Easter with my Boys

This year is the very first year in the past six that I got to put together the boys' Easter baskets, their egg hunt, and dye eggs with them. :) Their grandparents have always been so eager to prepare these celebrations for them, and I've always been more than happy to let them do all the planning. (Yes, this means a double Easter for them, and they loved every minute of it! And the double sets of candy baskets.) But with both sets of grandparents out of town this weekend, I got to prepare a special day for just the three of us. (Kevin played in two lovely Easter services, one of which we attended. I was also supposed to play, but I had just as much fun playing the Easter Bunny. :) So! To the photos! First thing after church, the boys ran around the house searching every nook and cranny for their baskets. Took them awhile because the E.B. was pretty clever. Here is Sean with his find, and a play Blackberry! Made Kevin jealous, that's for sure.

It took Ashton several more minutes to find his, because I hid the second room they generally aren't allow to play in (the music room), and so he didn't think he could look in there. After I finally took him through each room, he found it.

Notice the edible grass? It reminds me of a slightly sweetened stringy version of the Eucharist they give you during communion. I let them have some candy after eating a large healthy breakfast, and of course the first thing Sean asked me was if he could eat his chocolate bunny.
Me: "I don't know if you should eat the whole thing, Sean. It might give you a tummy ache."
Sean: "Well, I'll just try a little bit at first. Just his ears. Then I'll see how I feel."
Me, 5 minutes later: "... ..." Jaw slack; I don't know why it surprised me that he'd finish it that quickly, or the amount of chocolate he was wearing all over his face. Good thing it was hollow!

After distracting them with Spongebob on the tube, I managed to hide some eggs in the front yard (they had Jelly Bellies in them instead of chocolate so they wouldn't get all melty and gross) since they'd be able to see me if I hid them in the back. Here is a successful Sean after pawing through my lilys:

And Ashton in one of the bushes (aren't I a stinker?):

I hid quite a few in this area since it has the most vegetation. I know the grass isn't very green yet, but we keep getting bouts of winter! (If you look really close at the White Ash on the left, you can see a cream colored egg in its branches- these were the tricky ones, because they never think to lift their eyes from the ground!)

They found all but one egg. Yeah. I don't know WHAT happened to that last one. Maybe the Easter Bunny stole it when I went in the house to tell the boys he'd paid them a visit...

Then, on to decorating the eggs! This is the first year they are really old enough to dye eggs on their own (not that I didn't hover, mind you). First, they wrote on the eggs and drew pictures, and then they lined up the eggs, one in each color.

Careful turning, now...

And finally, the finished product! We painted sparkle paint over stencils, as well as drew flowers and smiley faces with glitter pens. Aren't they pretty?

A very satisfying day, and plenty of time outside. Couldn't have asked for a more beautiful sunny day to celebrate Easter! (Could've used a little more sunscreen though-oops!) Happy Easter everyone!