Happy Resurrection Day!

This was our first Easter season with two children! So hard to believe that last year this time we were watching Cayman hunt easter eggs in our best friends' front yard (Kyle and Jennifer who we lived with for a short time) and watching me attempt to waddle around chasing after him with my big ol' pregnant belly. Here are some pictures from Easter 2010...

So hard to believe that six days later our lives would change forever!

Easter 2011 was interesting...fun in some ways, not in other ways. Yesterday the kids and I drove to Port Charlotte to attend the Easter Extravaganza that our old church puts on each year. I had no idea that the event was so HUGE and popular! I'm happy for the church because they had such a great turnout. However...for a mommy alone with two young kids it was not a very fun day. Trying to maneuver a grumpy two year old and a stroller through an extremely crowded elementary school's sidewalks...well, you can just imagine how un-fun it was. Once we got home, I just knew the kids were going to take a good nap before our Saturday night service at church. But...of course I was wrong! Neither one took a nap (Charis took a short one in the van on the way home and whenever she does that she refuses to fall asleep at home!) Cayman..well...he was just being stubborn! Thankfully, the nursery workers didn't complain about him when we picked him up after the service last night! He must have been good for them. Poor Charis though. She does NOT like going to church...she cries every time! I can't wait until she's out of the separation anxiety stage. 

After we got home from church, while mine and Ian's supper was baking in the oven, we all dyed eggs. I was so excited about dyeing eggs in this fast, easy, simple method my sister-in-law Allison showed us while we were all in Augusta. BUT... Our eggs did not dry completely, or the hot weather just melted the dye off the eggs while outside in the yard. Something happened because when the kids picked them up to put in their baskets, they got dye all over themselves (and their new Easter clothes...well, Cayman got it on his shirt, thankfully Charis didn't get it on her dress...) Anyways. This method worked perfectly in Augusta where the temperature wasn't in the high 80s, so I will share it with you! 

First, of course, you hard boil your eggs and allow them to cool.

Put one egg in a sandwich size ziploc bag. Add one drop of food coloring. (Of course you can add more than one drop and additional colors as well!)

Roll the egg in the ziploc bag until the egg is coated in color. 

Dry the eggs in the egg container.

There you have it! The easiest egg dyeing process around. At least for young children. Even Charis got in on the action!

Of course we attended church this morning (last night's service was when Ian and I serve -- I've been helping in the 4-5 year old class, and he helps the parking team.) So we go back on Sundays to attend the service. We all got dressed up and headed out...unfortunately we were about 20 minutes late. :( But that was ok, because the Lord truly spoke to us and uplifted us during the service. You can listen to the message from our service here.

Our egg hunt after lunch was no fun. Cayman threw a huge fit and therefore did NOT want to hunt for eggs. When he did pick one up, the dye got all over his hands and new pink shirt. Therefore the pictures I wanted to take outside of Cayman and Charis in their cute outfits were "ruined" by stains down the front of Cayman's shirt (I know...I'm exaggerating a bit...but I was frustrated at the time!) So Ian hunted all the eggs (that he had just hidden 10 minutes prior) and just threw them all in the trashcan. Then we blew bubbles until Cayman threw another fit about something else... Can you say, "Naptime?!?" 

I started the Russell family tradition with the kids this year -- hiding Easter baskets somewhere in the house. They're supposed to be hidden for the kids to find them first thing in the morning...but...since we were late already, we waited until after lunch!

Charis found hers and immediately started digging through it.

My one good picture of the two of them on Easter Sunday.

Hunting with Daddy

Just taking a walk

Blowing bubbles (the stain doesn't even show up!)

The culmination of Easter Sunday...I do love the Easter dress I scored at Belk for $12, though!

Unfortunately, Cayman tried to skip his nap again, but once he heard that he was not going to be allowed out of his room until he slept, he decided he better fall asleep. 

As I sit here tonight typing this, I'm saddened to realize how I allowed things of this world to distract me from the meaning of this special day. Of course I was focused on the meaning during our church service today, but I allowed so many separate events to take my mind off what is most important - that my Savior sacrificed His life on a cross for sinners like us but in doing so He conquered death and was risen from the grave three days after His death. Such an amazing event in the history of Christianity and this world...and I lost sight of it so often today. I would say, there's always next year. But why do I have to wait a year to focus on the sacrifice that was made for me so many years ago? Instead, I will say, there's always tomorrow. Because tomorrow, and everyday, is the perfect time to reflect on Christ's crucifixion and resurrection and the promise that those two events hold for me!