Happy Easter!

We were in Iowa for the past few days and had a lot of fun, as always. I hardly saw Sam as when we're in Iowa, he's just running around and playing with his cousins and grandma the entire time and doesn't have much time for anything else. It's great that he can be so independent and have so much fun with everyone, but I miss the boy a bit. And it's great that overall, the kids and their cousins really get along very well. Matthew was a bit under the weather on Saturday, but did start to feel better later in the day on Saturday just in time for the Easter egg hunt. 

The kids got loads of candy on the Easter egg hunt and after packing up their treats in plastic bags Matthew went and hid his in his room (the walk in closet of my old bedroom). He wanted to make sure that Abby didn't get into it. 

After Sam got up early with Jason this morning, I stayed in bed a bit longer as I was/am suffering from a cold. So a bit after Jason left, I heard Matthew making some noise in his "room". He wasn't crying, and I knew he could get out of his bed if he wanted to and come into the main bedroom, so I wasn't too concerned. I thought maybe he was looking at a book or something. After a few minutes, however, I really wondered what he was doing is his "room" so I went to check on him. He was standing on a chair, with his candy bag on a shelf in front of him, eating Easter candy. I have no idea how much he ate, but apparently Matthew was hungry upon waking and wanted some candy for breakfast. 

Abby was mostly herself, she tended to stay pretty close to me, but did play some with the cousins and grandparents. I always get plenty of face time with Abby when we go to Iowa, but it's only a matter of time before she outgrows that. She got to sit in a tractor for the first time (on my lap) and wasn't quite sure of it, but Grandpa thought he saw a twinkle in her eyes when she grabbed the steering wheel.

Matthew was pretty attached to Jason the whole time. As I mentioned, he really wasn't feeling well, so he needed more attention than usual and he preferred Jason's attention. It seems that whenever Matthew spends more than a weekend with Jason, he ends up shifting his parental preference from mom to dad.  

The kids all remained with us during the Easter service this morning. Sam was quite distraught that he couldn't sit with Grandma Sue, although he was able to sit with her toward the end of the service. Abby and Matthew both were pretty good although Matthew showed signs of erupting at any time and left Jason on edge throughout the service as, of course, Jason was sitting next to Matthew and I was sitting with Abby. I don't think either of us were able to focus on the service too much, but I do know that Christ has risen, and that by His mercy and grace we will rise too.