Easter Eve

On the day before Easter, we packed A LOT of action into a mere 12 or 13 hours! The day began with Ben's tee ball practice.

We came home and knocked out some yard work. Jim and I moved a bunch of trimmed branches to the front curb in preparation for the township brush pick-up on Monday. As we made our final trip through the side yard, we were scared out of our minds by a momma duck flying off of her nest...that is nestled in between a shrub and our gas tank!!!! Can you see the nest and eggs below? I drew an arrow. :) The kids are super excited about the 12 eggs, and I'm sure we'll continue to keep a close watch over them. We have already come up with 12 names in birth order. We'll let you know when they hatch... Momma's still there, as of the evening of Friday, 4/24.

Then, while the kids and I headed in for lunch, Jim mowed the lawn. As he started on the back yard, he yelled to us to come see what other "wildlife" he had discovered! This little guy almost got a very close shave! :)

After the mowing was finished, the kids headed back outside for the "Summer Festibal" that Ellie had been planning for days. Even though it was quite warm, I wasn't too sure they'd last in the sprinkler. Well, I was wrong! They ran around in the yard, chasing each other through the water for a long while! Notice Ellie's goggles? Everyone needs goggles when running through a sprinkler, right? :) Ben was upset that he couldn't find his. I did eventually uncover them, but apparently I took too long. When I took them out to him, he had Ellie's Cinderella ones on, instead. :)

Ellie was SO excited about going to Nana and Pop-Pop's for our Weaver Family Easter Dinner that she couldn't stand herself! While the boys played Wii for a bit after the "Summer Festibal," I sat with her in the dining room and painted my nails (I know! Can you believe it?!?!) while she drew this picture for Nana and Pop-Pop. She was quite proud of her work, and rightfully so! Too cute!

Leave it to me to throw in a detour on the way to an exciting family event! I couldn't help myself, though. The kids were so adorable in their Easter finery that I just had to get some good pics of them! We took the long way to Nana and Pop-Pop's and swung by Messiah College for a super fast 10-15 minutes of photos. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Ben's serious face???

"C'mon, Ben. Give me a smile!" Yeah...Stacy, this one's for you! I think Ben and Eli are kindred spirits! :)

Walking back to the van. So sweet!

At Nana and Pop-Pop's we went outside for an egg hunt. What incredible weather we had for Easter weekend!!!!! Here are the three Weaver granddaughters. Corey, 7 1/2; Ellie, 4; Lily almost 2. Lily is wearing the dress that both of the older girls wore around the same age.

This next one of Ben just exudes little boy holiday excitement. Makes me smile... Incidentally, see the sport coat? I bought it at a consignment shop for $8.00. And I'm pretty sure that it is the reason the weather was so warm for Easter this year. It was like pulling teeth to get him to leave it on..."Mommy, I'm hot..." lol!

Ellie contemplating her basket of purple eggs after the egg hunt...

Each grandchild had a different color of egg to collect. It made for a much more civil hunt and quite a beautiful photo opp afterward! :)

Soon after the egg hunt, we dined with the Weavers and then headed home to prepare for the Easter Bunny's visit. Somehow the children decided that this year we should leave out a snack of lettuce, carrots, and water for the Bunny. Then, at the last minute, they decided that perhaps the Bunny would also like a banana! I have no idea where that idea came from! Since they weren't sure if he would eat it or not, we left it out as an "experiment." :) Then we trudged off to bed to rest for the next day's excitement...