Well, spring has sprung and so it has Easter time. Normally, egg hunting would not be a large part of our festivities, but since Princess P. and J.J., our foster kiddos, seem to not have much experience with celebrations of that sort, we decided to embrace the fun whole-heartedly.
The kiddos staged their own hunt of sorts on one of the first really pretty spring days. Our weather has been fairly bi-polar here, ranging from the mid-thirties at night to a whopping eighty-something the next day, then down again to the fifties with thunderstorms for a few days, topping it all off with snow flurries and some hail. Seriously, I've never seen a more bizarre set of weather patterns.
This has not deterred the children from wanting to be outdoors, nor the flowers from blooming around Blessing Farm, as you can see in the photos below. During the first planned "hunt," the "explorers" went out equipped with jars, nets, bags, and curiosity. They brought home flowers to identify, a bee to watch, and pictures of a toad they observed. Princess P. and J.J. thought that was all quite dandy, but preferred time on the swing set to looking for nature's treasures. We will convert them yet...
A few days later, our AWANA group (Christian Bible club) sponsored a wonderful night for all the children where they had them wear their PJs to club, listen to a "bedtime" story called "The Sparkle Egg" (about how Jesus died to redeem us from our sins and cleanses us when we ask His forgiveness), color some real eggs (which mommy was not brave enough to do at home), and let them hunt for candy-filled eggs outside on the playground.
The Sparkle Egg by Jill Hardie
Poor Princess P. seemed as if she'd never done any of this before in her life. I can't say for sure, but she was positively fascinated with her first simple plastic egg and would have been content to ignore the other four sitting right in front of her...so happy was she with the one piece of candy she got out of that egg. We did gather a few more, and she loved the treats. The other kids had a grand old time, too, and they all took their "Sparkle Eggs" home with them (they wrote down something they needed to work on and be forgiven for inside and it would "disappear" on Easter morning).
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The next Saturday, Tex had a friend over who was helping put up my split rail fencing, but they had to take a break to go set up the church yard for a neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt outreach. I figured if I was going to lose my workers anyway, they might as well take the kiddos, so Hubby packed them up in the van and they went over for more egg finding fun and hot dogs/chips for lunch. They had to move inside since it started to rain, but that didn't dampen their fun one bit. I heard that Princess P. was finally getting into the groove and they all came home with waaaaay too much candy (which I promptly confiscated, to be handed out or shared later...mean mommy).
Welcome to Nanny and Poppy's house on Easter day after church.
The family got together for an egg hunt (for the younger cousins) and a delicious dinner.
Of course, first we had to take an opportunity for family photos, then we let them change into their play clothes.
It was a beautiful day and all the children had a lovely time playing with each other and with the adults.
The older kiddos enjoyed helping their Nanny prepare the eggs and Tex hid them, with green ones in easy places for the wee ones, and other colors for the older ones.
Everyone found just the right amount and we all appreciated our lovely surroundings and loving company on such a blessed day. We pray you had such a bountiful and glorious Easter season, too.
Don't forget to plant those smiles, grow those giggles, and harvest that love this spring. The dividends will astound you with their abundance.
God bless you with blessings beyond your greatest imaginings,
Heather
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