eggs.

so with phil in new mexico (he's back now, more on that later), and while the kids are home this week on spring break, we've been sticking close to home on a more relaxed schedule and just enjoying doing little things together.

since we didn't get to it over the weekend, we went ahead and dyed easter eggs yesterday.

hey allie, wanna make some easter eggs?

i wish i had put allie more in focus in this picture cuz i love her expression here.  live n learn, right?

they got right to work dunking in the eggs.

carefully, carefully...

and then we waited...

and waited...  (btw, it finally dawned on me this year that we could use food coloring drops to make lots of different color baths.  again with the live n learn...).

til finally we had us some color eggs!  most of the colors were a success.

except for the purple.  we ended up with brown.  allie was not pleased.

mikey doing a quality control check on his eggs...

when a certain little hand belonging to a certain baby sister tried to make a grab for one.

cool eggs, man.

then we went ahead and dabbed glitter paint on the eggs.  see the little sponges we used?  the two with the paint just on the edge were mikey and lauren's (i helped lauren).  the black mangled one?  that one was allie's. 

anytime painting is involved, she just settles in and does her thing.

long after the other two finished and went on to other interests.

this one stays put and keeps at it.

she'll even start singing a little song to keep herself company.  this time, "if i were a butterfly" was the song of choice.  kinda reminds me of those frances books where frances starts singing a little song to herself.  remember those?  no?

after she was done, all three of those little sponges were black mangled messes.  and her fingers are currently still a brownish purple, too.

question:  what does one do with eighteen hard-boiled eggs and how long will they keep for?

easter.

phil came home yesterday a little after 8 in the morning.  he said it had been a particularly busy call night at the hospital and he'd been up the entire night.  he was tired.  but he still somehow managed to to stop in at walgreens to pick up these for the kiddos:

they're pretty lucky kiddos.

"mama, are these for us?!"  note phil's legs as this is just about the time he crashed on our bed and fell fast asleep.  and started snoring.

he really loves surprise easter baskets.

allie could hardly wait for lauren to finish her milk so that she could give lauren her very own basket, too.

phil stayed home to get some shuteye while the kids and i went to church.  it was crowded.  but still nice to be there and reflect on the beautiful truth of how Jesus rose again and how that changes everything for us.  how we the condemned are now set free.  how His grace covers our guilt.  how He willingly suffered in our place.  it brought me to tears and refreshed my soul.

we returned home for lunch and a quick afternoon nap.   then we all went over to our friends' house to celebrate easter together.

allie just looooves these two girls.  and though they're a good bit older than she is, they are so very nice to play with her.

on the hunt for easter eggs!

allie was much quicker to catch on this year about egg gathering.  but see that blue egg a foot or two in front of her?  you'd think she'd step on over and pick that one up too...

but suddenly her brother swooped in and scooped it right up!  she didn't seem to mind all that much though.  it was a blue egg after all.  but watch out if it had been a pink or purple one!

and lauren managed to find quite a few eggs in her very first easter egg hunt.  with some help, of course.  :)

"whoa, look how many eggs you have!"

"wanna see how many eggs i found?"

allie decided she didn't want any blue or green eggs in her basket so she traded them for her brother's pink ones.  she's very color specific like that.

and look!  we even got a family pic, too!

after gorgefest 2010, er, i mean easter dinner, the kids all settled down to watch a movie.  when i said i wanted to watch too, the girl in the pink shirt (next to lauren) told me that i couldn't because "the big kids have to stay in the kitchen and talk, talk talk."  ha ha.

remember how i said if you make faces at my camera it'll somehow end up on my blog?   : p

oh my.

aw, nice, sweet, calm girls.  i like those kind.

okay, okay, i like this kid too.  it's a rare 7-year-old boy who will jump up to willingly volunteer to help pass out plates without being asked.  i saw him do it once and thought he was mighty cool ever since.

and okay, i like this one too.  because she's giggly and goofy and really sweet to my girls.

and this one, oh boy.  he always busts out the best smiles.  and even helped allie put her shoes on once.  another little hero.  and one of mikey's best buds.

but this one?  well, if i could box her up and bring her home, i'd do it yesterday.  the kindest, gentlest, patient-est, most thoughtful nine-year-old i've ever met.  she makes me smile.  and she's way more mature than i am.  kinda sad for my kids, huh?

my girl loves coming to their house because they have the best princess dresses ever.  and two older girls who will help dress her, and do her hair, and do her makeup, and accessorize her.  wait, that's why i love coming here cuz otherwise, it's me having to do all that stuff in our house.

ah, to be so footloose and fancy-free!

stopping with a perfect princess pose.  my silly girl.

i didn't see this little one much that day because there was a house full of grandparents (though not hers) and other folks who were only too happy to pick her up or play with her.  so she had a ball going from person to person to chat them up and see if she could get them to give her one of the cookies or chocolates that were laid out everywhere.  and i can safely say she succeeded on more than one occasion.

all in all, we had a great time with this dear family.

and a quick update-- i haven't posted much about phil's post-residency plans, but will hopefully soon.  but for now, i will say that the kids and i dropped him off at the airport this morning to catch a flight to new mexico.  he texted just now to say that he's landed.  stay tuned...

recouping.

thank you for the get well wishes!

after a rough night with mikey, it looks like we are coming out of the woods as far as gross bodily fluids are concerned.  we spent today (the first day of the kids' easter vacation) hanging out at home.  which for some reason happens to be my kids' very favorite thing to do.  often mikey will ask me in the morning, "mommy, stay home today and do nothing all day long?"  you'd think he'd be hoping i'd have some great outing planned.  but no, he actually loves staying home and gets all excited when i say YES!  and because i love him and like making him happy, i try to say YES fairly often.  yep, that's the reason.

here's part of the 'nothing' we did today...

glitter play dough time!  mikey thought this little bear mold was great.

his little sister wanted one too...

and if the others have something, this one definitely must have one too.

but soon she tired of squishy little bears and went to the kitchen to make us a snack.

while the other two went ahead and made birthday cakes.  hmm, it seems that they have birthdays on the brain lately.

i like watching this one work.  he's always so meticulous in what he does.  i also like his glowing ear.  :)

carefully placing rockets all around his cake.

then he put three candles on top and said it was for me!  mmm, looks delicious!  :)

then they said they were done with play dough and went inside to watch sesame street and eat grapes.

ahh, what a life.

thanks for checking in on us.  here's a kiss until next time, friends!