easter morning!

yesterday after soccer, we went home where i raced to bake an apple pie for a dinner one of matt's co-workers had invited us to at their house. we had a great time and their kids had even arranged for an easter egg hunt for our kids. there was lots of playing, conversation and fun. about five minutes into the 30 minute interstate ride home, mason threw up. a lot. um, that's not good. we were hoping that it was just that he had eaten so much candy today, had a huge hot dog at dinner and run all over. nope. he threw up again when we got home while matt was working on cleaning up the van and i was trying to get everyone showered and in bed. 

so i got him all set up to sleep in our bathroom and had him close his eyes while i pulled all of the easter baskets and fillings out of my closet. i actually bought most of the items while the kids were with me (but really, when am i ever without at least one child?), madelyn even picked out two of hers. 

madelyn's

mason's 

maddux'

manning's

mericifully, there was no more throwing up during the night and all four kids slept until after 6:30am! this is the first time in months that manning hasn't come and gotten into bed with me between 3:30 and 6. i felt more rested than i have in a long time - the perfect way to feel on easter morning! and it was going to be a glorious day weather-wise too.

the kids dug into their baskets while i was still in the shower and matt was still in bed. there was a problem when i came out though because manning liked maddux' basket better than his and when i switched them, he refused to accept his and pushed it across the table with a "no!". but after a few minutes he came around and took a look at what he had.

checking out their loot.

we were already planning on matt staying home with mason. then matt woke up not feeling so great himself. uh-oh. then manning had a diarrhea diaper that went all the way up his back and needed a bath. so i guess it was just going to be madelyn, maddux and i for easter services. well, maddux made it as far as getting dressed before his stomach was hurting so much that he was crying. the mean mom that i am, i asked him to let me at least take his picture before he changed for staying home. he was just too cute.

he even agreed to take one with me. 

so it was just madelyn and i for church this easter. there weren't children's classes this week except for 3-year-olds and younger which means that madelyn got to hang out with me in the 2 and 3-year-old hallway for the first (really second today) service. we had a pretty normal attendance and heard that there were a lot of the 3-year-olds in service with their families. i was down a teacher but had a new family volunteer so we were covered but it was still a little hectic.

then it was our turn to go to service. we normally attend the latest service and it might be a quarter full (most people have bible studies during second service and attend first service), anyway, today it was full to over flowing! the earlier two services had been full and needed overflow accommodations too. it was such a great service. they used this telling of the easter story for the kids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlPDqwBYF4o. it is really cute and got great response during service.

one drawback of a full service was that it took us 20 minutes to get out of the parking lot!

once we got home we learned that daddy had gotten sick and the boys were doing pretty well (and eating everything because daddy was in bed). since i was so well rested (hooray) the kids and i went outside and kept very busy while daddy got some rest. we even got a little bit of a sunburn! we came in to make an afternoon snack of "resurrection rolls." we used crescents this year and they didn't work out as well as the biscuits did last year, but they were super tasty and the kids loved that the marshmallows were 'gone' just like jesus from the tomb.

the beautiful weather more than made up for the sickness in the house. we were able to play outside and open the windows for some fresh air. it was so warm that maddux and mason took their shirts off and maddux tried to go 'swimming' in the little water running down the driveway from the water table.

it was such a relaxing day at home celebrating that jesus is alive!

and then mason threw-up again after he went to bed. sigh. i guess we get to stay home tomorrow too. love.