Cheryl's Kidzone: Easter egg-citement

Easter seems like a long time ago, doesn't it?
We're all still in the spirit of the season, though. The boys continue to find new chocolate in those plastic-filled shells. The dentist will be thrilled. Those brightly-colored eggs seem to be multiplying inside our house.

I was going to have an egg hunt in our backyard, but our friends and neighbors beat me to the punch.

What a treat for the kids to search for prize-filled eggs in new surroundings! Natalie hosted a little party (pictures above). Before that, Miss Anne, Baby Joshua's babysitter, brought the kids together (pictures below).

She even brought out the Easter Bunny, but as you can see, Baby Joshua would have enjoyed it more if the big bunny had stayed home.

Not to worry. Miss Mary (Miss Anne's mother-in-law) always manages to put a smile on 'oshie's face. And vice-versa.

I am happy to say we made it to Easter mass. And we got there early, so the children actually had a place to sit. It was a cold morning, so the kids were dressed in many layers, but thankfully, they allowed us this snapshot before they started whining about tearing it all off.

It has been something to see the changing relationship between the three brothers. Jason is beginning to embrace the role of big brother, Michael is taking on the middle child syndrome (you know, 'Why is it always Marsha, Marsha, Marsha?'), and Baby Joshua is just delightful, I suppose because he's just thrilled to be remembered.

The other day I overheard Jason say something I'm sure warmed Doug's heart. They were watching a commercial on ESPN, something about football, and out of Jason's mouth comes, "Daddy, what do you think about Georgia's chances this season?"

What!!? He's six. They talked football for the next ten minutes, games, scores, players. This is the just the beginning, isn't it?

Then there's Michael, who is a true treasure--when he is in a good mood.
We were discussing our trips to the beach last year and our flower child was recalling his first experiences with sand. I believe I wrote about it when it happened, but if you missed it, here goes. Michael ate it up. Vegetables don't touch his lips, but sand, no problem.

All of a sudden he said about the sandy beach, "One time I was eating a piece of sand and it was like magic in my mouth."

We'll be watching him closely on our next trip to the beach.

What would Easter be without a little bit of soccer? Michael had a game Easter weekend, and while we thought he was getting more interested in the game, we realized maybe he's better suited for something else.

Flowers, again, were the focus. This time, he stopped several times during consecutive quarters to look for some pretty flora to take home.