Five kids and the 150 eggs
Iwas feeling a little down. It didn’t look like the Brooks family would have our special marathon Easter egg decorating and consequent egg hunt Easter morning.
It didn’t appear that anyone of our four children and their families would be headed to Grammy and Granddaddy’s house Easter weekend. Granddaddy had not been well, and we would not be travelling anywhere. I actually thought about buying a dozen eggs and some egg coloring kit and dyeing eggs myself.
Then what? Who would I hide them for? My husband, the feeling much better Granddaddy? I don’t think so. He was not much on hunting eggs.
Oh, he’d color them in the previous years and always had a special Daddy and then Granddaddy egg, but not this year.
My mood shifted upward when my oldest son said they were going to try to come Easter weekend from Huntsville. I would have a reason to have some egg decorating with our sevenyear-old granddaughter here. She’s an artistic little one and will have fun creating Easter eggs.
The next day, we heard from our daughter and middle son that they would be coming for the Easter weekend, too. The only one who couldn’t make it was our youngest and our son-in-law who live in New Jersey, but work in New York City. I miss them every day, but they are making their way in the world and doing well. Our oldest grandchild who just turned 20 had made plans with his friends. We’d miss him, too.
Once I heard the news that we would have a family Easter after all, the wheels in my head started turning. Food. What would I fix for all of us for our Saturday meal before the egg decorating marathon? Well, it seems that everyone had decided that we would have pasta, chicken Alfredo, a vegetable lasagna, salad, bread, and a raspberry cake. These wonderful families we love have decided to take some of the tasks off me. They have no idea how much this means to me.
Everyone got here in time for the cousins to play and visit. They are close no matter how long it’s been since they’ve seen each other. “Hatcher is here!!” our seven-year-old
Evelyn shouted and ran out to greet him. These two are like peas in a pod. They truly love each other and just hugged and hugged. Our fifteen-year-old, River, and cousin Alex, who is 12 had almost an instant kinship from the time they met after Hayden married Carrie. Both the girls are like sisters.
The newest cousin is Gaines who is two and such a cutie. He’s talking a mile a minute and likes nothing more than playing. Hatcher and Evelyn were so good to include him in their play. One thing I know is that kids and a mud hole go together. The three youngest discovered one in the front of the porch after a recent rain, and by the time they turned the hose on to help it along, they were covered in mud. I mean from head to muddy shoes and socks.
The thing is, I remember mud holes in my childhood and how fun they were. And I remember mud holes of my children’s childhoods and how they transformed mud holes to slip and slides with black plastic. It did my heart good to see this next generation having so much fun. They’ll remember it, I know.
After getting a shower and making sure mud was out of their ears, they were ready to decorate the 72 eggs I had hard boiled earlier in the day. The adults got everything ready. I kind of went crazy on purchasing the egg dyeing kits. We had everything from the marble look, to tie-dye, to dinosaur eggs, to… what else? Glitter. I love glitter and kids do too. We all did some beautifully creative egg work. My kids talked about using food coloring and crayons. Those eggs were beautiful too.
They went to bed and were up early to see if the Easter bunny came. He did and Gaines already claimed chocolate for breakfast. After breakfast, the moms and dads hid the eggs. A lot of the hidden eggs were plastic and filled with goodies and some even had money. At least 150 eggs were hidden. Every time Gaines spotted an egg he’s shout, “I found one!!” and hold it up for all to see.
It was a splendid weekend full of laughter, good food, and joy. As I sat on the porch watching this lovely family of mine, it dawned on me that if Bill and I had never met and fallen in love, none of these folks would exist. It was meant to be. I know this.
Now I must get the muddy hand prints off the front door.