Just Us ~ Easter Week

Just Us Week Four was not just any ol' week; it was the week of Easter! 

Really the first half of the week felt exactly like the last three weeks, but the last half felt special and will be an Easter we will always remember. 

The kids practically lived outside Monday through Wednesday. They even have the beginnings of their summer tans now. A sweet memory for me was when my middle child fell asleep on me for an afternoon nap. He doesn't regularly nap, and I don't remember the last time it was on me; Baby Auggie memories came flooding back. The summer he turned one we probably napped like this everyday, and I didn't realize how much I missed it. Maybe I can talk Bennett into a couch nap...

Who am I kidding. That ain't happening. B's personality seems to get bigger with every passing week. He keeps us laughing. He also keeps giving us grey hairs. 

Besides talking non-stop, his new favorite hobby is sticking things up his nose. In the last week we have had to deal with a large chunk of pretzel, this bead (that I thought was going to earn him a trip to the doctor) and a black jelly bean. At least he wasted the licorice one. He is our first nose obsessed child...how do we make him stop!?!

Em would still be outside from Monday with dirt under her finger nails and baby hairs flying in the wind if I did make her come in for supper. She actually told me this herself. She said if she didn't have me she could wear her hair in just a ponytail everyday and stay outside as long as she wanted. She then smiled and said, "But I would more rather have you." Thanks Em. She also couldn't stay away from her Baby B. Such a mother hen this one. 

The Easter fun started for us when a student/cheerleader of mine surprised us with an Easter egg hunt in our yard. I knew she was coming, so I entertained the kids inside until we heard the doorbell ring. They ran to the door only to see eggs all over the yard! All three were expert finders. 

Nana stopped by on Saturday with some Easter surprises. Lawn chairs and water bottles, which are so perfect for right now. The kids love them, and so do I. 

This picture cracks me up. Since Nana is working out in public, she has been extra-extra careful not to pass anything to us. We miss her and I know she misses us. She says for the next pandemic she is moving in....Doug says he might move to Newton then. Just kidding Nana (I think). 

Sunday we celebrated Easter! The only thing normal about this Easter were the matching outfits the kids wore (for all of five minutes). While we very much missed celebrating with our families, we did have a very sweet day together and memories were made. 

Emery Kayt says her favorite part was making our Resurrection Rolls together and seeing that Jesus was no longer in the tomb!

Auggie says his favorite part was finding his new kick board that the Easter Bunny brought him (very clear to me today that Aug doesn't quite get the real reason we celebrate Easter--we have some work to do, but that is okay).

Bennett couldn't exactly tell us his favorite part, but he was most excited to be dressed like Daddy and loved it when we ran to the cross. 

After a breakfast of Nutella and strawberry crepes (we fancy), church from the couch and an Easter picture taken from a ladder concoction, we visited Effingham's cross. The crepes and the cross might be new Easter traditions. 

We made it home for Jansen Easter aka a zoom with Doug's siblings and parents. It was good to see everyones faces, but it just made me eager to celebrate next years Easter with all of them and with my family. 

We elected to color eggs while Bennett napped (my idea and I'm still thanking myself for it). We usually color eggs with my best friend Kaci and her family; it is a long standing tradition. While we very much missed them, the big kids still had fun. I also determined that coloring eggs is much easier and dare I say boring with no little kids and no sharing of colors. 

The last memory made, and a definite new tradition, was making our Resurrection Rolls for supper. I made these as a kid with my Mom during the week of Easter for church. I don't know why I hadn't thought to do them before this. As we made them we discussed that the crescent roll represented the tomb where they laid Jesus after he was crucified. The marshmallow represented Jesus. The butter and cinnamon-sugar mixture represented the oils that were put on Jesus's dead body. We rolled the marshmallow into the butter/mixture and wrapped it in the "tomb". I wanted to make sure they remembered what each part represented before we baked them, so I asked the big kids to tell me. When they got to the butter and cinnamon-sugar they very confidently said together, "and the butter and cinnamon-sugar is the butter and cinnamon-sugar they put on Jesus's body after he died..."

Ummm...close I guess. After supper I cut open a roll to reveal that it was empty (the marshmallow melts leaving an empty "tomb"). I asked Emery to tell me why we celebrate Easter and she said because Jesus is alive and the tomb is empty! When she saw the empty roll she was shocked! Auggie's response: "So the marshmallows went to Heaven!?!" Told you he didn't quite grasp the concept this year.  

At bed time everyone agreed that this was a special Easter. Sweet memories were made that I will add to my own childhood memories of Easter hymns, three equally sectioned off egg hunting spots at Grandma and Grandpa's, and years of yummy food made by the women in my life. 

Today we begin week five of just us, and the colder weather has me wondering how we will pass the time. It might be puzzles and play doh on repeat but that is okay; we will continue to look for the fun and good of this just us time.