This past weekend was a very special one for me as a grandmother of six beautiful grandchildren because I had the pleasure of seeing all of them on Saturday and or Sunday.
Easter is a rejuvenating holiday being not only recognized as the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead and our hope of eventual resurrection, but also the arrival of Spring with all the beauties of the season. We leave the cold, dark days of winter and look forward to the sunshine, rebirth of trees, flowers and grass, and longer days of Spring.
On Friday night, my youngest son, Stephen arrived home for the weekend. He lives about an hour away in Bethesda, but unfortunately was stuck in heavy traffic for awhile making his trip twice as long. Stephen has a very quick wit and is always alert to use it mainly by finding humor in things I say to him. It is always fun to have him visit. He likes to catch up on his sleep when he comes home because he is so busy with work. This time he told me that his apartment was so hot (because they haven’t turned on the air conditioning yet) that he was having trouble sleeping.
On Saturday, my daughters Marianne and Katie and her husband Dan arrived. Marianne had her son, Michael 5 with her. Katie and Dan brought their daughter Ellie 2 1/2 and son, Tommy 10 months old. Michael and Ellie like to play together and are excited to meet at Mom Mom’s. They especially love playing with Uncle Mike and were glad to see Uncle Steve here too.
Next to arrive was my son, Tom with his daughter, Ari 6 and his girlfriend Marissa and her daughter Camilla 3 1/2. The first event of the day was our annual Easter Egg hunt. This year, Uncle Steve did a great job of hiding the eggs and the kids raced around the first floor yelling, “I found another one!” This year there was a special golden egg with a dollar in it and Michael was the one who found it, even though it was cleverly hidden.
Our second activity was dyeing eggs and the children did a terrific job dipping the eggs in cups of dye and using the Amazing Egg Decorating machine to draw patterns on the revolving eggs with markers.
After that they were given clay that Uncle Mike had ordered and created some unique shapes. They loved working with the clay and everyone got involved except the baby. Once done with the clay, they took a little break and played with balloons in the family room and some chalk on the front porch.
Then it was time for dinner and everyone sat in the dining room at two tables for our dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes, asparagus, broccoli and Uncle Tom’s delicious macaroni and cheese. It was so nice seeing my adult children and their children enjoying one another’s company. After dinner the children enjoyed Spiderman and Minions popsicles and some rainbow cupcakes.
Sunday morning, I met Katie, Dan, Ellie and Tommy and Marianne and Michael at the 9 AM Mass at St. Ignatius Church. The church was beautifully decorated with flowers for Easter, the choir sang masterfully and the pastor gave a very good homily. Afterwards there was an Easter Egg scavenger hunt and Ellie and Michael ran around with their parents reading the clues to find the special color Easter eggs they were looking for.
Then back to Mom Mom’s for lunch and to wait for Uncle John, Aunt Gigi and cousins Nora 6 and Hannah 4 1/2 to arrive. When they joined us there was another Easter egg hunt and the search for the golden egg. They excitedly found all the eggs with Michael once again finding the golden egg. More egg dyeing followed and then we sat on the front porch for awhile enjoying the weather. The children took a walk around the block with their parents while I started dinner. Marianne’s husband James joined us for dinner as he was off from work on Sunday. We had thin chicken cutlets breaded with Panko and Parmesan cheese, mashed potatoes, Tom’s macaroni and cheese, asparagus, Brussel sprouts and rolls. After dinner more popsicles and rainbow cupcakes and sugar cookies
Uncle Mike and I had a full house for the weekend and we really enjoyed the company. It certainly made Easter feel very special this year and hopefully the grandchildren will have good memories of their time spent here with their grandmother, uncles, aunts and cousins. It’s all about family and spending time together for the holidays is such a gift!
Mom Mom's Musings 