Happy Easter!

Had a fun outing today with the kids..the annual American Easter party for our club of local Americans in France. This year...a big treat for the little ones.. THE REAL EASTER BUNNY was there! I got some fun shots...pretty much my ideal afternoon-the kids dressed up for photos, a full battery, my nifty fifty lens and 8 gigs of memory! :) I had a blast. Luckily the rain held off for the event, but it is raining now so we'll have to see what happens for tomorrow's hunt! Evan was in his hayday today---running freely and eating chocolate. Happy Easter!

Easter!!

We had a really nice Easter this year with the kids. Toomas took the big kids to the Easter vigil mass on "Easter Eve" (it was at 8:30 pm and lasted until 11 pm!). The church was dark and lit only by the candles that were held by everyone. There was a small procession outside in a single file line, with everyone holding their candles. I know from previous years that it is indeed very beautiful. I was sad to miss the mass, but I knew how long it would last and my concern was over Kaitlyn. Evan is EASY. I could have taken him for sure, but 8:30 is about Kaitlyn's bedtime and Toomas said that it was even hard for Erik to stay up *and attentive* for the whole 2.5 hours!

The kids and Toomas got home after 11 and crashed. Everyone slept in until 8:30 on Easter morning which was nice. This was just after I had fed Evan so the timing was perfect. We all headed down at about 8:45 with Evan content and sleeping.

Kaitlyn was really excited about Easter this year..but she kept forgetting her basket. She would go find a chocolate egg and just put down the previous one she had found. The Easter bunny left a few small gifts on the couch for the kids ( new underwear sets for all 4 kids, a book for Krista, a few Pokemon cards for Erik and a puzzle for Kaitlyn...and a DVD for everyone "Open Season".) It was a GORGEOUS day and we hunted outside for easter eggs after brunch. Kaitlyn was less interested in hunting outside only because she wanted to play on the swingset so badly. She had already collected her share of eggs in the house I guess. Erik and Krista had a lot of fun finding all the eggs outside...but Krista said it was "too easy"!! I guess the Easter bunny will have to step things up a bit and be sneakier next year!

We were really blessed with the gorgeous weather we had on Easter. It is STILL beautiful infact.. This is perfect for the landscapers now who are diligently working on our entry project. I'll have PLENTY more photos of that in step by step action! :)

I'm also thankful for the weather because Erik has his week long "green class" this week where they will be spending every day on a Farm this week. The weather really couldn't be nicer! Okay...I'll be back with the landscaping pictures shortly...

Easter Happenings '08

What busy time of year! Easter week was filled with many religous activities for us. Krista, as an altar girl & First Communion student, had a lot of events to attend. There were 2 masses this past week and we also went to the "stations of the cross" on Wednesday. The Easter "Eve" mass was great, but SOOOO LONG! It started at 8:30 and we didn't get home until past 11:00. Poor Erik fell asleep on my lap at church. Krista did a wonderful job as "servant de mess" / altar girl. There was a candle-light procession from the parish center to the church which was really neat . (see photo of Krista in her altar-gown). It was SO COLD that night though, and on Easter morning we woke up to snow! It was still a really fun Easter, despite the SNOW falling outside. I had visions of the girls running around the yard in their matching dresses and Erik in pure bliss on the BIG day of the Easter egg hunt! Instead it turned out to be a fun morning of indoor egg hunting! Kaitlyn didn't really 'get it' at all. She just wanted to eat CHOCOLATE! This posed a small problem because it always seems to trigger an allergic skin reaction for her. I ALMOST managed to keep her from eating chocolate on Easter, but she was a sneak and quickly swallowed it whole! It was a fun day for all! I also will try to post a few photos of the kids Easter craft projects too. I'm pretty much swamped right now with all the preparations for our big trip to the states for Mike's wedding! WE CAN'T WAIT!

Easter 2007

We had a fun Easter this year. Kaitlyn didn't exactly get the concept, but she sure did have fun eating the plastic eggs. We also found out she isn't a fan of chocolate for the moment (but I'm sure it won't be too long before she converts).

Erik and Krista woke up early as usual, put on their clothes for church and then came in to wake us up. They were 100% dressed and ready from head to toe when they woke me. I told them not to go downstairs and to come get us up first. They followed their instructions to the tee, and at 7:45 they were ready, baskets in hand and dressed head to toe. We got ready and all headed downstairs to see if the Easter bunny found our house. Indeed he had! The kids had fun running around the house finding the little nests, but since there isn't a grass yard this year the Easter bunny only could put eggs on the patio. After the hunt we had a quick breakfast and then I woke Kaitlyn up and we headed off by foot (and stroller) to church. There are 2 churches in our village and the 11:00 mass was at the one that is about 400 meters from our house. It was a gorgeous, sunny day and the walk felt wonderful! We have a lot to be thankful for this Easter!