AN EASTER SURPRISE...

Easter was extra EGG-citing this year! Both sides of my family were able to spend time together eating great food and relaxing at the farm. Of course relaxing came after a tour and a visit to stables to meet Babe, Mawmaws bottle fed lamb. I was with Mawmaws the first time Babe got her bottle and this was my first trip back to see her. She has really grown!

Big Grandma made this Easter basket for me just like she did for dad when he was growing up. I loved it and all the goodies it held inside. There were plenty enough to share and so we did. We sampled each pack of candy and them some. Turns out, when you are sick just about the only thing that sounds good is candy, colored drinks and popsicles and mom was not about to deprive me.

Mom found monster eggs at Kroger this year and knew I would find them funny. I still have a "thing" for hair and all its crazy dos'. We used colored pipe cleaners, dye, stickers and lots of silly hair to create them. When they were complete they were a sight to behold. In fact, I wanted to make a whole 'nother batch. I didn't want to eat them or toss them just play with them. They lived in our fridge for weeks!

When mom was growing up they hunted Easter eggs every year. Mawmaws and Grandpa would hide the eggs all around the backyard leaving some eggs as a really big challenge. The prize was not chocolate or deviled eggs...they had MONEY EGGS! So, this year, I did too. Mom tucked special notes into each egg offering me a trip to the movies, popcorn and candy, a zoo trip and so forth, but pulling coins and bills from the eggs makes an even bigger impression. Thank you Mawmaws :) We learned a few good lessons from this egg hunting experience too. First, Uncle Jeff does not want to be left out of the money egg hunt. Mom wouldn't let him participate in the chase of the money eggs. She remembers all to well how he could sniff out the big bills as a kid. She wanted these eggs to be mine. Trouble is (this is lesson number 2) finding black batman eggs among tall trees and dirt is difficult at best. This is probably the best reason for purchasing the bright colored plastic eggs. Superhero eggs are AWESOME once in the basket. Lastly, a sick kid should never be given the option to continue to play in the sun. If you know he is sick...force him to act like it.

Mr. Tim and Mawmaws gave me the biggest surprise toward the end of the day. I opened a box to discover 30 plus chicks inside. There were brown ones and black ones, speckled ones and yellow ones, but only one was BRIGHT YELLOW! He was my FAVORITE! I reached my hand right in that box and picked up those chicks as if I had been doing it all my life. Forget the movement, the peeping or just the number of them within the box. I had no fear. I LOVED THE CHICKS! I wanted so badly to take them home with me (and it didn't help that Amanda's grandma continued to tease that I should.) The whole family enjoyed playing with the little one's. They are so soft and gentle--nothing like a full grown chicken strutting in the yard. At last we decided the chicks should stay at the farm to grow big and strong and we should be on our way home. It was getting late and after I turned down a tractor ride with Mr. Tim mom was certain I was sicker than even she gave me credit for.

Mom spent the next 1.5 hours as we drove home trying to get in contact with my doctors office as I slept.

It was a very EGG-citing Easter indeed.