A'bunny'dently Blessed

Indulge me on this post; I just loaded 50+ images onto it. I'll keep the words short and sweet and let the pictures from the past week of Easter celebrations speak for themselves.

We started last weekend with the Pope's annual egg hunt.

Love the basket on Kent's head.

 Sweet Grooters kids...

 Daddy giving her plenty of direction...

 Look mommy...

Shannon decided six eggs weren't enough for little LE {compared to Jack's brimming basket}, so she forced him strongly suggested he re-hide a few eggs for the Peanut...

Happy to be a gentleman at first, but a little resentful by the end :).

Fortunately, her competitive spirit had not yet been ignited, so she was perfectly happy to take a seat and indulge in the treats from her six eggs. By egg hunt #3, said competitive spirit had been found.

Wednesday found us ready to celebrate at school; Jennifer and I were responsible for the Easter party {classroom moms each get to throw one of the parties through the year}. I have to say, the two hours I spent at school made me realize how precious these kids really are. We are so lucky to have such a great school, and so many amazing "freeends" in our class...

Ready for the Easter Bonnet Parade...

Of course her's was blue, with a little blue chick-a-dee.

Kaley apparently insisted that she wear her gloves from LE's Mary Poppins Party last year. Too cute!

After showcasing the bonnets through all the classes, little bunnies headed to the playground so us mommies could hide the eggs and set up for our party.

Awaiting "go" for the egg hunt...

They all hunt to one big basket and eggs are divided before the kids head home for the day - no need for fighting over eggs here!

 

Hungry bunnies then came inside for a little snack...

 Ready to pray...

Lesson learned - should've gone with a single balloon color to avoid arguments over which color balloon each child would choose to sit under.

A little post-party reading for the sweet girls...

Fast-forward to this weekend - Saturday morning was back to church/school for the Faith Easter Egg Hunt. We started with a few butterfly/Easter story arts & crafts {a bit chaotic with thousands of children, but cute for the little salt & pepper friends nonetheless}.

 Listening to The Very Hungry Caterpillar...

 Fortunately, Mrs. M was smart enough to bring along some snacks to occupy the girls' time while awaiting the hunt...

 We're ready as soon as you say GO!

 What did you get?

It was at this hunt where the jealousy over the eggs E had gotten that she had not started - a minor meltdown over a Disney Princess wrapped egg ensued.

 But she managed to get over it in time to have a few tastes of the loot...

And a little of mommy's coffee to get through the day {great parenting, huh?}...

And, finally we made it to Easter Sunday! Up to find a little message and a nibbled carrot from the Bunny himself...

 And plenty of treats...

A lovely church service reminding us of the reasons for Easter, followed by a beautiful afternoon Easter luncheon at home with our loved ones...

Discovering the treat-filled eggs the bunny left behind...

 What's inside?!??

 Lofty Pursuits Cash! {Our favorite local old-fashioned ice cream shop}...

 Her Easter dresses get better and better each year. Nana Boo you are AMAZING!

53 pictures later... it was the perfect day. At bedtime, we asked her why we celebrate Easter. The first answer... "to get presents." Ookay... how about something about Jesus? "Because Jesus was in the grace." Or the grave. And finally "and the tomb rolled away."

She also told Paigey this morning that she was "pretending I am dead." Perhaps because of the discussion about Jesus dying? Easter is a tough concept for children. And yet, between preschool and church, we hope she is gaining some understanding and more than anything, learning to love God and others with gratitude. A quick glance at these pictures and that is most certainly what I feel - loving gratitude.

Happy Easter!