Easter 2016

When I looked back and realized that last Easter, we were battling some terrible kind of stomach bug, it is safe to say that THIS Easter was MUCH happier and healthier.  What a beautiful weekend we were blessed with-- and I feel like we did everything in our power to take advantage of it.

I started Friday with some fantastic news on the scale.  I was shocked to see the number that I did when I weighed in post workout on Friday morning.  It hadn't been a great week of working out (they'd been shorter and less intense than usual) and I felt like I had been sloppy with my eating.  But nonetheless I was very happy to see what I did.  When I looked back in my weight tracker through my Weight Watchers app, it was the lowest recorded weight since I started tracking there in Feburary 2011.  I still have a long way to go to reach my own personal goal, but I can say that the early mornings on the treadmill and the choices I have been making with my food intake seem to be working.  And for that I am very grateful.

Neither Jason or I had to work on Friday, but we were waiting at home for a delivery of wine and olive oil from one of the wineries we had visited in Sonoma.  It may seem as if we have now started taking our wine VERY seriously...but we haven't.  We just had horrible timing on the ordering of the wine, and didn't realize it would require a signature when it arrived on our doorstep via the UPS man.  I swear the UPS guy must have thought he was holding a box of money for us by the way the kids ran up to the truck when it came down the street.  Really, they just knew he was the last thing we needed before we could hit the road for Nana and Pap's house.

When we arrived Friday afternoon, the kids made very quick work of destroying all semblance of order that Nana had to her toy stash.  The play kitchen became a restaurant, and there was an intense game of "the Easter Bunny is coming" that was going on upstairs.  I absolutely love that the kids jump right into playing together as if no time has passed since they last saw each other.  We had a super dinner from the Downtown OIP (can you say Taco Salad....oh my word...and their Party Packs are a huge hit with all of our crew).  This supper was the beginning of a slippery downhill slope with my healthy eating...but I will hit the treadmill as hard as I must this week to undo it.  I don't know why food always tastes better when it comes from your Mom's kitchen, but it certainly does.

Saturday morning we decided to take the kids to blow off some steam at the playground.  Dad wasn't feeling so hot, and so we thought it best to limit the amount of thumping and giggling that he needed to endure.  The name of the game....pace ourselves.  So while the kids played on the playground, Libby and I did a few thousand steps around the track that she walks on during her kids' recess during the day.  I now have a full appreciation for why she kicked my behind every time we were in a step competition with our Fit Bits.  I call that an unfair advantage.  HA!  Really...I call it awesome that she can work some workout time into her work day.  We came back and had some lunch, and then got ready for the Annual Easter Egg Hunt at Nana and Pap's. 

I've got photo evidence of the fact that we had super happy kids.  And probably a few cavities.  But what's Easter without some sugar?  I will say, I did not count any of the points for the things I swiped out of their candy stashes.  Or the peanut butter egg I swiped out of Mom's fridge.  I swear I was like a drug addict in withdrawal when I got to eat that peanut butter egg after the kids went to bed.  I then had to undergo an entire hazmat cleanup before we went to bed to make sure no peanut butter ended up on anything that could impact Josh.  So worth it!

We ended up spending some play time at Aunt Libby and Uncle Zig's so Hayden could have a quiet nap time.  Jason and I actually walked down to their house from Mom and Dad's.  I figured keeping up on my walking would help to undo the damage from the less than stellar eating.  The kids had a blast playing down there, and we had much conversation about their impending new arrival who will be joining their family on Wednesday--- a little chocolate lab puppy named Buck.  We all can't wait to meet him.

Mom cooked a fantastic Easter meal for all of us on Saturday evening.  There was laughing (as always) and lots of yumminess, and my favorite....pickled eggs.  We all worked at cleaning up the kitchen and getting the mess put away, and then enjoyed the rest of the evening there together as a family.  The kids were all playing so nicely together.  Age has definitely been our friend in that department as none of us are chasing children or keeping constant vigil over them.  We have resident tattle tales (Lauren and Mara) to make sure no one is trying to get away with anything.

Sunday morning, the kids were all thrilled to find out that the Easter Bunny had arrived.  We got all decked out in our Easter gear and headed to Sunday School at Nana and Pap's church and then enjoyed the worship service there together.  There is something about being home for church on Easter that I always love.  I missed our FBC family this weekend, although I was blessed to have been there for the Maundy Thursday service (with the kids) on Thursday night.

We were so blessed to have a wonderful weekend with our family in Lewistown.  The kids were all sad to leave-- Mara was even in tears over the idea.  The only thing that helped to slow down a total meltdown was the promise that perhaps we could make a flying trip this coming weekend to meet Buck.  So we'll see how that pans out and whether we're up for it after the week.  Hoping everyone had a wonderful weekend surrounded by family and friends.