Here Comes Peter Cottontail.

Actually, I am not really sure where exactly my two older kids are with the whole Easter Bunny thing, because a few days before Easter I received two fairly detailed lists, both casually left on the kitchen counter, one from each daughter about exactly what kind of candy each would enjoy in their baskets.  Lots of requests for Cadbury mini eggs, Hershey's kisses, M&M's, a request for Dasani water flavor stuff (which I rail against, since it's all colored dye and fake sugar... blech), and one request for a chocolate bunny.  Alec only wanted a Skylander and some Skittles.  So someone is getting the idea that Peter/ Mommy responds to advance scouting lists.

Easter was wonderful.  We started the day with an Easter Egg Hunt encompassing the entire downstairs of our house, and I hid the eggs in slightly trickier places this year.  Everyone gets a golden egg with their name on it (Michaela's is actually gold... Jenna and Alec's are really just yellow... first-born status has its perks, eh?) that has $5 in it.  The rule is that is you somehow find a sibling's golden egg, you have to keep your mouth shut and move on.  Two of the three kids found the other's golden egg, and in neither case was the Golden Egg rule followed.

Don't tell Jenna, but when I opened up the eggs from last year, a $5 bill fell out of hers.  (Suddenly Easter as a whole was $5 cheaper.)

We then had our cinnamon rolls and started getting ready.  Off to church we went.

Jenna sang in the choir and the lilies were gorgeous all around.  There is nothing like the joy of Easter morning!

Photo op at the altar.  I love my girls.  Alec was not on board with the family shot at the altar.

Right after church, we headed over to my mom's where we played Hot and Cold and "found" our baskets that are in the same four hiding spaces every single year.  Lots of merriment ensued going through the baskets, especially since a Skylander and the DVD of Frozen were involved. We also got some nice family pictures.

(A brief word about the Easter Outfits: I have not been this casual about a holiday outfit ensemble since Christmas of 2004.  Michaela refuses to match, Alec won't wear any kind of vest, Jenna is done wearing Gymboree, so I basically bought a dress for Jenna that she liked and let the chips fall where they may.  I was really bummed out- really just sad- that holiday wear circa 2010 are gone... all three in their little matching Gymboree dresses and vests.  At one point the words, "I don't care... Easter is DEAD TO ME" were uttered.  Then I got my act together and worked it out.  Turned out pretty good, even though Alec is wearing crocs, Michaela is wearing my necklace and I grabbed a necklace from Jenna that I think she made at a birthday craft party.) 

We headed home for a bit and then went back to my mom's for dinner with more family members.  It was a lovely evening.

When it was all said and done, my buffet in the kitchen looked like this:

and I decided 1) I could open a candy store and 2) I am going to send out the word next year that we don't need quite as much candy for Easter.

I was a little sad the whole day, missing this:

Hard to believe that was only a year ago.

We dyed eggs on Easter Saturday and made one for him, of course.
 He is always with us.