Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!  We had a fun Easter this year, although it was a bit more memorable than usual, and not for the best reasons.  Unfortunately the kids have had a couple of rounds of sickness recently.  Our kids have rarely had fevers when they've been sick in the past, but they passed around 2 different viruses this month, both with a fever as the biggest symptom.  So weird!  The first one came along with a pretty bad cough, and started with Emily.  She came down with it a few hours after our Easter pictures....which may explain a bit of why the girls were NOT having it for most of the shoot.  We were technically just doing a mini-session, which was supposed to be for the kids only.  However, knowing our girls, Matt and I decided to be presentable just in case we had to step in and hold them for pictures.  So glad we did, because our awesome photographer let us stay for 3 times our allotted time {we were right before her lunch break}....and since the girls weren't wanting to sit and smile for the camera, we all got in on the action.  

This was a fun bonus picture that wasn't even in our gallery, and Allie added to our CD of images as a surprise.  I love Caroline's sweet face as she offers the flower to Matt!  

So everyone had the cough/fever bug around picture time, and then another one hit during the week of Easter.  Will got this one first, and had a fever and felt crummy for a few days.  

And then it hit Caroline on Good Friday afternoon.  

Luckily everyone was happy and feeling good for the morning that day, so we had Mimi and Duke over for an egg hunt and to dye eggs.  The kids had a blast!  This was the girls' first time to hunt eggs, and they got really into it.  We probably hid eggs in the front yard 20 times in the 2 days before Easter.  Such fun!

This guy knew just what to do!

the hair!!!

Caroline was already starting to feel bad, we just didn't know it yet...poor baby.

Eggs!

THIS is the best picture I could get of all three, ha!

I didn't take any pics of the egg dying process, because I was busy dying eggs!  But here are our finished products.  The kids loved it, and I've had some requests for more egg dying lately.

On Friday evening, Will still had a bit of a fever, even though he was feeling better, and Caroline was feeling pretty awful.  So while I was checking temps, I checked Emily's too.  She had a very low fever, but enough that I assumed she had already gotten it and just had a mild version.  Then by Saturday night, everyone was feeling much better, so we thought we'd have a fully recovered crew for Easter.  {do you see where this is going yet?}  So while we were sleeping....

...the Easter bunny came!

The girls love the Duck & Goose books, so the Easter bunny brought them little stuffed Duck and Goose dolls, along with some books, jewelry, coloring books, nail polish, and lots of fun girly goodies.

Will was excited to get some new chapter books!  He also got some fun games and coloring books, two of his favorite inside activities right now.

You'd think we styled her hair like that, right?  Nope.  Hairstyling by God.

Will sat and read through some of his new books...such a sweet and smart little guy!

Because everyone had been sick, we were afraid they might be a little cranky sitting through a big church service.  So we live-streamed our church on tv, via the web!  So cool to be able to be there, but from home. 

After church, we all got dressed {seems like that is in the wrong order, huh?} and headed over to Mimi and Duke's house.

Caroline was proud of her new bracelets!

Until right before we left, Emily had been just fine.  And then suddenly, she was NOT.  

But she recovered, and again, since she had already had the little bit of fever on Friday, I totally thought she was just tired and cranky.  So off we went for a day of Easter fun!

Playing at Mimi and Duke's house

We had a great time celebrating, and Emily pulled herself out of her little funk and loved playing and opening her Easter basket.  We had a yummy lunch, and we took lots of pictures.  I realized early on that we weren't going to have much luck with a family group picture.  We are lucky to get one of those on a "totally healthy, everyone is happy" day.... so we knew that with everyone slightly cranky and tired, we shouldn't even bother.  So I took lots of candid shots, and a few one-on-ones with the kids.  

This guy LOVES to read.

One of the most-loved items in their baskets was definitely the goldfish grahams.

So excited!  {I promise I do feed them at home!}

Mimi had a cute decorative basket with grass and eggs, and the girls kept asking to "dump it."

Grandparents are the best!

Miss Emily and me

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And sweet Caroline!

This guy loves a good tickle monster.

Emily loves the tickles too!

And I wish I had more pictures of the rest of our Easter, but the wheels sort of came off after the kids' naps.  We headed over to Nana's house for dinner and more Easter celebrating.  And this begins what we now refer to as the Easter Apocalypse 2014.  Emily was pretty fussy and clingy as soon as we got there, but sometimes she's just like that around big groups, so I didn't think much of it.  And then during dinner, Caroline legitimately choked on a piece of ham.  Like, no sounds coming out and red face....so scary!  Luckily, she recovered on her own, but we were glad to be sitting at a table full of lifeguards...especially since my child CPR skills apparently need some refreshing.  After that bit of drama, Emily got super upset, and when I felt her head, she was SO hot.  :(  Apparently she had not previously caught the bug when I thought she did, and came down with it on Easter night.  So while everyone was finishing dessert, and Nana was getting our stuff packed up, I kept Emily back in the kids' room to try to calm her down.  And then, when everything and everyone was ready to go, I walked her out to say goodbye to the family.  And that's exactly when she threw up spectacularly all over the carpet.  POOR BABY!  Luckily it was a one-time thing, and must have just been her reaction to the fever and a very busy day.  {Since no one else had thrown up, I did have a moment of worry that she had a NEW virus, and the entire family was about to go down with a stomach bug.}  Everyone was MUCH better the next morning, but what a way to make a grand exit from a family dinner.  And there you go...that's why we don't have any pictures of Easter evening.  But aside from all the drama, we really did have a very fun Easter weekend.  And we are saying a little prayer for good health in the future!

I also love that the kids {especially Will} are starting to learn what these fun holidays are really about.  I suppose I shouldn't be too bold in making claims that he gets it yet, as Will and I did have this conversation the other day:

Me: Will, what did you learn about in school this morning?

Will: We talked about Easter and how Jesus died on the crocodile, and then rose from the dead.

Me: Oh that's great!  And, you mean, died on the cross.

Will: <<looks at me like I'm an idiot>> Uh, no mama. The CROCODILE.  You're not saying it right.

Happy Easter!!