He is risen! We began our Easter celebration with church service at Ada Bible where we worshiped and listened to messages about being present, showing up and what true love means. Upon leaving church we were greeted by the sweet-sweet sunshine (so welcomed!) and headed back to our house for Easter Dinner with family.
My Mom and Dad spoiled us all with Easter treats and the kids opened their easter baskets - the kids went wild over the whoopee cushions - thanks Grandpa. I prepared the usual honey baked ham and cheesy potatoes - something I’m very happy to do because my favorite part about these family gatherings is when we’re all seated around the dinner table together just hanging out. Our meal together was an immediate example of what we’d heard about just hours earlier during church - being present, showing up and true love.
After an outdoor egg hunt in our currently torn up and very muddy front yard - guys… underground sprinkling is happening!!! Hence the DJs trailer parked out front - we spent the rest of the day celebrating Natalie’s seventh birthday. She requested a very special cake with colored layers covered in sprinkles which threw me for a loop because this is not part of Meijer’s bakery options - which is my usual go-to. So I sucked it up and tied on my apron for a rare cake baking adventure. And given Natalie’s excitement… it was a success! She’s already requested chocolate for next year and which is great news because we’ll be right back on that Meijer menu train.
Other Easter events included the Ottawa Hills Egg Hunt put on by our neighborhood association at the elementary school. It was ‘thee most brisk’ of mornings but nothing that the kids couldn’t shake off for the sake of finding eggs filled with sugar. Back at home we dyed eggs and not moments after the kids vacated the kitchen did I crush their hard work and turn them into deviled eggs for Easter dinner the next day.
A bit more on Natalie’s birthday: the 16th was Natalie’s actual birthday and since then she’s been taking her new age very seriously. She recently asked if she could talk with me in private and asked if I would consider extending her bedtime because she was seven now. The maturity of it all melted my heart. I told her I thought it was a great idea and in exchange for new privileges that we should also discuss new responsibilities. We have definitely graduated from the ‘go get your dirty laundry basket and I’ll give you a jelly bean’ phase.
We also celebrated Natalie with a mother-daughter tea party in our dining room. There was pink punch, trays of cookies, cheese and crackers and, of course, cake! We used my great-grandmothers antique tea trays which was the exact right use of those heirlooms. The girls painted wooden magnets, played with their dolls (who were also invited to the party) and helped Natalie break in her new birthday presents. It was complete and total girlie cuteness and just perfect for our Miss Natalie birthday.
Thomas turned 5-years-old just before we left for our Spring Break trip to AZ and we had the best time with family celebrating him at his yellow themed birthday party. Thomas loves the flavor lemon (definitely not something he got from either Jeff or me) which lead to the yellow theme. Lemon cake, lemon ice cream, lemonade and all things yellow. He requested chicken nuggets and French fries for his birthday menu so I did him one better and told him I’d make him one giant chicken nugget - a.k.a. a chicken patty. Having chicken patties on buns with all the fixings felt like a nicer choice for our adult family members, however, it certainly would have been funny to see my Dad smash some Dino nuggets.
Thomas’ birthday date this year was one for the memory book… first he threw us a curve ball by asking if Natalie could come with us - unusual because the whole point of the birthday date is for him to have one on one time with Jeff and me. But who are we to tell him how to plan his special night. Next, he requested to go to Sky Zone which was a huge step-up from his Chuckie Cheese request last year. However, our plans were foiled upon arriving at Sky Zone after being turned away due to capacity being full - I should have prepurchased tickets online. We quickly pivoted and proposed THE MALL instead and let me tell you… it was a hit. Thomas and Natalie played on the monster playground, rode the ridiculous animal go-carts and got a fist full of coins for the kiddie rides by the food court. We are relishing in this moment of how easy and cheap it was to provide such a fun memory with the kids because it won’t be long before the kids are requesting much more elaborate and likely more expensive birthday dates.
It’s going to feel funny for a little while saying that we have kids ages seven and five because for some reason it sounds so much older than saying six and four. But what a joy it is! These kids just keep getting more and more fun. As we head into summer, their slightly older ages bring about new fun things to look forward to like riding bikes to Jersey Junction for ice cream now that Thomas can ride a two wheel and Natalie’s first experience with overnight camp with her buddy Vienna.
Happy Spring everyone! May our next few weeks be filled with warm sunshine and budding trees.