A Holy Week Celebration

For the last few Easters we have been busy celebrating a birthday or preparing for the birth of a baby.  This year we could finally focus on Jesus, bunnies, and treats. We celebrated all week long.

On Tuesday, Nanna sent cookies for the boys to decorate.  I helped Henry a little with the icing, but he was in charge of the sprinkles (and consumed a lot, too).  John passed on the sugary snacks once again, but happily shook the sprinkles.  Maybe one day he will play the maracas.

On Wednesday, we went to Church playgroup and brought the decorated egg cookies to share with our friends.  The Easter Bunny came to visit; the boys were unimpressed.  I was a little creeped out, frankly.  Later, the Easter Bunny made some balloon animals for the kids.  Henry requested a giraffe. John was the lucky recipient of the only Elmo balloon she made. That boy loves him some Elmo!  Poor Elmo didn't see it coming when John popped his arms to pieces with aggressive hugging.

On Saturday, the weather was beautiful, so we headed outside for an Easter egg hunt in the backyard. The eggs were filled with the one snack my boys go nuts for: goldfish!  After filling up on cheesy crackers, the boys opened their Easter packages from Papa, Mimi, and Zia.  Henry done near lost his mind when he saw the Lightning McQueen and Finn McMissle cars (which is funny because he's only read the books, and does not know there is a movie).  John loved his monkey eggs, books, and bunny glasses (but I think Daddy looked the best in them).

On Sunday, we went to Church, where for ten minutes my good boys were quiet and cute in the pew.  And then they had a lot of fun with all the other kids in the nursery. When we came home, Henry took off to search for the Easter baskets.  He discovered them on the porch and was so impressed that the Easter Bunny knew that blue lollipops were his favorite.  John is crazy for paci's and Elmo, so an Elmo paci made his day.  The boys opened cards from Grandma and Papou, too (and they found a dollar inside).  Daddy said they could spend this dollar at the dollar store, rather than putting it in the bank. A rare treat!

The best part of the week was hearing Henry exclaim on Easter morning, "He is risen, Mama!  Jesus helps us!" Yes, He certainly does, sweet boy.

"Grandma and Papou, play with me!"

Over the course of Grandma and Papou's 5 day visit, I must have heard Henry say that at least a hundred times. And play, they did! We went to Catch Air (an indoor playground) and every Makris there had fun sliding, swinging, building, climbing, dancing, and pumping iron. Grandma and Papou climbed through every tunnel in the place to keep up with all three of their grandkids!

Henry had a chance to show off his water skills at his swim lesson that Grandma and Papou attended. He's getting very brave and putting his face all the way under water now (I can't look at him with those goggles on and keep a straight face). Grandma and Papou were so proud of him that they treated us to lunch at Chick-Fil-A afterwards. John was still skeptical of ice cream, but Henry didn't mind since that meant more for him.

We had a great time playing with Grandma and Papou, and we are looking forward to doing it all over again in April for Henry's birthday!