Is This Normal?
The chaos that is the KerbersArchive for Easter
Happy Easter
We had a lovely day at my cousin’s house in Sycamore with a whole lotta great food and family. Every Illinois Henrikson was there, which doesn’t happen often. So of course, we lined the kids up and started snapping pictures.
Then we lined them up by age (like the pictures we have of all of my cousins together), too.
After the photo shoot, it was time for the egg hunt. The grownups hid eggs all over the yard and the kids were off.
Everyone loved it, and the fact that the Johnsons have a huge backyard definitely helped. The kids were running all over the place frantically collecting eggs. After a very short time, the yard had been vacuumed clean of colorful eggs and it was time for the kids to collect their booty.
It was a really great day. The weather was gorgeous, the company was fabulous, and the food was very yummy. I just can’t believe that I didn’t even get one picture of anyone eating fritters or even a picture of some fritters themselves! That is inexcusable. Guess I’ll have to wait until next Easter since they only get made once a year. Oh well.
I think the most difficult part of the day was that we drove up and back in the same day. I never like to do that because it seems like we spend more time in the van than with the family, but it was unavoidable this time. Thank goodness the kids are getting to be better travelers and they have so much fun with their cousins that they thought it was worth it, too. It’s the toughest thing about living two hours away from family for sure. But at least it’s only two hours, and it makes days like this possible. I love that.
What the what?
Tonight, as we were picking up toys and heading up to the bath, Dave called in from the front porch asking if we were looking for Barbie. I told him we were, so he said, “You have to come out here…and bring your camera.”
This is what was on our front porch.
I know, right? Super creepy.
When we asked Emma why she did this, she replied, “Oh, Bawbie was just feewin’ sick.” I have no idea what was going through that cute little head of hers when she entombed Barbie in rocks from our landscaping, and I’m not really sure I want to. Although she does tell us that she wants to be “a doctor who takes babies out of mommy’s tummies” when she grows up, so maybe this is simply the beginning of a career.
Happy Easter
Beginning Saturday evening, we had 24 hours of Easter fun. I think the pictures tell the story best.
We decorated our front walk to welcome the Easter Bunny and our guests.
Ben drew a chick, a bunny, and a cross with Jesus on it.
Easter morning they were super excited to find their baskets from the Easter Bunny…
…and to find their eggs that he had hidden.
All dressed up in their Easter best; ready for church.
The rain held off, so after dinner we had a massive egg hunt outside in the back yard.
The whole family came out to watch. The kids loved it.
Ben found his quota first so he got started emptying.
Emma found the very last egg, and it was tough to get out of there!
All of the kids dug into their eggs and started inhaling candy.
It was a great day. Hope your Easter was happy, too!
The Easter story by Ben
This afternoon while we were driving home from Danielle’s we were talking about the weather. Because we really want to have our egg hunt outside we’re all hoping it will clear up before Easter Sunday. But we all keep telling ourselves that it will be okay if it rains, because we can still have our egg hunt inside. That’s when Ben said, “But Mommy, Easter isn’t just about egg hunts. It’s about Jesus dying on the cross.”
“You’re very right,” I said.
“Yeah,” he said, “And he had to have a crown made of thorns on his head.”
“Right,” I said. I was being cautious about what I said because to be honest I wasn’t sure how much he knew about the Easter story. I think it’s a very complicated story for kids to understand.
Ben continued, “And then when he died they put him in a big tomb and put a boulder in front of it. But when they went back to the tomb, Jesus wasn’t there.”
“Right,” I said, “Because Jesus had come back to life and then went up to heaven to be with God.” By now I was impressed that he had paid attention so well in preschool.
“Yeah,” Ben said, “Cuz God is Jesus’ father.” I was smiling in the front seat with a feeling of pride swelling up inside me. Without skipping a beat he added, “Just like Darth Vader is Luke’s father.”
And then for the first time Emma chimed in with, “Yeah, and just like Zuhg is Buzz’s faduh.”
I couldn’t help but busting out laughing at that one. Almost the same, guys. Almost.
Happy Easter!
We started our Easter morning hearing a quiet, “I wonder if he comed!” out of Ben’s monitor. Dave and I looked at each other with a smile, and we knew it was going to be a great day. We got the kids up and dressed and we all hurried down to see if the Easter Bunny did in fact come. The egg plate was empty, and Ben was thrilled to see that even before he ever laid eyes 
on his filled basket. Both kids ran around the house looking for their eggs. Since we had initialed each egg it was easy for them to only find their own. They had a blast, and the best part was that they were both fooled again by that last egg that the bunny sneakily put in their chairs.
After they looked through all of the goodies in their baskets, we headed to church. Afterwards, we had a little time to play with the new things before we packed up and headed to Leland. Scott and Debbi were hosting Easter dinner and we were all excited to spend the day with the Henrikson crew. It didn’t disappoint, for sure.
