Spring Break and Easter 2016

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but spring break was kind of a bummer this year.  It began with Sam having a concussion and a snowstorm.  We had a total of 3 snowstorms over the course of the 9 days. Sam was on total rest for several days and by day 3 he was DONE with that concept.  We were both going crazy trying to keep him from doing anything. There is nothing really to share from the first few days. We just stayed home and did nothing.  

Both Rick and Lauren needed to get their passports renewed.  We had planned to do that on Tues. of spring break, but we woke up to this.

 These pictures don't begin to convey the intensity of this storm.  We thought, "Well, NOBODY in their right mind will go to the post office in this weather, so let's get it over with!"

 WE. WERE. WRONG.

 Once we were there, we figured we might as well wait it out.  It was our only day to do it.  We waited 2 hours and 45 minutes to get it done.  

 All the while, the storm was getting worse and worse. 

 Intersections were literally becoming parking lots.  We approached this one, and if Rick had not been able to do a u-turn and get out of it, we would have been stuck for hours because everything was at a standstill.  There were people that were stuck for 6 hours on some roads.

 We literally could not see anything when we were driving and it was impossible to tell where we were.  We used our GPS to tell us when turns were coming up.  I may or may not have said, "Jesus Take the Wheel!" a few times on the way home.

 I was seriously praying all the way home.  As we would approach an intersection, we would just hope that no one was coming because we couldn't see.  There were cars stranded all along the road.

 I have never been more relieved to pull into our driveway.  We did not leave the house again for a couple of days.  That was one of the bummers about this storm.  Rick had planned to take the kids skiing/snowboarding that week, but had to cancel because there was no way they could have gotten there with all the snow.  So, the one "special" activity we had planned for spring break got cancelled.

 We used our time stranded at home to do some of our Easter Traditions.  I have decided our traditions are important, and we will keep doing them even if some are gone or don't want to.  Once the kids get in middle school, I find that they may not want to participate.  I don't force it.  I would rather have an enjoyable time with those that want to than forcing kids to do it, and then they ruin the experience. I also want my younger kids to have these experiences.  (There is a whole blog post that I need to write about the adjustments I have had to mentally make in my parenting as the kids get older.  I think I should entitle it "Flexibility is your Friend."  Those who have gone to Swaziland with us will understand this title.)

 I realized this is not a good pic of the kids.  I like how you can see the snow in the background.  It was part of the experience of that day.

 Each year I try to find some unique egg decorating kits.  This year, we ended up with a city-themed one with cars and people

 and an emoji themed one

 The kids named all their creations.  It was cute.

 As always, Abby was the leader in this endeavor.  She is my crafty go-to girl

 Laila made the one on the right.  It just has "god" with an emoji next to it.  

 Sam's teenager egg with pimples

 This was my favorite that Isaiah did.  Noticed, the car hit the egg and the egg is dead with the "x" eyes. 

The kids made a fort in the living room for some added entertainment

You may not be able to tell, but there are two kids in this picture

 Once the storm cleared, it was beautiful

 Notice how some parts of the grass are barely covered.  The blizzard winds were so strong that there were 3 foot drifts in some places and barely any snow in others.  We got about a foot of snow at our house.

 Abby's Easter decorations.  Notice the cross in the K-cups

 Spring break is usually a time when we do hair as well

 Look how long it has gotten

 Getting her "Easter" hair

She was looking in the mirror at it and said, "This hair is really working for me."

 On Good Friday, we made tombs

 The finished product

 Gluten Free ones

 Rick was at work and Sam was at a friend's house.  (With 7 services at church, we don't really see Rick on Easter weekend until Sunday afternoon)  This was one of the only Easter activities that Cody got to participate in.  He had to work all weekend.

We take communion with the tombs and sparkling juice

On Easter morning, I do a Scavenger Hunt each year.  I decided to do it a little differently this year.  Since there was snow on the ground, and outdoor Easter egg hunt was going to be a challenge so, I decided to create an indoor Easter egg hunt with clues to solve.

 They each had to find 6 different colors of eggs, an egg with their name on it and an egg with a cross on it.  Then, they had to use a key to decode the name of the prize that they got for finding each egg.  It was fun and something different for our first Easter in this house.

  On the hunt

 This boy cracks me up.  He is robe kind of guy!  

 Decoding

Everyone was able to complete the challenge and get their prizes.  For the first time ever, I forgot to take pics of everyone sitting in front of the fireplace with their baskets on Easter morning.  UGH!

We had butter braids and orange juice for breakfast.

 At least I got a breakfast pic, minus Rick, Cody and me

 Looking through their loot

 Warning:  Many pics to follow.  I just couldn't narrow it down. 

Laila

Isaiah

 The babies

 Lauren

 Abby

 Sam

 Boys (minus Cody) :(

 The Girls

 The Crew (minus Cody) :(

 The Fam (minus Cody) :(

 Can you tell that I didn't like that we were missing Cody?  He works at Subway and had to open for them that day. It was our first Easter morning/church service without him.  I didn't like that!  I also forgot to take a pic of our Easter Dinner.  Oh, well.

 Spring break ended with some snow fort building 

 It was actually nice out once the storms cleared and Sam was feeling much better by the end of the week.

So, I would some up Spring Break 2016 with two words:  SNOW and EASTER