Easter Weekend, 2009
Posted By Jill on April 13, 2009
My mom was in town for Easter weekend this year, so we had lots of company over to our house. The kitchen light was rarely off!
Thursday I didn’t have to work, so we had planned to take Mac to the Children’s Museum. We were going to go right after breakfast, but he was already showing signs of needing his morning nap, so we decided to let him sleep and go afterward. He had a good nap then had some lunch and we were on our way, until… Jane called and said she was in our neighborhood, did we want to visit for an hour or so? Yes! So we turned around (we were only a mile from home and decided to save our money). We took a walk around my garden at one point, and I saw that many plants/flowers are in bloom, including tulips I never knew I had! My favorite!!
Friday, Jo and all the kids were off, so we gathered at our house for the day - even Timmy! I started everyone out with Gram’s Pancakes for a late breakfast, and we planned a fish dinner and invited everyone. It turned out to be a great day - I had to run into work for a half hour, Mac loved playing with his cousins, and we all walked to the library and the park to enjoy the great weather! Dinner turned out quite good for a last minute plan too!
Saturday was egg-coloring day. We were originally going to be at Jo’s for the day, but she graciously agreed to be at our house again to make it easier on Mac. She brought all the fixin’s and had prepared all the eggs ahead of time. As soon as Mac woke from his nap and had his lunch, we got started with the eggs. 
We gave one to Mac to play with in his high chair, figured it wouldn’t do any harm, even if he dropped it. Little did we know, the eggs weren’t fully cooked! Oops! It was hilarious to watch Mac’s face as it watched the egg ooze all over his tray. We got it all cleaned up before it got too bad, but he wasn’t nearly as happy with the plastic eggs he was given to play with later. Jeremy also got some help raking the dead leaves from the yard (thanks, CJ!) to prepare our lawn for spring.
Sunday, Easter morning, we got up early to get ready for church. I directed the children’s choir at St. Peter’s - the church right down the street - a job I’ve had for the last three years now at Easter and Christmas. 
I love to work with the kids, especially with it being just a few weeks a year. Everyone who went to St. Peter’s walked to church on what was a glorious day, and we planned to have everyone over for our Easter meal later. Jeremy had made his grandma’s sticky rolls for after church and pies for after dinner. Mac needed his nap after church, so we had to wait for the Wolfgrams to arrive and Mac to wake up before we could start the egg hunt! In our family it has become a tradition to have to search for your basket before being allowed to search for eggs. This year that took a while, because the Easter Bunny hid Jeremy’s, Timmy’s and CJ’s baskets in very tricky places! Some of the eggs were a little harder to find too, especially since the kids were getting used to all of the hiding places at Begalke’s where we’ve been for Easter probably since they got their house. It was fun to see them challenged - and the Easter Bunny even hid some eggs and baskets outside!! 
Mac’s eggs were of the plastic type and were hidden too, but the Easter Bunny made it much easier for him, thank goodness. He got in on all the fun and seemed to really enjoy it! For dinner, I tried my hand at preparing a ham with a honey glaze, and Mathew made asparagus. Jane took care of the potatoes and rolls. The joint effort sure works well - what a talented culinary crew we have! The ham was slightly dry, but I’d do it again and probably do better. It wasn’t difficult at all. We ate fairly early so had time to play and visit after dinner before everyone had to head home - most people had to work the next day! Mac dug into his chocolate later too… check out the Flickr set!
Today, Jeremy had to work, so Mom, Mac and I took Steph and met Jane at the zoo with the two kids she had in daycare today. We had a lovely time, and Mac always enjoys walking around. We headed back home after lunch with a very tired boy. 
We didn’t quite get by without incident though… Mac ended up with hives around his mouth after lunch. We’re not sure what caused it yet because he’s had almost everything before that he had today. The only question marks are the piece of cheese bread that was purchased at the food court, the amount of granola bar he ate, or something else coincidental that didn’t stick out in my mind… like the fact that he had played in the water and dirt (even though I wiped his hands with a wet wipe before we ate), or maybe the type of pear he ate was different, or there was something on the table from which he was eating? The only thing I’ll be able to re-create is the granola bar, which we will probably test again in a more controlled environment, unless someone tells me not to. We’ll ask his doctor about it when he goes for his next well-baby check next month. The lucky thing is that I’m very familiar with hives, having suffered myself with several outbreaks, so I didn’t panic. I knew what to look out for. We did leave after that, so we’d be in a better situation to get to urgent care if necessary, but the hives were already getting better by the time we got home. I watched him closely as he napped, and by the time he got up an hour later, the hives were completely gone.
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