Welcome Spring

In moving to North Carolina we expected warmish weather most of the year, and indeed it was pretty mild through about Christmas. Since then it's been mostly cold, with an occasional warm sunny day. Of course people in the North East or midwest would beg to differ about the meaning of "cold", but it has been cold enough to warrant a coat, and to keep me from wanting to go outside much.

Last week it was my turn to plan a playgroup that we attend with other ladies from church, so we had a little Easter egg hunt in the backyard, then quickly came back inside where it was warm. The kids had fun, and Dean, being home for the week, was a good sport and even mowed the lawn the day before and hid the eggs for the kiddos. Since it was a school day, only the little guys were participating. In this picture Kyler is picking up his eggs that escaped from his basket.

And, in case you're interested, here I am six and a half months preggers. I don't feel like I'm nearly as big as I look in the picture, but perhaps the proof is in the puddin'. The clothes I wear make all the difference, and that blouse happens to make me look very large. Although, on Saturday someone asked how far along I was, then proceeded to ask if I was carrying twins. Ha ha. That's a first for me. The OB says I'm carrying high, which she said the old wives' tales say means it's a boy, which indeed baby is a boy...

So Dean has always been on me for Easter and other such holidays to do more of the festive stuff like color eggs and carve pumpkins and all that. I'm not sure why, but that stuff is never terribly appealing to me. Actually, I think it has a lot to do with just having so little energy for some many years. I just don't feel "up" to the non-essential things in life. However, after being treated by the naturopathic physician last year, I actually wanted to decorate the Christmas tree, so that's progress! But being in the third trimester of a pregnancy will zap most anyone's energy, so that's my excuse right now.

Anyway, Dean usually ends up doing the kid stuff, and I usually don't even manage to get pictures. So on Saturday, he had been here a week and was preparing to leave again on Easter Sunday for another two weeks of training in Texas. He wanted to color eggs with the boys. I had hard cooked seven eggs earlier in the day, as I needed some for a potato salad we were taking to a get together. So there were three eggs left. So in the evening when we were home, he started to get worked up about coloring eggs yada yada, and I said that we had three eggs. Of course that seemed ridiculous to him, but I said they didn't need to do dozens to have the experience - three ought to be enough. So, I pulled the food coloring and vinegar out of the cupboard and he went to town with the boys. I had to run get gas, as the car was on fumes just before the Sabbath. So, I wasn't involved, and there are no pictures for evidence, but they did it.

Also on Saturday, Hunter finally wiggled out his two front teeth that have been loose for ages. He won't eat apples these days because he always has loose teeth. I am not one to harass him and threaten to yank them out. I figure they will come out when they are good and ready. Apparently he was good and ready, and must have helped them a bit himself. He told us that a kid at school says that the tooth fairy brings a whole lot of money (like $6) when one loses two teeth. That sounded a little rich to me. Since Dean was here he took care of all that business, to the tune of $4. His mouth has been bleeding since Saturday, from losing the teeth, because of his hemophilia. So I found his medication that is specifically for mouth bleeds in hemophiliacs. It helps to keep a clot intact if one forms. I gave him some before bed tonight. It is quite a bit expired, but hopefully will still help. There was a much newer bottle of the stuff from his tonsillectomy last summer, but I couldn't find it. I don't remember if we used it all up or what. It was kind of pitiful this evening to see small bits blood on his chicken sandwich while he ate dinner.

Dean was wanting to hide Easter eggs Saturday night for the morning hunt, but by the time we went to bed it was late and we were tired, and decided it could wait until morning. However, Hunter got up bright and early, and searched high and low for Easter eggs, and came to report to us that apparently the Easter bunny hadn't left any. Dean was awfully frustrated and was grunting and thinking and wondering what to do about such a predicament. I asked him what was the matter, and he would only say "nothing", but he was obviously upset. So, I called to Hunter and asked if he wanted to get in bed with me. He always wants to, but I usually don't allow such an intrusion. He was delighted to climb in, and of course the stipulation is always that he must tickle my back. So, Dean took the cue and ran outside and hid eggs for the boys, then came back and told Hunter that the Easter bunny must have hid them outside so that he wouldn't run into the tooth fairy inside, as that just wouldn't be right. Hunter said that that was what he had thought. We told him he had to wait until Kyler was awake, so he promptly ran upstairs and woke him up for the excitement. Dean escorted them out while I stayed in bed a few more minutes, hence no pictures. Kyler, being a quick observer, noticed that the eggs were the same eggs he had hunted earlier in the week with the play group, and he was none too happy about it. Dean and I thought that was pretty darn funny. Hunter had no idea what he was talking about, fortunately. So, somehow it all went off without a hitch, and we more or less covered all the silly Easter bases.

And, I've been contemplating what to do as far as Easter gifts. I am of the opinion that it just doesn't seem right that a bunny should be giving eggs and presents because Jesus was resurrected. I don't want the focus of Easter in our home to be eggs, plastic grass, bunnies, candy and presents. But then is that hypocritical if we celebrate Christmas as the Savior's birth, and have candy and presents? I definitely didn't want to lavish them with presents by any means and support the commercial nature of the Holy Day, but I did get the "game" Hullabaloo on sale recently, and figured this would be as good a time as any to give it to them, along with a couple of things from the dollar store (card games and sidewalk chalk). We told them it was from us.