Eggs, Baskets, Food and Love

I put all work aside and Sean and I spent the whole weekend with Chuck and Lilly.
Dinner is always a question when we have the kids, but Chuck had a pizza kit from a fundraiser and we all voted yes on that for our Friday night dinner. Sean loved helping put it all together. We added a little veggie and olives because the kit came with only pepperoni.

Mmm. Pizza. 

Friday night is always a good night for a movie, so we went to the store and found "Gulliver's Travels." Pretty cute. Chuck wanted us to come back Saturday for breakfast, and we had a full day planned for all of us.
He always puts on a big spread for breakfast. It was cinnamon rolls, French toast, sausage and eggs. I brought Greek yogurt, granola and fresh berries. (I know, healthy.) We all had a little bit of everything and it was really good. Plus he has this beautiful antique china he used and the table was gorgeous. I'll post about it again soon.

After breakfast Sean and Chuck went outside to work and Sean came in and told me about a slingshot he saw at the store while he was with Chuck. I suggested he could make one and Chuck could probably help him.

We walked the property to find just the right tree with the right kind of branch. Chuck took a saw and next thing I knew they were in the house again with the base of it, needing someone with sewing ability to make the cloth to attach to the rubber band for the sling. 

I'll post about this again later. We left it at Chuck's and I don't have a good photo of it.

That morning I took Lilly to shop for a new dress. Dad gave us money and we took off. The thought was to get a dress she could wear to church, but she's still not really comfortable with the idea of going to church with us yet.

But we lucked out on the shopping trip with a big sale at the store Justice. She got a couple of skirts, a pair of really cute shorts and two tops. She tried on a lot of stuff and we had fun oohing and ahhing over some of the styles.

On the way back Lilly asked if Sean and I could spend the night. She offered her bed for him and I said we'd see what he thought of it.

When we got back, the guys had been working on the property with the backhoe and were already planting some trees on the lower end. The plan is to devote part of the property to trees and within five or six years have a Christmas Tree farm.

Sean had a great time driving the backhoe. He helped keep the fire going to burn some of the brush and they worked outside most of the day.

They took a break to come in and color Easter eggs. Chuck had 36 eggs to color.

Sean and Lilly coloring the eggs.

We all had a great time coloring eggs and getting creative. We like the little sleeves that dip into hot water and shrink around the eggs. 

After the egg activity, Chuck and Sean went back outside to work some more.
Sean came in around dinner time and said he didn't feel well. I mentioned spending the night, and mabye he and Lilly could make a blanket fort or something. It wasn't 30 minutes later and he fell asleep. Chuck, Lilly and I watched another movie, "Uptown Girls" while Sean slept. It was good. Then it was really bedtime. Sean was still asleep on the couch, so the rest of us went to bed.

We woke up Easter morning and the Easter Bunny had left a basket for Sean and Lilly.

Sean got a magnet kit to paint, and Lilly got a friends bracelet kit.

Chuck, Sean and I got to church in time for the youth breakfast of pancakes and sausage. Church was packed, of course, and it was a really nice service.

On the way back from church we stopped to visit my grandma for a little while, then headed back to Chuck's for the day. We wanted to hide eggs, and have a nice Easter celebration. It was rainy, but we made the best of it and the kids went out to find eggs when it had stopped raining.

Lilly and Sean had a great time searching for eggs in the yard.

The guys worked outside a little bit more and Lilly and I watched "Tangled," until it was time for me to start dinner. I had a recipe for rack of lamb and fried artichoke hearts. I had never made either of those things, but it didn't sound very difficult.
Chuck helped me trim the artichokes and we followed the recipe exactly. The only difference could have been the recipe called for baby artichokes, and the only ones I could find were probably not baby artichokes. That part of the dinner was a big fail. It sounded really good, and maybe it is good with baby artichokes. Ours weren't cooked enough, and I'm not sure they are worth all of the work to peel it down to the good part.
They look pretty, though.

I should have taken a picture of them in the serving bowl. It was really pretty.

The lamb turned out really nice, but a bit undercooked. Chuck sliced it and we put it back into the oven for a few minutes. The recipe called for medium rare, but I don't like meat much in the first place. Dripping blood is not appealing to me at all.

We had a great weekend together. Not sure if the artichokes will make it into the Easter tradition, but the egg coloring was a hit. The kids seem to be a bit vegetarian, so the next holiday meal I'll incorporate more veggies into the plan.