For a blended family, holidays require a little more effort if you want to make memories and keep traditions. This year, the boys were set to spend Easter with their bio mom. For us this means they will stay the evening before Easter with her and we will get them back the evening of Easter. We wanted to have a family get together so to accommodate the schedule we chose to have a brunch Saturday morning with Easter festivities to follow. Keep in mind we had just gotten home from the Hospital Friday afternoon for Carlos’ neck surgery and had to pick the kids up the same evening along with a grocery store run for Saturday’s brunch menu – so the house was a little hectic.
I chose to make a super yummy breakfast crescent ring that I’ve made only once before and something new I hadn’t tried, a french toast bake that everyone loved. The adults indulged in tequila sunrise mimosas and the kids enjoyed fresh fruit cut into bunny and egg shapes. The brunch was an all around success – which is crucial to my southern roots of perfectionism and hospitality. Plus we got to use our newly built table that comfortably fit everyone including the food.
After stuffing ourselves with tequila and breakfast we retired to the backyard for the traditional easter egg hunt. This year was a lot more fun because Dex, who is almost 3, was able to run around on his own and find his egg colors without too much help.
“I always categorize the colors before the kids go out to the yard. Everyone gets a chance at a basketful of eggs plus it makes the hunt a little harder since you can’t grab the first egg you see. The kids love it.
Once everyone had found all their eggs and the adults did a walk through of the yard for stragglers (which turned up hours later when the kids went to play outside) we went inside to unveil the goodies.
“I’ve always had a hard time trying to fill these tiny eggs. This year seemed a bit easier. I wanted to spend the least amount of money. To me it’s about the experience and not so much what is inside the eggs. Additionally my oldest, Vince, is not much into candy so I have to be creative. Here’s what we had this year:
~ We spread out $7.50 in quarters between the eggs
~ Gummy bear candies in different shapes. For the girl I did ring and cherry shapes and for the boys I did regular bears, snakes, and bottle shapes. This all came in one small gummy bear bag that was $1 at Walmart
~ Bouncy balls for the boys, 98 cents at Walmart
~ Tiny jeweled rings for the girl, 98 cents at Walmart
~ Neon balloons, 98 cents at Walmart for a bag
~ What was left we filled with Easter Hershey Kisses and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups that I had bought anyway as after breakfast sweets for everyone
As the kids emptied the eggs, we blew up all the balloons which kept the kids entertained for a couple hours popping them, hiding them, and trying to see who can keep their balloon up the longest. It was also Carlos’ mom’s birthday so we did cake and candles. We got blessed with some beautiful spring weather so of course we went back outside to take advantage of that. Around here you never know when another snow storm will pop up. It was so nice being out in the sun while the kids played in the yard.
We finished up our early Easter by dying eggs. Dex really enjoyed this, he was so fascinated by his eggs I could barely get him to look into the camera with the others. Before the kids left to go to their moms, their aunt and grandma surprised them with easter baskets. What a day!
My heart was so full. We couldn’t believe all the stuff we were able to accomplish in a few short hours but everyone had such a great time. These are the things I look forward to and hope that the kids always remember and cherish. Happy Easter!
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