I think the biggest thing to happen during the day was that Emma was introduced to fritters for the first time. Not surprisingly, she loved them! 
I think a big part of her love was the whole process of eating them. She’s always a fan of things she can dip, and even though the syrup was getting her hands super sticky, she never gave up. We all got a kick out of her working the fritters.
After dinner we headed outside for the big egg hunt. We separated the little kids (Campbell, Ben and Emma) from the big kids (Kelli, Brett, Darby, Brady, and Nolan) so everyone could hunt away without hearing things like, “Let the little kids get some!” Krieters have the perfect yard for egg hunts, because we could really spread the eggs out and let the kids run. They loved it. 
But of course, as always, the most fun was opening up the eggs and collecting the loot. I cannot even imagine how we will finish all this candy.
When we left late afternoon, both kids were asleep before we even hit Leland Road. That is the sign of a great day.
The family egg hunt
Mary Lou, affectionately known as “Auntie M”, hosted both sides of her family for an egg hunt this afternoon. Including our kids, there were about 9 kids between the ages of 1 and 5. It was a bit crazy, but it was very fun. Unfortunately, the weather was not super cooperative. We had to eat lunch and then try to hide the eggs in the house while the kids were still in there. 
It wasn’t easy, but we managed to get them spread out enough that the kids were able to scramble around collecting eggs as quickly as possible.
After the hunt, the biggest fun is of course opening all of the eggs. Ben and Emma were thrilled with the amount of candy they brought home…each in a bag labeled with their name. I think it gives them a feeling of empowerment to have that bag especially designated for their very own, because it appeared that just having those letters on the outside of it made the bag better than the stash inside!
It was a nice afternoon, and it made us look forward to Easter tomorrow even more.
A big day
Today was such a fun day. The big excitement of the morning was that Grandpa Scott was coming to see us! He was driving home from Florida and actually got here way earlier than we expected, which was great. The kids were running around like crazy when he got here…they were so excited to see him. Shortly after he arrived, we headed to our church for the Easter egg hunt. There were all kinds of games to play first, and the Easter Bunny even came. 
Believe it or not Ben even sat on the stool right next to the Easter Bunny and smiled so we could take his picture. I was in total shock. He really is growing up. The bunny had to leave to go hide eggs, and then it was time for the hunt. There were eggs everywhere, and it was nice because they split the kids by age. Emma’s group (1-3 year olds) was in the chained in playground, so it was easy to keep them all contained and there were hundreds of eggs scattered everywhere. She was on it…putting eggs in her bucket left and right. Ben’s group (4 year-olds) was in the side yard, and again there were a lot of eggs scattered. However, the kids were much more aggressive, so the eggs disappeared lickety split. 
They both loved it, and were happy with their booty. Ben was especially excited because the Easter Bunny himself gave him an extra egg. It was all very exciting.
After lunch Grandpa had to head on to Sycamore. It was so much easier saying good-bye knowing that we would see him again next weekend. It’s so good to have him home. Most of the afternoon was pretty quiet, and the kids were in really good moods, so we decided to try going out to dinner somewhere new. This has been a bit of a new experiment for us…we used to avoid going out with the kids as much as possible. But it’s getting easier, so we were game for another try. We went to Logan’s Steakhouse, which is a roadhouse type place with peanuts at the tables and peanut shells all over the floors. It’s noisy, it’s messy, and it’s right up our alley. On the way there we were telling the kids that we were trying a new restaurant. Ben said to us, “Is it fancy like Chili’s or Joe’s?” Dave and I almost busted out at his innocence. Fancy like Chili’s…too funny. Anyway, we had a great dinner. The kids were pretty well-behaved, and they both ate really well. It was nice. It also helped that we had bribed them with the chance to color Easter eggs when we got home.
Since they were so good at dinner we broke out the coloring and did our eggs. They did so well with that, too. I was prepared for the worst, but was very pleasantly surprised.
Sure, Emma was a little bit overzealous with a couple of eggs, but no one got dye all over them and no eggs were broken. The eggs turned out very pretty, and the kids were thrilled with them. It was a success.
I just love days like this. I’ll go to bed content and happy tonight.
Happy Easter!
It’s Easter night, and I sit here tired out from a really great day. We got up this morning and got ready for church before coming down to see if the Easter Bunny had visited us during the night. When we got downstairs, the first thing Ben said was, “There’s no eggs on the plate anymore!” He knew the bunny had hid them! 
Once they saw the baskets, though, the eggs had to wait. Both Ben and Emma were so excited to see all of their stuff. I have to say that the bunny was very generous this year. It seems that maybe there was more stuff than usual…maybe the bunny had some leftover toys from his Spring Break trip to Florida, or something. 
Anyway, the biggest hit in the baskets were a Mickey Mouse stuffed toy for Ems and batman underpants for Ben. The bunny hit the nail on the head with both of those items! In fact, Ben wanted to put on a pair of his underpants immediately. It was pretty funny.
After going through most of the basket items, it was time to find the eggs. 
