A Good (Boy) Friday

Friday, April 22, was Good Friday. Mamaw called that morning to see if we'd like to join her, Grace and Faith at the mall to look for some Crcos for the Bean, who has handed his down to Caleb Luke. I said sure and got the boys dressed. They were wearing the cutest little sweaters that coordinated, but I didn't get a picture of them (that said, it was a COLD morning!). While the mall didn't have the Crocs Joshua liked in his size, Mamaw bought him some dinosaur jibitz (sp?) and a pair of Lightning McQueen sandals. I had a coupon for Kohl's to take $10 off any purchase, which I gave to her toward her purchases (that also included some bigger big boy undies for the Bean). Thanks, Mamaw! When we got home, Joshua said "I LOVE SHOPPING!" I wanted to ask "since when?" but I think he was saying that he enjoyed his time with Mamaw, Grace & Faith and he also likes receiving new things. Even being a boy, I think he enjoys when someone gets him a gift.

Caleb, on the other hand, does not really enjoy shopping. He didn't get anything (nor did he ask for anything) and he laid down right in the middle of Kohl's, telling me he was tired. He had been up throughout the night, so I could see why he would be tired. When we got home, he went right to bed, and his forehead felt feverish when he woke up. I asked him if he was feeling okay, and he said his knee hurt. It was always the same knee, so I didn't think he was making it up. Yet, what did that have to do with a fever? He said his throat didn't hurt, he wasn't schnarky, and he didn't have any other cold symptoms, so I decided just to monitor him. By that evening, he seemed back to his normal self. So, I took out the eggs I had boiled earlier that day and prepped the area to decorate them with the boys, changing them out of their nice clothes into things that I thought wouldn't be ruined if they would accidentally spill something on them.

I lined a cookie sheet with newspapers, and I got out these little cups that Daddy got from his work. I think I filled them a little too full as the boys like to just plop the egg inside, but with the cookie sheet, it didn't matter. They enjoyed watching the bright pink, bright blue, yellow, orange and green. Unfortunately even with adding a splash of lemon juice, the green was a little bit meek. But, it didn't matter. They still LOVED getting to dye the eggs.

They took turns putting them into the colors, and I scooped them out and put them into the egg cartons. I loved the precious smiles on their faces!!!!

Later that night we had talked to Papaw, and he asked if they had hid any Easter eggs in their shoes. The boys thought this was such a funny thought that we heard about it the rest of the weekend. "You don't put eggs in your shoes, SILLY!"

Shawn told me later that night how much it means to him that I do these activities with the boys. It was one of the best compliments he's given me, and it meant a lot. I didn't think he liked the traditional activities, but he enjoys watching the boys enjoy themselves doing fun things together as a family.

Even with trying to be careful, many of our precious eggs cracked. Such is life! We also had to dry them more with paper towels the next day. And even after they were dry, the stickers we bought wouldn't stick to them. That was okay because the boys enjoy putting stickers on paper, etc.

I realized between the hand paint from preschool the day before and the egg dye, my hands were a rainbow of colors. I scrubbed and scrubbed and couldn't get my nails and skin to go back to their normal color for a day or two. :) :) :)

The boys had fun, and the mama enjoyed it, too! Happy Easter!