Though it would have been nice to attend services at our home church, the weekend away offered us a chance to put a little distance between Mike and work (he's been working crazy for the last two months) and soak up the loving that his family so readily doles out for Anna and Abe.
Abe did, indeed, get to ride in his beloved papa's truck again and even enjoyed a "boys" day with Dada and papa while Anna joined Pam and me for a little shopping and lunch in Kirkwood. Now that she is no longer napping, we have so much more freedom. Just being able to wander around and eat and relax without rushing to get home for a nap is such an awesome feeling. Honestly, I think I'd forgotten what it felt like to have that luxury.
Of course, that nice weather on Friday afternoon was completely eclipsed by the horrible storms that night. We hunkered down in the basement with flashlights and sleeping bags for quite awhile before they finally gave us the all clear. Abe, as you can imagine, was really only interested in touching the highly dangerous items stored downstairs like the weight-lifting equipment, paint and caulk. If we hadn't been on the path of the southern storm system, I'm not sure I would have stayed downstairs that long. It was tough trying to keep the kids occupied.
Saturday we celebrated Easter with Mike's extended family. Anna was beyond excited that her "cousins" would be coming over to play. These kids are Mike's cousin's children, which does technically make them Anna's cousins but I think they're fifth cousins or something at this point. Not that Anna cares, she's dying for cousins and has major crushes on Evie, Jack, Aidan and Grace. It's pretty cute to watch.
I know it will surprise you, but the Easter bunny managed to figure out that Anna and Abe were in St. Louis instead of Chicago this year. I don't know how he does it. That guy is a genius.
Abe got up early (shocker!) and head downstairs first. He managed to grab a few eggs and swipe some jelly beans, but Anna really instigated the egg hunt when she awoke about an hour later. She knew the drill and was grabbing eggs left and right, stuffing them into her little straw basket. Abe on the other hand practically had to be handed an egg before realizing that he could take it and put it in his basket. He'd try to open the eggs each time and stuff his mouth full of jelly beans. Instant gratification? Um, yes, please.
Cadbury milk chocolate bunny??? Come hither.
Anna takes the lead, grabbing the cleverly hidden eggs in the corner of the dining room.
Abe seeks the guidance of an older and wiser egg-hunter - Aunt Meagan.
Anna momentarily contemplates how she will hold a third egg while delivering her baby to a safe location. I believe the baby was later abandoned in favor of the candy.
Now, Papa, if you just open it for me, I'll show you how I can fit 7 jelly beans in my mouth at once.
The kids had a great time collecting eggs and opening their Easter baskets. I wish we'd been able to stay longer, but another storm system was threatened the area and we knew we needed to get on the road quickly before we ended up in dangerous conditions.
I did manage to take a quick snapshot of the gorgeous sunrise in the backyard. It was really very brief. Thunder clouds edged their way back into our sky fast and looked like they wanted nothing more than to dump another shower on us.
The close of Easter means the end of our Sunday Sabbath ritual again this year. We both miss it when it ends. Yes there are hassles, but this year's attempt was much more successful than last year. I think in large part the success is due to the fact that I stopped judging the experience in terms of "winning" or "losing" each Sunday and, instead, just recognized that we were doing the best job we could and let the rest go.
I also made some commitments to try and put the computer away during the day more. This meant that I was a bit more focused on getting stuff done rather than watching time waste away. If I didn't respond to your email for a few days, don't be offended, my internet time was decreased and I found myself catching up on emails at the end of the day. In addition, I tackled some reading that I'd wanted to do for a very long time, which also ate into my internet and blog-posting time. My posting slacked off a bit but I felt much more fulfilled and happy about how we handled Lent this year.
And that, my friends, is how the Roths celebrated Easter this year. It was great to spend time with everyone. We miss you already.
1 comment:
sounds wonderful ;)
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