Easter 2019

Easter, it was always the holiday I thought would be so fun to announce a pregnancy or maybe even a gender reveal.  While that isn't going to get to be part of our family story and now that Séamus is here, I want to share with you real quick my Easter pregnancy announcement that I had envisioned in my head...and then I'll get on to recapping Easter 2019.  

 

+ we used to do an adult egg hunt with 3 Golden Eggs (one for each couple - though they each had something different in them) and then we would all open them at the same time. So I always thought that we would "take charge" of hiding the Golden Eggs.  We would put a copy of the ultrasound with a note that we were expecting and then get to see the expressions from our families as they learned we were growing.  This would have also worked great for sharing the gender of the baby too. 

While I will never get to do this, if you do it next year...please let me know so that I can bask in all your enjoyment and joy!!

ON TO EASTER 2019

Since Thomas' parents have moved we have been celebrating Easter at their house with an overnight stay.  His family has this tradition of making "Chicken and Noodles" which is just homemade Chicken Noodle Soup that they serve with boiled potatoes.  At first I wasn't too sure about this meal but it has grown on me over the years and is something that we look forward to.  We also have the Egg Hunt, which now that there are all the children in the mix we don't have the adult hunt anymore....maybe we should bring it back next year.

This year we left on Saturday morning to head over and got all the kids (and dogs) packed up for the drive.  We had our snacks, a full tank, the kids were all content and were on our way when my tire pressure sensor came on...we were close to an exit and when we checked the tire the air was spewing out and only had 5lbs of pressure.  Thomas filled it up with air and then we drove the mile down the road to a Les Schwab (I know how lucky were we?).  We got the car parked and were told it was about an hour wait.  We walked across the street to a doughnut shop ate our doughnuts and went back to the tire shop.  

This was the state of my tire:

Yep I think you can say that's a flat!!

We lucked out with my car getting to be in the first bay so the girls could watch them work on the tire through the viewing window.  They enjoyed it, Séamus was a little unruly since all he wanted to do was crawl but I wouldn't let him down and I didn't grab the carrier out of the car either.  Thomas was stuck outside with the dogs...it was a mess, but nothing we couldn't handle.  Finally they finished up my tire and were so nice to not even charge us!!  

Fresh full tire and we were on our way, dogs, kids, and all!

The kids fell asleep on the way over and Thomas and I had the chance to chat and connect and talk and it was just so so good.  It's what I have come to love about the drive to his parents house...kids sleeping, shitty cell reception, and all the talking for the two of us.  I convinced Thomas to take the Enneagram test and was not surprised by his answers at all nor his number (I'm a 3 he's a 7).  We talked about future vacations we hope to go on, house/yard projects we want to complete this year, and discussed some more on where else we might want to move...currently he is rooting for Montana and if I could just convince the weather on the East Coast to mimic the West Coast I would be rooting for South Carolina or Virginia...which is never going to happen so maybe it'll be Colorado?  Who knows we still have a few years before we need to get serious about it and I can guarantee we'll be into somewhere else by then (Ireland??).

We arrived at his parents house just in time, somehow Séamus always knows when we're about 15-20 minutes away and decides its time to eat.  We got out, got the dogs and kids out, got Séamus fed and changed, and then got to visiting with his parents before the rest of the family that was coming arrived.  The girls "played" tether ball, i.e. dodging the flying ball and Séamus sat in the grass and wasn't too pleased with it.  We had some lunch and more hanging out.  Ellie helped make the noodles and then Thomas' little brother and family arrived and we got to watch the kids play and hang out.

We had dinner of noodles, talked about lots of different things, and the kids stayed up waaay later than normal (which always happens at Nanny and Papas).  I took our kids to bed and got the diffuser's set up (Sleepyize for all of us): Ellie and Finnley shared and I had Séamus with me, while the rest of the adults took shots, drank wine and beer, and played card games.  Thomas is always the early bird no matter what time he hits the hay, so he was up with the girls and let me "sleep in" with Séamus who got up around 6:30.  Before Séamus and I made our way downstairs Finnley jumped/fell off the couch and smashed her face into the wall, which resulted in a scraped up nose and forehead, I applied some Lavender when I got down there to help support her skin and she had finally settled down from the pain/shock.  We had our coffee while the kids played and then the rest of the family started trickling in.  Once we were all up we had breakfast, some more playing, got dressed for Easter Pictures, the kids got their baskets and then it was time for the Egg Hunt.

We stayed for another hour or two and then made the drive home.  All three kids fell asleep shortly after we got on the road and Thomas and I got to have the whole drive to ourselves again talking about all the things.  So much self and relationship reflection, problem solving and situation control, gratitude and love happens on our way home each time.  We finalized our plan for the Easter Baskets we got for the kids and the egg hunt we were putting together as well.  

About 30 minutes from home the kids woke up and were hungry so we stopped at McDonald's near our house and we finally had the "picnic" I've been promising Ellie for days, while Thomas brought in the suitcases (and hid the Eggs).  

Thomas took the kids around the side of the house while I went to put my shoes on (and put out the Easter Baskets).  The girls found their eggs, Ellie even shared some she found with Finnley, and Séamus got to grab two of them.  Our Easter Bunny left us empty eggs this year and said that they would get a prize inside if they found all the eggs.  So once we did a second walk through we decided to check inside to see if there was a prize, there was!! It was the Easter Baskets!  Ellie exclaimed that our Easter Bunny is so nice!!

Then we went outside and played, picked up dog poop (glamorous), mowed and weeded.  The weather was just beautiful, I can't really remember how many times we've been able to have an Easter Egg Hunt outside on Easter Sunday!!  While the kids were playing, Finnley was obsessed with finding the Eggs so Ellie kept hiding them and Finnley gathered them back up, and Thomas was finished with the mowing I made my way out back to spend some time with Ragtime, my horse.  I got her brushed up and rode her, probably our best ride of our lives to date, cleaned up some poop, and then came back in for a quick shower and dinner!

The kids loved their baskets, loved playing with the eggs, we loved the sunny weather, I loved the chance to spend time with my horse, and most of all just enjoyed all the easy family time together.

Definitely an Easter for the books!

♥ Ashley