Whirlwind

The past couple of weeks have been a complete blur. After a somewhat last minute change of plans, I made a traditional Easter dinner up at Mom's. We had the kids' first egg hunt, and their first official delivery from the Easter Bunny. It went over very well. Then it was full-on birthday planning mode. My sister, M, had been sick before Easter but miraculously recovered enough to make it to dinner. And to infect most of us. Ella, Liam, Caitlin and Mom are all sick now and somehow my body knew to hold off until the end of the insanity. As I laid down with the kids last night to tuck them in, I felt the sore throat creeping on. I am totally sick now and none too pleased with M, who "realized" after crashing Easter dinner that she wasn't well enough to go to work last Monday or Tuesday. Ugh! She actually didn't come to the party yesterday, claiming that she "didn't want to be infected." Can you believe it?!

That said, here are some shots of Easter and the birthday party. Yesterday was a fabulous day. Everything came together so nicely - the food, the crowd, the weather, just everything - and J and I were so happy with how the day went. The weather was wonderful enough that everyone spent most of the time outside, soaking up the sun and enjoying each other's company. J's parents surprised the kids with classic Radio Flyer trikes (which actually worked out very well, because we haven't had a chance to purchase their bikes, so we'll just hold off on those for now and let the kids enjoy the trikes). N and her kids surprised Liam and Ella with a basketball hoop, which was a BIG hit. A and P, Liam and Ella's Godparents (as well as their aunt and uncle), surprised me by getting the Muffins a sand and water table for them to play with on the deck. P's wife gave the kids a great batch of homemade goodies, including a cute felt soccer ball, adorable little stuffed mice and some nice play dough. Everyone seemed to have a good time and I'm glad for the exhaustion at the end of it, because it was so worth it.

All in all, it's been a total whirlwind but it all just reminds me how blessed I am with amazing children, a wonderful husband and a great family.

Quick! Find those eggs!

She was quite good at finding more than one at a time.

Oooh...check out those goodies!

The only decent shot of the two of them together on Easter. It's so hard to get Ella to pose for a picture now.

Chilling out on the kitchen floor, muching on some of the loot from the egg hunt.

The trikes! (And, yes, my son did wear the same outfit for Easter and the party - isn't he so handsome?!)

Ahhh! The cake that caused me so much stress. It was quite good, albeit a bit green, but the kids loved it I think I'm over my cake ordering anxiety (although, I still prefer to make my own, but this worked out quite nicely).

Ella blowing out the candle.

Then it's Liam's turn.

I have no idea what they're doing here or even who took the shot, but I think it's super cute.

2 points!

He was trying to pretend that I wasn't taking his picture. Seriously.