Easter list

I want to write some record of Easter, but am too tired to put a serious effort into it. Here are the highlights:

• Hysterically funny chocolate-egg hunt, commencing at 6:30 a.m. The Bunny hid eggs everywhere -- in shoes, in toys, on shelves, in tissue boxes, and, Abby reported, 16 of them in her room alone. It was sweet to see the kids so excited, especially the boys.
• Abby was more subdued, and by the time we sat down to breakfast, we understood why. For the first time in her life, she didn't want the special twice-a-year cinnamon rolls (some people are Christmas and Easter Catholics; we're Christmas and Easter cinnamon roll people.) She excused herself and read one of her new books the Bunny brought (Pick of the Litter, perfect fiction for a juvenile dog-lover.)
• I dashed off to sing the 7:45 mass, doing my makeup in the car, hoping Abby wouldn't get sick on her way to church at 9:00.
• Checked voice mail between masses. Abby thought she would be OK, but ended up too nauseous to come to church; Earl turned the van around and went home. Disappointed, I sang the 9:00 mass and made a hasty exit.
• Timmy informed me when I got home that Abby was feeling "squeezy."
• He had also told me last night, when discussing Earl's pet allergies, that it was a good thing the Easter Bunny doesn't shed.
• Abby slowly improved throughout the morning, even eating a light breakfast. By the time the lamb (lamb! on a squeezy stomach!) was done at 1:30, she had made a full recovery.
• Gorgeous, gorgeous day here. Yummy dinner, good company, and a family hike in the Blue Hills, followed by more backyard fun. It's such a treat to be outdoors and not freezing.
• Too many wonderful desserts. Bunny cake (photo forthcoming), ricotta pie, a few other things. Mmmmm.
• Lots of other sweet things -- Brian calling his worry stone (with a cross on it) in his basket his "holy stone"; kids wanting to stay in their church clothes until Grammy and Grampy got here, even though they never actually went to church in those clothes; kids playing by the stream in the Blue Hills; Brian saving his special baseball Easter-egg shaped brownie for the game tonight; Earl reading today's Gospel to the kids and discussing it with them after they decided they couldn't go to church.

It was a great day, and tomorrow is a big day, with Earl's surgery. I'm hoping for a smooth procedure and an easy recovery for him, and that we both keep this Easter joy in our hearts.