Easter is a much quieter affair here than Christmas - I used to decorate for Easter, though never as much as for Christmas, but the last few years spring is just too busy. Especially now that the girls are away at school, the boy has tests this coming week, the horse is so demanding of my time (though seems to finally be on the upswing!), and a few other extra things going on - no Easter egg tree in the front yard and no bunnies scattered throughout the house. Add to all that the unfortunate fact that, though both girls attend UNC system universities - they did not have the same schedule for Easter break - D2 (UNC Chapel Hill) had Friday off - only Friday, and D3 (Appalachian State) has Monday and Tuesday off but not Friday. Result is the only day they were both home all day was yesterday (Saturday). For whatever reason, UNC Chapel Hill never has Easter Monday off so every year D2 has to head back to school right after lunch on Easter Sunday! Such a bummer not to have her home all day. But she will graduate in about a month - not attending UNC-CH for grad school so who knows what next year will bring.

Anyway - here is a rundown of the festivities of the weekend.

First - Gus, who is just too cool for words...


There was a cookie decorating extravaganza (kids only, I bought the stuff but thankfully they don't need my help for these sorts of things anymore)

And the aftermath of the extravaganza...


Then the beginning of the egg dying ritual...

speaks for itself

The right hand of D3 working on her egg...

The left hand of D3

The boy working on an egg

D2 working on an egg. Note the Carolina blue "UNC Equestrian Team" t-shirt...

colors...

And then the baskets of bounty to be found next morning...
The basket of a college girl - D2's basket contains a book Castles in the Air by the same author as Hal's Moving Castle - hopefully it is a fun read, Gift cards to Target and Michael's (she makes beautiful beaded jewelry), a few metal pieces for beading projects, sleeping pants, a new beach towel and enough chocolate to hold her until Christmas - she has the most discipline I've ever seen in a female - much less a kid. Even when she was young she would hoard her chocolate away in a hiding place so her siblings (ahem, certainly not her mother) would not swipe it - then she would dole it to herself over months.

The basket of the boy sits upon a stack of books and a Bakugan magazine and contains two cordless nunchucks for the Wii, Wii points card, a beach towel and enough candy to keep him bouncing off the walls for about a week.

And finally, the basket of D3: DVDs of a musical theme - one on Rachmaninoff, the Pianist, and The Triplets of Belleville which is animated and supposedly has something to do with Jazz, a few beading items, Target gift card, a new beach towel - and it all sat atop a stack of bride magazines.


There is the traditional egg hunt in which the eggs much be found before church as the bunny has hidden them in the house - then a lunch of deviled eggs and a few other small items. Gotta get those eggs eaten :)

Now the house is quiet. D2 has left, the boy is playing with his Wii, himself is off somewhere in the house - probably reading, and D3 is listening to a history channel program on the Apocrypha. All is well - except I wish the girl could have stayed until tomorrow morning.