So, how was your Easter?

First let me say Praise God for this beautiful day! I love Easter and even though we were without any extended family, we have found some family traditions within the past few years that have made this holiday very special. I am so blessed with a wonderful church to celebrate at and a wonderful husband who gets up early with me (6:00 am) to put Easter eggs out for our children and some of the neighbor kids. This day was great and full of fun things!

With that said, let me also say that this Easter didn't go exactly how I would have planned, at least so far anyway. It started off just right. I get so excited to put the eggs out for the kids. Kyle and I quickly got the job done before anyone woke up. I baked muffins, Kyle got ready and I listened to worship music remembering the real reason to celebrate Easter, Jesus! I hid Easter baskets and got ready for church. I actually curled my hair today and got dressed up, a rare moment in the past few months since I have had morning sickness. I realized today that I feel less sick and that I might actually be hitting a milestone with this pregnancy. So excited for that! Kyle picked Grant and Pierce up from their dads and they arrived back home just in time for the little boys to wake up. Sawyer was excited to see all the eggs outside. Brody woke up happy, even though he coughed most of the night and he had dried snot all over his face. Everyone found their baskets and were all pleased with what was inside. We all got dressed in our Easter clothes, and although Grant complained a little, I was pleased with everyone's appearance.

This is after lunch, so not perfect, but still looking okay :)

As we were driving to church I was thinking how we might actually get there on time. That doesn't happen often when we try to make it to the first service. As I am thinking this, Brody started coughing really hard and threw up all over himself and his car seat. Of course he had on white pants and of course it was his Easter outfit, and who brings a change of clothes when it's Easter? Well, I didn't. It took me long enough to figure out what he was going to wear the first time. After Grant and Pierce gagging in the back because of the smell, and lots of wet wipes used, we got inside church, which is also Grant's middle school. I stripped Brody down to nothing but his diaper and he ran happily through the hallways while I washed his clothes in the bathroom with hand soap. I think my church family is used to our family by now because most who saw Brody just laughed like "Oh there are those crazy Hoffs and their half naked kid". With four kids, boys for that matter, this is just how we roll sometimes. With soaking wet clothes in hand I turned to someone, I think is one of the best janitors, Jerry, for help. He led me to the Home Ec. dryer. What a blessing! Problem solved.

The Easter Bunny

Brody drinking the sparkling white grape juice while waiting for our table.

So, church ended and we drove to The Grand Hotel for our, now traditional, Easter lunch. We have done this for the past 3 years now and look very forward to the wide variety of foods they offer. We enjoyed sparkling grape juice in wine glasses and had fun visiting with the Easter Bunny before we sat down. Brody would not let the Easter Bunny leave. He kept giving him hugs, like he never gets any at home. Then the bunny stood up and Brody grabbed his leg until I pried him off.  With little kids things, like going out to eat, are rarely simple with our family. Our kids were really well behaved today, but Sawyer always has to go to the bathroom as soon as we sit down. It's never a quick trip either because he usually has to poop. I don't know how he plans this, but it happens often when we go out. So I took Sawyer to the bathroom. On our way back to the table we stopped at the seafood table and filled our plates with crab legs. The whole way back to our table from the seafood table Sawyer yelled "Daddy I got crabs! Daddy I got crabs" as I'm saying loudly right after him "crab legs, crab legs" in case anyone was getting the wrong idea...of course they obviously wouldn't. We sat down and five minutes later Brody starts coughing and throwing up again. Our waitresses were WONDERFUL! They provided us with everything we needed plus they went and got the Easter Bunny again to make Brody smile! I'm sure he loved hugging Brody again smelling like throw up.

I held Brody for a while and Kyle got my food. I noticed that feeling I felt earlier, where I'm not feeling sick from "morning sickness" wasn't quite there like it was, but it could have been because of the way Brody smelled. It could also have been because I was worried about Brody. He started acting lethargic so I asked him if he was okay. He then projectile vomited all over me and my new Easter dress that Shelley, my mother in law, gave me. At this point I was worried about the people around us and if they were witnessing this, were we ruining their Easter? Again, our waitresses stepped in. Brody seemed to feel much better immediately afterwards.  Kyle took him on a walk, then Grant and Pierce left with Sawyer. I sat alone at my table. It was probably the nicest part of my whole meal :). I enjoyed every second of it as I drank my hot cup of tea and listened to the harpist. We headed home shortly after that and enjoyed a little Easter egg hunt in our front yard.

The little boys are now napping in their rooms, Kyle is napping on the couch, the older boys are playing their new video game Papa and Grandma gave them for Easter. I'm sitting here blogging and listening to Pandora. It's a wonderful day! We praise God for all of it! I'm so thankful for my family, my four boys and this new life growing inside me. I don't like when any of my boys are sick, of course, but I'm thankful I'm able to be their mommy and take care of them when they are. Things may not be perfect when we go out to eat, but I'm thankful for my husband who helps me take care of the chaos and the people God puts in our lives at the right moments who give us grace. I love the quiet times I get when I can sit at the table by myself and drink my tea, but I'm so thankful for the noise and activity my children bring. Things hardly ever go just as planned here, but I'm thankful for unexpected events and the ability God gives me to handle them. I feel very blessed on this Easter.

If you ever have boys, chances are they will create objects with chopsticks and empty crab leg shells,  if available, quite possibly weapon related.

Bro getting ready for the egg hunt.

He picked up a couple eggs then quit to play basketball.

A nice moment on the front porch. After I snapped the picture I realized Pierce was trying to get Sawyer to give him the 2 dollars he found hidden in his eggs.