Easter celebrations

Our family had a wonderful Easter holiday last weekend. First of all, it was the nicest Easter weather I could ever remember. It was in the mid 80s for the weekend! I loved jumping right into summer weather after a long winter. We soaked up the sun and spring air as much as we could. On the Saturday before Easter, we took Claire to an Easter egg hunt. Unfortunately, we got there a few minutes late because we were packing to leave from there to go to Chris's parents' house, and the hunt was long over. The good news was, her friend Jeffrey was there, and they placed a few of the eggs he found for Claire to "find" in the grass. Prior to the Easter egg hunt, Chris bought her an Easter basket that is just too cute. It's really soft and is a duck, with the face, bill, feet, wings and everything. She gathered her eggs in her basket which she promptly held over her arm like a purse. She's got good girly instincts. :)

Claire showing me the egg and leaf she found. Jeffrey sharing a leaf with Claire. So many unintended treasures!

After the Easter egg hunt, we drove the Chris's parents' house for the weekend. We had a wonderful time together and enjoyed a yummy Polish dinner with some Polish sausage, sausage that Chris made a while ago, and perogies. Mmm.

Sunday was of course Easter. Once Claire got up, we all went downstairs so she could see the goodies in her Easter basket! She loves her Easter basket and found some fun things inside - a book by Mo Willems called "There Is a Bird on Your Head" (it's hilarious!), a pair of white sandals, some bunny peeps, and some plastic eggs with a few Robin eggs inside. She was so cute.

Then we all got ready for church. For once, we could actually wear Easter dresses and not have to bundle up to go outside in them! We went to church with Chris's grandparents. I had been there with them once or twice before, but it was more significant this time. In doing Chris's family history lately, we discovered that there have been generations of Chris's grandmother's family going to that church. In fact, much of her family is buried in the cemetary by the church. After the church service we walked through the cemetary and found many different tomb stones with the Metzger name. One of them was Chris's great, great, great, great grandfather. (I think that's how many greats. It's easy to lose track.)

After church, we took some pictures (which Claire wasn't very happy about because it was long past her nap time. She still takes a morning and afternoon nap, and was very tired. Plus she was getting 2 top molars.)

Check out those ballerina toes! How does she do that?

Lucy, Thomas, Anna, Claire, and Mary Easter morning.

Chris, Claire, and I took a nice nap, and then later in the afternoon had a yummy Easter dinner - ham, lamb, hashbrown casserole, corn casserole, rolls, the works! I also enjoyed playing cards with my girls (Chris's mom, sister, and sister in-law). We love playing cards when we get together. Our favorites are 500, Canasta, and Skip-bo.

We also enjoyed the beautiful weather outside. I helped hide some of the Easter eggs for the older kids to hunt for. It was so much fun! There are so many great places to hide eggs in Chris's parents' yard! It was fun to watch them look for them (and sometimes walk right past them.) When they were done, we took about 8 eggs for Claire and placed them on the lawn. She enjoyed going around and collecting them in her bag. She's so darn cute! The whole family enjoyed some outdoor time together in the beautiful weather!

A beautiful bush in Chris's parents' front yard. It is beautifully surrounded by white and yellow daffodils. The picture doesn't quite do it justice, but I tried.

That night, after visiting some more, and visiting Chris's grandparents, we drove back home as Chris had a rehearsal the next day. The weekend went very quickly, but it was a memorable, wonderful Easter!

Here are just a few random, cute pictures. One day, while I was gathering laundry, I looked down, and Claire was laying on the floor like this. She really likes that position as I have seen her sleep like that as well. She laid there long enough for me to notice her, grab the camera and take the picture. I was surprised she actually stayed there that long.

This morning, Chris came out with a pair of Goofy slippers that he got for Christmas a number of years ago. Claire was quite amused that they were not only shoes (which she loves), but puppies (which she also loves!) Two of her favorite things combined in one. Chris had them on his feet and had the Goofy slippers get Claire. She loved it! She played with them all morning, and had Chris help her put them on her feet a number of times. Of course, she couldn't actually walk in them, but she loved them still the same.

Claire sometimes repeats the most random things. A couple of days ago, we got some pizza at our favorite pizza joint for lunch. There, they had a cooler with cans of Red Bull inside. After Claire pointed to the cans and said, "me, me" as she often does, Chris said, "no, you can't have Red Bull." Claire repeated, "Red Bull." Ok, maybe it was more like, "Beb Bull," but it was pretty clear what she was repeating. Then this morning, I said to Claire, "Claire, I love your daddy, and I always, always, always will." She repeated, "always." Crazy! But can I get her to say things maybe a little easier, like "Amen" after we pray? No! You'd think Amen would be easier then Red Bull, or Always. (Though, she does clasp her hands now when we pray, at least at the start of the prayer.)

Now, Claire has been saying more and more words every day. Lately, she says "nunny" (bunny) a lot since she has a few bunnies. She also frequently says, mommy, daddy, papa, and guncle, but I haven't been able to get her to say Oma or Grammy. Well, today, I have good news. She said them both! She said Oma first ("Mo ma"). Then later in the day she said Grammy (Mammy)! Finally, those two patient grandmothers get acknowledgement! We've been trying for a while. She'd repeat lots of words like table, love ya, prayer, etc., and then would look at me blankly when I tried for Oma or Grammy. Finally, success!

Oh yeah, this week, I also got my hair cut! Finally! It had been about a year since I last got it cut, and I was starting to feel a little frumpy. It's been a while since I have liked a hair cut as much as I like this one. Yea!