Up From the Gravy and Rolls

I hope everyone had a great Easter. Thanks, John, for letting me steal this title. (Hey, John, can I steal this title?) I tried explaining "Up From the Gravy and Rolls" to Brandon, only to find out that he has never heard this song before. Hello? "Up From The Grave He Arose"?? Seriously?

Easter Sunday started bright and early for Brandon, who spent 7 hours at the church Sunday morning. I love our church. We added an extra service on Sunday, we went to service, and then I got to spend a little while cuddling babies in the nursery. The boys had a great time in their classes, made some new friends, and learned some new songs. Harper ate her weight in Cheerios in the nursery, and the wonderful volunteers made sure her dress stayed clean for Easter pictures!

We went home from church and enjoyed lunch that had cooked in the crock pot all morning, and I felt a little bit like my mom with all the lunch-cookin-while-we're-at-church. (Sidenote: we NEVER ate out Sunday lunch after church growing up. Mom ALWAYS had lunch cookin', and we always had plenty to share with whatever friends we wanted to have over. Fun times.)

The Easter Bunny (which my children know doesn't exist anyway) never visits our house until after church, and this year, didn't even come until after Harper's afternoon nap. He conveniently knew that baby sister wouldn't be very cooperative for pictures and egg hunting until she had a good nap. The boys got a new pair of shoes, and some other goodies that the Easter Bunny found at Walgreens and the dollar spot at Target. And some of those mini-Whopper eggs that I'm secretly hoping Aidan forgets about.

What the Easter Bunny didn't count on, was Harper feeling completely jipped by the contents of her own Easter basket (Hello, baby Cheetos and bubbles, anyone?) and interested only in the pencils, candy, and doo-dads in her brothers' baskets. The boys' Easter-basket favorite (what they're playing with above) was this horrible candy-tube thing that makes the most annoying noise you have ever heard when the trigger is pulled. Easter Bunny has learned her lesson in regards to Things That Make Awful Noises.

I was determined to get a picture of the kids on the love seat, and only managed to confirm my hatred of my camera's flash. Harper face-planted at the playground last week, and scratched her face right in-between her eyes. Then Friday, taking a cue from her brothers, picked at the scratch until it bled down her face, and by Easter Sunday sported a yucky scab right in the middle of her face. I left it in most of the pictures, but edited it out of this one:

I'm not so good at editing out flash-glares on little boys' glasses.

The boys hunted eggs in the backyard,

while the Easter Bunny marveled at how green the grass is right now, and thanked Mr. Easter Bunny for working in the yard the day before.

Harper wandered aimlessly around the backyard in her cute Easter dress...

...and then cracked open an egg while her mommy snapped pictures of her and the choking-hazard jelly beans.

She managed to survive the harrowing encounter with the jelly beans to enjoy the fruits, (er, chocolate) of her brothers' labor.

So, how was your Easter?