Ben was absolutely running around the house yelling, “there’s another one!” every time he saw an egg. He’d carefully bring each one back to the egg plate on the kitchen table and then head out for more. Emma, on the other hand, was 
much more interested in her stickers. We got her to find a few eggs here and there, but really she would have been much more happy just continuing to stick stickers into her little notebook and ignoring the craziness with the eggs. She did find the last one, though, because it was in her high chair.
After church, we headed out to Grandma & Grandpa Kerber’s house. Aunt Theresa and Uncle Dan & Aunt Mary were already there, but we were still waiting for Salina and Bella to arrive before we could start our egg hunt. 
Once they got there, the kids were off hunting eggs. Ben was literally running around the farmyard yelling, laughing and screeching every time he saw another egg. He was so excited. Emma was de
finitely more into it this time, but she was just kind of methodically walking around picking up the eggs and putting them in her basket. I guess it didn’t help that the wind was blowing hard and it nearly knocked her off her feet at times. But she was having a lot of fun, too. When everything was collected from the yard, we opened up all the eggs and found out what treasures were inside. Ben was so excited that some of his eggs had Cheetos in them! Leave it to Aunt Theresa!
I have to say that after the egg hunt, somehow I miraculously got this awesome picture of the two kids.
We enjoyed a great dinner and then I brought Emma home to nap. There’s not really a place at the farm for her to get any real sleep, so this was the best solution. Ben and Dave had work to do around the farmyard; they were trimming trees and picking a lot of stuff up for Grandma & Grandpa. I’m not sure who loved that more…Ben or Daddy!
Emma and I went back out and we ended up staying until almost 7:00. Poor Ben was fighting sleep so badly on the trip home, but he just couldn’t win the battle. He was out cold when we got here. Needless to say, they’re both out now, and I’m on my way, as well. It was another great holiday, and again I feel lucky to have such a wonderful family.
The egg hunt
Today we went to an Easter egg hunt at Christ Lutheran Church. No, this isn’t our church, because of course we missed the egg hunt at our church. I mean, seriously, who holds an egg hunt in the Saturday before Palm Sunday? They’re supposed to be the day before Easter…duh! But anyway, I digress. Danielle graciously invited us to Christ Lutheran, their church, for their egg hunt. We felt a little bad going since we weren’t members, but she insisted that it would be no problem.
I have to say that this was a very impressive event. The kids were really excited that Grace and Anna, Danielle’s daughters were there. And it was awesome for us, too, because they were great helpers for our kids. 
There were three different stations that the kids rotated through…a windsock craft, coloring eggs, and making a snack. The snack station was really cool, because the ladies talked about how Jesus’s body was put in the tomb (represented by a marshmallow put inside a tube biscuit that had been smashed flat) and then treated with spices (represented by cinnamon in which the dough was rolled) after the body was put in the tomb. But then, as we all know, after three days, the body was gone. With our snack, after they were baked, the marshmallows were gone, too! It was pretty cool. Then we went to color some eggs, which made me very nervous with Emma.
We just modified it a little bit for her, and it went pretty well. Next was the craft project, and Ben made a really cute windsock celebrating Easter. Emma just colored, which was fine with her. Danielle (who was in charge of the event, I should mention) read a story to everyone, and then the snacks were out from the oven and ready to eat! Once everyone was finished with their snack, we were ready to start the hunting.
Even though there were a lot of kids, the egg hunting went well. The day was beautiful, even if it was a bit chilly out. The clear blue skies and bright sunshine made it so much more fun. They clearly announced how many eggs each child could find before we left the building, 
and I think that everyone pretty much stuck to their quota, which was nice. I guess that’s the benefit of going to a church related egg hunt instead of a park district one!
The morning was a lot of fun for our kids.
My day off
Today we had off for a “board holiday”. I can’t believe that our district actually gets away with that, since everybody knows that we’re really off because it’s Good Friday. Separation of church and state, right? I feel badly for anyone who is not a Christian. After all, we don’t take any of their holy days off. But whatever…I’ll take a day off.
This truly was a day off, too, because I took the kids to daycare like any other Friday. But I didn’t waste the day at all. After dropping them off, I hit Wally to get groceries. It was pouring when I came out, which sucked, but it was nice coming home to an empty house to unload everything. Isn’t it funny how the little things are so exciting when you have little ones around? Anyway, after putting everything away, I hit the basement for a day full of painting. The doors and door frames to the bathroom, the storage area, and the bathroom closet were all still plain wood or primed surface and yes, it had been almost a year since we put them in. So obviously it was a job way past due.
While I love painting, I forgot how tedious so much brush work is. Ugh, the doors are all six panel and the frames of course have three different sections, so there wasn’t much I could do with the roller. But it was a really nice day. I’m almost done…two of the doors need a second coat of rolling, but that shouldn’t take too long. It’s another step to getting a completely finished basement. Someday it will happen…I just know it!
