normally we spend Easter with the family. It's usually a large gathering with hearty meals, church and the traditional scavenger hunts. But since family is scattered among 4 different states across the country, we decided to staycation. For the kids this year, I put together a small Easter basket with a 2 or 3 candies and a couple small trinkets . Then I added in 1 thing that they have each been wanting for awhile. Scarlett got Heelys and Maxwell got Batman Legos. I've been trying to go lighter and lighter on the gifts during holidays. I am trying to teach them that "stuff" is not as valuable as it may seem and that experiences and memories are what matters. The rest of the weekend we acted on that lesson and we did things together all weekend. We went to see the bluebonnets in hill country, we went to church and came here to La Cantera Resort & Spa. Views were beautiful and the food was just about as good as the views. On Sunday, they held an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids there. Ty and I drank some morning spirits while we watched them run around and open their eggs. 

My favorite part of this Holiday was watching my children be kind and compassionate. There were 2 or 3 little kids that showed up late and the Easter Egg Hunt was nearly over. Their parents were trying to tell them to look around in bushes to see if maybe someone had missed any. Disappointed, the little hands held empty baskets with no such luck. Scarlett looked at her bag full of eggs and said, "Can we hide some for them, Mama? We don't need all of these." My heart just about burst. If any of you have been following a while, you know just how sweet and caring my Scarlett is. She took her brother and with hands full of eggs, they went out and hid them around the grass. Then Scarlett walked over and told them they had hid some for them. Smiles began to cross their faces as they found egg after egg. Scarlett helped a 2 year old to find some that she had hid while Maxwell cheered, "There's more!". 

I know I have said this so many times but when things like this happen, I wonder if this is just their good nature and character...or if Ty and I are doing something right to raise GOOD and caring people. I hope a little of both. Either way, those were the few moments that truly made my Easter holiday special. We enjoyed a nice church service as well, followed by dinner out with some new friends from church. 

Easter 2015.

The past few holidays have been different in the fact that usually we spend holidays together with family. This has been tricky to do over the last couple of years because our family is all in Massachusetts. This year we did get to spend time with Ty's family and my older sister's family...but it's still different in many ways.

Our morning started with me pushing snooze so many times that finally I realized I had 15 minutes to make sure that the Easter Bunny had done all his work!! Scarlett woke up at her usual 8:45 am time. Unless I wake her up for daycare, she will sleep until about 9 am. As you can imagine I love this quality in her.....Once she got up, she laid in bed with Daddy for a few minutes before telling him that she wanted to see if the Easter Bunny had come. We had a small breakfast and then Scarlett realized that the Easter Bunny had left her a note directing her where her first egg to her scavenger hunt was. This was the first year that we did an actual scavenger hunt. It took her about 2 eggs to realize how it worked but then she was enamored by the process and couldn't find them fast enough. Her final surprise was in the garage, a brand new big girl bicycle! Oh how she's asked for this. And the snow has finally melted in time for her to be able to use it. We let her ride it a couple times before we headed out to Easter Brunch in the city. We met my sister and her family, along with Ty's family. Brunch was delicious and we came home stuffed to the brim. Luckily Scarlett wanted to ride the bike for a good couple of hours so we bundled up and stayed outside with her; walked off the brunch. At first, she had a little trouble with the bigger pedals but like my little Scarlett, within minutes she was flying up and down the drive way. It's amazing to see her grow into such a girl. Ty did a little garage cleaning and then we came in to dye Easter Eggs.  The rest of our Sunday was pretty much lazy. Which I could use. I've got a lot of upcoming events that I am going to need every bit of energy for! I've begun plans for Scarlett's 4th Birthday Party. I tell myself every year that I'm not going to have a "small party" but I'm beginning to think I"m not sure what that is. Or maybe I just love the whole process of party planning. Either way, I think she is going to love her birthday theme this year.

More on that later...

What did everyone do for Easter this year? I love hearing what everyone did with their families on holidays.

1st Easter.

Scarlett's First Easter.

Scarlett had fun on her very first Easter.
I did, too ;)
We went home to Massachusetts to spend the Holiday with our families.
Every time we go back, it's always hectic. Hours of travel, napless baby, and a million things to do/people to visit.
But it was nice, as always, to see our families.
Saturday we spent the day with Ty's family & had a yummy turkey dinner.
On Sunday, my sister made an Easter Lunch. Scarlett even had her very first Easter Egg Hunt.
She found all her eggs and got the cutest Easter Basket.
The day ended with family games & lots of laughter, of course.
We got home Monday night and to say we were exhausted, is an understatement.
I'm glad to be off the road!

I hope you all had a Happy Easter, too.

Embrace the Camera